sgcim

I can only quote from one of my fave jazz critics, Doug Ramsey who wrote about Woods' 'coming out' session on the 1957 LP Herbie Mann's 'Bebop Synthesis' (AKA 'Yardbird Suite') The Savoy Sessions: "The co-star of the album, or possibly the star, depending on the orientation of your ears, is Phil Woods.He was 26 when the date was recorded, five years out of Julliard, deep into Charlie Parker, and a formidable alto player. Phil had worked with Charlie Barnet, George Wallington, Friedrich Gulda, Dizzy Gillespie and others.he had studied with Lennie Tristano and formed extremely pleasing recording partnerships with Jimmy Raney and with fellow alto saxophonist Gene Quill. There were few alto men in 1957 who played with Woods' fire and melodic daring. even in those days, there was no Bird disciple who made more effective use of the Parker tradition than Woods. He has continued to build on that tradition and to introduce even greater passion and lyricism, and in the mid 1970s he is clearly a giant of his instrument. It would be useless to detail Phil's best moments in this collection. He was having a great day, and there is such life, depth, and edge to his playing that he comes near to overwhelming the occasion." The point was that PW's playing was fine before this session, but he began exhibiting the qualities Ramsey indicated above on a regular basis, rather than intermittently. But don't trust me, hold a seance and ask Oliver Nelson why he faced death threats from the black musicians in his big band for having a white musician (PW) as star soloist in his band, and wrote an essay on how Woods was one of the few white musicians who could hold his own with any black player on the scene in the 60s. Or Dizzy when he featured him in his world-touring big band, as did Quincy Jones; or Hall Overton when he had PW play first alto in the Monk Big Band Concert at Town Hall; or Manny Albam when he featured Woods on all of his albums of the late 50s and 60s; or Gary McFarland when he featured him as a soloist in his live Big Band album; or Kenyon Hopkins when he featured him as a soloist in much of the film music he wrote for The Hustler, Lilith, and other films; or Rob McConnell when he featured him on an album celled 'Woods and Brass'; or the many sessions and concerts with Michel Legrand, where PW got a standing ovation(I was there) at Carnegie Hall for his astounding solo feature on 'You Must Remember Spring'. Or ask Scooby, one of the members of this board, why he has spent countless hours transcribing many of Woods' solos. Woods refused to settle into the non-creative role of the non-jazz studio musician,or Broadway show player, and established himself in Europe with albums like The European Rhythm Machine's 'Live at Montreaux' album featuring musicians like Daniel Humair, Gordon Beck and, George Gruntz . When he returned to the US, he was able to play uncompromising jazz for the rest of his life. Woods refused to let a life ending battle with Emphezyma stop his declared mission as a "Jazz Warrior " and I witnessed him playing Cannonball Adderly's part in the "New Bottles, Old Wine' album in a concert at the Manhattan School of Music, dragging his oxygen tank along with him.

Are you talking about Woods or Ver Planck? If you're talking about Woods, go ask Peter King what he thinks about Woods...

FS put out a reissue of BVP's entire output as a leader. I was always interested in checking out his albums because he used good sidemen, i.e. Phil Woods, Eddie Costa, Frank Rehak, Pepper Adams, and Bobby Jaspar. BVP was a trombonist /arr. who admired Bill Harris, and arranged in a mainstream, Woody Herman style.He was the husband of Marlene Ver Planck, the vocalist. Basically, you get about five good Phil Woods solos from 1957-58, when he made the break from being just another Bird imitator to finding his own voice, two good Eddie Costa solos, and some good playing on one album that featured three flutes and a wind doubler, plus trombone and rhythm playing Bird tunes, by Bobby Jaspar. You also get a few good Pepper Adams solos from a horrible LP called 'The Soul of Jazz' that tried to blend white, cornball gospel and jazz, with disastrous results. Thankfully, they swing on the solos, and only play the jive-ass triadic 'gospel' garbage on the heads. If you can find some way of just getting the six or seven cuts that have extended Woods, Costa Jaspar and Adams solos, that's about all that's worth hearing from this reissue.

They ain't happy with da hip-hop getting the Pulitzer. NPR is doing a program on it sometime this week.

