lkaven

It's interesting that you mention these two superb drummers together. They've been friends for years and they've shared a studio space at Westbeth for many years. They're definitely all that.

No slight was intended against those who did not study music. I would suggest that you do have some advanced concepts, good aesthetic intuitions, and a good tacit understanding that you got on your own, even if you didn't study. Consider that a talent. But also remember that for most of his life, Frank was a musician's musician, and his fans were mostly among the cats in the house. I've asked Chris Byars to join the thread. Right now, I'm awaiting his return from Japan. After he gets over his jet lag, he should be joining us. Luke

Actually, Chris had also remarked on that particular tune, so I asked him to elaborate on what was novel about it in his view. I could hear the modifications to the melody with the reharmonization, but Chris is one of the few people who understands Frank inside and out. What I posted was his reply to my question. But given how good a resource Chris is, I think I will ask him to talk to us at greater length about the deeper aspects of Hewitt's music. It is timely with the upcoming release of the Hewitt Quintet disk (Four Hundred Saturdays) on which Byars appears. It comes as no surprise to me that many of Hewitt's fans from this forum are -- obviously -- people with a music background and advanced ideas. The well-prepared are likely to discern more earlier on. Others are more likely to put down the disk before getting anywhere with it. Luke

Someone commented here on Frank modifications to Night In Tunisia. As you probably figured out, it wasn't a clam, but one of Frank's quirky ways of reworking a tune. I thought I would share comments from Chris Byars, who was the regular saxophonist in Hewitt's Saturday night quintet, on what was going on in that tune: Chris Byars: "The thing that makes "Tunisia" sound so bizarre is the note Frank keeps hammering in the left thumb on the A sections - a C# that goes through both Eb7 and D minor chords. Combine that with his altering of the last two notes of the melody (which should end G# A, he ends F and G together to F# and G# together) it gives the tune a different harmonic content. It's great because as hip as it is, this tune is so, so, so, so cliché at this point - it needed some innovation."

Last minute appeals by Mitch Borden persuaded Farias last night not to sell the business for the time being. I don't know how long that will last, but it will give us some time to try to keep it going. I received some expression of support personally, but I do not know how far this will carry. But at least there is no demolition date scheduled, as there had been before. Luke

If you have any such photographs, I'd be very interested to see them. I am running very low on photographs of Hewitt. Luke

I'd say more lyrical, as though he were playing a complete part with melody on his own. The soloist really has to jump in with both feet or else Hewitt would outplay them. Luke

Would that it weren't. This weekend, Mitch and I spoke with Farias (a.k.a. José Farias de Couto), the proprietor of the establishment at 183 W10St wherein the club resides, during which he informed us that the establishment is to be sold, and that an offer has been accepted on the place. The buyer is a friend of Farias who, we are told, has no intention of hosting Smalls. We have been offered the right of first refusal. The asking price is $300,000. We were given two weeks (perhaps a bit more) to come up with that. If we don't the place will close almost immediately. Farias cited low numbers, but this is specious in my view. I have a good estimate on what the actual revenues are, and they are enough to put the business in the black. I believe that Farias was looking for a way out from the beginning, and he took us on as a convenience until he could find a buyer. I do not believe that selling the business after four months represents good faith. It certainly did put Mitch and me out a great deal for no good reason. That amount asked is a little too high in our view. We are hoping that it could be obtained for less, closer to $200,000. That is a reasonable amount in consideration of the complete renovation, full liquor license, new HVAC, and ten year lease under market rates. In the time we have left, we are looking for buyers. Clearly, it would be best to have Smalls in the hands of someone with a commitment to its future. Interested parties should contact me immediately. [i've also posted this message at Jazz Corner.] Luke Kaven Smalls Records lukeATsmallsrecordsDOTcom

A thick carpet of chords!

Here it is; it's in press now. Distribution picture is changing a lot right now, I hope for the better. But it puts the street date for this disk up in the air. I hope it will be out in October. I had been recording Across 7 Street on Fri, Sat, and Sun nights on this weekend, and on Saturday and Sunday nights, I arranged with Frank, Ari, and Jimmy to tape their sets. The Saturday night (8/21/99) is the quintet date, which appears in entirety here. It was the 3am hit. Packed house every weekend. They quieted for the recording, and became very responsive. I recorded the Hewitt trio the next night (8/22/99), and that will be on a subsequent release. It is interesting to have the two side by side to see both the consistency in Hewitt's playing, but also the degree to which his mood could change from one night to the next. Luke

Thank you sir.

