Mark Stryker

Folks who want more saxophone soloing from Wayne should check out the recording from the concerts with the Lazz at Lincoln Center band. The arrangements are hit and miss but Wayne does stretch out at age 82 with a traditional rhythm section behind him playing 4/4 swing. Many levels of beauty, amusement, sincerity, irony, and legacy in how he plays on Contemplation.

Leaving the records aside, when I saw Wayne live for the first time -- Jazz Showcase, November 1985, with his first post-WR quartet -- he played almost non stop. First there were were extended-form compositions whose melodies he carried, and then he often played long improvisations that delivered not only beguiling individual moments but also coalesced into larger narratives. It was a kind of "goal-oriented" soloing against a steady rhythmic beat that he rarely entertained with his post- 2002-quartet, which was defined more by the four-way conversational aesthetic -- we always solo, we never solo. I will say that as much as I did love this last band, there were concerts when I was frustrated that Wayne didn't play more -- not because I wanted or expected gunslinger "solos" but because there were times where it wasn't really an equal, four-way conversation. Wayne sometimes ceded so much space and decision making to the others that he didn't have at least a 25% say on where the music was going, or where it might or could go. I loved hearing Wayne react to what was going on around him; but sometimes I wanted him to lead the conversation more -- because he's Wayne Shorter, and the ideas you're gonna get from him in front of the band are going to be more profound than when those come from the others. Folks may recall that this happened once in Detroit. https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/arts/mark-stryker/2015/03/21/wayne-shorter-quartet/25143431/

The ballads are everything. It's ALL there, now and forever. Infant Eyes, Teru, Penelope, Nefertiti, Fall, Diana, Miyako, Black Swan, Blackthorn Rose, Contemplation, Sleeping Dancer Sleep On, Iris, Calm, Virgo, Sweet Pea, Starry Night, Lady Day, When You Dream, Ana Maria, Vonetta ...

Thanks all around guys.

Any way to download these from the root all at once -- or a big group at once, like an entire year, rather -- than having to go through each one individually?

Well, sure; but he has Jarrett' trust enough to get him on camera so gets a pass from me because I doubt anyone else could have made this happen.

Time marches on. This remarkable recent video interview with Keith Jarrett, including the pianist actually playing a bit with his right-hand only -- two strokes have left his left hand inoperable -- is something to witness.

Interesting. https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/reservoir-acquires-catalog-of-saxophonist-and-jazz-icon-sonny-rollins/

Just a coda to that song Jim posted, "Condemned for Life (with a Rock and Roll Wife)" -- I noticed that one of the cowriters listed is Moose Charlap. That's Bill Charlap's father.

Sad to learn that Jerry Dodgion, a beautiful musician and beautiful soul has passed away at the age of 90. What a remarkably full life he lived within the marrow of this music! He graciously spent two afternoons with me back in 20116 telling me priceless and insightful stories that flowed into Jazz from Detroit. I was able to tell him that when I was in high school, I learned a great deal of his solo on Thad's "Tip Toe" Here's the text of an email that John Mosca sent out last night. ---- Good Evening Ladies and Gentlemen It’s the saddest of duties to report the passing of our great friend and mentor Jerry Dodgion (1932-2023) this afternoon. I’m sure a lot will be written and said for him in the coming days and years, about his great artistry as player and writer, and what a treasure of a human being he was. And of course we all have our individual memories of great times on and off the bandstand. I’m trying not to gas on, as is my wont, in order to get to the idea that we, Jerry’s friends, need to help Ruby pay for funeral expenses. Jerry had been unable to work for several years, and required escalating levels of care, provided with amazing love and skill by his wife Ruby Valme. Naturally, this meant that Ruby had to hire aides to come in when she was working and eventually, had to stop working altogether to care for Jerry. Up until 1 year ago, she was also caring for her mother who passed at that time. As you’d expect, all of this has left her with no job and no savings, so, simply put, it’s up to us to come through for Jerry and his family. We’ll do one of our musician memorials in town, but right now Ruby is doing a funeral and wake in Queens, details of which will follow, probably tomorrow, but time is of the essence as the services are shockingly expensive. I was thinking of a suggested contribution of $250, but even this wouldn’t fully cover it, so do whatever you can, and I hope some of you can make it out. We’ll do a Jerry style hang out memorial a little later here, and either way you’ll get to meet something else Ruby gave Jerry - a beautiful, loving extended family. Children, grandchildren, the whole band. Please pass the word to anyone we couldn’t remember to include here. Checks should be made out to Ruby Valme and sent to her at: 84 - 50 169th St. Apt. 506 Jamaica Estates, NY 11432 Many Thanks, John Mosca

Thanks for the reminder. Obviously, that book was not on my radar and, just as obviously, I either missed for forgot about the thread from a decade ago.

