Archive for Month: June 2014

Teenie Hodges, Soul Guitarist and Songwriter, Dies at 68 – NYTimes.com

** Teenie Hodges, Soul Guitarist and Songwriter, Dies at 68
————————————————————

Photo
Teenie Hodges at the House of Blues, New Orleans, in 2008. Credit Ebet Roberts

Teenie Hodges, a guitarist and songwriter whose lithe touch on songs by Al Green and others helped shape the sound of Memphis soul in the 1970s, died on Sunday in Dallas. He was 68.

The cause was complications of emphysema, his daughter Sheila said.

Along with his brothers Leroy, on bass guitar, and Charles, on organ, Mr. Hodges was part of the celebrated house band at Hi Records in Memphis starting in the late ’60s. Distinguishing themselves from the raw style of Stax, the city’s pre-eminent soul label at the time, Hi and the producer Willie Mitchell developed a jazzier and more languid approach that still had grit and rhythmic punch.

Mr. Hodges was crucial to that sound. His warm, loosely strummed chords and gently strutting funk on Mr. Green’s classic songs like “Let’s Stay Together” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COiIC3A0ROM) and “Tired of Being Alone” made him a connoisseur’s favorite, and helped establish the Hi players as one of the premier studio teams in R&B, on par with the Funk Brothers at Motown, Stax’s regular group and the players at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Ala.

Mr. Hodges was also a frequent songwriting collaborator of Mr. Green’s. Among the hits they wrote together are “Love and Happiness” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCXEtvbJkkY) and “Take Me to the River,” which has also been recorded by Talking Heads, Bryan Ferry, Etta James and many others.

The Hi band — which in addition to the Hodges brothers included the drummers Howard Grimes and Al Jackson — also played on records by Syl Johnson, Ann Peebles and O. V. Wright. In 1976 the group, under the name Hi Rhythm Section, made its own record, “On the Loose,” (http://www.allmusic.com/album/on-the-loose-mw0000608821) with the musicians also performing vocal parts, but it sold poorly.

Mabon Lewis Hodges was born on Nov. 16, 1945, in Germantown, Tenn., a suburb of Memphis. One of 12 children, he grew up adoring Delta blues, and by age 12 he was playing guitar in his father’s blues band, the Germantown Blue Dots. While still a teenager he was taken under the wing of Mr. Mitchell, then known as a trumpeter and bandleader with a sophisticated style and a contract with Hi Records.

Mr. Hodges — whose brothers gave him his nickname on account of his height — quickly became an in-demand guitarist in Memphis, playing on Sam and Dave’s “I Take What I Want,” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGybvvdMRr4&feature=kp) released by Stax in 1965. (Mr. Hodges also received a co-writing credit on that song, along with Stax’s house writers Isaac Hayes and David Porter.) By the late ’60s Mr. Mitchell had begun to devote himself to producing, with the Hi band taking shape around him.

The group remained intact through most of the ’70s, but began to splinter after Hi was sold in 1977. Around that time Mr. Green, the label’s star, abandoned secular music for gospel, although he reunited occasionally with Mr. Mitchell and the Hi band over the years. Mr. Mitchell died in 2010 (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/06/arts/music/06mitchell.html) .

Mr. Hodges and his brothers continued playing through the ’80s and ’90s with blues and R&B musicians like Albert Collins and Otis Clay. In 2006 Mr. Hodges reached a new audience when he was a featured performer on “The Greatest,” an acclaimed album recorded in Memphis by the indie-rock singer and songwriter Chan Marshall, who performs as Cat Power.

In addition to his daughter Sheila, Mr. Hodges’s survivors include five other daughters, Cheri, Velencia, Shonte, Tabitha and Inga; two sons, Reginald and Mabon II; and nine siblings, including Leroy and Charles. The popular rapper Drake, whose real name is Aubrey Graham, is a nephew of Mr. Hodges’s.

Decades after his recordings with Mr. Green, Mr. Hodges remained something of a hero to fellow musicians. Boo Mitchell, a grandson of Willie Mitchell who inherited his studio, recalled a recent recording session in which well-known players like Boz Scaggs, Spooner Oldham and Ray Parker Jr. all quizzed Mr. Hodges about guitar trivia on songs like “Love and Happiness” and reached for their smartphones to record his impromptu guitar lesson.

