Larry Kart

One of the best religious holidays imaginable; almost the whole story wrapped up in one story. I suggest Shelly Manne's "My Son the Jazz Drummer" (Contemporary), reissued on OJC under another title ("Desert Sands"?)

I can't take much McRae after her Decca days, too much self-regarding spin on the ball. Maybe the dividing line for me is her Columbia Billie Holiday tribute album from 1961, a fine date in many ways (Lockjaw!) but McRae's singing is beginning to verge on the studied and near-rigid, though one could understand why a Holiday tribute album might put any singer of standing and ego on edge. Based on seeing her in clubs a few times, I felt that one of McRae's problems was that she basically hated standing at the mike -- the female-object aspect of that, perhaps. When she sat down at the piano and accompanied herself (the way she'd started out, and she was a good pianist), she seemed to be an entirely different and much happier person. Ella, by contrast, could be said to put too little spin on the ball in terms of interpretation and personality, but once recognized (and it took me a while) the basic interior musical qualities of her singing -- tone, time, and timbre -- are marvelous. As for story-telling, late in her career, when her chops began to falter a bit, she could break your heart. (There are few Pablo albums that capture that.) Can't stand her scat singing. About Mr. Bennett, we've heard that song before, but I ask you or anyone else to track down the reissued stuff he did (originally on his own label in the 1970s) with Ruby Braff and George Barnes. Listen to "Lover" in particular; it's a great performance -- the execution of course but also the conception. TB sings it sotto voce as though, a la the lyric, the words literally were being addressed to a woman with whom he's dancing. TB after his MTV "return," not so much.

Just got a phone call out of the blue from Roscoe, who asked if I could send him copies of some things I wrote about him back then for a talk he was going to give in a few days about that period to a class at Mills College, where he teaches now. I mentioned the story I told earlier in this thread, about hearing him for the first time at that mid-1960s session with Elvin (half-afraid that I might have half-made it up or just distorted it), and Roscoe remembered it as though it had happened yesterday, including the name of the tenor player (Bob Poulian) whom he joined onstage and the fact that he himself left the club right afterwards -- figuring, he explained, that things seemed to have gone pretty well, and he'd better leave it at that.

I'm pretty sure Chuck Nessa has some thoughts about this. I recall a post of his about how Clark Terry's "In Orbit," with Monk, didn't have the impact it could have, as fine as it is, because the track order was not what it should have been. On the other hand, the track order on Warne Marsh's "All Music" (Nessa) is perfect IMO.

IIRC, Concord doesn't own that Kamuca material; it was material that they leased, and the rights probably reverted to Kamuca and thence to his estate.

Mark -- If you've got some or most of your stuff of on your computer at home or on an archive at work you can leaf through, why not post a few things you like here?

I see that none of those pieces is a review per se, but Mark did send me some of his things about six months ago, and they were very good.

typic Nate Chinen bullshit & nonsense-- typin' loud & saying NOTHING. tickets were way too expensive for edc-- at least Marty gives us freebies, too bad it was for the Stones. (better than Nate Chinen but what the fuck ain't?) Chinen has caught Ratliff's Disease, which leads me to think that it's probably generic to jazz writers at the Times. The problem, if I'm right, is simple -- you've got to come up with a way of talking about jazz that is addressed to no one (certainly not anyone who knows anything about the music) but sounds kinda lofty/writerly, with a side order at times of fake hip. Thus, bullshit and nonsense. In fact, one of the basic challenges in journalistic criticism of any art is to begin by not excluding anyone and then -- almost immediately and semi-invisibly -- get to the point; and that would be the same damn point one would make if one were locked in a room with, say, EDC, C. Nessa, and Sangry. You can't have one set of thoughts for the paper and another for your friends. Mark Stryker is a good current example of how to do it. Where are Mark's pieces published, Larry? I'm hoping that I can build up my immunity to the dreaded Ratliff's Disease. Detroit Free Press: http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=COL17