Love that one! Yeah, I like his piano playing more than his vibes playing, but I'm beginning to appreciate his vibes playing for its simplicity compared to the excesses of other vibes players. On this LP, he plays only vibes, with his buddy Bill Evans playing piano. I finally found EC's trio recording with Oscar Pettiford. I had hoped there was a full record of the trio, but they just play one tune, 'Taking a Chance On Love'. It was recorded during the session for the LP 'Winner's Circle, but not included on the album.

Yeah, I like his piano playing more than his vibes playing, but I'm beginning to appreciate his vibes playing for its simplicity compared to the excesses of other vibes players. On this LP, he plays only vibes, with his buddy Bill Evans playing piano. I finally found EC's trio recording with Oscar Pettiford. I had hoped there was a full record of the trio, but they just play one tune, 'Taking a Chance On Love'. It was recorded during the session for the LP 'Winner's Circle, but not included on the album.

I finally tracked down a copy of 'Something New, Something Blue' a 1959 LP with modern arrangements of old blues tunes. There are two different bands used, and the one I got the record for consisted of Bill Evans, Eddie Costa, Phil Woods, Art Farmer, Frank Rehak and Al Cohn. Those guys could make anything sound good, but they play three arrangements by Manny Albam, and one kind of sloppy but interesting arr. by Teo Macero, and their playing of the Albam arr. is perfection itself. Hearing Woods and Costa blow with Bill Evans comping for them is a rare treat.

So what's the deal with this guy? He can play his ass off, but he hasn't made any records under his own name. There are some records of him playing with country artists like Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson, but what about da jazz music?

If you read what I wrote, I said I think Lorne and the other guys I mentioned are fine guitar players, but when they play with someone like Ed or Jimmy Raney, they tend to sound stiffer, less melodic/more mechanical, pattern players, when compared to the unforced, more rhythmically swinging and melodic phrasing of Ed and JR. 'This Is New' was not a "mistake"; it's a great album. This is a subjective observation I made after listening to the album many times, This is not a put down of Lorne; he's one of the world's greatest players, and I never would've made this observation if I was listening to one of LL's records without EB to compare him to. Another example of this happening was Richie Cole's album 'Side By Side', with Phil Woods. I'm not saying it's a competition, but some players are so strong, they make you look weak in comparison. Another, more glaring example of this was the duo piano recording(plus bass) of John Mehegan and Eddie Costa. BTW, I think you meant to say "Lorne" with Ed in your first sentence, but you forgave my "baited", so now we're even.

Now you've got me even more desperate to find out what gauge strings Ed used! Reg is another great Canadian player, along with Lorne Lofsky, although Lorne made the mistake of making a recording with Ed, the Master. This is always a mistake, because no matter how good you are, Ed will make you sound like a, well, not as good as you would normally sound. Witness fine guitarists like Jack Wilkins and Cal Collins playing with Jimmy Raney...

Great stuff, thanks!

That's a singer!

Many great, local singer/pianists/guitarists never get the recognition of a wider audience, because they stayed local, never got the big break (or in AM's case, turned it down), or other reasons. Frank D'Rone was another one that was an incredible talent (especially his version of 'Joey,Joey,Joey' on the Hefner Show).but never reached a wider audience. I just received word that Sal Casper,a singer/pianist I used to work with a lot just passed at the age of 81. The best way I can describe him is that he had a voice like Mark Murphy, but without the affectations of MM. I played on the one LP that he released, but was disappointed that he decided to sing only commercially oriented originals that he thought went over with the 'crowd', rather than the great standards we'd play on gigs. He said he used me because I sounded like Phil Woods on the guitar, which is still the greatest compliment I've ever received. RIP, Sal

Yeah, but we'd have guys from the One O'Clock Band. Everyone knows that hot chicks always put out for the One O'Clock Band.

It was sad to hear about BK's battle with partial paralysis. I played some jazz gigs in the late 1980s with him in a 'little big band', and he was an outstanding soloist and reader on alto. I'm glad that he's managed to find a way around his difficulties using the soprano. BTW Ted, did you ever get a chance to ask Ed Bickert about the gauge of strings he used on that relic'd Fender Telecaster of his? The entire jazz guitar world is waiting with baited breath!

If we pay them enough money, they'll even give those young jazzers a fake orgasm or two.

