Roger Kellaway

[Larry Kart]

Or maybe he fed them less each so he could feed them all?

Sorta kinda, but in my friend's case it was much more than that -- a kind of home-grown, self-consciously eccentric "I will fit inside none one's pre-existing holes" rebelliousness; this combined with haughtily proud attitudes (in my friend's case) borrowed from those of the famous Stride Piano tickers, like Blake, Willie the Lion, James P., Donald Lambert, etc. Also, I forgot, one of his proudest accomplishments as a teenager was that he played vicious tailgate trombone a la George Brunies and, then toward the end, in his electronic music phase, built far-out pieces (I never got to hear them but heard of them) out of multi-tracked neo-tailgate lines that probably sounded like Brunies run through an Edgar Varese mixmaster. Also, IIRC, my friend and Kellaway ran across each other when they were both at the U. of Illinois in the mid- to -late-1950s. Further, one his proudest claims was that he could play Tristano's multi-tracked "Turkish Mambo" all by himself. This I heard him do, and while he might not have gotten every note, he came damn close. Besides, the effect was not of a trick but of something that was musically and emotionally overwhelming. But then, when done, his attitude was again very akin to that Stride Tickler thing -- like "Dig my box-back coat." At once very engaged in the musical task but as though he also were a character in a self-created social/emotional drama.

[fasstrack]

I never connected on records or in person (last time was with Art Pepper) - never felt there was a "real" Roger Kellaway.

I agree about 98 percent, thought he has made nice contributions as a sideman from time to time, along with some darn obtrusive sideman contributions, too, IMO.

Which contributions were obtrusive, in your opinion?

[Larry Kart]

I agree about 98 percent, thought he has made nice contributions as a sideman from time to time, along with some darn obtrusive sideman contributions, too, IMO.

Which contributions were obtrusive, in your opinion?

IMO, his playing on that Ruby Braff duo album (compare it to Ellis Larkins' sublime partnership with Braff), and I'm not that crazy about with work with Terry and Brookmeyer, although it is energetic. Perhaps "obtrusive" is not the right word BTW; better would be "much trickier than I tend to prefer." Braff and Terry-Brookmeyer probably were quite happy with his playing.

[fasstrack]

I agree about 98 percent, thought he has made nice contributions as a sideman from time to time, along with some darn obtrusive sideman contributions, too, IMO.

Which contributions were obtrusive, in your opinion?

IMO, his playing on that Ruby Braff duo album (compare it to Ellis Larkins' sublime partnership with Braff), and I'm not that crazy about with work with Terry and Brookmeyer, although it is energetic. Perhaps "obtrusive" is not the right word BTW; better would be "much trickier than I tend to prefer." Braff and Terry-Brookmeyer probably were quite happy with his playing.

Well, Braff and Larkins were born to work together. I think maybe, if memory serves, Kellaway has the harder touch of the two pianists. Perhaps he's more prone to throw things in that rocked the boat more than Larkins. It that makes him tricky maybe so. Never heard the recording. Anyway, my memory of Kellaway on various dates is far from stellar.

[fasstrack]

I agree about 98 percent, thought he has made nice contributions as a sideman from time to time, along with some darn obtrusive sideman contributions, too, IMO.

Which contributions were obtrusive, in your opinion?

IMO, his playing on that Ruby Braff duo album (compare it to Ellis Larkins' sublime partnership with Braff), and I'm not that crazy about with work with Terry and Brookmeyer, although it is energetic. Perhaps "obtrusive" is not the right word BTW; better would be "much trickier than I tend to prefer." Braff and Terry-Brookmeyer probably were quite happy with his playing.

Well, Braff and Larkins were born to work together. I think maybe, if memory serves, Kellaway has the harder touch of the two pianists. Perhaps he's more prone to throw things in that rocked the boat more than Larkins. It that makes him tricky maybe so. Never heard the recording. Anyway, my memory of Kellaway on various dates is far from stellar.

I meant he plays busier than Larkins. Actually don't think Kellaway's touch that hard, it's just that Larkins's is so sublime. Anyway, is that what you meant by 'tricky', overly busy?

[Larry Kart]

I agree about 98 percent, thought he has made nice contributions as a sideman from time to time, along with some darn obtrusive sideman contributions, too, IMO.

Which contributions were obtrusive, in your opinion?

IMO, his playing on that Ruby Braff duo album (compare it to Ellis Larkins' sublime partnership with Braff), and I'm not that crazy about with work with Terry and Brookmeyer, although it is energetic. Perhaps "obtrusive" is not the right word BTW; better would be "much trickier than I tend to prefer." Braff and Terry-Brookmeyer probably were quite happy with his playing.

Well, Braff and Larkins were born to work together. I think maybe, if memory serves, Kellaway has the harder touch of the two pianists. Perhaps he's more prone to throw things in that rocked the boat more than Larkins. It that makes him tricky maybe so. Never heard the recording. Anyway, my memory of Kellaway on various dates is far from stellar.

I meant he plays busier than Larkins. Actually don't think Kellaway's touch that hard, it's just that Larkins's is so sublime. Anyway, is that what you meant by 'tricky', overly busy?

I'd have to listen again to be completely sure, but "overly busy," yes. Also, I think, sometimes bordering on cute-clever.

[Peter Friedman]

Interesting how we can define the same things in different ways. I wonder if anyone here has seen Kellaway live in recent years? Sometimes seeing a musician live can give a different impression than just hearing the recordings.

What Larry calls clever - cute, I call creative and "thinking outside the box". When I saw Roger play many sets both in a trio, and with a variety of horns, he just seemed to me to be having a great time and swinging as hard as anyone I can recall. Yes, sometimes he does put into a solo something very unexpected, but, at least for me, it usually worked very well and brought a large smile to my face.

One thing that I can definitely say about hearing Roger is that it is never dull, boring, or trite. though I respect Ellis Larkins playing and sometimes I enjoy it a lot, at times his understated approach can become a bit dull. For a more understated approach I will take Hank Jones every time.

I suppose it boils down, as so often is the case, to personal taste.

[Head Man]

I suppose it boils down, as so often is the case, to personal taste.

......amen to that!