Larry Kart

I hear what Jim is saying and take his account of Murray's development on faith, but I pretty much stopped listening to him some years ago because I had some of the same reactions as Jim did to the musical specifics of Murray's "Morning Song" and prior efforts and felt -- I don't know -- put off/angry/bewildered/whatever that a guy this unprepared, harmonically and rhythmically in particular, could be placed (or place himself) before the public in such a prominent manner. I know, everybody's got to begin someplace, but Murray's aura was that of a beginner pretending that he was hot shit. In turn, I smelled bull shit and/or a desire in some quarters to will a guy like Murray into being the guy Murray thought/was saying he was. I recall in particular a distastrous early '80s Murray engagment at the Jazz Showcase, with John Hicks, Ray Drummond, and Ed Blackwell. As I think I've said before here, Murray's time was so all over the place that he sounded like Charlie Ventura on roller skates. And playing "free" had nothing to do with it -- that wasn't the style that he and the group were going for, and what he was playing wouldn't have worked rhythmically in any context; no reliable sense at all in Murray's playing (at that time) of where "one" was, which left Blackwell particularly distressed. Typically perhaps, the review I wrote of the performance led to accusations that I was a racist.

Cooper's final studio album "For All We Know" (Fresh Sound) -- rec. 1990 with Lou Levy, Monty Budwig, and Ralph Penland -- is the best playing I've ever heard from him, often heartbreakingly soulful, as though he were thinking of June Christy (who died about two months before this date). Cooper also is in fine form, as is his frontline partner, on "The Bob Cooper-Conte Candoli Quintet" (VSOP -- rec. live in 1993, only two weeks before Cooper's death from a heart attack), but I'm not crazy about the bass-drum team here (John Leitham and Paul Kreibich). The rhythm section on "For All We Know" is in a different league.

"I just think...........we should discuss narcissism.........in the jazz community of course........any examples come to mind??" Yes. Reportedly, Stan Getz washed his hands BEFORE urinating.

'Cause he's got a sound as big as all outdoors? Actually I've got some Johansson on an album by drummer/composer Peter Danemo that I like, "Kapell" (Dragon). Nice solo work there too by trumpeters Flemming Agerskov and Staffan Svensson.

Clem, I'm sorry to hear what you say about the availibility of the book, but I'm not surprised. I think I've detected several disconnects on the line that runs back and forth from Yale U. Press to bookstores of various sorts (chains and independents) and to the distribution firms (e.g. Baker and Taylor) that usually serve as middlemen. First, the attention that Yale's editorial and sales forces are prepared to give an item like this appears to be minimal and/or distracted. For instance, after Kevin Whitehead named it toward the end of Dec. as one the best jazz books of the year on "Fresh Air," I sent an e-mail about this to my editor, to which she replied "Wonderful news." Two weeks later, she mentioned the "Fresh Air" thing in an e-mail to me (because she'd just seen it mentioned in an internal Yale U.P. newsletter) and asked if I was aware of the broadcast. I reminded her that I'd brought it to her attention in the first place. Second, a number of people have told me that when they ordered the book at their local Barnes & Noble store, they were told that the book was out of the stock at the distributor and wouldn't be back in stock for three weeks to a month. When I mentioned this problem to my editor, it immediately became clear that at Yale the editorial folks at aren't supposed to talk to the sales or distribution folks. Finally, a friend told me that when he tried to buy the book at a supposedly quality independent bookstore in Manhattan, St. Marks Books (I think that's the name), they not only didn't have it in stock but the clerk also did everything he could to discourage him from placing an order for it, apparently because doing so would involve more effort than the clerk was willing to expend at that moment. I'm beginning to think that many of the problems of the American book business are of its own making.

OK, lp -- one more time. Leonard Feather "did a lot of nasty things to people (read: musicians) etc." Agreed. But how do we get from there to "the Jewish race"? BTW, if you think Feather is "still considered a decent guy by most," I think you need to do your homework. I'd say that at least half the people who have ever heard of Feather are well aware of the more unsavory sides of his behavior.

Trolling (so to speak) back through lp's posting history to see where he might be coming from, I found this gem about Joe Segal of the Jazz Showcase, whom lp had called a "bastard" for not putting out on commercial recordings more of the material he had taped at the club over the years. This used of "bastard" led someone (I think it was Sal) to reply that Segal could more accurately be characterized as grouchy -- to which lp replied: "it's all about money with these people. that's why he's a 'bastard.'" Ah, yes -- "these people." Also if Feather is "just a piece of shit who HAPPENED to be Jewish [my emphasis]," how, again, was he "a huge ugly blotch on the jewish race in the jazz world"? Go ahead, lp, take your dog out for a walk but don't then insist that it's a pussy cat.

lp -- Enlighten me on how Leonard Feather was " a huge ugly blotch on the jewish race in the jazz world." Yes, Leonard was a self-promoting jerk in many respects, but how does one's feelings about that behavior transfer to the "race"? Are you saying that Feather's behavior springs from and relates specifically to his Jewishness? Sticking with promoter/record biz types, Alfred Lion is generally regraded as a man of sterling reputation and high achievement. If you agree (perhaps you don't), does Lion being the man he was amount to a huge lovely bouquet to "the Jewish race"? If you agree, staying in this realm, that John Hammond was somewhat equivocal figure in many respects, is Hammond then "a huge ugly blotch" on White Anglo-Saxon Protestants?