typic Nate Chinen bullshit & nonsense-- typin' loud & saying NOTHING. tickets were way too expensive for edc-- at least Marty gives us freebies, too bad it was for the Stones. (better than Nate Chinen but what the fuck ain't?) Chinen has caught Ratliff's Disease, which leads me to think that it's probably generic to jazz writers at the Times. The problem, if I'm right, is simple -- you've got to come up with a way of talking about jazz that is addressed to no one (certainly not anyone who knows anything about the music) but sounds kinda lofty/writerly, with a side order at times of fake hip. Thus, bullshit and nonsense. In fact, one of the basic challenges in journalistic criticism of any art is to begin by not excluding anyone and then -- almost immediately and semi-invisibly -- get to the point; and that would be the same damn point one would make if one were locked in a room with, say, EDC, C. Nessa, and Sangry. You can't have one set of thoughts for the paper and another for your friends. Mark Stryker is a good current example of how to do it.

Yes, on April 15 I put the Bourse before the art.

Would like to be there but am afraid I'll be hung up picking up and mailing tax returns before the deadline.

I like the album. Zoot is in very fresh, lively form, and while I could see where some people might find Hipp a bit stolid rhythmically, I'd prefer to call her sober. Also, there's a Tristano-ish melodic connectedness to her thinking that I find appealing and individual.

Very cool. The way he indicates the rhythms toward the end with that sideways shoulder-arm move!

Would that be the 'Cat Meets Chick' session for MGM recorded in 1954 that is included on Clark Terry's Emarcy session Verve Elite CD? In this case the 'chicks', according to the cover art, are Terry Pollard (vibes), Norma Carson (tpt), Corey Hecht (harp), Mary Osborne (gtr), Elaine Leighton (dms) and Bonnie Wetzel (bass). Yes.

Interesting piece here (translation follows the German original): http://www.katekaiser.com/articles/Jutta_H...ly_2006_new.pdf Note in particular Leonard Feather's attempt to hit on her, after which (Hipp turned him down) he switched from being her fervent backer to putting her down in print. Methinks that this is a pattern that one could run across throughout Mr. Feather's life -- not that he slept with George Shearing, but I'm trying to think of other female artists that Leonard praised and promoted. I vaguely recall an all-female combo that he assembled for a recording but don't remember who was in it.

I love People, Places and Things the one time I heard them. The concept really worked -- the material is interesting (I'm old enough to have heard some of it the first time around), the heads were played accurately and with passion, and the soloists then were able to do their own things without breaking faith with the material. Ward was inspired. Ajemian is a chance-taker, but I have heard a player on the scene (who admires Ajemian) say, "He can't really play the bass." I didn't quiz him on this but am pretty sure that he meant that Ajemian's musical skill-set is intense and novel but very home-grown and not broad, and if that he's faced with material that's not in his bag, he'd have trouble adjusting. On other hand, I believe (and I think my informant would agree) that if JA were that different along those lines, he might not be the unique, valuable musician he is. Further -- and this is my thought alone -- if my informant's view of JA is accurate, I think it's a tribute to and sign of the nature of this scene that a guy like JA is listened and reacted to by his colleagues with the interest and respect that he deserves. I may be wrong, I can imagine a lot of scenes where that wouldn't be the case.

More straightahead, lyrical, and swinging for the most part, but Ajemian's inherent spacy (in the best sense) foxiness is omnipresent. The feel factor is just different and probably unique. Again, the liner notes make the nature and quality of the mind that's at work here pretty clear.

http://www.lacitybeat.com/cms/story/detail...165&id=4153 His comments on Kenny Clarke's drumming are acute.

