sgcim

Yeah, I think Shelly kind of regretted not getting into that circle like Earl and Hal. He called up Hal and asked him why he was getting so many more calls than he was getting.

He started out as a jazz drummer, and even went on the road with Basie. When he came to LA, Shelly Manne was the top studio drummer, and Shelly turned down all the rock dates he was called for, because he thought they were beneath him, and gave them to Hal. Next thing you know, Hal played on every hit record of that time. In the 80's, drum machines took over the studio scene, and HB wasn't as busy as he used to be. His sixth wife took everything he had in a bitter divorce, and HB would've been broke if not for his Union pension. RIP.

Huh?

Yeah, he was a real character. Reminded me of Fats Waller. The fact that he hung with the homeboys in his community at the local jazz club made him extra cool.

8 No need to confess my son.We are all victims of the Great 'Tonal Cleansing' alluded to in the 60 years too late article by Thomasini. Other direct victims included John Lessard (who defected after suffering the panic of being left out) Koechlin, Hanson, Harris, Persichetti, Schuman, Walton, Cowell, Ruggles, Chavez, Villa-Lobos, Crumb and many others.

Hale was a cool guy. I first met him on Lawnguyland when he accompanied Billy Mitchell to a rehearsal of his chart on "I Remember Clifford" which was being played by a jazz big band I was in. Then I met him a few years later, when I used to sub for a pianist at a great club called The Steer Inn, where they only featured bebop players. One night Jerry Tillitz, the trombone player was playing there, and he told us he wanted this arrangement of a tune of his to go into a dixieland section for a few choruses, and then back into a bop feel. When we went into the dixie section, the owner of the club shot out from out of nowhere, and started yelling at Jerry for playing dixieland in his club! "You don't play no dixieland jive in my club", he told Jerry, and Jerry profusely apologized. I met Jerry years later in Mike Stern's club, 55 Grand St., where Mike was playing with Steve Sleagle. I went up to Jerry and told him about the dixie incident at The Steer, and he vehemently denied that it ever took place! He then left the place, and left his wallet and keys at the table. he took off for Europe shortly after that. Anyway, I met Hale hangin' out during the daytime at The Steer, and I freaked out and said , "Holy schlitz! You're the famous black composer, Hale Smith!" (I was still in my teens at the time). He got all over me for that idiotic comment, and went into a diatribe about how he was a black composer because he filled up the paper with a lot of black notes, while a white composer like Hindemith used a lot of whole notes and half notes, etc... i apologized for the stupid comment, but he just kept going on to teach me a lesson. I saw him that night in his famous derby, smoking his omni-present cigar, as he got up to the mic and started scatting some great bebop choruses. Like I said, cool guy.

"Burning"(2018), first film by Lee in eight years.

Anthony Thomasini wrote an article in last week's NY Times about a topic I feel strongly about: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/01/arts/music/american-composers-leon-botstein.html

1) Charles Koechlin- Les Bandar-log Op.176 (RCA Victor Red Seal) David Zinman 2) Howard Hanson Symphony #2 "The Romantic" 3) Arnold Bax- Elegiac Trio for Flute,Harp and Viola 4) Bernard Herrmann- 'Symphony' conducted by Herrmann Unicorn records 5) Francis Poulenc- Sextet for Winds and Piano 6) Paul Hindemith- Mathis Der Maler (DG) 7) Arthur Honnegger- Symphonies 2,3 and 4. Three Symphonic Movements for Orchestra 8) Wallingford Riegger- Sextet for Winds and Piano (3rd Movement only). 9) Billy Jim Layton- String Quartet in Two Movements (First Movement only) CRI 10) John Lessard- Concerto for Wind and String Instruments (CRI)

I was in his Free Jazz Ensemble at Nassau Community College. It was fun, but he took that shit a little too seriously. He told me once that I could "hear around corners". I told him I couldn't make a rehearsal, because I had a 'club date', and he started yelling at me, telling me that I was prostituting myself, and kicked me out of the Ensemble. A blues guitar player friend of mine took his Jazz Survey course, and kept asking him one day in class about Bird's use of the pentatonic scale. Hakim kept ignoring him, but my friend kept asking him. Finally, at the end of the class, my friend went up to him, and tapped him on the back, asking him, "How did Charlie Parker use the pentatonic scale in his solos"? Hakim turned around, and punched him so hard that he knocked out a bunch of my friend's teeth! He sued Hakim for about 20K, and they kicked him out of the college.

Wallace talks about the flimsy, cheap gig bag Ed kept his Telecaster in, which I confused with him having no case or gig bag at all. From the way Wallace describes the 'gig bag', it was probably the closest thing to having no case or gig bag at all!

She's probably an alien from some advanced planet where every note they sing is perfectly in tune, without using too much vibrato, like the people from this planet. I want her to have my baby, or if she's too old for that, we'll have to clone her!

I think I was trying to convey the sense that some outward force was controlling her career, but now that I read that interview Larry linked, it seemed it all had to do with the fact that she wasn't comfortable with live performance. I liked their discussion of the distasteful use of vibrato in both classical (opera) music and popular music. Here's that phenomenal thing she did with Lyle Mays:

I couldn't believe it, but I read once that Ed used to just take his Telecaster and throw it in the trunk of the guitar, WITHOUT a case! From looking at that picture of it, that story may be true!