“That guitar at the beginning of ‘Love and Happiness’ — guitar players all over the world still try to play that riff,” Boo Mitchell said this week, “but nobody plays it like Teenie.”
Correction: June 26, 2014

An earlier version of this obituary misspelled the given names of two of Mr. Hodges’s daughters. They are Cheri and Velencia, not Sheri and Valencia.

Unsubscribe (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]&c=307bbdaf6a) | Update your profile (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/profile?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]) | Forward to a friend (http://us2.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=307bbdaf6a&e=[UNIQID])

PLEASE NOTE: IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO BE ON THIS MAILING LIST PLEASE RESPOND WITH ‘REMOVE’ IN THE SUBJECT LINE. IF YOU ARE RECEIVING DUPLICATE EMAILS OUR APOLOGIES, JAZZ PROMO SERVICES ANNOUNCEMENT LIST IS GROWING LARGER EVERY DAY…..PLEASE LET US KNOW AND WE WILL FIX IT IMMEDIATELY!

Jazz Promo Services
269 State Route 94 South
Warwick, Ny 10990
USA

June 29, 2014 / No Comments / More

Joe Segal wins major jazz honor – chicagotribune.com

http://www.jazzpromoservices.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/jazzpromo https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jazz-Promo-Services/216022288429676
http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/chi-joe-segal-jazz-masters-fellowship-20140625,0,3526162.column

** Joe Segal wins major jazz honor
————————————————————

* http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/chi-joe-segal-jazz-masters-fellowship-20140625,0,4706924,print.column

0
*

Joe Segal

Joe Segal, the longtime owner of the Jazz Showcase club in Chicago. (Bob Fila / Chicago Tribune /February 19, 2007)
Howard Reich

10:17 a.m. CDT, June 25, 2014

Chicago jazz impresario Joe Segal, who has presented the music here since 1947, has won a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Fellowship, widely considered the nation’s highest jazz honor.

He joins a distinguished roster of this year’s winners: composer-keyboardist Carla Bley and saxophonists George Coleman and Charles Lloyd. Each winner will receive $25,000 and will be saluted at an awards ceremony at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York on April 20, 2015.

“I’m very appreciative of it,” said Segal, 88, founder of the Jazz Showcase, at 806 S. Plymouth Court. “I’m glad they didn’t wait till I was gone.”
* HOWARD REICH
* http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/columnists/reich/chi-howardreich-columnist,0,118975.columnist
* Bio (http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/columnists/reich/chi-howardreich-columnist,0,4865148,bio.columnist) | E-mail (mailto:hreich@tribune.com) | Recent columns (http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/columnists/reich/chi-howardreich-columnist,0,118975.columnist)
* RELATED
* http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/columnists/reich/ct-ravi-coltrane-review-20140607,0,4773788.columnConcert review: Ravi Coltrane in top form at Showcase (http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/columnists/reich/ct-ravi-coltrane-review-20140607,0,4773788.column)
* http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/ct-summer-music-lollpalooza-grant-part-ravinia-chi-20140605,0,5712666.storyTribune summer music guide (http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/ct-summer-music-lollpalooza-grant-part-ravinia-chi-20140605,0,5712666.story)

Did Segal ever think he’d be presenting jazz this long – and to this much acclaim?

“No,” said Segal. “If I would have thought what it was (about), I would have made money at it. I was just doing something, that’s all. It just sort of happened.

“I wish my mother was around to see it. She would have been very proud. She never really did figure out what I did for a living.”

What will Segal, who runs the club with son Wayne Segal, do with the money?
“We’ll put it right in our kitty,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of bills.”

Segal will be receiving the A.B. Spellman NEA Jazz Masters Award for Jazz Advocacy, which recognizes “an individual who has contributed significantly to the appreciation, knowledge, and advancement of the art form of jazz,” according to the NEA.

For more information, visit arts.gov (http://arts.gov/) .

