Larry Kart

A post I made a few years back about the Chambers-Twardzik bio: Chambers' main flaws are that sometimes he doesn't know when he doesn't know something (e.g. a reference to a piece's "harmonics" when he means its harmonies) and that he likes to make sweeping assertions (seemingly for their own sake) that are both wrong and odd (e.g. Pacific Jazz's failure for 40 years to release the adventurous 1957 chamber music date that Bob Zieff scored for Chet Baker "effectively kept Baker on a musical diet of ballads for the rest of his days"). If you're writing a book about Twardzik, you should know your Chet Baker, and no one who does could say such a thing (quite a few of Baker's post-1957 recordings were urgent in tempo and hard-boppish in style). The book also includes one of the most amusing mis-transcriptions or typos I've ever seen. On p. 113, Chambers writes: "'I wasn't a bone-fried bopster, and Dick had outgrown it,' Bob Zieff told me." What Zieff said undoubtedly was "I wasn't a bona fide bopster".... etc., though I suppose a fair number of bopsters were "bone-fried" at one time or another.

Moms -- Compared Haugsand and Rannou's "La Mandoline" and discovered that what Rannou had done was to go back to the viola da gamba and harpsichord continuo originals and make her own transcriptions for the harpsichord! How different what she came up with is, she doesn't specify (though she speaks in general of the kinds of changes she made and why), but subjectively and IMO the results are terrific -- and whether it's because of her re-transcribing or just her interpretive approach in general, she a fair bit lighter on her feet rhythmically than Haugsand. I can certainly imagine that what Rannou did here would inspire controversy. OTOH, IIRC the transcriptions were not the work of Forqueray himself but of his son (though perhaps that issue is not settled), and the younger Forqueray was felt by some to not have been a composer in the same class as his father. BTW, speaking of bizarre works of latter-day transcription, check out Reger's piano four-hands transcriptions of Bach's Brandenburg Concerti and his Orchestral Suites: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHwuGVQlQ98&spfreload=10 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7nTfXargjM&list=PLiJnN4bTWJ125gpqktRwnc2Bw6nJwbW7h&spfreload=10

Moms -- whose Forqueray set was idiosyncratic, Rannou's or Rousset's? Dumped the latter, but IIRC it was like being hit over the head with lumpy sack of something or other, over and over. In part that's because the works themselves are so bass-heavy (transcriptions/adaptions of works for viol de gamba), but compared to Rannou, Rousset approach seemed almost sadistic; I felt, after hearing her recording, that Rousset deeply disliked this music and just wanted to dispose of it/ kick it into the crapper ASAP. I'll listen to Haugsand vis-a-vis Rannou when I get a chance.

I trust you have good sources on William Christie? I've only heard the opposite but that's regarding his music & decades of intrepidness... This is somewhat surprising to the extent Christie an American exile because of Vietnam but... if it takes a little whip to make Les Arts superior to whomever, say, Leonhardt, McGegan, Kuijken etc... so be it: for his Purcell, Lully, Charpentier, Rameau, even Mozart (excellent Seraglio & Zauberflote) alone, Christie can kick anyone he wants in the shawm. He wasn't a slouch harpsichordist either though I think he's largely been surpassed, not least by Rousset and Sempe. Royer v. Royer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31fTGxg9Qg8 Can't find my sources for Christie's nastiness right now, except one in which he was rude to a journalist -- a badge of honor many would say. Never heard a bad Christie recording with Christie on the podium and have heard many excellent ones. Like him as a harpsichordist on the Handel Violin Sonatas he did; much better than the set with Andrew NManze and (I think) Richard Egarr. Have fallen out of love for the most part with Rousset as a harpsichordist (his Forqueray set was virtually clueless compared to the one by Blandine Rannou, though I do like Rousset as a conductor. Sempe I like a lot.

