jazzwestcoast

I'm totally devastated by this terrible loss. Stacy and I have a lot in common - our fathers were dear friends and musical brothers. Jimmy was part of the Nocturne Records rhythm section with Harry Babasin and Roy Harte. Stacy and I were born in the same year and have continued the artistic legacies our father's started sixty years ago. The contributions given to the jazz world by the Rowles' will always be remembered in west coast jazz history... My deepest condolences to the family...

Well.... Speaking as the son of jazz bassist, Harry Babasin, I can tell you that it was societal pressures that kept the races apart, much more than the players themselves. My father played and recorded with anybody that could really play - no matter what their race or background. I've got him on recordings with Charlie Parker and Chet Baker, live at the Tradewinds - Wardell Gray and Dexter Gordon, live at the Bopland Concert at the Elks Club on Central Avenue - with Laurindo Almeida and Bud Shank doing the early forms of the Bossa Nova - playing with Benny Goodman, Peggy Lee, Mel Torme - in a movie with Louis Armstrong, Charlie Barnet, Lionel Hampton, Tommy Dorsey in 1947 - live with Benny Carter. My father's original group, The Jazzpickers, had Bill Douglas on drums and featured the great, Buddy Collette on flute, along with Bob Harrington on vibes and Dempsey Wright on guitar. My dad always told me that club owners and record labels and wives and girlfriends exerted influence on the players that would keep the races apart. If you could play - you could play - that was the bottom line... If you'd like to talk with me off this board, please feel free to write me directly at - von@onoffon.com BTW - my father was a first generation Armenian-American - my grandfather escaped the Armenian genocide in 1915. Just for the record.... Von Babasin

You know... after you're dead and gone, the only thing that matters in a composer's life is what they actually had writer's and publishing credits on. When it comes down to it, that defines your cultural contribution. 'In a Cello Mood' still appears on Harry's repertoire page on the BMI website so I would think it's fairly easy to trace. My mom recently received a small check for the writer's percentage of a song he wrote, 'Noctambulism', that appears on the Brazilliance Vol. 1 CD release by the Laurindo Almeida Quartet, so we know the channels are open. She's on an extremely fixed income and severely emphysemic so any few dollars that might get paid to her are very welcome. My father died almost penniless, in a barrio area of the San Fernando Valley called Pacoima. The Musician's Union Local #47 had a benefit concert to raise money to pay his hospital bills. Joe Pass played that day... George Segal and the Beverly Hills Unlisted Jazz Band too... it was a moving celebration. When he passed, barely an obituary was written. His long time friend, drummer Bill Douglas, wrote a short tribute. As his family, we always wanted more recognition for Harry, he was much more than just a bass player. But, dad said he wouldn't have traded his life for anything... what a treasure he was...

Not only did the IAJRC do right by the release, I still have the Award of Distinction - "presented to Harry Babasin in recognition of his outstanding contribution to recorded jazz", issued on August 14, 1987 - about nine months before Harry passed away. It was really nice for dad to receive that award while he was still with us... to see someone still cared... it meant a lot to him...

Here's one that gets put into the "Ironic" file... For those that don't know, bassist Oscar Pettiford is another GREAT bassist from the big band and bebop eras. In fact, for many years, he was credited with pioneering pizzicato jazz cello until time and recording dates proved my father was the true pioneer of the instrument's inclusion to jazz. Taking nothing away from Mr. Pettiford - the man was incredibly talented and wonderfully innovative - and my father looked up to him and highly respected his musical abilities. In 1953, the two men got together and formed a group, played around Los Angeles, and recorded a four song EP on Imperial Records they called Oscar Pettiford and his Jazz All Stars. This album is one of my personal favorites - it features both my father and Oscar playing duet cellos, with a supporting bassist freeing up the cellos to play full time melodic harmonies and solos. What an INCREDIBLE recording!!!! The sound has never been duplicated. Anyway, I mentioned four songs - Just Too Marvelous for Words and Blues in the Closet, both arranged by Oscar Pettiford - and Monti Celli and In a Cello Mood, both Harry Babasin originals, written and arranged by my father. Now, to the ironic part. Fresh Sound Records, out of Barcelona, Spain, recently released a compilation CD digipack of Oscar Pettiford music - a very good retrospective of definitive Pettiford throughout his career. It's called "Oscar Pettiford - In a Cello Mood". Not only does it include the four songs from the Imperial EP, including my father's originals, they even named it after one of my dad's songs! Go figure. And they didn't even pay any licensing or royalties to my mom for the use of my dad's tunes or performances... but that's another story...

Here's Harry Babasin playing in the Boyd Raeburn Orchestra in 1946 - They did an arrangement of Over The Rainbow that you wouldn't believe!

You know, Kenny, when I first read your post I didn't quite know how to take it. I resented the fact that you had to go out of your way to refer to my father as "such an obscure figure". I contacted Robert Wilonsky in hopes he would realize that my father was an important figure in jazz. Fortunately, he agreed and wrote a wonderful piece about Harry's contributions to jazz. There was a time when Harry was so popular that he was mentioned in every issue of Downbeat - either in an article or in the columns of where he was playing and who he was playing with. I have literally stacks of material I've collected for the documentary I'm producing. I continue to get the history books rewritten to include Harry Babasin. What I find amazing about today's press in the cultural cesspool that we live in, that useless people like Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan continue to get miles of press while we ignore the innovative and creative contributions of those who really deserve it.