There really should be an Eckstine biography. That could be a helluva book.

I discuss Anatomy of Murder and Odds Against Tomorrow in this column from last year about jazz film scores. https://jazztimes.com/features/columns/great-jazz-soundtracks/

The original booklet is great too with lead sheets for "Pendulum" and "Piccadilly Lilly" and lots of great extras. I agree that the LP includes the best stuff, though it's nice to have the unedited "Piccadilly LIlly" in the box.

While the box set is hard to find and expensive if you do, the original LP, "Pendulum," is relatively easy to come across in the wild and there are plentiful options on discogs. Like Jim says, "Carpe Diem." https://www.discogs.com/release/2046057-The-David-Liebman-Quintet-Pendulum

Recorded live at the Detroit Jazz Festival in 2017. I was there (natch) ...

In metro Detroit, where I live, I count 14 record stores off the top of my head of various sizes, stock, and focus.

Thanks for the kind words.

The commonalities are that the changes are the same in bars three through eight. In concert pitch: G minor 7/C7/ F major/ F major/F minor 7/ B-flat 7. From here they diverge, with Solar going to E-flat major and Ornithology (How High the Moon) going to E-flat 7 -- though the common root keeps an illusion of similarity for another bar. Of course, Solar is a 12-bar form and Ornithology/How High the Moon is 32 bars (16 + 16) and the songs have completely different characters, especially in Miles' version where he leans into misterioso implications of the opening melodic phrase by emphasizing the sound of a minor chord with a major 7th. And the overlap of the changes for those six bars is also simply a common harmonic formula that appears all the time -- a ii-V-I sequence moving down in whole steps as the major chord becomes a minor on the same root to start the cycle again. The A sections of John Lewis' Afternoon in Paris employ the same idea, though the changes there move twice as fast. When Wayne conceived of what we now call Solar, Ornithology/How High the Moon was ubiquitous. I have no idea if it was a conscious decision or intuitive decision for Wayne to create a harmonic scheme that winks at the changes everyone was playing nightly at the time -- did anyone ever ask him? -- but I have no doubt that once he wrote it, he was aware that a connection existed.

Gang -- I'm researching a column about Israel Crosby. He made only four sides as a leader, all four for Apollo in 1947. None appear to have ever been reissued. Here's the Tom Lord listing: Israel Crosby Quartette : unknown (ts), (p), Israel Crosby (b) Jack Cooley (d,vcl) unknown location, 1947 R1240 I feel the blues (jc vcl) Apollo 405 R1241 The death of Piney Brown (jc vcl) 390 R1243 I know the blues (jc vcl) - R1244 I deal in cats 405 I've managed to find "The Death of Piney Brown" and "I Know the Blues" online, but the other two songs, issued as Apollo 490 remain elusive: "I Deal in Cats" and "I Feel the Blues." I am DYING to hear these, especially "I Deal in Cats" because it's an instrumental, raising the possibility that it might contain a bass solo. So: Does anyone have these two sides in digital form? Does anyone have them on 78 who could possibly digitize them for me? Has anyone ever heard them and can you describe them or tell me if there's a bass solo? Many thanks.

For about two years in 1958-59, Dave Usher (a Detroiter) ran Argo for the Chess brothers and was the main jazz producer -- he did Ahmad at the Pershing among others. He'd drive over to Chicago for the week and return to Detroit on the weekend. Dave, who recently died, had earlier co-founded Dee Gee Records in Detroit with Dizzy Gillespie. Dave left Argo when his father got sick and he returned to Detroit to run the family's modest oil reclamation business. When Dave left, Jack Tracy took over. The coda to the story is that Usher built his family business into one of the world' most notable oil and hazardous waste cleanup business. He struck gold when his company, Marine Pollution Control, was awarded the contract to clean up the Exxon Valdez disaster. In later years, Dave financed a lot of jazz recordings -- he put out those Dizzy in South America recordings from the state department (which he recorded himself on tour with the band), and he financed Annie Ross' late recordings. (He and Annie had a thing ...) Dave was a mensch. I miss him.

Yes, fantastic playing. I have always hoped that more than St. Thomas would surface from the live concert. That's an electrifying performance.

Errata -- the Nalen material is part of the well-documented March 1959 tour (and not from 1962). The only live concert piece I've heard is "St. Thomas" from March 2. The rest of the Dragon LP that I have that includes that live "St. Thomas" is from a radio broadcast on March 4 in Stockholm. The three video tracks from the Swedish TV show that circulate were apparently also done on March 4.

Noted. Thanks.

Latest Chronology column: https://jazztimes.com/features/columns/joe-williams-beyond-the-blues/