Yes, I was assistant editor at Down Beat (that meant there were two of us on the editorial side, plus a saintly/brilliant production manager Gloria Baldwin) under Dan Morgenstern in 1969-70. I did some writing, a lot of editing and corralling of contributors and their work, plus we laid out the magazine. In many ways it was a dream -- working with Dan was an education in itself, plus he's one of the best, kindest people I know (we've stayed in touch), except that I was making maybe $5,200 a year and after year one the so-called old man, John T. Maher, who had promised me a raise if I didn't screw up, died and was succeeded by his son, Jack, who told me that he knew nothing about his father's promise, and if I didn't like it I could go f--- myself. I replied in kind, and that was that. My predecessor was Bill Quinn; I was followed by Jim Szantor, who later became a friend when we both worked at the Chicago Tribune. Jim was a genius copy editor and a very smart, funny, soulful guy. He also was the world's Number One fan of Sal Nistico. Bill Quinn I didn't know that well except that he moved on to Playboy, where he no doubt was much better paid. His main legacy to me was that a young woman who worked at DB that summer in some quasi-secretarial role was a big pal of his (may in fact have sotto voce been in love with him -- Quinn definitely was a handsome, very well-dressed, cool dude) and as a result so it seemed decided that I, Quinn's replacement, was inherently despicible. (Perhaps Quinn left in part because of friction with the old man about pay or something as well as because he could hook up with Playboy -- I don't know -- and she knew about this and thought that I was a figurative dagger in Quinn's back; or maybe she just despised me on the spot, without any trimmings or back story.) In any case, this young woman (who was fairly attractive) stared daggers of hate at me all summer, which was unnerving, in part because our desks were placed so that every time I looked up she was looking right at me, like the mask of Medusa. Eventually the rather wounding aspects of this were mitigated by my dawning awareness that she was pretty close to nuts; not only did she look like a much prettier version of Louise Lasser, she was maybe five times as neurotic, which is saying something.

I'm a good guesser; Haldeman is 29: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea...endID=122442377

--- with tenorman Tim Haldeman, trumpeter Jaimie Branch, guitarist Matt Schneider, Jason Adasiewicz on marimba. Haldeman, one hell of a player, was somehow new to me until about six weeks ago, when I heard him a group led by drummer Mike Reed -- he has hair, teeth, and claws, plus he sounds like an adult, not a kid, though he's probably short of 30. Jaimie is in great, relaxed form, almost Tony Fruscella-like at times; I've long been a fan of the not that often heard, even in terms of number of gigs Schneider, etc. The album was produced by the musicians themselves (in this case a very good thing) and recorded (beautifully) by Tanaka. Ajemian's soulful liner notes are worth a look too. Disclaimer: My only connection with these people is music-based admiration and resulting (in some cases) "Hey, how are you?" acquaintances-friendships.

Interesting comment I wouldn't have thought of made at the time of the Post article by a woman who successfully plays the musical saw in NYC subway stations and who also has this blog: http://sawlady.com/blog/ The Washington Post published an article about an experiment they did: they got Joshua Bell, one of the best violinists in the world, to play incognito in a subway station. They wanted to see if without the PR he usually gets for his stage performances anybody would stop to listen. The result was - hardly anybody stopped to listen. The Washington Post analyzed it as if it were the fault of the audience, the passers by, for not recognizing such a great musician. I say - it wasn’t the fault of the passers by at all. The thing is Joshua Bell is a great violinist but he doesn’t know how to busk. There are violinists who are not even close to being as good as he is (such as Jim Grasec or Lorenzo LaRock), yet they get crowds to stop and listen to them. It’s because when you play on the street you can’t approach it as if you are playing on a stage. Busking is an art form of its own. You need to be as good a musician as to audition for any stage gig (the competition over permits is fierce) but in addition to that you have to relate to the audience and be a real people’s person. You can’t hide behind your instrument and just play, with an invisible wall between you and the audience, the way a stage performance is conducted. In busking you use the passers by as if they were paint and your music is the paint brush - your goal is to create a collective work of art with the people, in the space, in the moment with you and the music. A busker is someone who can turn any place into a stage. Obviously, Joshua Bell needs an actual stage. As a busker one needs to interact with those around, break walls of personal space, and lure people into a collective and spontaneous group experience on the street, in the moment, with you. A bad busking act is when the performer doesn’t make an effort to connect with the audience. Like musicians who play for themselves, not acknowledging the audience, just burying their heads in their instruments. IMHO that is why Joshua Bell didn’t get lots of people to stop and listen.

Nice interview with Grist, who is a remarkable person as well as a remarkable singer: http://www.usoperaweb.com/2003/spring/grist.htm

It's in black and white, Austrian TV broadcast, but the sound is good and the performances and production are ideal. Reri Grist is Zerbinetta, likewise Juranic as The Composer, and Thomas as Bacchus sings his f------ brains out, which is what the role demands. And the work itself probably is the acme of the Strauss-Hofmannstahl collaboration, which is saying something. And Bohm and Vienna Philarmonic!

Yes they did --- Craft.