Bill Triglia

[AllenLowe]

I just had a nice talk with Bill Triglia's daughter Antonia. Bill is an old friend, and I've been out of touch with him for some time. Sadly he is suffering from dementia and wasn't really aware of who I was. But as I told Antonia, I consider Bill to have been one of the greatest pianists of the bebop era. I can cite his work on Tijuana Moods,with the Jimmy Knepper group on Debut(with Joe Maini), with Fruscella on the Open Door recordings (and various studio recordings), on a Xanadu LP with Fruscella, with Don Joseph on Uptown, and more.

I thought of Bill because I recently heard a recording of a Broadcast he did with Lester Young; he also worked with Sonny Rollins; actually played a Jewish wedding with Bird (it's a great story, even better than the jive one in the movie Bird about Red Rodney); was house pianist at Birdland for a time; knew and worked with Wilbur Ware (whose playing he loved); was Dave Schildkraut's old and loyal friend; knew Bud Powell and Al Haig well (and told me a funny story about Bud which I can recount later). Bill is/was a wonderful guy, mentored a lot of young musicians in the last 30 years of his career, and even used to work a small lounge in Queens where I saw him, circa 1976, bring in Dizzy Reece as a special guest!

I know Antonia would appreciate any recognition we can give Bill here; I'm very saddened by his current condition and see this, unfortunately, as another side effect of my move North, from which it got harder and harder to stay in touch with people like Bill, whom the jazz world has forgotten. But I think of him all the time; he was a genuine nut, which I mean in the nicest possible way. He also, now that I think of it, survived the horrendous sinking of a ship he served on in WWII (told me a long story about it once, and was still haunted years later by the deaths of so many ship mates after the Kamikazee attack) -

One of the truly Lost Generation of the second wave of beboppers -

Edited May 9, 2009 by AllenLowe

[clifford_thornton]

Wow. I know his name and feel like I must have a representation of his playing on SOMETHING. I'll have to dig thru the collection.

Thanks for the reminder, and sorry he's having such a tough time.

[AllenLowe]

he has a few nice spots on the unedited Tijuana Moods; his most representative playing is on the Knepper group recording on Debut; Bill, in my opinion, was a perfect synthesis, in his playing, of Hank Jones and Bud Powell - a very lyrical player with a slight percussive edge. He slipped away from the scene in the 1960s, started teaching and playing lounges, so he's particularly obscure. One of my favorite people, very outspoken and honest; he was also one of the most interesting witnesses of that era because he was completely straight - no druges and no alcohol so he had incredible and acurrate recall.

He heard everything and everyone, and was everywhere, from Mintons to Birdland. Knew Bird well, also, and seemed to have had some interesting extended conversations with him. He was working a Jewish wedding and Bird showed up (can't remember the circumstances) and started playing. It was a Hasidic wedding and, as Bill told it, the families loved it; "one old man started dancing on the table." (Wilbur Ware, by the way, was playing bass).

I think we can figure that anyone hired by Sonny ROllins, Lester Young, and Charles Mingus must have had something going for him -

he also told me, by the way, about bailing out Al Haig from jail -

[BillF]

I remember noticing his piano work on Tijuana Moods. IIRC, it reminded me of the way Bill Evans played on East Coasting.

[AllenLowe]

they both had that deceptively light touch -

[Free For All]

Just wondering, is his name pronounced "Tril-lia" or "Trig-lia'?

[AllenLowe]

Tril-lia -

[JamesJazz]

I met Mr. Triglia at an IAJRC convention in Newark in the 80s. I was browsing through boxes of LPs for sale, and I became aware of an older guy standing next to me. I turned and said "Hi" and smiled at him, and he asked me if I really liked jazz. After I said "yeah" he said he'd played piano for many years. So I asked him his name and almost fell over when he told me. I couldn't believe it! So naturally I complimented him, told him I was a big fan of the Open Door stuff, and Mingus' stuff, and he became quite voluble and we talked for a solid forty five minutes. I remember asking him about OP and Mingus, told him I loved OP's playing. Bill told me that Oscar was the greatest bassist he'd worked with. He said Mingus always seemed to be waiting for a solo rather than playing for the music. I wanted to interview him 'on tape' but he begged off and left after a few more minutes. What a thrill it was to meet Mr. Triglia.

Thanks for remembering him, Allen.

[AllenLowe]

thank you - that's a real Triglia story, that's the way he was - I actually have a long taped interview with him somewhere, if I can find it. Just a great guy, who really knew everybody and who had great stories. I remember him telling about encountering Sonny Rollins at, of all things, a jam session out in Jersey some time in the 1950s - about how Sonny waited out about 10 different tenor players, and than got up and wiped the floor with them all - he really was the fly on the wall during that era, and it broke me up when his daughter put him on the phone this afternoon and he had no idea who I was. Just an amazing man, and he could really play.

[JPF]

I always thought he was one of the most underrated, and undeservedly neglected pianists in modern jazz. When I used to buy LPs, if I saw his name on one, I knew it would be worth buying. I've got him on several CDs - with Mingus, Fruscella, and others. In fact, isn't that his voice asking Tony Fruscella for a cigarette on the Open Door sessions? It leads to a back-and-forth between them that never fails to crack me up.

