Lazaro Vega

Had the chance to hear this music twice, once in Chuck's basement, and then again last fall as we drove down to Ann Arbor to hear Ornette. There's so much to the experience, as you said being a witness to history -- but the music is fresh at that point in their careers. Hearing a part of the arrangement of "Salt Peanuts" which never made it past this peformance on to record; or comparing some of Dizzy's solos here with the Massey Hall versions; and to hear the response Sid Catlett gets when he sits-in really puts the newness of Diz and Bird in perspective: they were not the stars that night, they were the opening act. Who could even imagine that today, that Bid Sid would get a huge round of applause as Max steps away? It really is too bad that the Garner Estate won't play ball because that quintet with Buck Clayton and Don Byas coming out with the Bird and Diz music would make this an even more amazing snapshot of time. As it is, however, to dwell on what isn't at the expense of what is there would be too typical of the time we live in now.

Yes, Larry, especially in the music of Sun Ra -- "The "Magic City," for instance -- the structure seems to be spontaneously arrived at. What is the principle organizing element of a performance when song form, harmonic pathway, meter and dynamics are open to the myriad interpretations "free" implies? "Holding" isn't the right word -- structures supporting the music is more to the point. And whether that's the bit of theme in Ornette's "Free Jazz" or Coltrane's "Ascension," or Cecil Taylor's "Unit Structures" concept, all of those methods seem particular to the leader (and yes, they are "mere" starting points which ultimately are driven by the improvisations). Thus the quandry, and perhaps the troubles you and Allen are alluding to, much to Chuck's delight: how is one influenced by this music? You touch on that in the Bill Evans chapter, somewhat -- how people avoided the issue of dealing with the breakthrough in Ornette's music, et. al. Man, I'm really enjoying your connectedness to the artist's emotional message throughout this book. Believe me, how many times have listeners called to rant about "a cat walking on a piano" (No man, he's playing with his hands and sometimes forearms, but I'm pretty sure that cat was sitting down), or "that's a duck call" (in response to Interstellar Space) or "a third grade band could play that" (in response to Albert Ayler)? Heard it all at some point (thankfully followed by the curious calling to find out more). So I hear what you're saying about Freedom and shucking. Even at its best the music is misunderstood by the business minded culture we live in. p.s. Your comment some months ago about Malaby playing nothing that resembles a melody (a paraphrase at best) where instead he jumps from harmonic node to harmonic node isn't born out by some of the encounters I've had with his music, especially "Adobe" (Sunnyside), a trio date with Paul Motion on drums where he plays "Humpty Dumpty" beautifully. In an interview he did with us here at the station during a live hit (with his wife Angelica Sanchez on Wurlitzer keyboard and drummer Tom Rainey) he mentioned some of the music in that band was based on "interval studies" as well as their long playing history (6 years and going). They really came on like a band. Perhaps the "all-star" attitude premeates every style of jazz and in those situations there's just nothing to go on except politeness. Not that I'm making an excuse for what you were talking about above, but so much of jazz these days seems made for being accepted at dinner parties, and the musicians come on like that. (Alphonse and Gaston by Cootie and Rex -- now that shit was funny!).

I remember reading some of these pieces in the Trib, Larry, and the brevity of your writing, the compression of the ideas and the smoothness of jounalistic process at its best comes back to me as the highest standard. "Listening to him [Philly Joe Jones] is like watching someone weave lace out of barbed wire..." Sounds like you had some interesting Grand Parents, there, Larry. lol. Damn, that's a great image. "Holding the improvisations." When the music reached the point after Ornette and Miles where "anything was possible," the challenge to the ensemble was what structure will be designed to "hold the improvisations" and how will that structure be arrived at? (Basic Nessa observation, by the way). Same thing happened in Europe when that intellectual plateau was reached, except they had a more or less agreed upon system with 12-tone and it evolutionists. In jazz there's a multiplicity of answers and processes to the challenge -- and those are the guys who you mentioned, the top drawer artists of the so-called avant-garde. The example they set, above all others, is if anything is possible first be yourself. A self informed by history and education and group interplay of ideas, but ultimately the music you make should sound like you. Which is a sort of oblique lesson if you're a musician looking for some licks to cop or some other form of influence (i.e. the emotional message you point out). Emotionally and musically it would seem those great musicians of the post-'59 era still have much to offer "the tradition." But in today's commerce drivin world those lessons appear mystical or cryptic. Just some thoughts here during "nap time." LV

