fasstrack

Is that where it belongs? I think not, it's bigger than politics. But if someone wants to move it I don't care as long as it starts a discussion. if you want to bring the "Katrina 'reaction'" into it, its obviously political. You don't have to wait for someone to move it (with the east coast tour kicking off tomorrow, I doubt Jim is paying much attention). All you need do is copy your initial post and paste it into a new thread in the proper forum. Then delete this thread. Too much like work. People can do what they want with this. I just put it out there. If they read it even that's enough.

Is that where it belongs? I think not, it's bigger than politics. But if someone wants to move it I don't care as long as it starts a discussion.

I took home a DVD called Amos and Andy: Check and Double Check. It was cheap and had the Duke Ellington Orchestra, plus it was from 1930. Those three facts sadly don't balance the humiliating buffoonery (sp?) I was embarrassed to watch. Shuffling, scratching, superstitious and frightened, shiftless, dumb black characters (the leads played by whites) getting into 'funny' situations and trying to get out through their dubious wiles. The denoument/wrap-up is when our heroes save the white son of the Georgia plantation owner they worked for (there is a particularly embarrassing scene where Amos breaks down recalling how well 'Mr. Williams' treated him). So the 'boys' as they are referred to throughout, saved the day---meaning the lovable bufoons showed their worth saving whitey's ass---like "Rochester" and so many others. I read a book recently about the black community around L.A. in the 40s, The Great Black Way. Very good. It gave thumbnails of Eddie Anderson and Pigmeat Markham and the social fabric from whence they sprang and was very illuminating. These things are on my mind: Look at hip hop, black comedy that's promoted by whites, etc. The performers are making a lot of money, granted, and there are definite signs of some improvement at least economically for some blacks and other ethnic groups. But look at the 'reaction' to Katrina. What, if anything has really changed in this country? I actually bring this up, I swear, b/c the film brought me down and i want to be proven wrong and hear something positive. Have at it, please.

True dat. He had as much to do with the sound of the Wes Montgomery Trio as Wes, backed him like the pro he is, and played bad-ass solos. He's a no-frills, no BS, 'brown paper bag player'. But what goodies are in that bag! He does sound better than ever, too.

Agreed. I thought it didn't dodge the seamy side but avoided the despicable image pimping of James Gavin's shameful 'biography'. It was respectful of Chet without flinching. I've been thinking of buying this and your review clinches it. Good lookin' out. (One for De Valk, one for razzing that enterprising interloper Gavin)

Check out City Sounds, Village Noises (or maybe it's the reverse). From '81? Another Vucovich date with Harrell, Marshall, and Charles McPherson in great form. Some of Tom's solos from that are in the first book of his solos by two of Bobby Shew's students. Another great early date is Mark Levine's Up 'Til Now. Very interesting writing, including some salsa and a ballad feature for Ray Pizzi invoking Hodges and Strays. The title cut is a series of chords, very intersting in their choice, with no melody up front and a gorgeous solo by Tom. He tears it up on this one, from the late 70s, maybe as early as '76.

I just saw this, Chris, and thanks for that. Yes, I want to find the good in people. It ties in with why I play, because I believe in human potential and reaching out. (And also b/c I'm a selfish, greedy fuck that loves attention .). This doesn't put flies on me. I have been burned and hurt by people when I went against my instincts and went through doors I shouldn't have. Something happened recently through this very Internet that was horrible to go through, especially in the middle of an otherwise piece of shit summer. So I'll stay away from where the cyber-evildoers lurk, being sensitive and thin-skinned. But I'll still take risks or face the far worse risk: never learning or growing. Really, it's time now for me to put this puppy to bed. It's not really that important to me but if y'all want to continue lobbing the ball, salud.

