fasstrack

It was exploitative, very much so. As was James Gavin's claptrap of a book. They cashed in on the junkie-outlaw image, and neither film-maker nor author had the depth of knowledge to adequately discuss the music. Worthless stuff...

Somebody on a jazz guitar nerd site recommended Quilters. Never tried one myself...

I doubt it. I lasted a week. Joe liked me, but Pomus seemed to loathe me. When I came back to Tramps after being fired just out of curiosity to see who they got on guitar (the guy was jumping up and down on the stand, and ended up taking a lesson from me---go figure) Pomus glowered at me, a real hate stare seeming to say 'what the f. are you still doing here?'. The story I heard was that Percy---whose band preceded the one I was in---also was fired after he defended someone in his band who was accused of smoking weed on the stand. I guess Pomus had a 'fire complex'...

Benny Carter and Sweets Edison also played there. Also Lonnie Hillyer. Dick Katz put together a Monk tribute band with Lee Konitz, John Eckert and Leroy Williams. I remember him getting tired or something, and saying 'Let's play a couple of choruses of Nutty, and go home'. It was a great place for a young musician to hang out, sit in, and gain experience. My first gig there was with George Kelly's Jazz Sultans. Percy recommended me. One night I was playing with Percy, and Art Blakey and Lou Donaldson came in to listen. They sat down and applauded us. The 1st owner I remember was a rackets guy who actually treated me nicely. Then it was sold to a snake, whose name I won't mention, nor an unpleasant encounter I had with his slimy self. He ran it into the ground. But my memories are fond...

FWIW in a lot of early American films, up til perhaps 1950, the (nearly exclusively white) actors put on affected English accents. This was, I guess, considered the correct way to speak...

She was British? Never knew that...

Uh huh. Never saw The Wire---didn't own a TV for years, and won't pay for cable---but heard it was very good. So I'm unfamiliar with Idris Elba, first time i've heard the name...

I think I know what you mean. Thad's writing IMO is warmer than Bob's, so maybe he reached more people. And the personnel in that '60s band was pretty incredible...

FWIW He convinced me as House on American TV. Had no clue he is a Brit until someone later told me...

He also said Chick Corea was a 'lightweight', Terence Blanchard needed 'half-valve surgery' and wondered if Charlie Parker was a 'good idea'. His most venomous tirades were directed at Wynton and Stanley, but let's not go there. At the same time, the people he admired, like Bill Finegan, he truly worshipped and was a true friend to. After Bill's wife died he called him every day. We got together to get Finegan a lifetime achievement award from ASCAP (he and Johnny Mandel did all the heavy lifting). And he really pushed his students. He wanted them to lose sleep over the charts and wear their brains out doing better...

I remember an interview now with Jimmy Knepper in DB where he said Mingus never actually 'wrote' anything. I remember his exact words: 'Nothing about notation or accuracy. He wrote a note for alto that the guy was straining to play, and I said that would be a lot easier for trumpet. Oh, er, I wanted that 'strained' sound. Bullshit'. I played with him once when I was a kid. He was a bit of a crank, so...

I had bandstand schooling, street schooling, formal schooling and self-schooling---and still have volumes to learn. My teachers were giants in my view. There's room for everybody and everything in jazz and art. Except bullshitters...

He was more than a little nasty. I don't know how much jealousy had to do with it. I didn't know Bob, nor was I inside his head. I think a at least some of the resentment may be justified. Eric Dolphy was a MF and a virtuoso. A lot of other free players weren't. I don't know enough about the composers to comment. But you're supposed to study and learn what the hell you're doing, whatever the pursuit. Knowledge is power, and the days of seat-of-the-pants artistry are long gone. There aren't many geniuses out there, and they have to study, too. I seriously doubt that Mingus was 'hit-or-miss'. Trial-and-error, maybe, but that goes under the rubric of stretching and that's good. Jimmy Raney, a pretty fair composer himself, used to tell me 'art is controlled emotion'. I took that to mean it's a blend of intuition and craft. I don't know about 'formal systems' myself, and have, as a composer, been a bit suspicious of them. But whatever works works. Formal education isn't the only kind, either. Gil Evans was tremendously autodidactic. He took scores home from the library to study. No excuses...

He could be very dark, intensely critical. I wanted to study with him myself, but was afraid of his mouth. We discussed it, but Vermont (I think that's where he lived) was too far anyways. Woulda made a man outta me...

Gets me every time...

Horowitz playing various composers right now on WKCR FM...

It's his blog. Someone else complained about that ad, too, in the comments section. I guess a guy has the right to hawk his product on his own web page...

Uh huh. Didn't know that...

Not an album, but a live date, Montreux 1979:

I. Love. Her. To. Death...

'ZE QVICK FUSE!'...

Spoiler alert. ...

'it's only a minor compulsion. I can deal with it if I want to'...