Good question, Allen. Would be interested in reading that, too. Recall seeing a downbeat review of a Muhal Richard Abrams Delmark recording by Larry where he notices that after the head the solos have little relation to it. In any case, Larry, there were a few paragraphs of response I had down when the power went out here. Now the kids are up and my attention is frequently interrupted. For instance the baby just pulled about a 50 piece puzzle off the shelf and all over the floor. Really, on New Year's we had two other kids over from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. and then spent the next three hours picking up. Fell down on the couch, opened up some champagne and toast -- Happy New Year! It was a RIOT. There were grass skirts involved, Frankenstein hands, and big long horn blasters. But, no, the idea was not yours. However, it did seem to fit with what you were asking about where does one go emotionally from Roscoe? The notion of "holding" an improvisation comes from something I really can't write about right now. Got to go stop a fight.

Just picked this up tonight and reading the ending chapters first, Larry -- really enjoy how your point of view includes the emotions communicated (or not) in the music of the current scene. A lot of people seem to be struggling with why no one wants to listen to the jazz in school "style" -- to point out that it is too homogenous from an emotional point of view seems obvious. I'm afraid I'm going to have to spin a seque set of "I Like the Sun Rise" and that piece you mentioned of Wynton's. Mulling over your observations on how Armstrong expanded possiblilties for individual sounds, while Parker, perhaps, limited them. Interesting, too, about the avant-garde. It is true that the challenge is, "If anything is possible what will hold the improvisation?" Cecil, Ornette, Sun Ra, Ayler, Trane, the Art Ensemble all came up with their own "musical universe" to deal with that question. Never thought of that as limiting, though, just a challenge to others to do the same. Just started reading, so....

Al, I knew that was you when I went to the Muskegon B&N and they said, "Oh, Mr. Kart's book came in yesterday." Then came back without it, saying, "It must have been a special order." I'm waiting for those boogaloo brothers, too. LV

Spontooneous, I think you have something there. Wow. Yeah, that is it. Isn't it? Now, after some time has passed, going back to it, that section doesn't sound like "Yesterdays" or "Body and Soul" as much as it does "Round Midnight." One of the reasons this came up in the musician's forum is because you all have the ears, or transcription skills, to say yeah or nay on the basis for some of these speculations. But, Spoontaneous, I think you win the cupie doll. Anyone else hear that?