Bill is a longtime friend, one of the nicest, brightest guys I know. If you ever see the two Sea Breeze LPs by his nonet, "Infant Eyes" and "What It Is To be Frank," don't hesitate. Bill wrote some lovely charts for Lee Konitz's nonet -- I remember "Footprints" in particular, on the Steeplechase album "Yes, Yes, Nonet." At the time (late '70s), Bill was a student of Lee's, and thereby hangs a tale. Back in 1969-70, when I was at Down Beat, I enthusiastically reviewed Lee's album "Spirits." Bill, then a high school student in Youngstown, Ohio, read it, got the album, and, so he later told me, made a vow to study with Lee one day if possible. In recent years, Bill, who used to play alto, tenor, and clarinet too, has focused only on the soprano. IMO he has the best sound on that instrument of any one playing today -- incredibly pure and in tune but not too thin; the way he can lean into a note, expanding and contracting the vibrato the way a potter shapes wet clay on a wheel, is something else. The soprano rolls over on its back, puts its paws up in the air, and purrs for him. You can hear Bill at his best as a player on the 1997 A Records album (a division of the Danish label Challenge -- probably available from their website) "Some Enchanted Evening," duets with pianists Marc Copland, Mike Abene, and Harold Danko. Also, Bill is the editor/creator of "The Oxford Companion To Jazz."

No, that's me. But don't believe those liner notes. Last time I listened to the record, I thought that while there are some wild moments in the good sense, mostly it's out of control -- undoubtedly for the reason Chuck mentioned.

There's a plane crash in it that's the most remarkable I've ever seen on the screen -- and not just from a special effects point of view; it's a powerful storytelling episode, maybe the most powerful in the movie. On the other hand, it's damn hard to make an epic about a psycho of Hughes' type. Scorsese did his best, but maybe a movie about a man like Hughes called for a smaller budget and Luis Bunuel.

Got a copy today, have listened to the first three tracks and am very impressed. Per the discussion on another thread of how to write behind soloists, listen to how Phil's figures inspire Pete Christlieb. Fine recording job too.

Dan's account of what led up to that day and what happened during it is in Chilton's book. Reading between the lines, I'm sure he had doubts about proceeding with the show (of course it could have gone on with just Roy Eldridge and the rhythm section), but I would say, based on what I remember, that a) Hawkins very much wanted to play and b) and, as Dan's account makes clear, dealing with the shocking fact of Hawkins' condition when he arrived at the airport and its emotional impact on everybody, especially Dan, Hawkins' insistence that he be released from the hospital where he had been taken from the airport, and the practical problems of then getting him from his hotel to the TV studio, once he had eaten something (the doctor who examined him said that the problem was malnutrition) and began to feel better, built up a lot of pressure and momentum in what was only a short period of time -- and then there was an even shorter period of time once everyone got to the studio.

Lazaro -- Honestly I don't remember. All I recall was how worried Dan Morgenstern (my boss at Down Beat then, who had brought Hawkins to town without being aware of how far gone he was) and I, and others too were about Hawkins' condition -- both in terms of his ability to play and his general physical/emotional well-being. I'm sure there were thoughts of not letting him get up on the stand, but that's what he wanted to do, and it seemed like it would have been humiliating to try to stop him. It also seemed clear that he had only a short time to live, that there was nothing anyone could do about it or that he wanted anyone to do about it. I recall, too, hoping that there might be some way to protect and preserve his dignity under the circumstances. (As it turned out, the next day at the airport I got a chance to do something that might have helped some there.) Having since been around other people shortly before they died, I think I understand what was going on a bit better now, but still...

Allen's mention of the West End Cafe reminds of a time I caught Hal Singer there in the late '70s. I knew him mostly from "Blue Stompin'" (now on OJC), and he was at least that strong in person.

The Town Crier label still exists http://www.towncrierrecordings.com/catalog/index.htm and they have a Lance Hayward album with France on some tracks, though it's not the same material I have on those Town Crier cassettes. If there are any Roland Hanna fans out there, his Town Crier solo album may be his best recording. Terrific sound too.