Not to defend anyone's errors but weird to see that guy get so sooooOOOOO worked up, especially in the contexts of 1) Gunther Schuller's multifaceted career 2) a pretty long ass book 3) the vast room for potential error in the writing, editing, printing of any book... 3a) especially before computers 3b) though, paradoxically, older books generally have a far higher stand ardd of production, proofreading etc than contemporary ones 4) consider the errors that frequently in numerous composer's scores, as written, copied, published. I'd no more defend Schuller en toto than I would, say, Dick Sudhalther but his (their's) contributions to music(ology) are substantial. Pretty sure Richard Rodney Bennett orchestrated yet I await Darcy James Argue's trascriptions (choreography optional)-- I'd be more inclined to give Gunther a pass on his mis-transcriptions if it weren't for his lengthy (592 pages) book "The Compleat Conductor" http://www.amazon.com/Compleat-Conductor-Gunther-Schuller-ebook/dp/B004Y4UTAE/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1424547281&sr=1-6&keywords=gunther+schuller in which, in great detail, he rips a new asshole into virtually every conductor of note who ever lived for the crime of not following the score precisely. The only conductor who does follow the score precisely, according to Gunther? His initials are "GS." (This is not to say that Gunther is not an excellent conductor.) P.S. You mean Robert Russell Bennett, not Richard Rodney Bennett.

For some reason I thought of it as Jodie's album. Interesting Muhal piece on it, "Dream of Igor."

Damn. First heard him with the MJT+3, and then on Jodie Christian's Riverside album. Fine, individual player.

Chapter and verse on Schuller's erroneous transcriptions in "The Swing Era": http://dothemath.typepad.com/dtm/misunderstanding-in-blue-by-darcy-james-argue.html

I think Percy Brythe should be Percy Brice.

Also in the Jazz Masters series, Martin Williams' "Jazz Masters of New Orleans" and Richard Hadlock's "Jazz Masters of the Twenties." Could it be that the "Jazz Masters of the 40s" volume by Ira Gitler is being given short shrift here? Why? I may be biased because this was the first I read from that series (haven't read all of them yet anyway) and this was in my "formative years" so it had an impact but at any rate I Iike to revisit it from time to time, even though some of its findings may not reflect the latest state of the art anymore.B Jazz Masters of the Forties has a hallowed place on my bookshelf, as to to a lesser extent, does ...of the Fifties. As you say, they do date from my "formative years". I thought Ira's book was mentioned here under its current title "Swing To Bop." Whatever, it's essential. Those are different books, albiet ones about the same general subject matters, are they not? Oops. You're right. And both are essential. Over the years I've just smushed them together in my head.

Also in the Jazz Masters series, Martin Williams' "Jazz Masters of New Orleans" and Richard Hadlock's "Jazz Masters of the Twenties." Could it be that the "Jazz Masters of the 40s" volume by Ira Gitler is being given short shrift here? Why? I may be biased because this was the first I read from that series (haven't read all of them yet anyway) and this was in my "formative years" so it had an impact but at any rate I Iike to revisit it from time to time, even though some of its findings may not reflect the latest state of the art anymore.B Jazz Masters of the Forties has a hallowed place on my bookshelf, as to to a lesser extent, does ...of the Fifties. As you say, they do date from my "formative years". I thought Ira's book was mentioned here under its current title "Swing To Bop." Whatever, it's essential.

First Robert King, now Pickett. FWIW, I've heard that William Christie's behavior toward members of his HIP ensembles can be off-the-charts abusive, though not sexually abusive AFAIK. And how eager is Egarr? Quite clearly there's something askew about the HIP movement. But then the late Johannes Somary ran into big trouble along these lines, and Somary wasn't into HIP.

http://www.donaldclarkemusicbox.com/encyclopedia/detail.php?s=756 Nice interview with Copeland: http://ronanguil.blogspot.ie/2014/02/conversations-with-mr-kc-keith-copeland.html

Also in the Jazz Masters series, Martin Williams' "Jazz Masters of New Orleans" and Richard Hadlock's "Jazz Masters of the Twenties." For all its virtues, there are some significant problems with Gunther's "The Swing Era." For one thing, he doesn't get Tatum. For another, too often he pretends to an omniscience that he doesn't possess. Yes, no one does when dealing with that much material, but Gunther either doesn't know or won't admit that he doesn't know some things. And don't forget Martin Williams' "The Jazz Tradition," Brian Priestley's "Mingus," John Litweiler's heroic "The Freedom Principle," and "The Otis Ferguson Reader" (if you can find a copy). About Kelley's Monk book, it was conscientious about factual detail, but I seldom if ever had the feeling that Kelley had much sense of what made Monk's music special. A witty and wise autobiography for anyone who is interested in British jazz is Bruce Turner's "Hot Air, Cool Music."