Here's part of a letter I wrote to a friend in broadcasting that includes the web streaming rules for radio.... I’ve been meaning to write to you about the Internet Streaming Regulations for some time... I spoke to this man today and he cleared a lot of this up for me: Gary R. Greenstein Vice President, Business and Legal Affairs Recording Industry Association of America, Inc. 1330 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite 300 Washington, D.C. 20036 (w) 202.828.0126 © 202.302.2444 (f) 202.775.7253 These rules come out of a Federal Law passed by Congress in the 1990’s, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and the Sound Recording Performance Compliment, 17-USC-114 (j) (13) which lays out the rules for the transmission of copy righted material on the web. NPR made a private deal with a division of the RIAA called Sound Exchange which covers royalties for all member stations, but there are still certain statutory limits a web caster must comply with in order to retain their compulsory license to distribute sound recordings over the Internet. These include, 1) The Internet service cannot be distributed on a subscription basis. 2) the Internet service cannot be interactive or “on-demand.” That means your service cannot allow listeners to select a particular recording, whether or not as part of a program. 3) You cannot publish or distribute a program schedule or list of the titles of the specific sound recordings that will be transmitted in advance. 4) There are limitations on the number of tracks you can play from the same CD, album or cassette (“CD”), limitations on the number of songs by the same artist, and limitations on how many songs from the same CD or artist can be transmitted consecutively. In any three (3) hour period you can transmit up to three (3) different selections of sound recordings from any one CD, but you can transmit no more than two (2) consecutively. Additionally, in any three (3) hour period you can transmit up to four (4) different selections of sound recordings from the same featured artist, or up to four (4) different selections of sound recordings from any set or compilation CD’s, but you can transmit no more than three (3) consecutively. 5) there are restrictions on the webcasting of continuous, looped programs of less than three hours duration and on the number of times that a program may be repeated during a two-week period. You can transmit a program that is longer than one hour and that includes performances of sound recordings up to four times in any two week period that have been publicly announced in advance. If the program is less than one hour long, you can transmit the program up to three times in any two week period that have been publicly announced in advance. From NPR legal, as passed to me from WEMU, “The license from RIAA is contingent on station’s strict conformity with these provisions of the Digital Millennum Copyright Act. If you do not comply with the requirements, the license is void. Your station would be liable for damages for copyright infringement. Moreover, violations will create problems the next time we try to negotiate with the RIAA. While your station may not be so concerned, it is of great concern to many others relying on this, and future licenses. If you do not intend to abide by the terms of the licenses, you must not use them, and if you’re an NPR station, you must advise NPR. Your station’s name will be removed form the list of licensed stations that we provide to the RIAA and you will be operating without any license.” Now, the good news: after speaking with Mr. Greenstein today I learned you can seek a WAIVER of the restrictions of the statutory license provisions of the Sound Recording Compliment from the copyright holder, provide a report of use to the Sound Exchange, and detail in a cover letter that you have these statutory license waivers. That is, write a letter to the labels servicing you and ask their permission to use their music outside of these restrictions during this time period on this program for this duration. Which is exactly what I’m going to do. It only needs to be a sentence. For me, given the amount of historical programming we do, this will be essential. So that’s the story. Many stations outside of NPR are ignorant and in non-compliance of these laws. It’s really amazing.

WEMU hipped me to these rules. I'll post the restrictions after I get to work tonight. A lot of stations are just going their merry way, ignorant or in non-compliance with the law. We just can't risk that.

See, there's the rub: each station is responsible for ALL of the programming they web cast, and has, by law, to report it to Sound Exchange. So, Jazz Profiles, Portraits in Blue and other single artist shows, or interview and music programs, make the STATION potentially liable for "extra" royalties above the agreed upon flat rate fee negotiated with Sound Exchange...Or, the station may have it's web casting statutory license revoked...Your money or your web casting, or play by the rules. Since Blue Lake has featured a "Jazz Retrospecitve" format as the main "hook" for our listeners for more than 21 years, we will just not web cast that portion of the program. I'll do the first hour and a half of the show as "normal," that is, focus on a single artist for the first twenty minutes of each of the first two hours, and then the once we start web casting, go to the rules unless the content has been granted a waiver by the copyright owners (we have several so far).

The deal with Sound Exchange applies to ALL radio stations streaming on the web. NPR stations, under a blanket negotiation with Soun Exchange, are allowed to pay a flat royalty rate as long as they adhere to some very stringent programming rules that limit the number of times the same artist may be played in a three hour period, how many times music from the same collection may be played, etc. The only way out of this is to get a waiver from the copyright owner though I'm finding Columbia, Verve, Capitol (Blue Note) and RCA (no response as yet) are not willing to give blanket waivers to radio to get out from under this ruling. I've been sending copyright waivers to record labels for about a month now. Actually, I should send one to you guys and Steve Talaga, too. So, if I didn't get these waivers and went outside of the restrictions, we'd be liable for the "extra" royalty payments based on the per listener equation. We're hoping to be streaming on the web beginging sometime in January. Lazaro

Well, how about Nichols' take on Monk's harmonic leanings? I've heard Monk wrote certain songs always to be played in the same key and that switching them up would really set him off. Not that it is a bad thing, yet given the era's fetish with changes that would make Monk even more anamolous.

