marcello

Please come to Rochester for more snow and take it away with you. The AVERAGE snowfall here is more that 10 feet per year. Last year we had 180 inches! THE UPSTATE NY SNOWFALL RACE Meteorologist Rich Lupia April 24, 2003 Rochester 135.2" Buffalo 111.3" Albany 105.4"

Quite right , Mike! In my line of work there is a old saying: "A contract is only as good as the persons that sign it." Jim, if he dosen't pay you some extra money, talk another club into having you make some money for them! That's what Spider would do!

Thanks for the tip Mike! There is a whole 'nother wonderful world of music there; much to explore. A more recent Photo:

I wonder if he is invoicing Benetar the $15 fee! The best advice I saw here for your is to up your fee to cover expences. Call it a carting fee for your ax, if you need to. I found his picture!

Miracles do happen! He must have worked out his issues. Great, exciting drummer. I'm gald he is back to music with McCoy. I never liked that drummer he had for about 10 years ( was it Aaron Scott?, I've tried to forget). Does he still keep his cymbals high and at that extreme angle? No wonder he practiced with those Num-Chucks!

O.K....back to McCoy! In 1976 I produced a concert a concert, in Rochester, with him as the only act. He had just released "Focal Point" and the band had Ron Bridgewater, Eric Gravatt, Charles Fambrough Joe Ford and Guglielmo Franco. When I went to pick up the band at the airport, the only band mambers to get off the plane were Gravatt and Fambrough. Joe Ford decided to go to Buffalo first (his home town to pick up his wife and kid ) and would drive to the gig from there. McCoy, Bridgewater and Franco all missed their flight. After frantic calls to Whittemore, I found out that the others got on another flight but McCoy was still missing. This is a 3pm and the concert is scheduled for 8 pm. As soon as I get Gravatt and Fambrough into a car for the ride to the hotel, Gravatt lights up a huge joint and tells me to be cool while Fambrough laughs is ass off. Gravatt is the most surly person I had ever seen while smoking dope! He got nasty and salty. At 7pm, still no word about McCoy as I arrive at the hotel to pick up the others. I knock on Gravatt's door many times before he opens it (naked, with another HUGE joint in his mouth ) whereupon he goes back to facing a music stand that holds sheets of paper with large Chinese or Japanese writing figures that he studies while he practices with his Num-Chucks and never says a word to me. After a coulple of minutes a frutile questions to like " Shall we go?" and "Is everyone here?' and not getting any response, I go to Fambrough's room hoping that he will at least laugh at me again! Fambrough comes with me to Gravatt's room and shakes him out of his trance, and he dresses. Bridgewater and Franco have not checked into their rooms but I hope they find the concert hall on their own, not to mention Ford, coming from Buffalo. McCoy, I hope, at least finds Rochester. Once again, Gravatt lights up more inspriation in the car and snarles; Fambrough laughs. I ask them if they have heard from McCoy or Whittemore? Gravatt grunts out the McCoy has been a leader for a long time, will make the gig and for me to shut up about him and leave him alone. At the hall, Ford, Bridgewater and Franco are there. All but McCoy. At 8pm, concert time, I have 1500 people outside of the hall because I don't want to let them in and take their money if I have to cancel. I only hold out untill 8:30 because of the crowd but then at 8:45.... here comes McCoy! He made alternate travel plans and rented a car at the airport which he drove straight to the hall. We do a sound check in front of the house that McCoy turned into a mini concert, bless his heart, and then we took a short break before the real show, that began at 9:30. He was great! The band was great! Even Gravatt was great! McCoy play trio, duo with Ford, duo with Fambrough and with the Quintet. They played two very long sets and he really gave everyone their moneys worth, and then some. He was a real gentleman; very quiet and focused. He meditated between sets and after the last one. It actualy took him some time to come down after the music was over. He was in a trance afterward with a wide eyed look that told you his was in a different place. I've seen him since then with his trio but it sure wasn't the same as that night! I think it was one of those very special nights, for all. The last I heard of Eric Gravatt, he was a prison guard. I bet he loves his job.