Bonnie Herman had a weird solo career outside of the Singers Unlimited. She tried to launch a pop career with the John Simon prod., but then went into jingles. Then she did some religious stuff like this: And this: Then she somehow wound up on ECM on a Eberhard Weber album: Then did a Windham Hill album with Fred Simon, and somewhere along the line recorded some cuts on an Interfaith record, where she sings about Muslims, Christians and Jewish people. After that, she recorded a thing with Lyle Mays called "Moses the Lawgiver" and finally was driven into retirement by Gen Puerling's death.

This one really hurts. I'm sure Ted is involved in the funeral proceedings. My favorite guitarist, and probably the epitome of what a jazz guitarist should be doing just passed 2/28. No words can express my admiration for the man and the music he made. RIP, Ed...

You deserve it! Keep swingin' that thing!

I saw him conduct Walton's 2nd Symphony at Carnegie Hall; great performance. I enjoyed reading his autobiography, "No Minor Chords", also. RIP, Mr. Previn.

Born in September 1943 in Los Angeles, California, he was the son of Maurice Harris, a trumpet player in The Tonight Show Band led by Doc Severinsen. He worked as a jazz pianist in clubs in the Los Angeles area. In 1966 he married singer-songwriter Judee Sill. Harris wrote orchestral arrangements with Don Bagley for Sill's debut album in 1971. He also played as a pianist for The Turtles. Harris later wrote arrangements for recordings by The Friends of Distinction and Jack Jones. He also performed backing vocals and lead vocals on Steve Vai's "Flex-Able" Harris joined jazz guitarist Gábor Szabó in 1970 and was a member of Frank Zappa's band The Mothers for a short time in 1971. He appeared on the Zappa album Fillmore East – June 1971. Recordings from the same concerts also appeared on The John Lennon / Yoko Ono album Sometime in New York City. He also appeared on the Zappa album Playground Psychotics where he was a soloist on the Wurlitzer Electric Piano on the song Billy the Mountain. At the end of the 1970s Harris toured with Ray Charles. He died in 2001 from the effects of a drug overdose. Discography All of the above is true, except for the part about Steve Vai; they were talking about the other Bob Harris that became Zappa's keyboard player 15 or 20 years after BH(1)'s short stint with Zappa in 1971. Harris was the pot dealer for The Leaves, when he met Jim Pons, their bass player. When the Leaves broke up, Pons got BH and Judee Sill involved with The Turtles. Sill wrote the beautiful tune "Lady-O" for the Turtles, and Harris did the string quartet arrangement, that is also featured on Judee Sill's definitive version of the song on the first record that David Geffen put out on his new label, Asylum Records. Harris had such a notorious rep in LA for being a junkster, he wasn't even allowed in the studio by Geffen and his partner (?), but he did most of the other arrangements on the LP, except for the cornier stuff that Don Bagley did. When I discovered Sill's music, it really struck a chord in me, and I listened to it every day for a year. I even got in contact with 'Flo' from the Turtles, who badmouthed Sill (it turned out he was rebuffed by her), but sang the praises of Harris. Harris was was busted for writing bad checks and drugs, and did some time, but he got to play with his idol, Ray Charles (whom he called "that genius N-word') on the road. He dug the jazz that came out of Detroit. He wound up getting a gig playing at a hotel lounge in Mexico for the remainder of his years, which was probably good for him,because he would've just wound up doing a lot of time due to the three strikes you're out law.

Someone posted this in reply to Ira Gitler's death announcement on another board. Note the recognition of Michael Weiss' work: https://jazztimes.com/features/whos-overrated-whos-underrated/

Thanks for posting that link. According to Perry Robinson's autobiography, Chuck was gigging on guitar at that summer camp they met at, until Steve Kuhn and Arnie Wise needed a bass player for a trio gig they had. Arnie Wise also complained how little Bill Evans paid his sidemen; that's why he surprised Bill and quit the trio. Evans told him, "You realize you'll be carrying around the stigma of having worked with me for the rest of your life".Probably the money Israels and Wise should have gotten was going into Evans' arm...never trust a jazz pianist, junkie with money. The West Coast jazz pianist, junkie Bob Harris used to tell his sidemen that the gig paid 50 beans. At the end of the gig, he'd open up a can of dried beans, and pay them 50 'beans'! The description of the Bill Evans/Herbie Mann album as a business deal was quite apt. All of the LPs Evans made with people outside the trio were set up by Helen Keane, who took care of every aspect of Evans' career, if not life...

The jazz reviewer on Terry Gross' Fresh Air NPR show did a segment on this a few days ago. Kevin Whitehead?

Loved Swing to Bop! RIP, Mr. Gitler

Don't forget Bryan MacLean of the band Love. He was sitting in a coffee shop when some friend of his told him about it. He ran right over there. He figured they'd want some tough, streetwise guy for the role, so he acted belligerent to everyone at the audition, and got kicked out on his ass!

It took me over 30 years, but I found out that the track "Rene's Theme" on the Larry Coryell Spaces LP was actually one of Rene's compositions on "Dynasty". Coryell heard Rene play it when LC was in Europe, and he asked Rene for the music, so Rene wrote out the changes on a matchbook for him, but didn't have room for the title, so LC just called in "Rene's Theme".