THE CONNECTION this week on "Night Lights"

[ghost of miles]

This week on "Night Lights" it's music and dialogue from THE

CONNECTION, a groundbreaking 1959 off-Broadway play from New York City's Living Theater group, written by Jack Gelber, that cast jazz musicians as

heroin addicts waiting for a score. Artists that passed through the

play included pianist Freddie Redd (who composed the original score),

alto saxophonist Jackie McLean, tenor saxophonist Tina Brooks, and

pianist Cecil Taylor. THE CONNECTION was made into a 1962 movie

directed by Shirley Clarke, who would go on to the film the adaptation

of Warren Miller's controversial Harlem-set novel THE COOL WORLD. A

West Coast production was also staged in Los Angeles, with different

music written by cast member Dexter Gordon. The show won several Obies

and ran for more than 700 performances; eventually it was presented in

London, where its raw immediacy and demolition of the normal boundaries

between audience and cast provoked a near-riot. We'll hear music from

four different versions of THE CONNECTION's soundtrack--the Blue Note

album released under Freddie Redd's name, the Felsted record on which

Tina Brooks replaced Jackie McLean and trumpeter Howard McGhee was

added to the line-up; baritone saxophonist Cecil Payne and pianist Kenny

Drew's rarely-heard 1962 score; and Dexter Gordon's Blue Note

recordings of two of the pieces he wrote for the Los Angeles production. We'll

also hear dialogue from the 1962 movie version, which included original

cast members Freddie Redd and Jackie McLean. Though parts of THE

CONNECTION may now sound dated, it remains a cultural landmark of both

early-1960s jazz and theater--a moment when the jazz world found itself

in the service of avant-garde drama.

THE CONNECTION is available on DVD from Dusty Groove America.

An interview with CONNECTION director Shirley Clarke can be read here.

Jazz and fiction writer Joe Milazzo's meditative take on THE

CONNECTION: Milazzo

This obituary of CONNECTION playwright Jack Gelber talks about the

play's initial reception and its impact on other playwrights such as

Edward Albee:

Both versions of Freddie Redd's THE CONNECTION (on Blue Note with

Jackie McLean and on Boplicity with Tina Brooks and Howard McGhee) are

currently out of print. I have not been able to find a CD copy of

Cecil Payne's version, though it was supposedly re-issued at one point by

either Fresh Sounds or Collectables. A friend was able to supply an LP

copy for this program.

Edited September 10, 2004 by ghost of miles

[couw]

FWIW, Daniel Humair played some tunes from the play for his debut album, reissued on Jazz & Cinéma Vol. 3 in the Jazz in Paris series.

Besides Theme for Sister Salvation, Overdose, Wigglin', and Music Forever they also play One Mint Julep. Personnel includes Sonny Grey, tp; Luis Fuentes, tb; Jean-Louis Chautemps, ts; Eddy Louiss, p; Guy Pedersen, b; Daniel Humair, ds; René Urtreger, arr;

[Shawn]

Cecil Payne's version is very cool...but take note...it's a DIFFERENT score. It was for a later run of the show and new songs were written (mostly by Kenny Drew). So it's not *exactly* the same thing...but IS worth seeking out.

[ghost of miles]

Cecil Payne's version is very cool...but take note...it's a DIFFERENT score. It was for a later run of the show and new songs were written (mostly by Kenny Drew). So it's not *exactly* the same thing...but IS worth seeking out.

Yep, I was hepped to this when I came across mention of the album by Dmitry in a thread about THE CONNECTION's release on DVD. Dexter Gordon's score for the West Coast production was different as well (some of it survives on DEXTER CALLING).

The program was a bit rough in a couple of transitional places, as we're now trying to fit it for a 59-minute format for national distribution. That means you have to "cut away" at certain points where some stations might be taking NPR news, usually by playing a music bed. It's the first time I've tried to do that with the show, and we'll probably go back and reassemble the program (as opposed to recording it live, which makes hitting those marks much more difficult, particularly when you take post-production editing into account--in other words, I stopped talking right at the 29:00 minute mark, say, but when we tightened up some pauses & long track endings, my out-cue ended up being at 28:56. Etc, etc.)

[Dmitry]

When do you think you'll archive this so we can listen to it?

I for one am anxious to hear it.

Edited September 15, 2004 by Dmitry

[ghost of miles]

When do you think you'll archive this so we can listen to it?

I for one am anxious to hear it.

Dmitry, sorry about that--I thought we'd already put the audio up. I sent a message to the engineers, and it should be posted pretty soon. I'll up the thread when it is.

[Dmitry]

Listened to the program this morning. Pretty neat!

Did I miss it, or you didn't mention the drug problems of the participants in the different incarnations of the play and soundtrack albums, aside from Dexter Gordon?

[ghost of miles]

Listened to the program this morning. Pretty neat!

Did I miss it, or you didn't mention the drug problems of the participants in the different incarnations of the play and soundtrack albums, aside from Dexter Gordon?

I think I did mention Jackie's problems and made a more general comment about some of the musicians in the cast having addiction issues themselves. I think I've read or heard somewhere that Freddie Redd may have had a problem too, but I was extremely reluctant to say anything without actual documentation... I'm going to listen to the program again, as we'll probably re-record it for national distribution, and will definitely add the Jackie/general comments if I inadvertently omitted them the first time around.