ghost of miles Posted December 16, 2005 Report Share Posted December 16, 2005 This week on Night Lights it's "Not Afraid to Live: Frank Hewitt." Hewitt, a New York City underground bop-piano legend, played with Cecil Payne, Billie Holiday, John Coltrane, and many other jazz greats in the 1950s and 60s and had a role in the storied play The Connection. In the 1990s he was a mainstay at Smalls, a hip Greenwich Village nightclub, where many came to view him as an important part of the bop-piano canon that includes Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell, Herbie Nichols, and Elmo Hope (Hewitt was a protege of Hope's). Outside of a frustrating cameo appearance on a 1998 Impulse CD, Hewitt did not live to see any of his music released to the public, dying of pancreatic cancer in September 2002 at the age of 66. Luke Kaven, a philosophy graduate student and Smalls regular, managed to win Hewitt's trust and recorded him on a number of occasions; in the past year and a half he's released three CDs of Hewitt's performances, winning Hewitt a growing critical recognition from jazz fans and the jazz press that he never received during his lifetime. We'll hear music from all three of Hewitt's CDs, as well as some unreleased recordings, and some thoughts on Hewitt's life and career from Luke Kaven. "Not Afraid to Live: Frank Hewitt" airs Saturday, December 17 on WFIU at 11:05 p.m. (8:05 p.m. California time, 10:05 p.m. Chicago time). The program will be posted Monday afternoon in the Night Lights archives. Special thanks to Jim Sangrey and to Luke Kaven. Next week: "The Night Before Christmas." Christmas-Eve jazz from Joe Pass, Fats Navarro, Donald Byrd, Dexter Gordon, Organissimo, and more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe G Posted December 16, 2005 Report Share Posted December 16, 2005 Great work, David! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted December 16, 2005 Report Share Posted December 16, 2005 Great choice, Ghost ! I've been hoping to pick up these Hewitt Smalls CDs and this will be an excellent 'primer' to check the music out before I do so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost of miles Posted December 17, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2005 Great choice, Ghost ! I've been hoping to pick up these Hewitt Smalls CDs and this will be an excellent 'primer' to check the music out before I do so. There'll also be a couple of unreleased tracks... Luke sent me some very good stuff that he's hoping to eventually put out on Smalls. In fact, I'm thinking about doing a Hewitt sequel, as I had to leave a lot of great numbers on the table. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Dye Posted December 19, 2005 Report Share Posted December 19, 2005 I really enjoyed this week's show. I even ripped the stream and copied it to my iPod so I can listen again when we drive up north for the holidays. A CD Baby order is imminent. Thanks for the great show, David. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost of miles Posted December 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2005 Jim, glad you enjoyed it! "Not Afraid to Live: Frank Hewitt" is now archived. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost of miles Posted October 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2015 Upping this thread for what would have been Frank Hewitt's 80th birthday today. The program is again available for online listening:Not Afraid To Live: Frank Hewitt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fasstrack Posted October 23, 2015 Report Share Posted October 23, 2015 Another acquaintance from the Jazz Cultural Theater days. He hung out there almost every day. Yes, good choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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