Unsubscribe (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]&c=84a0c3abaf) | Update your profile (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/profile?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]) | Forward to a friend (http://us2.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=84a0c3abaf&e=[UNIQID])

Jazz Promo Services
269 State Route 94 South
Warwick, Ny 10990
USA

June 26, 2014 / No Comments / More

NEA Announces Lifetime Honors Recipients and 2015 Jazz Masters

http://www.jazzpromoservices.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/jazzpromo https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jazz-Promo-Services/216022288429676

Can’t see the graphics? View email as webpage (http://tracking.wordfly.com/view?sid=MzI1XzQxNzFfNTcxNDZfNzE1MQ&l=0f14f580-6063-e311-a7e6-e41f1345a486&utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=PRNEAJM2015&utm_content=version_A) .
http://tracking.wordfly.com/click?sid=MzI1XzQxNzFfNTcxNDZfNzE1MQ&l=1014f580-6063-e311-a7e6-e41f1345a486&utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=PRNEAJM2015&utm_content=version_A

June 25, 2014
Contact: Liz Auclair, 202-682-5744, auclaire@arts.gov (mailto:auclaire@arts.gov)

NEA Announces
Lifetime Honors Recipients

$25,000 fellowships awarded to
13 master artists and advocates
in folk & traditional arts and jazz

Washington, DC—NEA Chairman Jane Chu announced today the latest recipients of the NEA National Heritage Fellowships and NEA Jazz Masters awards, the nation’s highest honors in the folk and traditional arts and jazz fields. These artists, musicians, culture bearers, and advocates have dedicated their lives to their art—mastering the artistic skills needed and preserving the cultural traditions while also using their own creativity to push the boundaries of their respective art forms.

Chu said, “Among these thirteen recipients of NEA National Heritage and Jazz Masters Fellowships there is a recurring theme. Starting at a young age, these individuals were exposed to the arts—whether it was in the home, as is the case with Vera Nakonechny whose fascination with her mother’s embroidery inspired her to seek out training when she was older—or in the neighborhood, as with George Coleman and Charles Lloyd’s exposure to jazz music in their hometown of Memphis. Today these artists’ passion for their art can be seen both in their long and dedicated careers and their willingness to share their knowledge with new audiences.”

NEA NATIONAL HERITAGE FELLOWSHIPS
The 2014 NEA National Heritage Fellows are recognized for their artistic excellence and efforts to conserve America’s culture for future generations. Click on each name for more information on the recipients, including bios, photos, audio samples, and more.
* Henry Arquette (http://tracking.wordfly.com/click?sid=MzI1XzQxNzFfNTcxNDZfNzE1MQ&l=a5e7e990-b8fb-e311-b26f-e41f1345a486&utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=PRNEAJM2015&utm_content=version_A) (Hogansburg, New York)—Mohawk basketmaker
* Manuel “Cowboy” Donley (http://tracking.wordfly.com/click?sid=MzI1XzQxNzFfNTcxNDZfNzE1MQ&l=a6e7e990-b8fb-e311-b26f-e41f1345a486&utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=PRNEAJM2015&utm_content=version_A) (Austin, Texas)—Tejano musician and singer
* Kevin Doyle (http://tracking.wordfly.com/click?sid=MzI1XzQxNzFfNTcxNDZfNzE1MQ&l=a7e7e990-b8fb-e311-b26f-e41f1345a486&utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=PRNEAJM2015&utm_content=version_A) (Barrington, Rhode Island)—Irish step dancer
* The Holmes Brothers (http://tracking.wordfly.com/click?sid=MzI1XzQxNzFfNTcxNDZfNzE1MQ&l=a8e7e990-b8fb-e311-b26f-e41f1345a486&utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=PRNEAJM2015&utm_content=version_A) (Rosedale, Maryland & Saluda, Virginia)—blues, gospel, and R&B band
* Yvonne Walker Keshick (http://tracking.wordfly.com/click?sid=MzI1XzQxNzFfNTcxNDZfNzE1MQ&l=a9e7e990-b8fb-e311-b26f-e41f1345a486&utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=PRNEAJM2015&utm_content=version_A) (Petoskey, Michigan)—Odawa quill worker
* Carolyn Mazloomi (http://tracking.wordfly.com/click?sid=MzI1XzQxNzFfNTcxNDZfNzE1MQ&l=aae7e990-b8fb-e311-b26f-e41f1345a486&utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=PRNEAJM2015&utm_content=version_A) * (West Chester, Ohio)—quilting community advocate
* Vera Nakonechny (http://tracking.wordfly.com/click?sid=MzI1XzQxNzFfNTcxNDZfNzE1MQ&l=abe7e990-b8fb-e311-b26f-e41f1345a486&utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=PRNEAJM2015&utm_content=version_A) (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)—Ukrainian embroiderer and bead worker
* Singing & Praying Bands of Maryland and Delaware (http://tracking.wordfly.com/click?sid=MzI1XzQxNzFfNTcxNDZfNzE1MQ&l=ace7e990-b8fb-e311-b26f-e41f1345a486&utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=PRNEAJM2015&utm_content=version_A) (Maryland and Delaware)—African-American religious singers
* Rufus White (http://tracking.wordfly.com/click?sid=MzI1XzQxNzFfNTcxNDZfNzE1MQ&l=ade7e990-b8fb-e311-b26f-e41f1345a486&utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=PRNEAJM2015&utm_content=version_A) (Walthill, Nebraska)—Omaha traditional singer and drum group leader