I've got two commercially released cassettes on the Town Crier label under the leadership of pianist Lance Hayward (a kind of Eddie Heywood/cocktailish type) -- "That's All!" and "Live at Eddie Condon's" -- the former with France and Buddy Tate, plus Major Holley and drummer Clarence "Tootsie" Bean, the latter with the same lineup minus Tate ( Rec. in March and April 1984.) France is in great form, as is Tate, and the sound quality is exceptional for live recordings.) Town Crier was the creation of Claudia Marx. She also produced a nice solo album by Roland Hanna, and one that paired Flip Phillips with Toronto-based pianist Carol Britto.

Now that I've reread Shelton's email, what he meant was that Dragons 1976 was in Georgia in the midst of a 10-day tour but not a 10-day tour OF Georgia.

Whoa -- I think should write about it myself. Pass the coffee.

Chris -- What puzzles me is that Chilton, unlike Dahl, had no malicious or self-serving agenda that I could detect; also, he may not have been taping the interview, just taking notes. My best guess is that this kind of paraphrase was/is the norm for some writers, though of course it shouldn't be. Again, what bugs me about this is that he took an incident that I was thrust into by circumstance and that shook me up as few things I've ever been party to have done and, by genteely rephrasing in what I said, sort of painted me as a blase neo-British twit. Twit I may be, but I was far from blase that day. Maybe the answer is to right about it myself.

No -- it's Ed Partyka, a bass trombonist, born in Chicago, a resident of Cologne.The album is "Madly Loving You" (Challenge) and features Bob Brookmeyer as soloist. The other pieces are by Bill Holman, Maria Schneider, Partyka, Brookmeyer, etc. Personnel seems to be drawn from the NDR Big Band.

Correction: The writing on "Drum Suite" was split between Albam and Ernie Wilkins, though I'll bet Billy Byers was in the trombone section. Also, the four drummers on the album were Osie Johnson, Teddy Sommer, Gus Johnson, and Don Lamond. I think, mercifully, it was one drummer for each movement of the suite, though there may have been some all-in stuff too. (The writing, I recall, had a lot of what they used to call in the musical theater "fire in the whorehouse" stuff, the kind of music that would be played while male dancers ran around in circles holding female dancers horizontal above their heads at arms length.) Four years later, in 1960, RCA made "Son of Drum Suite," with arrangements by Al Cohn. Never heard that one, but a lot of copies of "Drum Suite" must have been sold.

About Chilton's book on Hawkins, it seemed basically solid to me, but there is an odd aspect to it that perhaps someone knows enough to comment on. I was the person who took Hawkins to O'Hare airport after his disastrous late April 1969 trip to Chicago to record a public TV show with Roy Eldridge and to play a Sunday afternoon (4/20/69) concert at the North Park Hotel. (I think Hawkins flew out on Monday; he died on May 19.) I gave Chilton an account in a telephone interview of what happened when we got to O'Hare, but while this passage is placed in quotes (i.e. as though these were my actual words), they're not. Chilton doesn't add to or subtract anything from what I told him, but I swear it's a somewhat British-ized paraphrase of what I actually said, and includes several strings of words (e.g. "I'm normally diffident in the face of officialdom..." "...he looked at me with a gaze of appreciation as he went aboard" ) that not only were not spoken by me but probably could not have emerged from the mouth of any American. I've never known what to make of this.

I have grim memories of Albam's "Drum Suite" (RCA), a big, empty production-number thing (two tracks to a side) that featured a big band of the usual NYC-studio suspects of the mid-1950s and four drummers -- Osie Johnson and Teddy Sommer are the names I recall; Charlie Persip might have been one of the other two. On the other hand, Albam's "Jazz Workshop" album for RCA from about that time has some genuinely clever/heady writing. Albam seemed to have two gears -- generic (as Chuck said) and something more personal. There's a longish Albam piece of recent vintage on an album on the Challenge label, featuring a German radio big band led by a U.S. trombonist/arranger whose name I can't recall. (Ed somebody, maybe? -- Challenge no doubt has a website where it can be tracked down.) In any case, this piece struck me, again, as empty and a good bit more pretentious than "Drum Suite." On the other hand, Albam, who's gone now, was much respected by several musicians I respect. I don't think he played his instrument (bari. sax) on record after his time in the Charlie Barnet band.

In case anyone is interested in those two self-produced albums by altoist/composer Arma Shelton that I've touted on this thread -- Dragons 1976's "On Cortez" and Arrive's "Arrive" -- I got in touch with Shelton, who says that he still has copies he'd be happy to sell. He's at aramshelton@yahoo.com but won't be able to act on this immediately because he and Dragons 1976 are in the midst of a 10-day tour of Georgia. There are 10-days worth of places to play in Georgia? Who knew? (BTW, I have no financial interest in this.)