If it's uninhabited, that creepy place outside FW sounds ideal for a found-footage horror flick. We could work in the Narco aspect; have a few ghosts of guys like Tadd Dameron, Joe Guy, Stitt, etc... haunting the place. Have some young jazz musicians just out of N.Texas State going on a road trip with their busty Dallas Cowboy cheerleader girlfriends; car breaks down; forced to spend the night in the creepy place. Tadd Dameron's ghost promises the kids some EDM tunes he's been writing in the afterlife, winds up killing them all, but the cops find one of the kids' iphone...

"Lexington KY's temperate climate, fertile soil, and picturesque location were key factors in its selection as the site for the first for the first Narcotic Farm. The massive building-which covered twelve acres- was able to confine and rehabilitate up to 1500 inmates." They built one in Ft. Worth three years later.

Someone mentioned this book online that concerned the Lexington KY prison for drug offenders nicknamed 'Narco', where most jazz junkies wound up if they got busted in the years 1935-1976. The very partial list of musicians that wound up in Narco mentioned in the book were: Tadd Dameron, Sonny Stitt, Joe Guy, Elvin Jones, Chet Baker, Stan Levey, Jackie McLean, Red Rodney and Sonny Rollins. In the short chapter on the prison band, it's mentioned that many of them wound up there because of fellow musician informants trying to avoid arrest by turning them in. The institution soon developed a reputation as a 'workshop' for jazz musicians. Young musicians were turning themselves into the notorious institution merely for the opportunity to sit in with the masters(!). This was shown on screen in the opening scene of 'The Man With the Golden Arm', where Frank Sinatra tells his friends how he got training as a jazz drummer there (unfortunately we learn later in the film that he was no Shelly Manne). The inmates were given sericeable instruments, practice rooms, and an audience of 1300 incarcerated addicts in the huge auditorium where they produced their own performances featuring combos and big bands. At one time there were six different combos performing at the institution. Even hip locals were let in to hear big-city jazz right at home in KY. Byron Romanowitz, a local Lexington musician recalled, "The first time I went there I heard Tadd dameron, Joe Guy and Sonny Stitt, and many others. Their big band was an all-star group, there's no question about it." Unfortunately, there were no recordings of the many bands that played at these shows, although an orchestra from Narco performed on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show in 1964. Sadly, the tapes from this broadcast were accidentally erased decades ago... I found a short silent film that features a few seconds of a show from Narco, but I don't know the rules for posting links on this forum. If the link doesn't post, you can find it on you tube under 'Narcotic Farm, part four:

I used to be concerned with the popularity of jazz in the US, but who really gives a schist what type of music people who elected this prez listen to. If they'd rather listen to some guy or gal yelling at them with a beat behind it, more power to 'em.

Well, you have to admit, it shocked the hell out of him! I think she could've discussed it beforehand with him, but I do respect her for confusing the heck out of him by all of a sudden telling him she could stop the tape if he wanted her to.She didn't tell him why... I think she could have been more tactful about it, but Burton was thinking about coming out of the closet sometime, I just don't think from what I read that he was ready to do it on National Public Radio!

What 'interpretation'? I didn't interpret anything; I just said what Gary Burton said in his book. Did you even read the book?

Considering that Buell played the music of some of the greatest composers that ever lived, what was he supposed to say? I agree that TG is a generally a good interviewer, but she tries to be too controversial sometimes, at the expense of the person being interviewed. In Gary Burton's autobiography, 'Learning To Listen', GB said that TG outed him as gay without asking him about it beforehand- in front of the entire Public Radio audience! She has a history of springing the most personal questions imaginable. We sit there and listen to her saying, "NO! Please tell me that she didn't just ask that poor person that question!" As for her jazz interviews, I mentioned that she was married to an excellent jazz writer, but that doesn't mean that she necessarily gets her questions from him. I've listened to her for years (even before Larry King, the man than that never reads any books of the authors that he''s going to be interviewing (!), called her the greatest interviewer in the world), and IMHO she's much stronger on her rock and/or roll interviews. It was a sad loss for WNYC when they fired Leonard Lopate, who was an excellent jazz interviewer. Your interview with Buell was fantastic!

Then she asked him how he was able to get the gig playing with Cecil Taylor, and Buell said, "No other bass player in town wanted to play with Cecil. I was the only one who didn't turn him down.

Yeah, and she still asks stupid questions. She asked Buell, "Buell, you've been playing the music of great composers. What did you get from that? BN: "What did I get from that?" TG: "Yeah" BN: Umm... I guess I got the joy of playing great music...?"