Who did you miss when they were alive

[Chuck Nessa]

Saw Armstrong on tv multiple times but never caught him in person.

Albert Ayler and Eric Dolphy were missed as well.

Otherwise, considering opportunities, I think I have done well, but I regret those three.

[kh1958]

By miss, do you mean that there was at  least  one actual opportunity to see the musician live in some reasonable geographic proximity to where you lived and you didn't for whatever reason (invariably a bad reason in hindsight)?

By that criteria, Red Garland and Cannonball Adderley stand out for me.

[medjuck]

1 hour ago, Chuck Nessa said:

Saw Armstrong on tv multiple times but never caught him in person.

Albert Ayler and Eric Dolphy were missed as well.

Otherwise, considering opportunities, I think I have done well, but I regret those three.

Ditto on all 3.  And Red Garland.  Also never saw Coleman Hawkins-- maybe my biggest regret-- or Chet Baker.  Can't think of anyone else important.  (I'm not counting anyone who died before 1961 since I only started seeing live jazz then. )  Think the first important jazz musician I saw live was Sun Ra.  He had a quintet, it was August and he played The Christmas Song. 

[danasgoodstuff]

57 minutes ago, medjuck said:

Ditto on all 3.  And Red Garland.  Also never saw Coleman Hawkins-- maybe my biggest regret-- or Chet Baker.  Can't think of anyone else important.  (I'm not counting anyone who died before 1961 since I only started seeing live jazz then. )  Think the first important jazz musician I saw live was Sun Ra.  He had a quintet, it was August and he played The Christmas Song. 

But I'm sure it was Xmas on some planet...

[Homefromtheforest]

What year did you see Sun Ra?

With criteria being having the chance to but missing regardless then for me it would have to be Elvin Jones.  The opportunity was there and I missed it.

[Chuck Nessa]

1 hour ago, kh1958 said:

By miss, do you mean that there was at  least  one actual opportunity to see the musician live in some reasonable geographic proximity to where you lived and you didn't for whatever reason (invariably a bad reason in hindsight)?

By that criteria, Red Garland and Cannonball Adderley stand out for me.

Yes, I meant if they were alive and you missed them. Geography doesn't matter, but opportunities do.

Edited June 22, 2016 by Chuck Nessa

[Steve Reynolds]

Three pianists come to mind:

Paul Bley, Don Pullen & Mal Waldron

[Peter Friedman]

I saw Armstrong, Eldridge, Lester Young, Ellington, Basie, Hodges, Miles, Coltrane, Diz, Chet, Dorham, Clifford Brown, Bud Powell, and many many other jazz legends.

Had a great opportunity to see Charlie Parker, but passed thinking I would see him next time he was in Detroit.

Unfortunately there was no next time. My greatest jazz regrett was missing that chance to see Bird.

 

[Larry Kart]

Charlie Parker. Given my age at the time and the places he was playing when he was in Chicago, it would have been difficult but not impossible. The one I certainly could have missed but didn't was Pres. Another one I could have missed (because he just wasn't playing in public much) but didn't miss was Tristano. Did get to hear Ayler, with Rudd and Tchicai -- astonishing. Caught Armstrong in concert several times, Dolphy with Chico Hamilton on a Birdland All-Stars tour and later at the U. of Chicago with a Gunther Schuller-led ensemble, essentially the group that recorded "Jazz Abstractions." Missed Clifford Brown; he died while on his way to Chicago to play with Max at the Modern Jazz Room, an engagement I was going to attend. 

[Hardbopjazz]

Grant Green. I remember as a teen, around 1978, planning to go see him live with a friend. Both of us were studying guitar. It was my birthday, but my folks wouldn't let me go into Manhattan. I had just turned 15. I should have just gone and not told them.  

Tommy Flanagan. I had the change to see him but decided not to go. As the saying goes, I'll catch him next time.

 

Edited June 23, 2016 by Hardbopjazz

[medjuck]

3 hours ago, Homefromtheforest said:

What year did you see Sun Ra?

With criteria being having the chance to but missing regardless then for me it would have to be Elvin Jones.  The opportunity was there and I missed it.

Summer of 1961.   I'd just moved to Montreal. 

2 hours ago, Peter Friedman said:

I saw Armstrong, Eldridge, Lester Young, Ellington, Basie, Hodges, Miles, Coltrane, Diz, Chet, Dorham, Clifford Brown, Bud Powell, and many many other jazz legends.

Had a great opportunity to see Charlie Parker, but passed thinking I would see him next time he was in Detroit.

Unfortunately there was no next time. My greatest jazz regrett was missing that chance to see Bird.

 

Coincidentally  everyone I did see is in the middle of your list:  Ellington-Diz.  

[jlhoots]

Ornette

[clifford_thornton]

Rodan and Crain.

I caught the last 5-10 minutes of a Peter Kowald gig and he died not too much long afterwards; I talked to him a bit, at least, and he seemed like a really nice guy.

Mal Waldron would've been another, since we're talking like geography isn't an issue. I was a fan but he never played anywhere near where I was in the last years of his life.

[Homefromtheforest]

1 hour ago, clifford_thornton said:

Rodan and Crain.

I caught the last 5-10 minutes of a Peter Kowald gig and he died not too much long afterwards; I talked to him a bit, at least, and he seemed like a really nice guy.

Mal Waldron would've been another, since we're talking like geography isn't an issue. I was a fan but he never played anywhere near where I was in the last years of his life.

I saw both Rodan and Crain live.  In the case of Crain it was a bit sad as one of their bandmates(the bassist?) had an accident and could not complete the tour.  It was a bit of a weird show and only about 30 people at the gig.  I had exchanged letters with Jon Cook a few times in the past so it was good to at least meet him face to face.  Caught Rodan when they were touring their first album.