I wrote to Tom Hull after that article ran and asked why Smalls hadn't been included. From what he said, it was below the minimum number of releases in the catalog. The 'smallest' label listed had 12 according to him. We have 9 (at least til September). I was a little disappointed not to see it listed, and now that you mentioned it, the other labels that were omitted as well. Luke

I agree that Ned's music has to work itself in, and the listener has to have a certain Gestalt to receive it. To some people, it sounds like he's playing Epistrophy again and again. But when you hear the counterpoint between him and the bass, it is something else and much more artful. I put out The Flows because it involved a huge amount of material edited down to one CD, and it is really his prime material. All those tracks have something to offer over a long term. These days, he's been playing early at Smalls every Saturday (8pm). The last two weeks he added Sacha Perry on piano, and the results were actually very interesting. Sacha is a master of chromatic harmony, and he actually doesn't play spare in this context, but it (somewhat surprisingly) works out to be a very nice, dark, mix. Luke

Those early outings with Ben Wolfe have an identifiable (and avowed) influence in a quite adventuresome record of Paul Chambers called "First Bass Man", which features Yusef Lateef, PC, and Lex Humphries along with Tommy Turrentine. Ben and all of usl knew Tommy in his last few years. Tommy tells us he was a last minute sub. Anyway, these tunes are some of the most beautiful and dark sounds, and Yusef knows some heavy stuff by now which he refined later on with the help of Dr. Roland Wiggins. I recomment this record very highly to anyone. As for Ned, he will try to give the coordinates of his style by triangulating between Bix, Bird, and James Brown. Technically, it is his system that underlies his playing. From three notes-the root, the minor third, and the fourth, through a series of transformations, he derives an entire tonal system that he is able to superimpose on top of functional harmony, and thus, the entire array of standards. He will screw with it though, and have the bassist (Neal Caine, also on my label) run retrograde cycles while he runs a progression. Luke

Does anyone out there happen to know how I might get in touch with bassist Steve Neil? [Do I even need to say how great he is? Feel free to hijack the thread in that direction.] I need to tap his brains...I mean, his mind. Luke

Of course! The CB8 is currently slated for March 17th, 25th, and 26th. I wouldn't mind hearing their Gigi Gryce arrangements again. Hopefully Noal can come along. Luke

I'm going to be putting up a temporary site at fatcatjazz.com over the next few days, so look there for further word. The original "smallsjazz.com" domain was allowed to expire accidentally, and was picked up by someone who wanted it for some reason. So before long, we'll register a new domain just for Smalls. Luke

Cats, Not only is Smalls slated to open again, but it will re-open in its original location at 183 West 10th St. Opening night is currently set for March 2nd. You might be wondering how this came about? I thought you would. For over a year after Smalls closed at the end of May 2002, the basement space at 183w10 went unoccupied. Finally, a Brazilian bar, whose owner had actually occupied that space once before Smalls, moved in. For several months, the owner listened to the crickets chirp each night, interrupted only by the sounds of Smalls fans, a dozen or so each night, banging on the door to find out where Smalls was. Apparently this persuaded the gentleman to contact Mitch and to propose working together, and within a very short time, they had reached an agreement. You might say the Smalls fans brought it back. There is some scepticism, of course, after more than one abortive attempt to reopen. But on my most recent visit to the room, I could see that the tenant had cut out fifty feet of his bar to make way for a stage. To spend all that money to put the bar in, only to spend more to take most of it out, suggests that there is a tangible commitment, and at this point I believe that it will open as planned--only ten days from now. The space was renovated from top to bottom with all new fixtures, bathrooms, HVAC, doors, stairs, etc. Once Mitch gets done decorating it in his inimitable style, it will feel like home. There is a liquor license now. The place is set to be open late, though this is constrained a bit by the liquor license. Nevertheless, being open until 5am each night is somewhat realistic. Mitch now says "open until down" instead of "open until dawn". But it will still be a hangout with likely 2-3 bands a night including a session. Smalls Records and I will be there too of course. Pass it on. Luke

I'm not aware of any recordings of Frank with C Sharpe. I don't think he's anywhere in the C Sharpe tapes that I have (which, by the way, we're just starting to transcribe and edit now). I agree with you, that would be something powerful...besides being musically extraordinary, it would be a big shot across the bow of the jazz establishment. I do however have a single recording of the Frank Hewitt quintet, or one incarnation thereof, recorded on one of the weekly Saturday 3AM gigs. This one has Chris Byars on tenor, Mike Mullins on alto, Ari Roland on bass, and Jimmy Lovelace on drums. [Other versions of this quintet included Charles Davis, Joe Magnarelli, Zaid Nasser, and William Ash in front.] Frank has a lush comping style behind horns which you don't entirely hear on any of the other sessions. I also have a Mike Mullins session from the same day that we recorded the Hewitt/Roland/Rosenfeld trio sides. [believe it or not, part of this session is stuck on a dead hard disk, and I've been waiting for years to find someone who can retrieve it. If you know of anyone who would be willing to volunteer to perform a recovery, I'd be glad.] The quintet date will probably be the next one out, because everyone agrees it is a very hot set, and the most fitting tribute to the late Jimmy Lovelace that I have. There's a fair amount of trio material remaining. Some of it is live, and some of it is in closed session at Smalls. None of it deviates from the quality of the regular band on WLY. Nate, I didn't think the "Not Afraid to Live" title was melodramatic (and I suspect you aren't very committed yourself to that characterization). I have him on film saying that during the session, and it came off in retrospect as unexpectedly prescient, especially the "not afraid to die" part. I put it in as a reminder, and a very strong one, that playing jazz like it really matters is a very bold and risky thing to do, something that gets mostly forgotten these days. I'm not sure it even makes much sense to those outside New York who didn't bear witness to Frank's days living in the cooler as a daily reminder of the fucked-up and backwards values in this world. Really and truly, he was not afraid to live and play under the worst circumstances imagineable rather than compromise. I'm saying to many (nobody from here) with this title: you are complacent cowards, afraid to live your lives to the fullest. Luke PS -- I have a special announcement in another thread that you'll all like. :-)

