Guest Posted June 13, 2005 Report Share Posted June 13, 2005 "Look Up And Live" - a religious broadcast done by the National Council of Churches. Had a lot of great folks at one time or another: Roach with Booker Little; Don Ellis; Dave Brubeck; Clark Terry. Some episodes do still exist - don't know about the Konitz/Marsh/Tristano. Mike ← For those who want - here's clips from the Max Roach one http://adale.org/Discographies/Booker.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybleaden Posted June 15, 2005 Report Share Posted June 15, 2005 I remember seeing alot as a teenager before I had a vcr. I really would like to see more come out if sources can be found especially the live tv shows instead of rehashed tv biogs with all the usual stereotypes/rehashed stories. One that springs to mind was a programme I saw about Art Blakey years ago at around 87-88 in the uk ....it was really interesting and featured him doing some african stuff if my memory serves me right. (which it frequently does not) I picked up a nice one from a friend which many of you will have which featured charles mingus in black and white ( i think dolphy was on it) ...got it on a cd rom as a pressie...not sure if it is from a dvd or not Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosco Posted June 15, 2005 Report Share Posted June 15, 2005 (edited) One that springs to mind was a programme I saw about Art Blakey years ago at around 87-88 in the uk ....it was really interesting and featured him doing some african stuff if my memory serves me right. (which it frequently does not) Andy ← I believe that documentary was called 'Father Time'... I taped that when it was first shown, not sure what happened to the tape though. It was shown again about three months ago on BBC4 over here**. Nice film, lots of (now) well known Brit jazzers full of youthful enthusiasm and in awe of Blakey, who gives 'em a lesson in Afro-Cuban rhythms. I didn't tape it this time round. Sorry! ** Oops... just noticed you're *this* side of the pond! Keep an eye on BBC4... everything gets repeated on there eventually! Edited June 15, 2005 by Rosco Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Fitzgerald Posted June 15, 2005 Report Share Posted June 15, 2005 There may have been another done for UK, but in the US the Blakey film was entitled "The Jazz Messenger" and it included footage from the performances at the Shaw Theatre for Camden Jazz Week in March 1986. It was shown on US public TV and was available for purchase as a VHS. In addition to that "current" footage there was plenty of other stuff - interviews, old footage, concluding with a performance of "Dat Dere" by Blakey and Oscar Brown, Jr. - maybe with someone else - Big Black? The African stuff included a percussionist whose name escapes me right now, but they did "A Night In Tunisia" along with the dance group "IDJ - I Dance Jazz". This was in the period when Blakey and other classic Blue Note stuff was getting played in the nightclubs. An excellent film that I would snatch up on DVD if it were available. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted June 15, 2005 Report Share Posted June 15, 2005 (edited) Michael - I have a VHS of that show which was broadcast many years ago by BBC2 on one of their 'Jazz Weeks' (possibly late 1980s/early 1990s). I think it was called 'Art Blakey - Jazz Messenger' over here. Members of the (then very young and up and coming) Jazz Warriors such as Courtney Pine, Philip Bent and Orphy Robinson were extensively featured, including the London live performance (at Camden I assume?). From my memory there is also good interview footage with Bobby Watson (they play an arrangement of one of his tunes), Curtis Fuller, Walter Davis Jr and Oscar Brown Jr ('Dat Dere' is sung whilst Blakey plays with his kids in the park - can't recall seeing Big Black). There's also footage of a London drum clinnic featuring Blakey and an interview with Wayne Shorter. Also a short and very grainy B&W clip of Lee Morgan, Shorter and Blakey playing 'Night In Tunisia' in a Paris concert (I wonder if Brownie was there? ) A good show ! Edited June 15, 2005 by sidewinder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted June 15, 2005 Report Share Posted June 15, 2005 but they did "A Night In Tunisia" along with the dance group "IDJ - I Dance Jazz". This was in the period when Blakey and other classic Blue Note stuff was getting played in the nightclubs. ← I suspect that this might well have been taped at 'Dingwalls', which had regular jazz dance sessions at the time, mainly featuring the classic Blue Note grooves of Blakey, Silver etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quasimado Posted June 15, 2005 Report Share Posted June 15, 2005 A copy of the Konitz/ Tristano/ Marsh *Live at the Half Note* from the *Look Up and Live* series appears to be available in some capacity (along with a lot of other jazz on film), from MacDonald and Associates: http://www.macfilms.com/jazz.htm Q Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosco Posted June 15, 2005 Report Share Posted June 15, 2005 (edited) Michael - I have a VHS of that show which was broadcast many years ago by BBC2 on one of their 'Jazz Weeks' (possibly late 1980s/early 1990s). I think it was called 'Art Blakey - Jazz Messenger' over here. Members of the (then very young and up and coming) Jazz Warriors such as Courtney Pine, Philip Bent and Orphy Robinson were extensively featured, including the London live performance (at Camden I assume?). From my memory there is also good interview footage with Bobby Watson (they play an arrangement of one of his tunes), Curtis Fuller, Walter Davis Jr and Oscar Brown Jr ('Dat Dere' is sung whilst Blakey plays with