sgcim

I just got back from playing in a band with a guy who knew someone close to JB, and this guy believes it was a revenge thing that had nothing to do with JB. This is probably nothing new to some people here... i recently read a book called "Jazz And Death" written by an MD in 2002, that clinically describes the probable cause of death of various well-known jazz musicians. I don't remember if he mentioned JB.

Who wouldn't be a drunk if you were locked in a room and forced to read Mein Kampf.

Since I've read it, I've heard of another musician besides HG that AH told he did the deed in question.

Yeah, it's pathetic to hear how some of these singers butcher that song, but Frank D'Rone, Ella, and Vic Damone sang the shit out of it, IMHO. Nancy Wilson has a version too, but I can't find it online.

What was that- live from the Baby Boomers' Senior Center?

A jazz version from Smalls:

i never knew Chetsky did it. Good sax solo. Samantha Jones and Lena Horne show how to destroy a perfectly good song. The VD arrangement had some nice things in it, and at least he didn't destroy it like LH and SJ. You forgot this one:

It was written for the movie "Fitzwilly" by John "Star Wars" Williams, that starred Dick Van Dyke and (I think) Julie Andrews. What do you expect those two white people to sing, "Make Me hominy grits"? Musically, it's pretty unusual- it starts on the iii minor chord with an 11th in the melody. Then it goes into the bV key which then go into a bunch of min7 chords completely out of the key. Evans even does a very hip 7#9 substitution towards the end. Bringing DH into it reminds me of the time I was playing an Italian wedding, and the sax player starts playing "Femina" like King Curtis. The drummer yells at him, "Where the fuck do you think we are- on "Soul Train"?

I could agree with you on the first one, but "MMR"? Sure, it would've sounded better if it swung, but Ella already did that.

Great stuff. It's too bad the rock and/or roll had to push guys like Frank and Johnny Janis into Palookaville, but the Market must be satisfied!

I had to sit through an entire speech of WM's where he just mindlessly made comments like the one about Chopin and Liszt. I just started muttering curses out loud in disbelief. Even though the audience was composed of NYC Music and Art teachers, I don't think any of them understood what BS he was laying down. Between Crouch, Marsalis and Bloomberg, NYC has turned into a steaming pile of.....

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/ct-ent-1004-frank-drone-obit-20131003,0,4228665.column

WKCR is playing a mini-marathon of his music on their great "Soul Of Brazil" program right now.

I don't know why the link didn't come out, but here is a gathering of the JZ cult. The trio is the first clip: http://concertmanic.com/2013/10/01/john-zorns-metropolitan-museum-marathon/

Schapp....ratio of actual music to Schaap being Schaap? I stopped bothering anytime Schaap was involved with anything on WKCR. HTF? does he still have a job? Have already commented enough on what I think of Zorn these days. He probably composed 50-100 things in the time I took to post this. As in, The Gnostic Preludes isn't close to being new and he doesn't play a note on it, but it's his name that is featured. Okay, I am beating a dead horse. This was the Gnostic Preludes #3, that hasn't been released yet. Here's a link to a live performance by the trio. Some real pretty stuff JZ might have the same condition that Alan Hovannes was said to have- a kind of compositional diarreah, where the said person literally can't stop writing music. PS can literally kill with his voice. I recently woke up to him giving the life story of some deservedly obscure dixieland player in excruciating detail. I felt like he was trying to literally suffocate me with words, and had to turn it off. I recently heard a story about him, which would qualify him as the official "J.J. Hunsecker" of jazz. A musician had him over for dinner, and he started telling the guy that he was nothing without him. The guy's wife freaked, and they literally threw him the fuck out of their apartment!

Yes, you're right. This was GP #3. I don't know if that instrumentation has ever been done before- just harp, vibes and electric guitar, but JZ wrote some beautiful stuff for it. They played an interview with Frisell that was done last week right afterwards. BF said he was mainly reading on the new album. very little improv on his part.