I like it, too. Mike Abene arrangement, Lanny Morgan on alto.

This echoes post #3 above, but what the heck: My Mom loved classical music (her younger brother was an accomplished amateur violinist and boyhood friend of violinist Leonard Sorkin, founder of the Fine Arts Quartet), and she and my Dad went to CSO concerts et al. and had some record albums. As for me the young jazz fan, I pretty much thought that classical music, especially 19th Century orchestral music, was about the same thing as Mantovani -- sticky-sweet swooping and swooning. Then one day I put on a Vox Box set my Mom had of the Mozart String Quintets, and the light went on; it's never gone off. I think it was No. 5, K, 593, that caught my attention first -- the one with the slow intro (just solo cello at first), and then into "swing" so to speak. The logic of it all was amazing to me, still is: Later on in high school I had a friend who was into Webern and Schoenberg and who could actually play some of their things on the piano. Did a lot of listening there and am grateful that as a result much supposedly difficult modern music has always made sense to me -- the sorts of it that do in fact make sense, of course.

Haven't read it myself (need to remedy that), but I would guess that John Szwed's Miles bio would be the one to get: http://www.amazon.com/So-What-Life-Miles-Davis/dp/0684859823/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1424295251&sr=1-1&keywords=john+szwed

Thumbs up for Larry Gushee's "Pioneers of Jazz" http://www.amazon.com/Pioneers-Jazz-Story-Creole-Band/dp/0195161319/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1424275187&sr=1-1&keywords=lawrence+gushee Ross Firestone's "Swing, Swing, Swing: "The Life And Times of Benny Goodman," Humphrey Lyttleton's "The Best of Jazz" (I and II), Francis Newton's "The Jazz Scene," Gordon Jack's "Fifties Jazz Talk," Max Harrison's (ed.) "Modern Jazz: The Essential Recordings" I(if you can find it), Walter van de Leur's "Something to Live For: The Music of Billy Strayhorn," Peter Pettinger's "Bill Evans: How My Heart Sings," Brian Priestley's "Chasin' the Bird," Eunmi Shim's "Lennie Tristano," Andre Hodeir"s "Jazz: Its Evolution and Essence" and his "Toward Jazz," Bruce Talbot's "Tom Talbert," Andy Hamilton's "Lee Konitz," Richard Sudhalter's "Lost Chords," Safford Chamberlin's "Warne Marsh: An Unsung Cat," Max Harrison (ed.) "Jazz: The Essential Records" (several volumes, though the last one has some problems IMO), "Albert McCarthy's "Big Band Jazz," and many other books, including many that already have been mentioned.

Then there's this: "Besides her brother and mother, Gore is survived by her partner of more than three decades, Lois Sasson." Also, I recall reading somewhere that Gore played a major role in selecting the material she recorded, "It's My Party" in particular, and that in this respect she and Quincy were on equal footing or that Gore was even in the driver's seat, which is saying something for a 16 year old.

"Moonglow" -- that one caught my ear right away. And "Savin' All My Love for You."

What caught me about "Organic," was how song-like Braden's solos were, almost in a Wardell Grey or Teddy Edwards manner. If there is that strain in his makeup, perhaps it doesn't always get integrated with the hip, neo-hard bop side of his background.

Clem/Moms isn't an anti-semite, despite what some of you seem to have weirdly inferred. Further, I've always assumed that Moms is a landsman -- although we know that they're the worst kind.

A grand ol' anglo-saxon academic tradition, that ... and one that could indeed be stopped with little loss (except for U presses earning the sh*t ouf ot those books that every library all over the world has to buy). That doesn't include my book. Every year Yale U. Press tells me that I'm still in the hole to them for my modest advance against royalties. No problem, though -- I never expected to make a penny from it in the first place, just wanted to get the stuff out there.

Moms -- Yes, I was led to Zallman by that Boykan piano piece that's dedicated to her. I know of Zeisel, got at least one CD. Also, in the same general area, I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival of the four symphonies and complete piano music of Hans Gal. What I've heard on Spotify sounded terrific and, a la Zallman, without being at all outre, quite unlike any music of its era and background that I'd ever heard. Maybe like a cross between the early neoclassic Weill, the Strauss of the Metamorphosen, and Othmar Schoeck, if such a thing can be imagined. http://www.hansgal.com