his kids in the park - can't recall seeing Big Black). There's also footage of a London drum clinnic featuring Blakey and an interview with Wayne Shorter. Also a short and very grainy B&W clip of Lee Morgan, Shorter and Blakey playing 'Night In Tunisia' in a Paris concert (I wonder if Brownie was there? ) A good show ! ← That's the show... was broadcast again in the UK in February this year as part of BBC4s superb Jazz Britannia season... http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/music/feature...it-season.shtml Man, looking at the line up now makes me wish I'd taped the whole thing- it was excellent! Edited June 15, 2005 by Rosco Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeweil Posted June 16, 2005 Report Share Posted June 16, 2005 The Europeans were much more on the ball about this kind of thing. Quite a bit of their TV stuff has been saved. Mike ← Oh how I wish some DVD company would get into business with German TV stations .... incredible what they have, some being the only footage of some of the bands: Coltrane with Dolphy, Miles in Berlin with Jarrett and Bartz, the whole J.E. Berendt produved series, I even saw the Monterey performamnce of Don Ellis on German TV as a youngster. What holds them? Licensing issues? Musician's estates? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted June 16, 2005 Report Share Posted June 16, 2005 My analogue satellite service used to allow me to pick up all the German-language stations and I was always amazed that if I tuned in late at night there would be some great live jazz on there, presented in the professional manner that it deserves. Charlie Mariano used to pop up a lot on these. Now with my so-called improved digital service there are no German/Austrian/Swiss channels and the only jazz is the occasional BBC4 offering ( ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosco Posted June 16, 2005 Report Share Posted June 16, 2005 My analogue satellite service used to allow me to pick up all the German-language stations and I was always amazed that if I tuned in late at night there would be some great live jazz on there, presented in the professional manner that it deserves. Charlie Mariano used to pop up a lot on these. Now with my so-called improved digital service there are no German/Austrian/Swiss channels and the only jazz is the occasional BBC4 offering ( ). ← Same here. 3Sat was a great station for that, if I remember right. Now I have to make do with Performance Channel showing the same half dozen shows month after month Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert J Posted June 16, 2005 Report Share Posted June 16, 2005 Ralph J. Gleason’s Jazz Casual programs are excellent examples of history saved from the fate of the dustbin. http://www.allaboutjazz.com/articles/a0599_01.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted O'Reilly Posted June 16, 2005 Report Share Posted June 16, 2005 I don't know if these performances were disposed of because of space considerations or because the persons doing the disposing were people with no foresight -either way they have done a terrible disservice to our cultural legacy. ← Chris, to my knowledge money, money, money was/is a problem, and sometimes the technology itself, when it came to videotape. With a one-hour roll costing in the hundreds of dollars back in the '60s/'70s, I know the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation--the public national network) very often would be told by the accountants to re-use the archived tape, thereby erasing a bit of culture. This was two-inch reel-to-reel videotape, remember, not a convenient cassette, and unless you had a machine worth several hundred thousand dollars, it couldn't be watched or saved. Interestingly, in the days before tape, kinescopes were made: a 16mm film camera was set up in front of an on-line TV monitor, and the (live) show was recorded that way. The resultant film couldn't be reused, so it was saved, and the show was saved. Ditto, obviously, for programmes done directly to film. Even when the accountants have demanded film-dumping to save shelf space the shows have often been saved by fans who worked in the archive section. It should be noted that the material that was saved is now being valued as a money-making resource, but often copyright clearances and artists payments will hold up release. May I also say that sometimes stuff gets out of vaults (passed on by a friend in the archives--at PBS/CBC/BBC, wherever) and copy after copy gets out, thus destroying the already-small market for music other than Britney, et alia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medjuck Posted June 16, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2005 Ted: You might know about this: Do you remember a show Bill Evans did for CBC TV? The director was Paddy Sampson and Eddie Gomez was on bass. A friend invited me into the booth during the taping (I think there was no audience.) I've inquired of CBC Archives about it but they don't have it. I thnk it's an example of the tapes being erased. Also do you know if the CBC show of Wilie the Lion Smith and Don Ewell is extant? