fasstrack

This afternoon I had a thought to go see my friend guitarist Michael Howell at a gig he's had for possibly the run of the restaurant. The Village West, on West 9th street in NY. has been open 9 years and the gig was found by a bassist, the late Fred Zabin. Michael was playing in duet on Sundays with bassist Andy McCloud. The place was a Village landmark, always filled to capacity when I ws there. The owners were very supportive of the music. When I got there I was greeted by Steve, who turned out to be the owner. He gave me a 'cut' sign, meaning 'closed'---then he said 'permanently'. I looked behind him to where the bandstand area was a mere few weeks ago when I last visited. There were no tables and Steve and another guy were sweeping up, the floor littered with boxes. The lease was up and a better-heeled prospective tenant offered the landlord double the money----whereupon he did what landlords do: took it, booted Steve out on his ass, and ran like a thief. We got to talking. Naturally, I told him how bad I felt. Then I told him that I had some real financial problems lately and I also had been taken advantage of by greedy, powerful people. I mentioned that I feared violent revolution in this country, looking around and seeing what's going on, and the disgust and rage of good people getting rained on. He said he 'was ready' himself. Steve offered me a bottle of wine. I took it gratefully, but, needless to say, would've preferred tp gp on and talk to and maybe jam with Michael, with the sounds of people having a good time ringing happily behind us. RIP, Village West.

Nice work, man. Larry Ridley lived in Brooklyn at 400 Cozine Avenue, my friend's building. Was he from Naptown originally?

And I'm powerless to stop it...... But, seriously, ladies, etc.: Did anyone hear that song I mentioned, Shelter in the Rain? Stevie is still turning out classics, and it seems time has passed him by. That album had so many strong tunes, it shudda been a contender...........

That's just evil. Thanks for the laugh I needed today

I just spent some time on the site, reading the interviews. It is excellent. Bird gives lie to the 'log cabin' theory. He is quite articulate and insightful on his own music and that of others.

Is this Bret Primack's space? Or is that the one that closed a few years back, founded by the 'unknown critic' or something?

Call it a tribute to intestinal fortitude. Or maybe it was an intestinal infection........... Thanks again to everyone. Nice to get wishes 2 days after.

Lee is funny. Once, years ago in one of my many fake professions I had a fruit and nut cart on Broadway. Lee came over to the cart and we talked. We had met before and he knew I was a musician. He asked me 'are you making your nut?' I'm glad he's feeling better..........

Recorded May 23/25, 1967, NYC Art Farmer (tp/flgn), JImmy Heath (ts), Cedar Walton (p), Walter Booker (b), Mickey Roker (d). From the same sessions that produced "Art Farmer Plays the Great Jazz Hits" (Columbia), one of Art's most forgettable records. There's a recording with either the same personnel or at least Jimmy and Cedar. It's either called Here's that Rainy Day or has that tune on it. I got a cassette from a mail-order house, but I'm a senile 55-year-old now, and forget. Jazz Heritage? Thank you, working brain cells! It has wah-wahs and stuff, but that's what they did then. Most is straight ahead. Art sounds beautiful and Jimmy Heath is IMO the most beautiful, focussed soprano player. What a sound he gets... They are a great team, as Art and Clifford Jordan were a little later. I have a feeling some of this material is on it, too. I really like it, have to dig it out.

Sure. He was a genuine talent. Took Bird somewhere and a nice writer, too. He got rained on when he tried to control his own product vis-a-vis publishing, he with a few others---I forget who. I should read Noal's book. But black guys didn't dare do that back then. Good for him, but it seems he paid the price.

We have a lot to learn about other cultures. The first time I went to Holland I went to a place called Murphy's Law in Den Haag. The band was doing their thing and everyone was sort of 'internalizing'----little outward applause and no seeming physical connection in response to the music. I was used to American jazz audiences generally and black audiences particularly (who let the musicians know when they're getting down---and when they're not). I went back to my hostess, a singer from Germany, and told her of my surprise at the Dutch for being so reserved. At one point she said "I'm German", and I finally shut my big mouth and decided I had a lot to learn and it was best to listen more. A little while later a went to a concert at a cool venue called the Theatre de Tobbe in nearby Voorburg. The performer was a pianist I later made friends with and jammed with, Peter Beets. Peter can swing, and had the people getting into it with their bodies and practically shouting. Whole different thing. But there are definite cultural differences and I guess performers have to adapt and learn wherever they go. Sometimes they're somewhere else, too, and it's an oil painting. Nothing you can do about that. Other times your thing isn't in focus. There's always the next time.....

Thanks. I wasn't trying to be cute, pushy, or self-congratulatory. I just thought that threads were automatically generated on birthdays. Finally I looked down and remembered that birthdays are pointed out on the bottom of the page. My bad. Anyway, I had a nice day and you all made it nicer. Let's put this mother to rest now and celebrate someone else's.....

