sgcim

Whatever you do, stay away from "Saturn Sings" (2010). Sounds like she took a few guitar lessons since then.

I hated Guthrie P. Ramsey's "The Amazing Bud Powell". One of those black-centric books on a genius that had nothing to say about his music.

RIP, It's her funeral, and I'll cry if I wanna...

Paul Desmond used to call pianists, 'assassins', because he'd feel like he was being shot at when he was trying to solo, especially on ballads. That's why he only used guitarists like Jim Hall and Ed Bickert on his small group records, when he finally broke free from that master assassin of all, Dave Brubeck

That last paragraph is quite true. I was posting about all the books I've been reading about UK jazz (and other music) of the 60s and 70s, and one UK musician from that period got very indignant. He said that these young authors of said books knew nothing about what those times were really about, and were just spouting hyperbole.

There was indeed a lot of crossover in the early 70s, not just folk, blues and jazz but also rock. Examples include Manfred Mann Chapter Three and Keith Tippett's Centipede project. Arguably, the involvement of modern jazz musicians in the early to mid 60s with R&B was largely because modern jazz was dying on its feet as a result of the twin assaults of beat groups and trad jazz. After all they had to earn a living and a number of them turned to R&B which was also experiencing a boom and was often horn-based. The book on John McLaughlin ('Bathed In Lightning') is particularly good on this period. It was only towards the latter part of the 60s that modern jazz started to regain its self-confidence and identity. I just finished reading the book on Cream ("The First Supergroup"), and they mentioned that jack Bruce played with Manfred Mann for a while, and also mentioned one jazz LP that they made. I assume that was Chapter Three. I plan to read the Jack Bruce bio soon. There was also a quote from Ginger Baker where he said that the brave few that continued playing jazz in the UK in the 60s were 'bloody martyrs. I

Yes, there were some interesting things happening in the early 70s in the UK with artists like Nick Drake and John Martyn. One Nick Drake LP features solos by jazz musicians such as Ray Warleigh and the South African composer/pianist Chris McGregor! I was surprised to read that the jazzy arrangement of Mellow Yellow by Donovan was done by Led Zep's John Paul Jones, who was heavily influenced by jazz in his youth. But as early as 1962, you had jazz musicians like Peter Ginger Baker saying that he decided to 'go commercial, and start playing R&B as opposed to jazz and it just took off.' He had previously played in hard bop groups like the Johnny Burch Octet and the Ronnie Scott, Bert Courtley and Joe Harriot bands.

Dave Frischberg Blossom Dearie Bob Dorough Jay Leonhart If Ray Charles can't be considered a jazz singer, then jazz ain't worth shit. Bob Bruno Grady Tate Tiny Grimes Sacha Diste Johnny Amoroso

There was also an interesting mix of folk and jazz in the UK in the 50s and 60s that featured such interesting artists as Davy Graham and Danny Thompson, who influenced folk artists such as Donovan, Pentangle, Nick Drake, and others. This resulted in a very interesting blend that should have interested both folk and jazz audiences alike. The use of the upright bass was a common factor of these two musics, and there are some recordings of the above named artists that are quite unique.

I've been reading a few books on jazz in the UK, and all the British writers agree; the Beatles pretty much ended the audience for jazz in the UK, regardless of the quality of the music.

Basically, the decline I'm talking about is the simple fact that he became incapable of executing the fast, long, complex lines cleanly and in time, that he used to be able to execute in the 50s. Keep in mind that TF had brought that type of playing to its highest level (which still has yet to be surpassed IMHO), in the late 50s, and anything he did afterwards could only be the same or worse. I first found out that something was wrong when I picked up "The Return" (which is still a wild, enjoyable LP, despite the fact that there was something wrong with TF's ability to execute. I then found that out in person, when I attended the Newport in NY Central Park concert he played with Jim Hall and rhythm, and left with the profound pronouncement, WTF???? This wouldn't be an issue if TF had changed his style like Lee Konitz (who also said that his time on the road with Kenton messed him up), and stopped playing in that manner, but TF still played in that style a great deal. He did incorporate chord solos into his playing, which was one way of dealing with this issue. The person I cited was close to him from the late 60s till his death.

Thanks for the info on the French Tal bio, but I have to disagree with you on the subject of the decline in Tal's playing ability after the 50s. The person that I mentioned before, who is writing a book on Tal, attributed it to the effects of alcohol and life on the road, as well as the deterioration of his marriage to Tina Hammerstein. At least Tal returned to playing; two other guitarists from that era, Dick Garcia and Billy Bean stopped playing altogether.

Attaboy, Dave! These guys still don't realize that Bill was the Second Coming as far as most musicians are concerned. If the world was right, there would be a Bill Evans Day instead of our other stupid holidays. BTW, I got a lot out of your Bill Evans lessons on youtube. I session a lot with a cat named Rob Oro, who studied with Andy LaVerne, and Rob is probably the closest thing to Bill on the planet today.

