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Hello everybody!

I just thought I would drop a line to introduce myself...It is actually my first time on a Jazz forum, and I'm looking forward to reading some of the stuff you guys post in here.

I'm a classic Jazz fan, and I ain't much into today's Jazz musicians..I can only think of a few names of today's Jazz scene...and they've been around for a while anyway...Joshua Redman would be one of them that I do love.

But like I said..my mind goes back in time to find the music and voices of Billie Holiday (the absolute First Lady to me), John Coltrane, Max Roach, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy, Charlie Parker, Clifford Brown, Miles, Mingus, Monk, Sarah Vaughan, Sonny Rollins, Earl Hines, Lester "The President" Young...And yes, I love Louis Armstrong. As a vocalist and as a trumpeter.

Oh well..enough of this one-way talkin', huh?

Billie.-

Guest

Guest

Posted
Posted (edited)

Thank you :)

I interviewed Tete Montoliu in Spain, by the way. It was back in June 1997 (June 8, 1997), if I remember right..just a couple of months before he passed away. That was a fine pianist, but a complicated man at times....They told me mine was the last interview he ever gave, but I can't be certain about that. The same day I interviewed Spanish tenor sax player Pedro Iturralde, and he sent me this letter after Tete passed away, telling me how sad he was, since that same day was the last time he ever talked to Tete as well. I've seen your avatar..that's why I'm telling you this.

Edited by Billie
Dan Gould Veteran

Dan Gould

Posted
Posted

Welcome to the forum. If you've done interviews with people like Montoliu, I'm sure there is much that we'll learn from you! And don't worry about not digging the modern scene too much, there are plenty of people here who dig the same classic music/artists you do.

EKE BBB Mentor

EKE BBB

Posted
Posted

Thank you  :)

I interviewed Tete Montoliu in Spain, by the way. It was back in June 1997 (June 8, 1997), if I remember right..just a couple of months before he passed away. That was a fine pianist, but a complicated man at times....They told me mine was the last interview he ever gave, but I can't be certain about that. The same day I interviewed Spanish tenor sax player Pedro Iturralde, and he sent me this letter after Tete passed away, telling how sad he was, since that same day was the last time he ever talked to Tete as well. I've seen your avatar..that's why I'm telling you this.

That´s very interesting!

You can say I´m sort of a Tete Montoliu fanatic... :rolleyes:

If you have a few minutes, take a look at the sessionography I am compiling, available at Michael Fitzgerald´s Jazz Discography website:

http://www.jazzdiscography.com/Artists/Montoliu/

It´s still a work in progress project. Hopefully it will be "completed" early next year!

Best wishes,

Agustín

Guest

Guest

Posted
Posted (edited)

That is great to know, Dan :D .

I really think I'm always the one learning when it comes to Jazz...Been listening to it since I was a kid and my Dad used to play all that Jazz every sunday morning, and this amazed feeling always seems to grow stronger by the day in my heart. I'm sure you all know what I mean. I've been concentrated on many other things for the past few years, but Jazz Music is always there with me.

Tete did reach down to my soul with some of his answers that night. I just listened to that interview again (sheesh....haven't listened to it in years!), and here's a little bit of it:

"Unless you are a genius, and I am not one, you have to listen to a lot of artists, and keep some sparks from them until you can develop your own personality. That's what I did, and that's what everybody has done before me".

"Those who try to base their music on Bill Evans, they're doing the most stupid thing on Earth. Because Bill Evans was Bill Evans. He was neither black, nor white..He was Bill Evans. And he was amazing. Nobody can do what he could do. And you could say the same about me...but that doesn't mean that what I do is good or bad, right or wrong...It's just what I do".

"I consider myself to be a human being...not a jazz musician or a musician. To be a human being is quite a big thing".

"I have learned from every musician that I've ever played on stage with...Most of them taught me what I shouldn't do...and just a few of them taught me what I should do".

"I believe in Music...and music depends on musicians...and it is all up to them to make great music. Don't tell me about BeBop, nor about Coltrane or Miles...This is only a matter of a musician that tells a story..I try to tell stories myself based on whatever I can think of right when I am about to play...I used to say that my music was based on BeBop, but I have come to realize that what I really like to do is Music, for better or for worse".

That was Tete a couple of months before passin' away. Quite a man.

Edited by Billie
Guest

Guest

Posted
Posted

Any one who is into Billie and Tete is welcome here!

Hearty greetings!

Hey there :)

Is that Coltrane on your avatar? Because I must say that I've always been crazy about John :g

Guest

Guest

Posted
Posted

Thanks for joining us!

Welcome, from one Lady Lover to another!

:D Can't ever have enough of Billie, honey. She was a Lady. And Lester knew what he was talkin' 'bout when he nicknamed her ;)

Guest

Guest

Posted
Posted

[

That´s very interesting!

You can say I´m sort of a Tete Montoliu fanatic...  :rolleyes:

If you have a few minutes, take a look at the sessionography I am compiling, available at Michael Fitzgerald´s Jazz Discography website:

http://www.jazzdiscography.com/Artists/Montoliu/

It´s still a work in progress project. Hopefully it will be "completed" early next year!

Best wishes,

Agustín

Hey man...I will check it out. My dad was a big Montoliu fan, but I never got to listen to his music that much yet. Love his "En el Teatro Real", and specially the cut "Jo vull que m'acaricis"...That is some inspirational performance..Soulful and tender...

Guest

Guest

Posted
Posted

Oh my..didn't realize about that!...My eyes got stuck in Coltrane... :P ....

Miles was some genius...I remember that my dad didn't use to like him until I bought for him the incredible "Milestones" on cd. The fact that Coltrane was there made him open his mind...Before then, he used to say that Miles' trumpet got broken and he didn't even bother fixin' it... :D .....

Guest

Guest

Posted
Posted

Thank ya'll for the warm welcome :) .

Herb, that's some list of names you gave me there, man! :D I love 'em all, too. Billie is in the top of my list. Her voice was her own self...All that pain, all that inner longin'...You can hear a happier Billie back in the '30's...but then her recordings back in the '50's have all of her broken heart spread all over...Her autobiography put some tears in my eyes a few years ago...She sure is THE voice of Jazz to me. All that blues in her voice...all those broken dreams...And all that love. Just like that old song..."You don't know what love is, until you've learned the meanin' of the blues...". She knew it all...And she sang 'bout it...I remember some comment I once read, "When Ella sings that her man is gone, you got this feeling that he's coming back...But when Billie sings the same tune, you're sure the man's never coming back"...That was her greatness. All of her very own heart being shared with the audience in every song.

And I must admit that I've always been crazy 'bout Frank Sinatra too..his phrasin' was always wonderful...and he could swing!

Paul secor, thanks for the welcome :)

BeBop...With that nickname you gotta love Dizzy and Bird, don't ya?...I'm happy to be here.

Harold_Z...I might bored the hell out of everybody, hon...I can get too carried away at times... :winky: ...But I'll try to hold my horses :w ...

Free For All..that was some impressive welcome right there :tup , thanks buddy!

BeBop Rookie

BeBop

Posted
Posted

BeBop...With that nickname you gotta love Dizzy and Bird, don't ya?...I'm happy to be here.

Dizzy and Bird might be considered a centerpoint, but my love spreads backward and forward from there - virtually a whole century's worth!

Ron S Community Regular

Ron S

Posted
Posted

Hello and welcome from Philly! You know, Billie Holiday was born in Philly, and there's a historical marker commemorating the house in Center City Philly where she often stayed, which you can read about here.

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