Put it back!! It's not nice to shoplift............ Thanks, guys. I had a nice, quiet, reflective day. Progress is the thing, and soon I'll be back on solid food. Nah, I really appreciate yiz and your friendships............

Faith and Violence (Thomas Merton); children's poetry by Nikki Giovanni (forget the name, it's from ca 1970); other children's books including Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory; Straight Life, Art & Laurie Pepper (for at least the 407th time, equalled in my reading life only by Manchild in the Promised Land). I want to get a book called Adventures in Brotherhood----about candid observations on Christian practice, b/c I met the author, a Mr. Pitt, and he is a fascinating man, well into his 80s or even 90s.

Well, one nice thing happened today (besides spending a quiet day in maybe my favorite place, a library): a paycheck from a jazz organization I did some gigs for over the winter and last autumn had been stolen out of my mailbox by an ex-landlord's daughter. Then they signed my name and deposited it. The cops, of course, did diddly. The organization told me I was out of luck since it was already cashed. So that left the bank. Their bank was the same as mine, so I filed what's called an 'affidavit of forgery'. The bank dragged their ass for months, despite my yelling and threatening. Finally they told me the affidavit had to come from the payee. After 4 months they tell me this s$%t. Anyway, today I finally got a call from the org.s p-t treasurer, or whatever he is, that the bank issued a credit, and they're cutting me a check. Yay! You have to fight for every bit of respect you get in this life, seems like. But sometimes you win. Being a pain in the ass when you are right ain't a bad thing sometimes. It's even neccesary.

I think this topic begs certain questions about post-big band jazz and also post-LP era players. Maybe it's obvious to some, maybe not, but in a big band you have to stay put and play in the section. You might have other duties like adjusting a mic for someone, etc. It's not about your solo or you so much. So you stay put and help the team. Maybe you're looking ahead at the chart for rough spots, but you stay put. After bebop jazz became much more a small group undertaking. Bird played short on records b/c his career started during the 78 era, and also undoubtedly b/c he had the self-editing sense all truly great artists have. Even when he stretched out and it was caught live it wasn't that long, just all meaningful. His followers and certain musicians of ensuing generations cannot make the same claim. As more and more players got into music more because they felt they had something of burning importance to say than to be, let's say, a cog in the wheel of a band----and I'm not putting that down per se, b/c a fair amount of brilliant music came our way as a result along with much more that was merely good and even more IMO mediocre---certain problems arose liike the very one you broach. What do I do while the other 'horn' is playing (assuming it's a quintet, 2 horns, etc. with rhythm). Do I stand there and look 'into it', or would that be phony? What if you don't like what the other guy's doing? Do you act like you do? Do you create subterfuges? Do you vacate the bandstand, as our friend brought up, (though under different circumstances and for different reasons)? I've seen all of the above done and more, and have participated in bands under the best and worst conditions and I still don't know what the answer is. But whatever it is, and different people will have different answers, the effect on the audience and the total musical 'picture' should be considered before doing anything. That's the best I can come up with, anyway.

Very creative. Now who wants to knock down the pins?

I hate watching videos of myself. They just remind me that my head is tucked way down in my chest and it looks outwardly like I play all the way inside myself and don't want to be heard----when nothing could be further from the truth. If you feel like leaving the stage, leave the stage. As long as you really give your all when you're on the stand, and sincerely want to reach people to bring out things, good, bad, but real, people will pick up on it. Better than smiling and being phony. They will smell that every time, trust me. Look at Tom Harrell. For all he goes through and as weird as he looks people keep coming back----all over the world for years now----because of the truth and warmth in the music. Music is an auditory art and one of veracity. Videos are bullshit.

I want to make one serious, non-smartass comment: I've met, hung out with, had recordings of my friends and my dumbass self sent to me from, been to the homes of, had online laughs and arguments with many of the people on this board. And I'm honored. And, best of all, so far unlike the outer, meaner world, no one's tried to make me a Born-Again, Lubavitch, or sell me Amway. .............But, shit, it's only 1:50 EST and I'm only 55.....

Once, in winter, I asked him to teach me to ice skate. He said 'er, let's wait till it gets a little warmer.....'

I'm gonna have to read it now. You shamed me. Hope it's half as good as Manchild or Straight Life. I like that as a teacher when his students brought in absence notes he made them write notes excusing them as Adam and Eve.

I tell you, I don't get no respect. No respect at all. When I was a kid I told my dad 'everyone hates me'. He said 'that's not true, everyone hasn't met you yet....'

I want, no demand, a full explanation by 0900 tomorrow. Seriously, I came to the library to check my email for all the great gig offers and hoped to see a birthday greeting here to be cheered up. Everyone else gets one, waaaahhhh So let the cheering----or jeering----begin

Shelter in the Rain by Stevie Wonder, from A Time 2 Love (2005)