Guess those folks don't have lives out of cyberspace. Funny but it's a guilty pleasure watching people waste thier lives as I've wasted much of mine..... Knucklehead, knuckleheads.....we're a race of knuckleheads. Yeah, er that's the ticket

Meaning? That Stanley can be pleasant is not new to most of us who have known him, so his turning on the charm is not a revelation. Ergo, your post does not shed new light on him (at least not to people who have observed him at close range). It does, however reveals how readily you were fooled by his PR facade (a veneer beyond which Allen and I can see) and how you seem able to not factor in Stanley's odious, disingenuous persona, opportunistic behavior, and total lack of journalistic integrity. All the charm in the world cannot obscure that, IMO. BTW, Allen's post bears repeating: well, we're not prejudging him - just basing our comments on our experiences with him, his intellectual dishonesty, his written attacks on people lilke Anthony Davis (whom he thinks isn't black enough because his music comes out of a tradition that Stanley sees as too Euroo), the fact that he physically attacked one guy and has threatened others (like Gene Santoro) - look, Stanely can be quite charming, and I've spent some time with him. He's also a bright guy, but he aint no genius, and his prose is not only tortured but unintentionally humorous in its badly executed slang-ese. And the way he and Wynton have made a fetish of "the blues" is particualry repulsive - I will quote a letter that I wrote to the NY Times a few years ago and that was published in the Arts and Leisure section: To the Editor: While I am second to none in my admiration for Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington, I am becoming increasingly weary of Wynton Marsalis and Stanley Crouch's politicization of the blues. In their hands (as with their fellow Lincoln Center advisor Albert Murray) the blues has become something of an ideology, a club with which to beat all who do not share their aesthetic leanings. Last year, Mr. Marsalis told us what a blues-dependent art Ellington's was [''Ellington at 100: Reveling in Life's Majesty,'' Jan. 17, 1999], when in truth Duke used the blues so effectively because he was not dependent on them, but rather came to them, in terms of class and background, as something of an outsider. Now Stanley Crouch comes to tell us that Armstrong ''figured out how to articulate the sound of the blues through Tin Pan Alley tunes without abandoning their harmonic underpinnings,'' and quotes Mr. Marsalis as saying that ''not even Art Tatum, Charlie Parker, Monk and Coltrane did anything that sophisticated'' [''Wherever He Went, Joy Was Sure to Follow,'' March 12]. Once again, this is a case of fitting facts to ideology. Armstrong was truly a great blues player, but what he did most effectively was to expand the expressive possibilities of jazz in a way that made the blues only one element of many, in a manner that actually reduced their relative importance. Certainly Armstrong continued to play with the kind of tonal and rhythmic nuances that reflected the powerful dominance of the African-American performance tradition, but these were not necessarily related strictly to the blues. They reflected the larger picture of African-American performance styles. And Monk, Coltrane and, indeed, Charlie Parker devised musical systems that were every bit as sophisticated as Armstrong's. ALLEN LOWE South Portland, Me. Chris: If you think I was 'fooled' or in any way naive you really don't know me at all. Trust me on that one. I explained myself in the above missive and am not gonna put angel wings on anyone's ass; his, mine, or yours for that matter. We're all fuckups, we humanoids. That makes us equal--maytbe not in the eyes of 'God'---wherever she is, but sure as shit in my eyes. For the last time: I simply want to go to the source---like I was learning a tune---and get it right. Eyeball to eyeball is the right way to find out about anyone. That way the praise, the hype, the shit-talking is left at the door and you break bread and say 'OK, MF, what are you really about?' And if he winds up being a friend that's my business and it'll be because we get on and I like him and vice-versa. Period. If not we both move on, none the worse. I have a lot of friends and do things my way. BTW: I wrote my share of letter complaining about Stanley (and Wynton) to the Times. They never printed them, those bastards .

I'm sorry to hear this. I knew Jimmy from around the NY scene. We played together a handful of times, mostly on sessions at the union or his stomping grounds, University of the Streets. He was a very sweet guy, always well-mannered, always with a beret on top. He asked me to give his girlfriend a guitar lesson once and we became a little tighter after that. He mentioned along the line he had a bypass or some kind of cardiac surgery. This would've been around '98 or so. I did notice an unhealthy palor but he kept on keepin' on. Last time I saw him was earlier this year at the union (Local 802, NY). It was a long time so we embraced, and I saw he looked unwell and tired. Sorry to hear this, truly. Good player, nice man.

Meaning?

I've been in love with her my entire life. As a child among the first musical sounds I heard around the house were hers---in Camelot and My Fair Lady. Her voice is as pure as the rain. Her beauty and acting took my breath away especially opposite James Garner in 'The Americanization of Emily'. And my instincts tell me she must be just as class an act as a person.

