sgcim

Sad to hear, RIP...

Yeah, sounds good to me...

It's Mingus' birthday today. They just played the 1964 Town hall Concert w/ Dolphy,Coles, Jordan, Byard, Richmond and CM. Great stuff!!!!

Horrible tragedy. Many statues were off-site undergoing restoration. The cathedral itself was undergoing renovation.

The trio performances will be at 7:00pm.

Tune into 99.5 FM to hear the 6th annual jazz piano competition, open to pianists 18-25 years old. From 2:00pm to ?. Some great young pianists, like Michael Orenstein from Berkeley (who opened the show) playing first in solo performances, and then trio performances backed by Adam Nussbaum and Mike Richmond.

I just finished "Intermission" by Owen Martell, a Welsh novelist, who wrote a short (168 pages) novel about Bill Evans. It takes place in the time (1961) immediately after Scott La Faro was killed in that car accident in upstate NY. Evans is in mourning throughout the entire book, and barely speaks a word. It's told from the viewpoints of four different people; Harry Evans Jr., Bill's brother, Mary Evans, Bill's mother, Harry Evans Sr., Bill's father, and finally a short coda featuring Bill Evans. The writing is very good, but it mostly involves the life of Evans' father, a Welsh immigrant, and the lives of Bill's brother Harry. The parts concerning Bill Evans mainly center on his interior life, not his music. Paul Motian and Chuck Israels are briefly mentioned, but don't expect much about Evans' career in this poetic, introspective novel.

Recorded in the pianist's living room: Straight from the pianist's living room Here's another thing we recorded in the pianist's living room: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NgpHC1FGpc&feature=youtu.be I finally convinced the pianist to check out some of the great tunes that Raksin wrote in some of the films he scored. This one isn't as well known as "Laura", but is more sophisticated melodically, harmonically and rhythmically. A casual listener might think it's a cocktail piano tune, but a more attentive listener might appreciate the unorthodox contour of the melody, the irregular harmonic rhythm, and the skillful use of counterpoint. In Raksin's autobiography (available only in electronic form), he relates the time he played it for Andre Previn, before it was scored for the film. Previn reacted very negatively to it, saying something like, "What the hell is that? You're not going to use that for the film, are you?" When the film came out, Previn heard the melody again, and fell in love with it. Raksin told him it was the same tune he played for him that day in his house. It's been recorded by a number of people, Charlie Haden, Barry Galbraith, Jimmy Cleveland, Bill Evans, and others, but it's never really caught on as a 'standard'. It was sung by Mark Murphy and Finestein, but I'd rather not think about that now... Hopefully, can get it together enough to make an album of Raksin's tunes(instead of the same old standards our fearless leader insists on playing) I've transcribed from the films, and some other rarities by film composers like Goldsmith and Williams, but it's his Yamaha Grand and recording equipment, so we're pretty much at his mercy.

Glad you fixed that post. The Grasso Brothers are total mothers.I was listening to Luigi on Small's Live, and got so excited by his playing, I had fantasies of going down to Smalls and shoving $20 bills down the bell of his alto as he was playing. I wound up making the only donation to Small's I ever made. I love Pasquale's solo guitar bag. He's like a combination of Bud Powell and Art Tatum on that thing.

I just heard from a friend of his that he passed away April 2. He was the pianist/arranger/composer for Woody Herman back in the mid 80s, and was Rosemary Clooney's accompanist/musical director for nineteen years. He appears on a bunch of Concord records with Scott Hamilton, also. Both he and a pianist friend of mine played in Jimmy Giuffre's band at NYU, and studied with Don Friedman. RIP...

Agreed. I just saw "Shoplifters", another excellent Asian film. Korea and Japan seem to have been making the best films for quite a while. I can't even count the number of great Korean films I've seen in the last four years. From "The Wailing" to "Memories of Murder' to "A Tale of Two Sisters", it just goes on and on. In Japan, my favorite filmmaker is Shion Sono. I've seen almost every film he's made, and I have yet to see one that is even mediocre.

I saw him play "Zee Zee" with the Gil Evans Orchestra at Carnegie Hall in the early 70s. An unforgettable, powerful experience. A good example of how much more powerful the experience of live music is than recordings. I picked up the Richard Davis LP he played on, and then his orchestra album. I remember seeing Tom Harrell and Jerry Tillitz play at a club in LI, when they had both just been released from Pilgrim State Hospital. TH was burning back then. I started talking to him about trumpet players on the break, and I mentioned all the standard guys, Brownie, Hubbard, Farmer etc..., and he just kept looking down, not saying anything. Then, when I mentioned Hannibal, he got all excited, and started raving about him.