The "A Delanto" LP on Jazzz is part of the Nocturne archives and will be one we intend to release on CD once we get the archives remastered. Von Babasin

About two weeks ago, I met with and was interviewed by a journalist, Ishkhan Jinbashian, who writes for The Armenian Reporter, a prominent Armenian newspaper that has international circulation, from Glendale, CA to Switzerland. He was blown away by the story of my father and the film project and published a story about my father and my struggle to make the documentary. As well as being printed and at many newsstands, there is also an online version that is available in downloadable .PDF files. For those of you interested enough to read it, you have to go to their homepage - http://www.armenianreporteronline.com/ Then, you hit the "ACCESS" button in the lower left hand corner to be taken to the mainpage. Hit the PDF link and open 'Section C - Arts & Culture'. Here is the opening paragraph - "Rediscovering the miracle of West Coast Jazz The story of Harry Babasin by Ishkhan Jinbashian Inventor of cool Years before “The Girl from Ipanema,” Harry Babasin helped create the Bossa Nova sound The space in Von Babasin’s living room seems rather inadequate for his drive – let alone his towering figure. On a glum Los Angeles morning in July, he picks out an LP record from a neatly organized bookcase row of albums. It’s an extremely rare 10-inch record featuring the music of his late father, Harry Babasin. As Von talks about the album at approximately the pace of a tommy gun, his demeanor is that of a boy permanently let loose in a toy store. There is also veneration in his voice. It comes from a deep, joyous, almost spiritual appreciation for extraordinary music, which ultimately animates his determination to help publicly honor his father’s legacy on the one hand, and that of West Coast Jazz on the other." It was very gracious of Ishkhan and the editors at the Armenian Reporter to take such an interest in my father's story - I can't thank them enough.

I think that's fine, chewy! I have an album, a Liberty release called "John Duffy at the Mighty Columbia Square Wurlitzer". While it would be hard to consider it jazz by any sense of the word, my father is listed as co-producer with John Neal, who worked with him on most of the Nocturne series. That certainly puts it in the realm of west coast jazz and, either way, it's part of the story...

Hi there - I've been away for a week on vacation/research - Allen - sorry for glossing over your Al Haig question. I do believe we have some recordings of him somewhere. They may have gone over to Fresh Sound but I'm not sure. Thanks montg - I saw that David Brent Johnson responded to your question about our archives. Some of these recordings were released by Harry and Roy under the label name Jazz Chronicles in the seventies. You can occasionally see them pop up on eBay. Quite a variety of players... chewy - nice to meet you. Funny thing about west coast jazz - as is anything in Los Angeles, the jazz scene was a melting pot of styles that migrated here through the years. Take my father for instance - he was born and raised in Texas - schooled at North Texas State alongside Herb Ellis and Jimmy Giuffre - toured all over the country for a decade before settling in Hollywood. So many great players came to L.A. in those years - it truly was a hot bed for jazz and has never really got the recognition it deserves... I'm gonna change all that... Hi Jim - sorry if you thought this thread misplaced. It may not receive the same attention here but it's your board. Appreciate you letting me be a part of your community...

Thanks Quincy - glad you like my dad's work. In an interview with the International Musician magazine back in 1982, Harry estimated he had appeared on roughly 1,500 recordings. I'm finding more and more each day... Allen - you are a rare one. It always blows me away when I pick up some book that claims to be a complete history of jazz and not find a single reference to my father. Though, that is changing - the hard copy the most recent printing of the All Music Guide actually has a timeline of cello in jazz and credits my father as the true pioneer. It's very gratifying to see the history books getting rewritten. Adam - you have quite the filmography! Very impressive. Thanks for your offer of help. First things first, though, I have to get the funding in place. I am due to get some interesting press over the next month that may help spread the word. The key is my NYFA sponsorship. Though, so far, it hasn't made a difference to the 442 foundations I've written to. It's a challenge - I just missed on a Guggenheim Fellowship. After a six month process, they told me they only had 189 Fellowships with 2,800 applicants. Still, I thought my father's story compelling. They say nothing truly worthwhile comes easy... I just become more resolute in my determination to do what I feel is my destiny... Thanks again!

Thanks for the confirmation ! Sure sidewinder! I have another episode of that same series that has my father playing bass with Charlie Barnet AND special guest star, Mel Torme. Very cool stuff!

Hehehehe, he called Sal chewy. Welcome, JWC! Uh oh... Okay Noj - sounds like you're tryin' to get me in trouble here... What do you expect from a 'newbie'? Thanks for the welcome!

Thanks for the warm welcome, everyone! In this cultural cesspool that we live in, that's dominated by media created pop stars, it's nice to find a haven of those who still appreciate true instrumental virtuosity... RDK - thanks for your vote of confidence. I have quite a team of professionals behind me in this production. Plus, I have a lifetime of experience in many different aspects of film and video production and direction. My main drawback is financial - that's where the sponsorship from the New York Foundation for the Arts will help - eventually. In their history, they've given some extremely prominent artists their starts in their various artistic disciplines. The two most prominent filmmakers listed on their site are Spike Lee and Zana Briski. Ms. Briski won the 2005 Academy Award for Best Documentary with her film, Born Into Brothels. So, to have NYFA behind me in this film is huge validation for my life's work. Steve - the vaults have some rare gems in them. Of course, not every recording is priceless, but each one still helps define west coast jazz over decades of Jazz in Hollywood. And, we intend to build an internet broadcast facility that will help nurture its continuing evolution. As for sidewinder's comment, it was indeed the Jazzpickers you saw at the Ken Poston event. Though, it wasn't the same group on any of the released vinyls. As with Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, whoever played with my father in that setting was then a member of the Jazzpickers. I'm in negotiation to use some of that footage for my father's documentary. Jazzbo - Mark - and Sal, or should I say, Chewy - thanks for the support! I'll try to post updates as I plod forward... Von