Hadn't heard of that Tal Farlow book (by Guy Littler-Jones) before (seems like it is not distributed through the usual worldwide channels ...) but maybe that was for the better even though you can't go much wrong at $12.95. Last fall I bought the Tal Farlow bio produced by Paris Jazz Corner (author Jean-Luc Katchoura). Excellent in every respect and I haven't regretted shelling out the money (344 pages, limited edition - 1100 copies or so). If this is the one that sgcim's rumours allude to, then I for one would recommend it any time. http://www.amazon.fr/TAL-FARLOW-Parfait-Biographie-Biography/dp/2954962607/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1423050661&sr=8-4&keywords=Tal+Farlow The French one is definitely longer than the British one by GLJ, which is only 64 pages of writing, but it has a 50 page discography. I didn't know the French one had been translated already. Hopefully the French one goes into more detail about Eddie Costa and Vinnie Burke, because the UK one is skimpy on those two, and doesn't go into TF's decline after the 50s. The book I'm alluding to is being written by his protege, not a pro author, but bound to be interesting. He didn't have a publisher yet, the last I heard.

I bought the farlow bio from them. It was okay, but there's rumors of a better one coming out some day.

Some white musicians i knew were doing a recording for one of his shows, and when they were in the studio, they overheard him making some racist comments about them to the black recording engineer. Ever since I heard that, i took everything i heard him say with a grain of salt.

You have a vivid imagination, I hope. Imagination? Are you trying to say all of this never really happened?

Well, my idea for the psycho-thriller is that since that is JH's daughter, his psychoanalyst wife has sent out a secret message, because that harmless looking, universally respected jazz guitarist is actually...uh, I'll leave that up to your pajamanation... A German psychoanalyst jazz fan, still clinging to his belief in Freud, has deciphered Jan's desperate message, and tries to get in touch with Jan, but she is being held captive in the SUB-basement of the VV where her screams for help are being drowned out by the loud, distorted sound of the annual John Scofield Festival, which is going on for a month, 24/7. The German PA tries to convince the police that Jim Hall is really a diabolical dude, but they too are big jazz fans, and refuse to believe the desperate Freudian. This leads to the climax of the film, where the Freudian confronts the evil Jim Hall during a gig in Berlin... Since that bald guy from the original film version of The Odd Couple is probably gone by now, we'll have to get John Malkovich to play Jim Hall.

Let me first state that this was not my idea- at least the start of it- it was thought up by a guy on another forum. First, we know that Jan Hall, a psychoanalyst, wrote the title tune. Second, notice the twisted smirk on Jim's face. Third, notice the Bockwurst sign extending from Jim to his daughter, Devra. Fourth, notice the obvious pleasure both Jim and Devra are having... Do I have to go on? I know, sometimes a Bockwurst is just a Bockwurst...

I'm snowed in with a lotta time on my hands...

Iirc, Marshall Effron's parody lasted until Joe Franklin threatened to sue and WBAI couldn't afford to fight it in court. It was hilarious. Here's a pass along e-mail I received from a friend: Back in the 70s when Mingus’ Beneath The Underdog was published he was a guest on The Joe Franklin Show. Virginia Graham, the daytime TV show host, was also a guest and preceded Mingus. After the Graham segment Joe goes into his Hoffman soda spiel then says “When we return jazz great Charlie Yardbird Mingus”. That's interesting, I wondered why they never played it again. I might have it on reel-to-reel tape somewhere, but I don't have a RTR recorder anymore. The best part was Marilyn Sokol playing a washed up actress/singer, Sarah Goy, singing an atonal version of "Lover Man", banging out nonsense chords on the piano! I'm listening to Max Schmeed on WBAI this very second playing a tribute to JF.

That's been a long time comin'. I'm definitely gonna pick it up. I saw it in the theaters when it came out- the film sounded like a BH concert. I'm surprised no one mentioned his 'serious' music- "Symphony"- my fave rave "Moby Dick" a cantata The Fantasticks"- a song cycle with orchestra "Echoes"for String Quartet "Wuthering Heights" His Opera Benny and David Raksin (both Russian Jews, who didn't get along too well- I don;t think anyone got along well with BH!) were my fave film composers.

JF provided TV exposure to young hopefuls whose very presence on the show almost guaranteed they were headed for oblivion. I remember watching in astonishment at 2:00am when he had a singer on, who I once worked with named Muffin (yes, she looked like one), a jewish, born-again, lesbian, punk-rocker, who would be too wasted on booze and valium to make it up to the stand to belt out her atonal version of a Judy Garland medley. You can't buy shit like that. Marshall Effron and Marilyn Sokol did a parody of him on WBAI they called "The Frank Joklyn Show", which IMHO is the funniest thing ever produced by human beans. RIP, Joe. Another part of NYC that is gone forever.

As little as possible...

Thanks, but I've checked out that woman before, and there's no mention of her singing with Amram, but who knows? She was in NY in 1971, when Amram recorded the LP with Pepper Adams, Al Harewood and Lisle Atkinson, but this Lynn Sheffield sounded black, and sang in tune, unlike what I heard of Lynx Quicksilver. Maybe when she was younger she sang better?