The Master and Margerita

As if all his vocal recordings weren't enough, he also scored three feature films with some extraordinary music:

Very sad to hear. You never knew what he was going to do next. From a session bass player, to a top 40 teen idol, to a jazz record producer, to a Jacques Brel interpreter, to a powerful singer of imaginative contemporary songs with wild orchestral arrangements, to expressionistic, avant garde art song creations; he never stopped changing. My last memory of him will be whacking a dead piece of meat in a freezer for one of his later pieces in the documentary on him. He was so supportive of the jazz musicians that worked with him, that his guitarist/ MD, Terry Smith, got a phone call one day in 1967 to show up at a studio in a few days, and was greeted by a big band of top UK jazz session players, gathered to record Smith's first jazz LP for Phillips Records, "Fallout"- produced and paid for by Walker! RIP, Mr. Walker...

Yeah. I don't know why, but this board lumps all of my posts together. I got confused when I looked at it, and it's my post!

Recorded in the pianist's living room: Straight from the pianist's living room Here's another thing we recorded in the pianist's living room: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NgpHC1FGpc&feature=youtu.be I finally convinced the pianist to check out some of the great tunes that Raksin wrote in some of the films he scored. This one isn't as well known as "Laura", but is more sophisticated melodically, harmonically and rhythmically. A casual listener might think it's a cocktail piano tune, but a more attentive listener might appreciate the unorthodox contour of the melody, the irregular harmonic rhythm, and the skillful use of counterpoint. In Raksin's autobiography (available only in electronic form), he relates the time he played it for Andre Previn, before it was scored for the film. Previn reacted very negatively to it, saying something like, "What the hell is that? You're not going to use that for the film, are you?" When the film came out, Previn heard the melody again, and fell in love with it. Raksin told him it was the same tune he played for him that day in his house. It's been recorded by a number of people, Charlie Haden, Barry Galbraith. Urbie Green, Bill Evans, and others, but it's never really caught on as a 'standard'. It was sung by Mark Murphy and Finestein, but I'd rather not think about that now... Hopefully, can get it together enough to make an album of Raksin's tunes(instead of the same old standards our fearless leader insists on playing) I've transcribed from the films, and some other rarities by film composers like Goldsmith and Williams, but it's his Yamaha Grand and recording equipment, so we're pretty much at his mercy.

Phil Woods playing Hawaiian music? This might even be worse than Greek Cooking! No wonder he split for France. Kenyon used to use him on all his movie, TV and jingles work.

In an interview for The History of Rock & Roll documentary I used to play for my students, they have a segment on DD living out in the desert with his lions, and he talks about Gene Krupa being the biggest influence on his style of guitar playing. RIP to a very cool guy. That Bobby Fuller version of The Miserlou was great!. There's a website about dead musicians named after him called "Fuller Up".

I just found a Cornerstone CD on ebay that EB did back in 1999, that wasn't released until 2013 for some reason. It's the same group as the "Live at the Senator Club" CD, with just guitar, bass (Steve Wallace) and sax (Mike Murley). It's called "Test of Time". All different tunes other than "I Should Care" and "Golden Earrings". The clips sound great, with a lot of interplay between Bickert and Murley.

I just got back from following your link, thank you by the way, and on the good side, they have an unbelievably great concert of Ed, Lorne, Neil and Terry at the Ontario Science Center from 1984, which you introduce. All the players are at their best, and every cut is just phenomenal! On the bad side, the 'interview' with Ed that they have is from 1981, and they cut out the interviewer (which I presume is you), and just have Ed's short answers to three questions!!! At least they include your questions in the transcript, and the third question is a great one, asking him about Jimmy Raney and Tal Farlow's influence on his playing, which he acknowledges, along with Johnny Smith, Kenny Burrell, and Jim Hall.

Yeah, Joey Goldstein told me about that situation. He said it was a huge blow to jazz radio in Canada.I don't even want to think about what the person's sensibilities of what is "essential" is today.They'll probably tie it in to hip-hop...

As a little kid, I never thought that was a guitar, but I remember that music. Thanks for posting that.

Hey Ted, I read that you did an interview with Ed in Coda, 1984. Are there any links to it? Thanks.

The Giants need an offensive line that can block. As great as OBJ was, he missed 21 games, threw temper tantrums that divided the team, and the Giants turned into a losing team. If they don't get a good offensive line with the first round draft choices they're getting from Cleveland, I'm going to turn from being a life-long Giants fan into a Jets fan.