Mark Stryker

This is a heartbreaking story. I never met Meghan Stabile, but I remember reading the NYT's profile referenced in this obituary and thinking at the time that the life described was not sustainable. I don't mean to suggest that I ever considered it would end in suicide, but I recall thinking that she was running so hard toward something (the music and a cause) that she also seemed to be running away from something else. R.I.P. https://www.npr.org/2022/06/15/1105310987/meghan-stabile-promoter-who-united-jazz-and-hip-hop-dead-at-39

I have no inside knowledge of whether Hill or Hindemith actually met, but I can reliably tell you (based on conversations with an acquaintance who has done enough work to know) that Hill is an unreliable narrator of his own life.

I have always doubted the veracity of Appel's "eyewitness" account of the Stravinsky story, though it is easy to imagine that Stravinsky at some point might have heard Bird play and that he would have been delighted by hearing his music quoted within a saxophone improvisation-- though it is less easy to imagine him so surprised and astonished that he slammed his drink down with enough force to liberate the libation from its container. Having said all that, I liked the Appel book for its framing ("Jazz Modernism: From Ellington and Armstrong to Matisse and Joyce") and for drawing creative aesthetic parallels between Armstrong/Ellington and the pillars of European modernism (Matisse, Picasso, Calder, Joyce, etc.). Bebop is generally considered the modern movement in jazz, which has the effect of relegating pre-war masters into a deeper haze of dead history, but I think there's validity and value in the "all jazz is modern" perspective.

The Real Deal. Charles McPherson, Michael Weiss, Tyler Mitchell, Leroy Williams. August 10, 1991, Birdland, NYC https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HawM4fYSS5A

Wow. Never seen that.

Gang -- I'm trying to help a friend who asked if I had the issue of Downbeat containing a review of Byrd's "Black Byrd," which was released in early 1973. Alas, my collection of the magazine is incomplete and in 1973 I'm missing 1/4, 4/12 ,4/26, 6/7 and 7/5. Review is probably in one of the April issues. Anybody got that and who could take a photo and post? Thanks.

Thanks much!

She's name-checked but I don't go into any depth -- just didn't have the space to cover everyone. One of the things that's interesting about her is she is a product of the famous and unique harp program at Cass Tech -- same high school school that produced Paul Chambers, Ron Carter, Donald Byrd, Roland Hanna, Hugh Lawson, Geri Allen and a zillion others. The harp program dates back to 1925 (!) and continues to this day.

"Lucky Lips will always find a pair of lips that will be true."

Amen.

The "thing" is saxophone-plus-rhythm playing a standard song form with more creativity, spontaneity, expression, authority, and swing than anyone ever did before or since -- constructing an extraordinary improvised structure that hangs together as if it was composed, except it was created on the spot in real time. As I said before: the essence of the art form. At least that's one of the "main things."

I got down some related thoughts on Sonny in this long interview about saxophonists a few years ago with Iverson. Scroll down to the Rs ... https://ethaniverson.com/mark-stryker-and-the-saxes/

Fair enough. Live at the Village Gate should have been a two-record set (at least). I know it's a bootleg, but I cherish the European box of all that material. But if we have to keep it to a single LP, then replace Dearly Beloved with the unreleased Lover from 7/28 if it'll fit, and if it won't, then cut Doxy and just make it a one-track side. There's a side two to What's New? Never get to it.

I vary my hats. Am I still to be eyed with suspicion?

Word. Especially Paris, 1965 (Rovere/A.T.) and Copenhagen, 1965 (NHOP/Dawson).