The above review seems more about the version on "Footsteps" than it does the new DVD. The DVD "extras" include an interview with Branford and Alice Coltrane that is very interesting. If Branford draws flak for touching "A Love Supreme," then what of Rova plus guests doing "Ascension"? That's a killer, by the way. They take up that energy music with no qualms.

Allen, Larry, all: Thanks. What I'm seeing reading Ellison's letters about jazz is his reverance for the blues tradition over the onslaught of modernism (Ray Charles comes up as an innovator he'd prefer in the late 50's early 60's as one example, and the conclusions he comes to about Bird seem to me the same arguments we've been hearing out of New York since Reagan was in office). It appears, as much as it has been morphed into something else all together (how does Stanley take away the influence of classical music from jazz and get away with it?), that those planks of the current establishement's platform are derived from him. That had nothing to do with Ellison's art in comparison to the writing ability of the current set of New York journalists and talking heads. He just appeared from his ideas to be their "spiritual"/critical leader.

? Not sure.

Randy on an old Palo Alto LP called "Heart of the Forrest" with liner notes by Bob Porter. And you're welcome Mr. Keep Me Company At Night with Musical Insight, Inspiration and Whole Lotta Soul.

Been working to book this band in March here in Michigan. Sure, Jesse is not a tuba virtuoso on the level of the players mentioned in the review, or Bob Stewart for that matter, but his playing live was coloristic, rhythmic or just plain swinging when the band played in Grand Rapids last April. His role in the band was more like a cello or viola than a bass: sort of moving between the lead and rhythm parts. I'm ready to hear this group with Adam Lane. Kalaparush is something special. He might not always have a perfectly "on" day, but when he gets in his zone his sound is really something hard won and personal. And he's a former student of Sam Rivers, fwiw, giving him a scale based concept that moves between inside and outside with ease: as in honoring the original scale or adding notes, or sounds, outside of it. But his playing isn't really free in the sense of being sound based in total. He maintains a skeleton of formal music design to play off of. And it draws you in.

That was fun. Randy's request for "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning" for his Mom about knocked me over, you know, hearing Paul Vornhagen singing that in his Chet Baker style voice all distant in those lyrics. Skid glad you heard it. Yes, Steve Talaga's recordings with Randy are something else, especially Basement Alchemy. Did you catch the 1978 Grand Rapids recording with Randy, Shirley Scott and Jimmy Forrest?

Been reading Ralph Ellison's writings about jazz recently and it seems he's the main critical inspiration for some of the philosophical bent of Murray, Crouch and Co. especially in Ellison's story about Bird and his relation to modernism, audience and aesthetics...

You know I might have some of that on a single that Randy-o laid on me last year. We don't start programming Holiday music until 2 weeks before Christmas.

Rivers on Tavis Smiley http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=3090106

I'm going to have to preen the Jimmy Forrest session, but look forward to focusing on Organissimo, the music with Talaga and Paul Vornhagen. Anything else you want on the air? Peace. Lazaro WBLV FM 90.3/WBLU FM 88.9 does not yet stream on the web.

From what Millovan said the links might be backwards as the first link (on top) sounded to me like the freer of the two parts. The second link sounded like he was playing free tempo over changes and that could very well be "Body and Soul." What do you think, Jim? And for what it is worth, there's bebop in that first link. He all but says "bebop" on the horn at one point about 3/4 of the way through. Hawk's tone, dynamics, phrasing and harmonic sequencing of his ideas set him apart from Chu Berry, who seemed to play (thanks Chuck) with more even note placement, smoother tone and a more uniform sense of dynamics. And the simplicity and concentration on sound of Ben Webster made his playing that much more discernable, too, for being of the same "school."

Here's a place where you can download the "Hawk Variations" on MP3. http://mydamnforum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=327

Cool biz. Thanks guys.