3 hours ago, medjuck said:

Summer of 1961.   I'd just moved to Montreal. 

Coincidentally  everyone I did see is in the middle of your list:  Ellington-Diz.  

Wow; Sun Ra in 1961!  Being born in 1973 did not help my chances for catching all of the jazz greats live...

[BillF]

As I live several thousand miles from the jazz epicentre and have done all of my listening on this side of the Atlantic - and most of it my home city - I think I've done pretty well; e.g. I did see Tristano . But to return to the theme of those I missed: missed Elvin, but saw Max, Art and Klook. Missed Bird and Jackie, but saw Hodges, Cannonball, Phil and Desmond. Missed Billie (except live on TV), but saw Rushing, Big Joe Turner, Witherspoon, Joe Williams and Mark Murphy .Missed Clarke Boland, but saw Duke, Count, Hampton, Woody, Gil Evans and Thad and Mel.

[sidewinder]

Thad & Mel, Clarke/Boland, Horace Silver and Basie. Quite a few such as Lee Morgan, Coltrane, Ellington and Armstrong had passed away before I even got into jazz. Just thankful though for those I got to see (and sometimes meet)  - Elvin, DIz, Art Pepper, Andrew Hill, Miles, Woody Shaw, Gil Evans, George Russell, Sun Ra..

6 hours ago, medjuck said:

Summer of 1961.   I'd just moved to Montreal.   

Wasn't that the trip that they were left stranded?

[mikeweil]

I had a free ticket for Frank Zappa's last concert in Frankfurt but couldn't go because I had a contract to accompany a dancer's workshop in Italy ....

For some reason I did not go to hear Miles Davis in 1972 when he played in nearby Frankfurt. 

Once I went to a Frankfurt club to see Philly Joe Jones, but when I got there there was a note at the door he had cancelled due to health problem. It was not too long before he passed.

Another club had Charles Mingus' band with George Adams, but the place was packed and we couldn't get in - we were a bit late due to some traffic congestion. 

People that I never got to see but would have liked to are Paul Bley, Ray Bryant, The Modern Jazz Quartet ...

I really regret I never saw Christopher Hogwood conduct - he had been in Frankfurt but somehow I missed it. Too bad ....

[soulpope]

Probably not a lot of the artist making it to "Central Europe" - but simply missed the chance to see some of musicians more often .... somehow taking for granted them being available "forever" .... saw for instance Steve Lacy a number of times in different settings, but regret not having seized every opportunity ....

[paul secor]

Too many. I guess I thought they would live forever.

I'm glad that recordings exist, but I know from experience that recordings don't match hearing it live.

[medjuck]

8 hours ago, sidewinder said:

Thad & Mel, Clarke/Boland, Horace Silver and Basie. Quite a few such as Lee Morgan, Coltrane, Ellington and Armstrong had passed away before I even got into jazz. Just thankful though for those I got to see (and sometimes meet)  - Elvin, DIz, Art Pepper, Andrew Hill, Miles, Woody Shaw, Gil Evans, George Russell, Sun Ra..

Wasn't that the trip that they were left stranded?

No idea.  I'd never heard of him at the time and don 't know what he was doing there.  IIRC  John Gilmore was with him. 

[BillF]

4 hours ago, paul secor said:

Too many. I guess I thought they would live forever.

I'm glad that recordings exist, but I know from experience that recordings don't match hearing it live.

I've heard great musicians live in such poor acoustic conditions - in particular the Free Trade Hall, Manchester - that I'm additionally thankful for the recordings. This particularly applies to Philly Joe and to the Morgan/Shorter/Timmons Jazz Messengers. The FTH couldn't cope with the volume of PJJ or Art.

[paul secor]

59 minutes ago, BillF said:

I've heard great musicians live in such poor acoustic conditions - in particular the Free Trade Hall, Manchester - that I'm additionally thankful for the recordings. This particularly applies to Philly Joe and to the Morgan/Shorter/Timmons Jazz Messengers. The FTH couldn't cope with the volume of PJJ or Art.

You're right about that. I have heard some great musicians in mediocre acoustic conditions and it detracted from the experience.

[uli]

of the many i missed i don't remember if i had an opportunity. the ones i specifically remember is Ayler in Loerrach and Dolphy w. Mingus in Biel. Both within driving distance from Bern. Somr fiends went

[duaneiac]

The first major name jazz musician I saw perform live was Buddy Rich in 1980.  Using that as my starting point, there would be a long list of people who were still around and performing who I never got to experience "live" -- Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Miles Davis (although I was not then, and am not now, a fan of his music post-1980), Stephane Grappelli, Ella Fitzgerald, Carmen McRae, Sarah Vaughan, Woody Herman, Horace Silver, Toots Thielemans, Shorty Rogers, Tal Farlow, Chet Baker, Ray Bryant, Lionel Hampton, Benny Goodman, Ruby Braff, Jack McDuff, Abbey Lincoln, Art Hodes, Sir Roland Hanna, Herbie Mann, MJQ, Benny Carter and Buddy DeFranco to name a few.

One of the most disappointing misses was Count Basie.  I was very excited about the prospect of seeing this jazz legend and had bought my ticket well in advance.  Arrived for the show that night to find a crowd of people standing outside the locked and darkened venue.  Some one eventually made a phone call (this was way back in olden days when one had to go find a payphone somewhere to place a call) and found out the concert was indeed cancelled, supposedly because they hadn't sold enough tickets.  Count Basie died the following year, so I missed my chance of seeing him, although I did eventually get to hear the Basie band.

Edited June 23, 2016 by duaneiac

[clifford_thornton]

Sam Rivers. Should have seen him but I was not in Kansas anymore when he played in Topeka, and I was not able to get to NYC for the trio reunion. Probably should've just flown down to Florida!