*Carolyn Mazloomi is the recipient of the 2014 Bess Lomax Hawes NEA National Heritage Fellowship Award. The Bess Lomax Hawes Award recognizes an individual who has made a significant contribution to the preservation and awareness of cultural heritage.

The 2014 NEA National Heritage Fellows will be honored at an awards ceremony on Wednesday, September 17, 2014 and a concert at George Washington University’s Lisner Auditorium on Friday, September 19, 2014. Both events will be open to the public and the concert will be streamed live at arts.gov. More information, including how to obtain free tickets to the concert, will be available later this summer.

More information about the NEA National Heritage Fellowships (http://tracking.wordfly.com/click?sid=MzI1XzQxNzFfNTcxNDZfNzE1MQ&l=aee7e990-b8fb-e311-b26f-e41f1345a486&utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=PRNEAJM2015&utm_content=version_A) .

NEA JAZZ MASTERS
The 2015 NEA Jazz Masters are recognized for their lifetime achievements and exceptional contributions to the advancement of jazz. Click on each name for more information on the recipients, including bios and selected discographies:
* Carla Bley (http://tracking.wordfly.com/click?sid=MzI1XzQxNzFfNTcxNDZfNzE1MQ&l=afe7e990-b8fb-e311-b26f-e41f1345a486&utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=PRNEAJM2015&utm_content=version_A) (Willow, New York)—keyboardist, composer, arranger, bandleader
* George Coleman (http://tracking.wordfly.com/click?sid=MzI1XzQxNzFfNTcxNDZfNzE1MQ&l=b0e7e990-b8fb-e311-b26f-e41f1345a486&utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=PRNEAJM2015&utm_content=version_A) (Jersey City, New Jersey)—saxophonist, composer, educator
* Charles Lloyd (http://tracking.wordfly.com/click?sid=MzI1XzQxNzFfNTcxNDZfNzE1MQ&l=b1e7e990-b8fb-e311-b26f-e41f1345a486&utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=PRNEAJM2015&utm_content=version_A) (Santa Barbara, California)—saxophonist, flutist, composer
* Joe Segal (http://tracking.wordfly.com/click?sid=MzI1XzQxNzFfNTcxNDZfNzE1MQ&l=b2e7e990-b8fb-e311-b26f-e41f1345a486&utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=PRNEAJM2015&utm_content=version_A) * (Chicago, Illinois)—jazz presenter and club owner

* Joe Segal is the recipient of the 2015 A.B. Spellman NEA Jazz Masters Award for Jazz Advocacy, which is bestowed upon an individual who has contributed significantly to the appreciation, knowledge, and advancement of the art form of jazz.

The NEA will honor the 2015 Jazz Masters at an awards ceremony and concert at Jazz at Lincoln Center on Monday, April 20, 2015. Please note the concert will take place in April to coincide with Jazz Appreciation Month. The concert will be streamed live on arts.gov and jalc.org/live. More information about the awards ceremony and concert will be released closer to the concert date.

More information about the NEA Jazz Masters (http://tracking.wordfly.com/click?sid=MzI1XzQxNzFfNTcxNDZfNzE1MQ&l=b3e7e990-b8fb-e311-b26f-e41f1345a486&utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=PRNEAJM2015&utm_content=version_A) .