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted O'Reilly Posted June 20, 2005 Report Share Posted June 20, 2005 ...a show Bill Evans did for CBC TV?... ....Wilie the Lion Smith and Don Ewell is extant? ← I don't remember the Evans thing, but Paddy Sampson was certainly the man at CBC who would have done it. I was at the Smith/Ewell taping, and remember it well--just a 30 minute show. I think it was saved, but I'm not sure. I may still have a contact or two at the CBC who can find out for me. Meanwhile, Smith and Ewell made a record at that time, produced by a Toronto journalist named Patrick Scott. He made a thousand copies or so (Exclusive 501--never re-presssed). John Norris made it widely available on LP ("Grand Piano") for his Sackville label, using as cover photos shots taken at the TV taping. The good news is that it's now on CD, as part of a 2CD set of three similar piano LPs, all recorded in Toronto. "Grand Piano" Sackville SK2CD-5011 Willie 'The Lion' Smith and Don Ewell (1967--Grand Piano) Claude Hopkins (1972--Soliloquy) Sir Charles Thompson (1984--Portrait of a Piano) If you have any trouble finding it, you can send a fax to Sackville at 416.465.9093 as Norris is happy to sell by mail. In fact, he's just about to send out a new mail-order catalog of things, so use that same phone number and ask him to send one out...he has lots of interesting stuff. (He's a bit of a Luddite, though: NO eMail or website). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medjuck Posted June 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2005 Hey I was at the taping too! I interviewed Wilie the Lion but to be honest didn't know enough about him at the time to do a decent interview. (Billy Crystal once told me that The Lion named him "Face"-- hence Crystals' company "Face Productions".) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christiern Posted June 20, 2005 Report Share Posted June 20, 2005 Willie the Lion was quite a character. Once when I was getting ready to produce a session with him, we needed to put together a band. After telling me that he could only work with musicians who were born under the Sagitarius sign, he invited me to his second apartment in Harlem (the one his wife was never to visit)--we spent at least two hours leafing through the Encyclopedia of Jazz looking for musicians with the right birthday! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted November 13, 2005 Report Share Posted November 13, 2005 Up again for air with this thread. Anyone know when the 'Frankly Jazz' website will go live? Just checking out some of the videos (UK released by TCB Publishing back in the 1980s) this afternoon. The Sammy Davis Jr is sort of neat, with Davis on vibes featured with his regular touring group. Much of that particular show also features Victor Feldman and his trio plus Jimmy Rowles (on piano for Feldman's vibes feature). The Gerald Wilson video is pretty damn interesting in that it features Gerald playing trumpet as well as directing the band. This particular video also includes the great show with the Jazz Crusaders and featuring music from 'Freedom Sound' and 'Looking Forward'. Anyone seen the Shorty Rogers and Shelly Manne broadcasts from this show? According to the list of shows these look to be the only ones I am missing. Looks like this series only had one short run in 1962. Let's hope that these come out on DVD at some stage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medjuck Posted November 14, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2005 And also up again because I think the first Ellington Sacred concert which I mentioned in the first post on this thread is being released on Tuesday! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybleaden Posted November 14, 2005 Report Share Posted November 14, 2005 (edited) mike fitzgerald said The Europeans were much more on the ball about this kind of thing. Quite a bit of their TV stuff has been saved. Its the pirates in us all matey ah har Both the authorities and fans have managed to save what little we have had on tv ....just in case I remember reading in some notes about Houston Person that the The Real Thing live at Watts Club Mozambique was recorded for TV....fancy finding that on a dvd!...I mean with GRANT GREEN!!!!! Edited November 14, 2005 by andybleaden Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejp626 Posted November 14, 2005 Report Share Posted November 14, 2005 mike fitzgerald said The Europeans were much more on the ball about this kind of thing. Quite a bit of their TV stuff has been saved. Its the pirates in us all matey On the other hand, for regular BBC shows, nearly all of them were wiped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted November 14, 2005 Report Share Posted November 14, 2005 Indeed. There was quite a bit of Jazz 625 material wiped to make space for game shows, Bruce Forsyth, 'Blankety Blank' etc. ITV were just as bad. They wiped a whole series of Joe Harriott/John Mayer 'Indo Jazz Fusions' recorded at the HTV Bristol studio. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alankin Posted November 15, 2005 Report Share Posted November 15, 2005 (edited) Duke Ellington – Love You Madly / A Concert of Sacred Music at Grace Cathedral - DVD (Red Dist.) Nov 15 — 1965; 116 minutes; B&W Released today! Edited November 15, 2005 by alankin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Dryden Posted December 16, 2005 Report Share Posted December 16, 2005 Steve Allen bemoaned the discarding of kinescopes of his old Tonight Shows, as he regularly featured jazz musicians on his program. The audio portions of a couple of Art Tatum appearances have been issued at least twice, but I'm not sure of any others. Another senseless loss. Duke Ellington did a pilot with Billy Strayhorn for a program, but some union official demanded that the video be erased. Another great example of the redundancy of the term "union stupidity." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez Posted October 23, 2006 Report Share Posted October 23, 2006 SO THEN WHY DID THEY DESTROY THE K'SCOPE OF THE T.MONK BAND w. FRONT LINE OF ART FARMER AND MOBLEY? WOULDNT THAT BE A KEEPER? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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