I almost included the point the point that the records have "flaws," but this is another point I've started to re-evaluate. What, exactly are those "flaws" record by record? I mean, the short tune lengths and/or fadeouts on "The Standard Sonny Rollins" and "Now's the Time" are certainly frustrating at times and might be considered flaws in the creation of those LPs as "documents" -- I get it -- but I've long ago made my peace with that. "The Bridge" is a unified whole; no flaws there unless you want it to be something it's not. Same is true for "What's New" and "Live at the Village Gate." "Sonny Meets Hawk" has issues in that Sonny's contrariness and abstraction seem to me to be self-conscious to fault and the mind-blowing live version of "Remember" from Newport shoulda been on the original recording. But still, it was not in Sonny's constitution to make a flawless record in 1963-64 in the Blue Note sense or even the Miles Columbia sense or Trane Impulse sense. I've been happier since I stopped trying to force this square peg into that round hole. Having said all that, I do want to hear what happened after the fade out of "Three Little Words" because Sonny sounds like he's gearing up to play for another 30 minutes, and I certainly wish "Afternoon in Paris" went on for longer than 2:43. Sonny's half chorus could've been the prelude to a symphony of improvisation. That idea that Sonny's improvisations start not only from the first note but perhaps even before that note is sounded is a sharp insight.

The older I get, the more I believe that Sonny's RCA recordings represent one of the greatest improvisers in jazz history -- and the greatest chord change player ever -- at the peak of his powers. If you told me I could only listen to Sonny's commercially recorded albums made for ONE label for the rest of my life, plus one other record as a bonus, I'd pick the RCAs plus "A Night at the Village Vanguard" -- the authority and diversity are a high bar. The highest bar, actually. "The Standard Sonny Rollins" is the essence of the art form. Sonny plays more in his first 16 bars on "Love Letters" than most cats play in an entire career. Hell, just the pure sound he creates on the master take of "Afternoon in Paris" on the "Now's the Time" LP is a miracle. Nobody has ever gotten a sound that deep and chiseled out of a saxophone. Not Trane. Not Bird. Not Hawkins. Not Ayler. No one.

Also, this is out there. A good representation of the Jefferson/Cole barnstorming show. Note that this Sunday matinee on May 6, 1979 at the Jazz Showcase in Chicago was Jefferson's second to last performance. Two days later in Detroit, after finishing opening night Tuesday at Baker's Keyboard Lounge, he was shot outside the club in the wee hours of the morning of the 9th in a drive-by shooting. A 41-year-old unemployed factory worker who was also described as a frustrated dancer and had known Jefferson a decade earlier in New York, was arrested and charged with the murder, but a jury acquitted him after a three-week trial. Coda: The trio here are all became good friends of mine. Pianist John Campbell, bassist Kelly Sill, and drummer Joel Spencer. I can't believe how young they all are here . Here's how my paper, the Detroit Free Press, covered the initial shooting. (I was only 15 at the time and wouldn't joined the paper for another 16 years in 1995.) (I can't seem to get the rest of the story to post -- appears to be too large a file.)

I always thought Cole sounded best right out of the gate with Buddy Rich. Otherwise, I was not a fan; often too corny. But I genuinely appreciated his drive to keep going, even after the jazz media moved on and he dealt with his own personal issues. Always respect a committed road dog. That cat spent a LOT of time in vans touring everywhere. Anyway, he gets some nice solo space on Buddy's "Keep the Customer Satisfied" LP in 1970, and here's some footage of him with the band that same year.

Thanks, all.

Gang -- I'm trying to help a friend discover whether or not there are any recordings out there of alto saxophone/guitar duets. And if not alto/guitar, then perhaps tenor/guitar. I couldn't come up with any full albums off the top, though I pointed him to the Paul Desmond/Jim Hall recordings to see if there are individual tracks done as duos. I have since learned of a French radio broadcast from 1980 of three tunes pairing Konitz and Jimmy Raney. So, anything come to mind? Thanks.

Nice social media marketing for the opera. Coda: Two of these musicians, saxophonist Marcus Elliot and bassist Marion Hayden are featured in “Jazz from Detroit.’

My latest for Jazz Times goes deep on Sonny Rollins” profound influence on Steve Lacy. Hell, yes, Lacy played bebop — for a hot minute. https://jazztimes.com/features/columns/steve-lacy-sonny-rollins-thelonious-monk/?fbclid=IwAR3calvewAWssqBJd6eKBbW93Mk3LWbYjCwJkBr-0T_aSHAW2XvSC0xd-QE

This from Seth Colter Walls in the NYT. I'll be at the premiere on Saturday. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/12/arts/music/anthony-davis-x-detroit-opera.html

Long profile of Flora Purim by Ann Powers. https://www.npr.org/2022/04/25/1094606295/flora-purim-final-album?live=1