I couldn't say it better, Allen. I've been listening to him since the Studio Rivbea days and I have always thought there was more fluff than substance in/to him. The Wynton of the Avant Garde! To paraphrase Miles: I'd rather hear Henry Threadgill or John Stubblefield fart through their horns than listen to one of Murrary's long and lame solos.

Very well said. Thank You!

i'm very sorry. i trust your parents were able to get you in to see a therapist soon after this traumatic event. B-) During the eary 70's Chuck had a great little Youth Big Band in Rochester. He gave a lot of kids the oportunity to play with each other and guest artists at the same time nuture a love for the music. If you ever heard the Mangione of the 60's you would know he could play. Art Blakey didn't hire him for 2 years because he was a wimp. Also those big band rtecords have wonderful writing and melodies. Having said that, if I ever hear "Feel so Good" again it will be one time too many!

Any recomendation to replace the dear departed Elvin for "The Test"?

You know Jim, that the club is supposed to pay ASCAP and BMI for ALL music played at the club. Even if they play records on their sound system or Juke Box. Are they pro-rating your fee for that use? These are cheap bastards! They are supposed to pay, not you. Let them charge extra for their drinks. It might even be stated in the copyright law. Is Phil Kelly here?

I have their LP called "Bridges" (1977). Gene and Michael are frequent guests in Rochester, where Gene in particular, teaches during the Summer Session.

Roberto Menescal - Brazilian composer of " Little Boat" and others.

Thank You and yes, it is on cd. I usually buy from CD Universe; check there.

Thank You for That, Jim!

The above is a rash generalization, to be sure, and is far, far from the reality that I see from the many musicians I personally know. Now having said that, Artists in general, in THIS society do depend on their mates for economic survival, and that causes tension. It's almost the same in any two earner family except that the sensitivity ( mama's boys? ) that a Artist posesses comes into play here. There can be a lot of self-doubt about what they do as a Man/Artist in Western Culture. You can't tar all Jazz muscians with the same brush here. I hope that wasn't your intent. As far as Max's abuse goes, I hope he grew as a Man and worked out his frustrations in a more productive way. I'll bet that's the case.

I grew up with that album at my cousin's house in the 60's. It was one of the records that all the teenagers would dance to along with the Stax sides they had. It still has a nice groove to it! Away From The Crowd / Motherless Child / In Escambrun / The Young Turks / You're Gonna Make It With Me Featuring: Chick Corea, Dave Pike, Bruno Carr

oh consider the irony of that spelling... -e- Damn Spellchecker!

Hell, THAT"S good marketing!

I used to have a friend who would put his dates through "The Elvin Test ". He would take them to see Elvin Jones ( in NYC, of course ) and if she didn't get exited over the set he would drop her. Ahh... those were the days!

Mike, I DID buy your book through a online store, as a matter of fact, but you still have to be looking for it. One of the pleasures of a walk-in bookstore is that you can linger, browse and sample a little. Maybe you already have a interest, maybe not.... If you want exposure, you have to get it in front of people!

Larry, the major problem with big box stores such as Barnes and Noble and Borders is that if the person in charge of the "Jazz" section has no real knowledge or care for the subject, the selection and service is mediocre and slip-shod. In that case, it's the distributor's resposibility to make sure that the product they represent is in the stores by giving the buyers a kick in the ass. There are a lot of criteria that goes into where and why you place and push a product in different markets, but it's not rocket science ( or music theory for that matter! ); it just takes some thought and hustle. There are many lazy distributors, in music and print. If you don't get your product in the stores, nobody can expierence it. For the record, I found mine at B&N when it first came out but since then, it hasn't been restocked.

To add my two cents about Birks; he once said to me that, to paraphrase, that Jews, Italians and Putero Ricans can really play the music. That they had a lot of Natural Soul. I think he was just trying to add the whole human race as Soul Brothers! He was a Bahai, you know! By the way, does everyone here really enjoy this diarrhea of the mouth going on here?

Dan - It really depends on the State you live in with regards to tax questions. If you don't have a complicated return with a lot of income streams and deductions, you return shuld be a no brainer to do yourselves. You could always have the IRS volenteers do it for you for nothing.

Budd Johnson In the same vein, I have always liked Ira Gilter's book "From Swing To Bop " because it covers many of same players and their involvement in the evolution of music during this peroid.