How to nominate a National Heritage Fellow or NEA Jazz Master
The NEA is currently accepting nominations for the 2015 NEA National Heritage Fellowships (deadline: July 17, 2014) and 2016 NEA Jazz Masters (deadline: December 31, 2014). Visitarts.gov/honors/heritage (http://tracking.wordfly.com/click?sid=MzI1XzQxNzFfNTcxNDZfNzE1MQ&l=b4e7e990-b8fb-e311-b26f-e41f1345a486&utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=PRNEAJM2015&utm_content=version_A) and arts.gov/honors/jazz (http://tracking.wordfly.com/click?sid=MzI1XzQxNzFfNTcxNDZfNzE1MQ&l=b5e7e990-b8fb-e311-b26f-e41f1345a486&utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=PRNEAJM2015&utm_content=version_A) for more information and to submit a nomination.

About the National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Artswas established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. To date, the NEA has awarded more than $5 billion to support artistic excellence, creativity, and innovation for the benefit of individuals and communities. The NEA extends its work through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies, and the philanthropic sector. To join the discussion on how art works, visit the NEA at arts.gov.

About Jazz at Lincoln Center
The mission of Jazz at Lincoln Center is to entertain, enrich, and expand a global community for jazz through performance, education, and advocacy. We believe that jazz is a metaphor for democracy because jazz is improvisational. It celebrates personal freedom and encourages individual expression; jazz is swinging, it dedicates that freedom to finding and maintaining common ground with others; and jazz is rooted in the blues, it inspires us to face adversity with persistent optimism. With the world-renowned Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and guest artists spanning genres and generations, Jazz at Lincoln Center produces thousands of performance, educational, and broadcast events each season in its home in New York City (Frederick P. Rose Hall, “The House of Swing”) and around the world, for people of all ages. Jazz at Lincoln Center is led by Chairman Robert J. Appel, Managing and Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis, and Executive Director Greg Scholl. Please visit us
at jalc.org (http://tracking.wordfly.com/click?sid=MzI1XzQxNzFfNTcxNDZfNzE1MQ&l=1014f580-6063-e311-a7e6-e41f1345a486&utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=PRNEAJM2015&utm_content=version_A) .

# # #

http://tracking.wordfly.com/click?sid=MzI1XzQxNzFfNTcxNDZfNzE1MQ&l=1514f580-6063-e311-a7e6-e41f1345a486&utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=PRNEAJM2015&utm_content=version_A

Box Office Address & Hours

Broadway at 60th Street, Ground Floor

Mon–Sat: 10am–6pm
Sun: 12pm–6pm
Sponsors

.
Venue Address
Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall
Broadway at 60th Street, New York City
CenterCharge: 212-721-6500

Administrative Offices
3 Columbus Circle, 12th Floor
New York, NY 10019
212-258-9800
Unsubscribe (http://tracking.wordfly.com/unsubscribe?sid=MzI1XzQxNzFfNTcxNDZfNzE1MQ) Forward to a Friend (http://tracking.wordfly.com/forward?sid=MzI1XzQxNzFfNTcxNDZfNzE1MQ&l=2a14f580-6063-e311-a7e6-e41f1345a486&utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=PRNEAJM2015&utm_content=version_A) View email as webpage (http://tracking.wordfly.com/view?sid=MzI1XzQxNzFfNTcxNDZfNzE1MQ&l=0f14f580-6063-e311-a7e6-e41f1345a486&utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=PRNEAJM2015&utm_content=version_A)
This email was sent to jeigo@aol.com (mailto:jeigo@aol.com) by news@jalc.org (mailto:news@jalc.org) . To make sure you continue to receive our e-mails in your inbox (not bulk or junk folders), please add news@jalc.org (mailto:news@jalc.org) to your address book or safe sender list.

Unsubscribe (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]&c=10e5887cce) | Update your profile (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/profile?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]) | Forward to a friend (http://us2.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=10e5887cce&e=[UNIQID])

Jazz Promo Services
269 State Route 94 South
Warwick, Ny 10990
USA

June 25, 2014 / No Comments / More

NEW INVESTIGATION: Glenn Miller’s disappearance on acclaimed nat’l PBS HISTORY DETECTIVES series (relatives/experts/research)

http://www.jazzpromoservices.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/jazzpromo https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jazz-Promo-Services/216022288429676
http://www.downbeat.com/default.asp?sect=news&subsect=news_detail&nid=2427 (http://www.downbeat.com/default.asp?sect=news&subsect=news_detail&nid=2427)

** DownBeat Magazine
————————————————————

Salvant Wins Four Categories in DownBeat Critics Poll
Posted 6/23/2014

Singer-songwriter Cécile McLorin Salvant topped four categories in the 62nd Annual DownBeat International Critics Poll, including Jazz Album of the Year. Besides honoring her U.S. debut, WomanChild (Mack Avenue), as the year’s best jazz album, critics named her the top Female Vocalist, as well as the Rising Star–Jazz Artist and Rising Star–Female Vocalist.