Zaid Nasser is the son of bassist Jamil Nasser (nee George Joyner). He was a weekly feature at Smalls for several years. Also did some time in the Frank Hewitt quintet. Expatriated to play in Armenia with piano monster Vahagn Hayrapetian, then returned to NY to starve. Featured on one track on the Jazz Underground: Live at Smalls CD on Impulse, and is in the band for one or two things on Ned Otter's 2and4 label. He's another one that wasn't crossover enough for Impulse to sign. Slated to record for me this spring. Overdue. Luke

I haven't experimented much with Chinese microphones since the first of them started coming out. I had a R0DE, then some BPMs. I got the feeling that there was a lot of refinement going on, and secrets being passed around. The end result was improved technology on the low end at an affordable price. If I were starting out again, I'd be better off today for the same or less money. If I were spending over $1000 these days, I'd be looking more at the Soundelux models and over that, the Korby Convertible. I don't know what Neumann is thinking these days, but their low end TLM103 and the TLM193 are still great mics. Luke

Hi B3-er, That looks like a nice setup for the money and good specs. At first I thought the 99V came from the Jensen 990 discrete opamp, but Hardy says they're not. Those Hardys are incredible pieces, and he's doesn't ask a lot for them at all. You can almost never find them used, since nobody in their right mind would give one up unless they had to. Jim Anderson can tell you all about how nice the Hardys are...I think he's got a dozen of them or more. Luke

Aren't we both right? I get this from an interview with Phil Schaap: "Far more interesting, in terms of live jazz, are the "Delayed on Disc" broadcasts from Minton's Playhouse on 118th Street. We didn't have a radio wire to Minton's Playhouse -- they would go there with a disc recorder, and would have to run the records back here to play them. So they presented it like it was a live program, but it was "delayed on disc." Clearly the pivotal figure here was Jerry Newman. There are four Minton's Playhouse broadcasts, of which he is the announcer on two of them. An anonymous second voice delighted me doing the announcements on one of the two other broadcasts -- he gets up to announce the band, but apparently there was a bit of bickering over whose band it really was. Joe Guy thought it was his band, Kenny Clarke thought it was his band, Thelonious Monk may have thought it was his band. So he's announcing, "this is Joe Guy's band at the Playhouse, featuring..." -- and he makes a big deal about featuring Kenny Clarke, "and on bass..." -- and you can see he's looking around, that guy's name is... "oh yeah, Nick Fenton" -- and then you realize he doesn't know the piano player's name, but he remembers everybody's been calling him "Monk". So he goes, "and the piano player's name is Monk -- I'm sorry I haven't had time to find out his last name." That's in the archives -- it was re-placed there by yours truly -- the original discs are long gone. The sense of humor of these early WKCR people is very evident; they don't have any formal legal restrictions, so on one of them the guy goes, "this is radio station...", and then he belches."

I just caught up to this forum since it moved from the Blue Note board. I'm glad to see Jim is still participating. Jim I think what you say is so true. The isolation is a mere technical convenience without a musical purpose, and in most cases, it sucks the life out of the music. Our cats spend night after night standing next to each other on the bandstand making great music. Why would I want to change that when I take them into a studio? Putting musicians into isolation booths reminds me of 1950s behavioral psych experiments. People play as though they knew they could do it again. The real drama comes partly from knowing the musician is vulnerable and risking it all. Our current "big vocal record" was recorded by Baker for me at Avatar A. Singer plus octet. A dozen ribbon mikes and the art of the null plane. All full band takes, mixed live to stereo by Baker. Mixing on the Neve, he looked like he was conducting an orchestra himself, and that's how I'll remember him. Luke

It's actually +4dBM and -10dBV and the difference is actually about 12dB, but what you say is mostly correct. One reason I think pro equipment operates at nominal levels of +4dBM is because it is easier to drive low-impedence balanced lines over a relatively long distance. Most consumer equipment uses single-ended inputs/outputs, which is fine for short distances. There is a nice variety of microphone preamps in the pro audio world, and they come in all kinds of subtle and different sounds. Some of those varieties are not suited for general work because they are used for getting a strong coloring. Others, though, would make great phono stage and preamp if an RIAA eq were added. Someone would build you one. Great circuit designers like Dan Kennedy at Great River or John Hardy make for great sonics. The Millennia Media is probably the favorite of classical recordists, though if DW Fearns were less expensive, they'd probably be used more. (The Fearn is a steal compared to what audiophiles pay for their hyped pieces.) Then the Great River and the Hardy improved version of the Jensen twin-servo. [Kinda interesting and tragic story, actually--Deane Jensen was a genius.] It is hard to find better sonics and build quality anywhere than these, and they are available at a reasonable price. They sometimes appreciate in fact. Luke