I went in feeling what Chris and others have said. I had made my mind up sound unheard, hand unshaken. Then I got into the fray on that infamous thread at Jazz Corner. I felt I went too far in attacking Stanley and apologized in a PM. I got a message back and expected to be walloped, and to my utter amazement and delight he was anything but hostile. He could not have been more gracious or nice. We've spoken on the phone twice since then and have been trying to get together. I made it plain that I've been rather critical in my perceptions of him and he took that like a man too. I guess he saw that I'm not a phoney and respected that. I also told him I feel we have plenty to talk about. In the meantime two friends of mine---who brook no bullshit and whose opinions I respect---told me he's a great guy. One is a singer to whose CD he did the notes and who has a built-in bullshit detector. I read those notes before promising myself I'd re-evaluate Crouch and rolled my eyes then. I re-read them the other day and thought he was on the money. Opinions are opinions, opportunism opportunism, etc. If Stanley does the things he is accused of I figure he'll have to answer for them one day. But not to me---know what I mean? He has been nothing but nice since I reached out to him and that's enough for me to start fresh and trust myself and him to find out what he's really about. We can't let our own prejudices or disappointments get in the way of our perceptions of public people (or any people, for that matter). They have feelings and are human too. Maybe I'm a soft touch and Stanley is every bit the dick you and I thought all along. But as long as he is as nice as he's been to me personally so far--especially since he knows I've been critical as hell of him---he deserves at least not to be prejudged. He deserves my respect and will get it until he gives me reason to lose it. To quote the Pets.com dog 'everyone deserves a second chance'.

If this is your honest reflection I can't put it down, BUT: I think you shouldn't be so rough on Tom. You sound frankly like you've come a bit late to the party. That's OK, I suppose. I couldn't tell whether you are a musician or fan, probably fan--which is cool, and you've obviously thought this through somewhat so I'll tell you the following: I've been following Harrell since the mid-70s when I met him musically and personally (never hung much or played, but from our few very meaningful conversations I got a clear sense of the man---he is thoughtful, caring, and especially hilarious) originally through Bob Mover. Harrell blew everyone away with his trumpet playing then. I mean everyone, especially musicians. We loved him then and now. Ask Phil Woods anytime his opinion of Tom Harrell and be prepared for a heartfelt testomony about a person he adores and considers a giant. He took the best of what was there in the literature from the 40s on and put it in a funnel with his own stuff (a lot of triplets as glue to tie things together, a beautiful melodic sense, the hippest harmony, and perfect structural soloing form) and came up with beautiful, passionate music in so many situations. He seemed to love all of them. I heard him with Ronnie Cuber, Mover, Sam Jones, Mike Nock---just off the top of my head. I know he and Cuber were tearing it up with Bobby Paunetto, playing cumbia and salsa. (Both are on Paunetto's point---great record). Every trumpet player bowed to him. Even the arrogant Woody Shaw gave it up. (please, no comments on that. I had dealings with him and know whereof I speak. Still love his music, though). I became aware of his writing somewhere along the line and fell in love with it also. He's a real explorer and writer of memorable melodies. The ones I like and have learned are not complex as you say, but clear as mud. It's all honest, anyway. My favorites remain Open Air; The Water's Edge; Train Shuffle; Sail Away---and the entire album called Stories. They make me feel beautiful and human. I just was cleaning up some and found a composition James Zollar gave me of Tom's from 1972---it's deep. So having said this and revealing my prejudice and also my knowledge of him I would say that I really have come to admire his courage, but this courage in the face of illness is very overplayed. The schizophrenia thing has become a press angle---and I wish people would shut it out, shut up, look away if his manner bothers them. If they do this they will hear some beautiful music and that's all that should matter. For the record I'm not apologizing for Tom's weird behavior in any way here---it has distressed me too at times through the years, the way you don't want to see someone you revere or love in bad shape. But Tom keeps getting up on the one and keeps creating. And think how much people's perception of him must bother as sensitive a soul as he. But fortunately for us his love of music and desire to honestly go inside, reveal what's there, and communicate on a human level overwhelmes the demons. He's also living proof that music speaks louder than words. BTW the 'woman who cares for him' is his wife Angela. I know her a bit too. She is really in his corner and a very nice person. Mainly fan, yes, and born towards the end of the 70s, so obviously I joined late, yes. Nothing I can do for that, and no way anyone can blame me for it, either. I didn't want to sound as negative as you obviously read my attempt at a review. I have the utmost respect for Tom Harrell, and indeed I do think it's great that he manages to do what he does, to write, to play, to travel. His strange behaviour is not a thing that did bother me too much, but it's just too obvious not to mention. I tell you, the atmosphere in the club he played in (the "Moods", in case you should happen to have been in Zurich) was different from the atmosphere at each other concert I saw there, and that was because the audience felt something about Tom, in whatever way they felt something, and whatever exactly they felt, everybody was aware this was different from all the other nights. And just that alone is not bad, and neither did I want to make it sound bad. It was more a kind of astonishment, that I felt... Anyway, I indeed think it's great that he manages to do what he does, and I admire him for that, and even more so for his music and his trumpet playing. Nah, I didn't think it was unduly negative----just wanted to give the bit of insight I had. Other than that it's just my opinion. I got that you dig Tom from what you wrote. Most people do dig him. He's honest and a great musician---and truth will out. We all know he has a hard time sometimes. The music speaks loudest.