I've listened to John Zorn's music every day on WKCR this month, and today was the last day of his 60th birthday celebration. He went out in style by co-hosting with Phil Schaap, and playing some cuts from his new album, Gnostic Preludes. I can't say I liked everything I heard this month, but the Masada group with Marc Ribot ( they used to call him to sub for me in a band I used to play in- now I know why they called him) was very enjoyable. The new album, Gnostic Preludes, has some beautiful music featuring Bill Frisell, a vibes player and a harpist. I managed to tape some of it with the old cassette player, but it won't be available on disc until December. I think you can download it on itunes, though.

Don't know the facts about Hersch's supposedly extremely wealthy family background (though the Do the Math interview has him playing on some expensive pianos as a boy), but as for him never having "had to work a day in his life," fact is he has quite literally worked a great deal over the years, i.e. been paid for playing music in public for people that AFAIK were not being paid off by Hersch in return for hiring him. Is your point then that, as someone who supposedly came from a very wealthy background, he should have played all those gigs for free? Also, the account of Hersch's life circumstances that he gives in passing in that interview hardly suggests that as an adult he has been living a life of great material ease, although I suppose he could have been playing things close to the vest financially in order to preserve the size of his supposed golden nest egg. But again, what do you want him to have done? Not play professionally at all? Further, if one feels as I do that Hersch on a good day is an interesting player, why should his supposed affluence make one think less of him as musician? I was just remarking on the fact that I had a conversation with a NYC musician last week who told me that FH came from a very wealthy family. He was bemoaning the fact that he didn't have the luxury that a guy like FH had, of being able to practice all day without having to be concerned with things like making the rent, eating, etc... I was careful to make no value judgements about FH, but some of you seem to think I was inferring something about him. I was surprised that EI made no reference to the fact that FH is the heir to some great fortune as my friend said, so maybe it isn't even true. However, if you read between the lines of that interview, there does seem to be some evidence that FH must have a substantial amount of money from some source other than music. I was a little surprised of the two pianists' dismissal of a giant like Oscar Peterson, while FH seemed to proclaim many times that he himself was the most swinging pianist around today. If you're going to proclaim that about yourself, and then dismiss OP- that seems a little odd... I just did some searching on the net, and his father is Henry Hersch, an attorney.

'You do the math.'

One thing I didn't hear mentioned was something someone mentioned to me about FH recently. He comes from an extremely wealthy family, and never had to work a day in his life. This might explain his ability to book gigs for $200, and pay famous musicians $100 each, while he got nothing.

Great sound on the Berigan record. When I was in HS, I played in a kid band organized by BB's clarinet/alto player Joe Dixon, and later did many gigs and recorded with him. He was interviewed on Phil Schaap's radio show, and they played one of the recordings we made, and Phil mentioned my name on air Joe was featured with Tommy Dorsey's Clambake Seven, and was a world class clarinetist. That picture of him on the link freaks me out...

I found this book in the NYPL after searching everywhere for it. AK gives his account of his time with Dylan, The Blues Project and founding BS&T, in addition to the music scene of NYC in the 60s. The highlight is a detailed account of the first BS&T LP, "CIFTTM", and how the band decided to oust AK as he tried to oust Steve Katz. According to Kooper, they didn't think he was a good enough singer/leader, and Bobby Colomby seemed to have really despised Kooper. Some other interesting little tidbits: AK wrote "Flute Thing" for the Blues Project based on a cadenza by Kenny Burrell on "some jazz tune". He did a session for the Simon Sisters (early Carly Simon LP) with gary McFarland arranging. Jerry Weiss (whom a friend of mine tells me was seriously mentally ill, and punched him out on the stand once) told Kooper "Go fuck yourself" onstage during the encore of their last show at the Garrick Theater, and Kooper resigned after that. "The Modern Adventures of Plato, Diogenes and Freud" was about a shrink AK knew of, who was an admirer of Timothy Leary, and used drugs in his sessions, while having sex with all his female patients. "Schoolteachers, junkies, real old dudes, pimps and winos" turned up at the open audition for the horn section in BS&T.

I don't have any more info, but very sad to hear...

The strangest record GM ever made was "Butterscotch Rum" on Buddah, with Peter Smith on vocals. I was at my local used records store, and the owner is a GM freak, and he played it in the shop. I asked him, "Who the hell is this?" He said, "Gary McFarland" I said, "What???" I bought it immediately.