As part of a comment a couple of years ago on Doug Ramsey's Rifftides, I asked if anyone knew whatever happened to him; I never did get a response from anybody.

Please pass along to his daughter, and him if possible, that many of us still remember him and treasure his recordings.

Edited May 10, 2009 by JPF

[AllenLowe]

I will - I'll probably print this out and send it to her, as she doesn't have internet. She asked me if I'd ever heard his stories about Fruscella; I remember an amazing one Bill told me about going up to Fruscella's place, and hearing a saxophone as he went up the stairs- when he got to Fruscella's apartment, he and Rollins were playing together -

things like that do not happen anymore -

[kh1958]

There's a Bill Triglia discography here.

http://www.jazzdiscography.com/

[AllenLowe]

that's Mike Fitzgerald's site -

[Niko]

another big triglia fan here, that fruscella/triglia at the open door was one of the records that got me seriously interested in jazz... (actually i had first read about fruscella in jack kerouac's new york... story; then in the liner notes to john zorn's filmworks iii i read about how much zorn was influenced by the open door recordings and that triglia was one of the three main influences on zorn's piano playing was (apparently on that cd was his zorn's debut recording on piano in a quartet dave douglas on trumpet); so i got the open door cd an was blown away... i really like all the triglia i've heard (with fruscella, with mingus, with maini, and on the schildkraut cd from allen lowe...) too bad there are not more recordings by him

two more triglia threads

http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=32516

http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=17203

and the long fruscella thread...

http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=1867

[fasstrack]

Somebody should get in touch with a guy named Dave Ellson. He plays vibes and drums and used to live in Bogota, NJ. I haven't seen him in years. But he used to know Triglia well and told me some funny stories. The only thing I know is like almost thirty years ago Triglia and Eddie Diehl called me shit-faced to say how much they dug a demo Eddie, me, and (now Biden's chief economist, then a bassist) Jared Bernstein made. They woke my father up at 3 AM----and I have a funny feeling he didn't much appreciate it (insert smiley----no emoticons on 'fast reply').

[AllenLowe]

I may still be on Fasstrack's ignore list, but as I recall, when I booked Bill Trilglia into a restaurant call the Charcuterie, maybe 1977 (it was a restaurant in the CBS building on 52nd Street) Jared played bass with Bill in a duo -

[fasstrack]

I may still be on Fasstrack's ignore list, but as I recall, when I booked Bill Trilglia into a restaurant call the Charcuterie, maybe 1977 (it was a restaurant in the CBS building on 52nd Street) Jared played bass with Bill in a duo -

Nah, I just took you off. Forgive and forget. Now behave yourself

Jared grauated to duos with Biden. I told him to get the hair plugs now that he has the gig. 'Hale fellow well met', and all that. That and 'where's my gig at the White House, MF? Cough it up....'

Needless to say, he really appreciated the latter importuning especially...............

(What do you play at a Biden event, anyway? Bernstein said he was pro-middle class. The Good Life? I think the late, great Allan Sherman---jesus, am I dating myself---beat me to the punch with the immortal 'Here's to the Crabgrass')

[AllenLowe]

well, in one of my crazy impulse moods I called the White House yesterday - spoke to a secretary named Alice in the VP's office, got right through, strangely enough - I left a detailed message for Bernstein, indicating Triglia's difficult situation, and said how nice it might be if he got some kind of letter on White House stationary. She said, believe it or not, that she would hand Bernstein a note, though I'll be quite surprised if I hear from him. It would be a nice gesture, as Triglia was the kind of guy who always went out of his way to help and hire young musicians. Though I'll be VERY surprised if I get something - anybody else here feel like calling? I can supply phone number etc -

[king ubu]

Great and at the same time sad thread here - thank you for sharing these remembrances!

And thanks Allen for reminding me to listen to some of the music w/Triglia again! I first heard him on "Tijuana Moods" and I guess by now I have all or most of the discs/sessions that have been mentioned... love all the Fruscella material!

[AllenLowe]

just gonna bump this to keep Bill in the public eye -

[Niko]

one thing i always wondered about: is this THE bill triglia:

http://www.animalrights.net/articles/2005/...rsey-fur-store/

[Quasimado]

I thought of Bill because I recently heard a recording of a Broadcast he did with Lester Young;

Allen, is that the tape with Don Ferrara? GREAT playing by everyone involved.

Q

[AllenLowe]

this is a different one on some weird bootleg - and Niko, I've wondered myself about the Bill Triglia in that article - Bill did live near Paramus-

[king ubu]

We've got three Triglia-threads here... digging out this one for the sad news.

Bob Porter reported that Bill Triglia has died on February 3, after a lengthy illness. (It was seemingly reported by The Record of Hackensack).

That's the only photo I've got (taken by Scott Sternbach, prob. 1984 during the recording session?), from the back of the Uptown album by Don Joseph (sorry for the bad quality, the LP still has the cellophane wrapped around it and I didn't feel like tearing it off).

Found the obit:

http://www.northjersey.com/obituaries/116554093_Westwood_pianist_dazzled_the_world_of_jazz.html

[brownie]

Obituary in The Record

The obituary does not mention Triglia's appearances on sessions by the likes of Lester Young, Charles Mingus, Tony Fruscella, Dave Schildkraut, Don Joseph among others!