If this is your honest reflection I can't put it down, BUT: I think you shouldn't be so rough on Tom. You sound frankly like you've come a bit late to the party. That's OK, I suppose. I couldn't tell whether you are a musician or fan, probably fan--which is cool, and you've obviously thought this through somewhat so I'll tell you the following: I've been following Harrell since the mid-70s when I met him musically and personally (never hung much or played, but from our few very meaningful conversations I got a clear sense of the man---he is thoughtful, caring, and especially hilarious) originally through Bob Mover. Harrell blew everyone away with his trumpet playing then. I mean everyone, especially musicians. We loved him then and now. Ask Phil Woods anytime his opinion of Tom Harrell and be prepared for a heartfelt testimony about a person he adores and considers a giant. He took the best of what was there in the literature from the 40s on and put it in a funnel with his own stuff (a lot of triplets as glue to tie things together, a beautiful melodic sense, the hippest harmony, and perfect structural soloing form) and came up with beautiful, passionate music in so many situations. He seemed to love all of them. I heard him with Ronnie Cuber, Mover, Sam Jones, Mike Nock---just off the top of my head. I know he and Cuber were tearing it up with Bobby Paunetto, playing cumbia and salsa. (Both are on Paunetto's Point---great record). Every trumpet player bowed to him. Even the arrogant Woody Shaw gave it up. (please, no comments on that. I had dealings with him and know whereof I speak. Still love his music, though). I became aware of his writing somewhere along the line and fell in love with it also. He's a real explorer and writer of memorable melodies. The ones I like and have learned are not complex as you say, but clear as mud. It's all honest, anyway. My favorites remain Open Air; The Water's Edge; Train Shuffle; Sail Away---and the entire album called Stories. They make me feel beautiful and human. I just was cleaning up some and found a composition James Zollar gave me of Tom's from 1972---it's deep. So having said this and revealing my prejudice and also my knowledge of him I would say that I really have come to admire his courage, but this courage in the face of illness is very overplayed. The schizophrenia thing has become a press angle---and I wish people would shut it out, shut up, look away if his manner bothers them. If they do this they will hear some beautiful music and that's all that should matter. For the record I'm not apologizing for Tom's weird behavior in any way here---it has distressed me too at times through the years, the way you don't want to see someone you revere or love in bad shape. But Tom keeps getting up on the one and keeps creating. And think how much people's perception of him must bother as sensitive a soul as he. But fortunately for us his love of music and desire to honestly go inside, reveal what's there, and communicate on a human level overwhelmes the demons. He's also living proof that music speaks louder than words. BTW the 'woman who cares for him' is his wife Angela. I know her a bit too. She is really in his corner and a very nice person.

I bet if I told you sometime what my August (and July) was like financially and in every other way you'd want yours back. Let's be glad it's over and we're still here. To quote Samuel Beckett: 'On'....

Lazaro: As a fellow songwriter (and much more beginning lyricist than she) I have to say I find her lyrics literate, well-crafted, and clever (perhaps too clever---well they said that about a guy named Cole Porter and he didn't do too shabbily). So I appreciate her intellectual peregrinations. They weren't pretentious to me. They're funny. I also dug her group when I heard them on a live radio shot a few years back. Having said that, one thing I did find to be MIA when I took home the one CD I did: melody. I did not find a memorable melody in one tune, sorry to say. Perhaps I had the wrong CD. I don't remember the title. It's recent and she's sitting barefoot on the floor. Talented lady, but melody sil vous plait. It kind of goes with songs... PS: Almost Blue doesn't kill me. I was surprised when Chet Baker took it on. I shouldn't have been. I figure it must have been for reasons---ahem---other than music.

That's why we get along I write material with a lot of dark humor too. It's a great (necessary?) survival tool.... Heid cracked me up on the phone. He's a funny MF. I hope we do work together. I listened to Dark Secrets last night after this came up. I fell out to it. Good CD. Good lookin' out, Jim and Organissimo. Y'all are some bad MFs in a cold world. Bless yiz....

Jim: I have Dark Secrets and dig it too. Just that front cover alone is worth the price. (he looks the Phantom of the Opera at the Organ in B&W---hilarious) and the back one (he's holding a wallet open with cards in front of a CIA-like compound---hence the 'secrets'). The music is really happening, his tunes, the playing. My NY buddy Joe Magnarelli is on it too, and another one I think as well. They are good recordings, well worth having. Dark Secrets was like $4 or something. I mean, c'mon... I know Bill a little too. We played years ago once and I sounded him about a Scully tour a few years ago which he didn't end up doing. I also heard him in NJ with Jimmy Ponder a few years back. Yes, he is the real deal and he earned it paying those proverbial dues. Lotta hours logged in that MFing van and doing what he calls the "orange chair tango'. Good call, bro....

Great player, great talent, searching soul. He came up with a good friend of mine, Sean Smith. Sean plays bass beautifully and is a talented songwriter. The other close companion was Bill Charlap and we all know how he turned out. They went to Manhattan School together. I know for a fact that Phil Woods adores all three. John was his student and Bill plays in his band, as I'm sure most of you know. He's played Sean's tunes also and recorded one. Years ago I used to play on 5th Avenue. One day a teenager with an alto case stopped and listened. After a tune or two he introduced himself and asked if he could sit in. I'd call what he did more than that. Next time I saw Jon he was hanging with Charles MacPherson when he was in town for a Barry Harris concert. This was the late '80s, not long after the street encounter. They were on the subway. I knew this young man was well on his way. So he has sought out guidance from the best and with his talent he got all they could give. He has become a formidable player IMO. A good recording is The Things We Need. It has a children's choir conducted by Gavin Alsop. They do the title tune and I believe Old Folks. The rest of the CD I don't remember but it's gotta be good. I don't remember the rest of the personnel except Pete Bernstein, guitar and maybe Dennis Irwin, bass. Give him a try. he's worth it.

Django's music has outlived 6 generations of critics. Need we say more? I've been listening to him and Mr. Grappelli again and getting hit in the heart the way I did when, as a spry teen, I first took home an LP with a red cover reading Hot Club de France. I still have it, I still play it. Same with Charlie Christian. They both sound more vital and fresher than ever. There's something about playing music in times of war or on the eve of war---verboten music at that---that adds an extra intense dimension (some would say desperation): get-it-while-you-can. I imagine the feeling in the speakeasies were the same, or the bars and entertainment way stations during the Depression were somewhat akin. I don't have any memorable Django stories, but I like repeating Jim Hall's comment re Christian: 'When I was a kid I heard Charlie Christian. It sounded good and I wanted to do it. Thursday I heard Charlie Christian. It sounded good and I wanted to do it'. My favorite line of his re Christian (sorry to get off the Django tip, but this is funny) was something like when he was a kid in Cleveland discovering jazz he: 'took home an album from the library, the Benny Goodman Sextet. I was so afraid someone was gonna see it and think it was a dirty book I spent the entire busride with my arm covering the word Sex---'

What they really need is hea-ea-ea-eart. Miles and miles and miles of hearrrrt. Just when the odds are sayin' you'll never win, that's when the... Sorry. That's the chuckle I needed today....

Yep. Duly noted. How do you 'get inside that eworld musically' without being a phoney or like those ridiculous guys we used to see at Bar-Mitzvhahs years ago trying to act young dancing the Frug with their paunches sticking out of their gold lame Nehru jackets?