“This is a remarkable year for jazz vocalists,” said Frank Alkyer, DownBeat publisher. “Gregory Porter earned Jazz Artist of the Year and Male Vocalist honors on the strength of Liquid Spirit, his Blue Note debut, and for being one of the best live shows touring today. And Cécile McLorin Salvant has just exploded onto the scene. We knew WomanChild was a great record, but had no idea it would be honored as Jazz Album of the Year. She’s going to be one of the most exciting acts on tour this year, too.

“The DownBeat Critics Poll once again demonstrates the beauty of this music and tremendous diversity on so many levels,” Alkyer added. “It’s not just about the winners. We’ve got 62 categories, with more than 1,200 artists listed in the complete results. This poll is the most in-depth snapshot of jazz you’ll see in 2014.”

The DownBeat Critics Poll is divided into categories for established artists and for Rising Stars. In addition to the categories for Jazz, the poll also includes categories for Blues and Beyond.

Another big winner in the poll is Maria Schneider, who had victories in three categories: Big Band, Composer and Arranger.

Buddy Guy was named the top Blues Artist or Group and his album Rhythm & Blues (RCA/Silvertone) was voted Blues Album of the Year.

The complete poll results will be published in the August issue of DownBeat, arriving on newsstands on July 15.

The critics elected influential guitarist Jim Hall (1930–2013) into the DownBeat Hall of Fame. The DownBeat Veterans Committee inducted singers Dinah Washington (1924–’63) and Bing Crosby (1903–’77) into the Hall of Fame, bringing the total number of inductees to 138.

Among the established artists in the Critics Poll, the winners include Ambrose Akinmusire (Trumpet), Kenny Garrett (Alto Saxophone), Jane Ira Bloom (Soprano Saxophone), Anat Cohen (Clarinet), Nicole Mitchell (Flute), Vijay Iyer (Piano), Bill Frisell (Guitar), Christian McBride (Bass), Jack DeJohnette (Drums) and Gary Burton (Vibraphone).

The Robert Glasper Experiment was named the top Beyond Artist or Group, and its album Black Radio 2 (Blue Note) was honored as the top Beyond Album. Additionally, Glasper won the Keyboard category.

Wycliffe Gordon won the Trombone category, and critics honored him for his tuba playing in the category Rising Star–Miscellaneous Instrument.

The top Historical Album is Miles Davis’ Miles At The Fillmore–Miles Davis 1970: The Bootleg Series Vol. 3 (Columbia/Legacy).

Ryan Truesdell, who leads and conducts the Gil Evans Project, took honors for Rising Star–Big Band and Rising Star–Arranger.

Among the other Rising Star winners are Jonathan Finlayson (Rising Star–Trumpet), Colin Stetson (Rising Star–Baritone Saxophone), Holly Hofmann (Rising Star–Flute), Fabian Almazan (Rising Star–Piano), Marc Cary (Rising Star–Keyboard), Rudy Royston (Rising Star–Drums) and Terri Lyne Carrington (Rising Star–Producer).

The complete list of winners is below:

62nd ANNUAL DOWNBEAT CRITICS POLL WINNERS

Hall of Fame: Jim Hall
Veterans Committee Hall of Fame: Dinah Washington
Veterans Committee Hall of Fame: Bing Crosby
Jazz Artist: Gregory Porter
Jazz Album: Cécile McLorin Salvant, WomanChild (Mack Avenue)
Historical Album: Miles Davis, Miles At The Fillmore–Miles Davis 1970: The Bootleg Series Vol. 3 (Columbia/Legacy)
Jazz Group: Wayne Shorter Quartet
Big Band: Maria Schneider Orchestra
Trumpet: Ambrose Akinmusire
Trombone: Wycliffe Gordon
Soprano Saxophone: Jane Ira Bloom
Alto Saxophone: Kenny Garrett
Tenor Saxophone: Joe Lovano
Baritone Saxophone: Gary Smulyan
Clarinet: Anat Cohen
Flute: Nicole Mitchell
Piano: Vijay Iyer
Keyboard: Robert Glasper
Organ: Dr. Lonnie Smith
Guitar: Bill Frisell
Bass: Christian McBride
Electric Bass: Stanley Clarke
Violin: Regina Carter
Drums: Jack DeJohnette
Vibraphone: Gary Burton
Percussion: Hamid Drake
Miscellaneous Instrument: Béla Fleck (banjo)
Male Vocalist: Gregory Porter
Female Vocalist: Cécile McLorin Salvant
Composer: Maria Schneider
Arranger: Maria Schneider
Record Label: ECM
Producer: Manfred Eicher
Blues Artist or Group: Buddy Guy
Blues Album: Buddy Guy, Rhythm & Blues (RCA/Silvertone)
Beyond Artist or Group: Robert Glasper Experiment
Beyond Album: Robert Glasper Experiment, Black Radio 2 (Blue Note)

RISING STAR WINNERS

Rising Star–Jazz Artist: Cécile McLorin Salvant
Rising Star–Jazz Group: 3 Cohens
Rising Star–Big Band: Ryan Truesdell Gil Evans Project
Rising Star–Trumpet: Jonathan Finlayson
Rising Star–Trombone: Vincent Gardner
Rising Star–Soprano Saxophone: Tia Fuller
Rising Star–Alto Saxophone: Jaleel Shaw
Rising Star–Tenor Saxophone: Wayne Escoffery
Rising Star–Baritone Saxophone: Colin Stetson
Rising Star–Clarinet: David Krakauer
Rising Star–Flute: Holly Hofmann
Rising Star–Piano: Fabian Almazan
Rising Star–Keyboard: Marc Cary
Rising Star–Organ: Brian Charette
Rising Star–Guitar: Peter Bernstein
Rising Star–Bass: Avishai Cohen
Rising Star–Electric Bass: Derrick Hodge
Rising Star–Violin: Eyvind Kang
Rising Star–Drums: Rudy Royston
Rising Star–Vibraphone: Matt Moran
Rising Star–Percussion: Pedrito Martinez
Rising Star–Miscellaneous Instrument: Wycliffe Gordon (tuba)
Rising Star–Male Vocalist: Ed Reed
Rising Star–Female Vocalist: Cécile McLorin Salvant
Rising Star–Composer: Ben Allison
Rising Star–Arranger: Ryan Truesdell
Rising Star–Producer: Terri Lyne Carrington

Unsubscribe (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]&c=81dbaa547e) | Update your profile (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/profile?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]) | Forward to a friend (http://us2.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=81dbaa547e&e=[UNIQID])

Jazz Promo Services
269 State Route 94 South
Warwick, Ny 10990
USA

June 25, 2014 / No Comments / More

NEW INVESTIGATION: Glenn Miller’s disappearance on acclaimed nat’l PBS HISTORY DETECTIVES series (relatives/experts/research)

http://www.jazzpromoservices.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/jazzpromo https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jazz-Promo-Services/216022288429676

On Christmas Eve of 1944, Glenn Miller–considered as famous as the Beatles of his generation–was reported missing after boarding a plane flying over the English Channel that was never seen again – creating what is perhaps the biggest mystery and cold case of World War II.

After such incredible investigations as finding the guitar used by Bob Dylan to go electric, the Ampeg B-15 amp used by legendary Motown bassist James Jamerson in the 1960s, and more…PBS has now expanded a perennial favorite to give the History Detectives a grander mission — focusing on iconic cold cases in the U.S.

HISTORY DETECTIVES SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS
, the reformatted eleventh season, will premiere “The Disappearance of Glenn Miller” on Tuesday, July 8th at 9:00 pm ET on PBS (check local listings). In this episode, history detectives Wesley Cowan, Tukufu Zuberi and Kaiama Glover lead an international investigation to find out what really happened to the legendary Glenn Miller.

If he was so afraid of planes, why would he board an aircraft over the English Channel during bad weather? With the help of a few experts and historians, the detectives uncover new clues revealing the truth about Glenn Miller, and putting all conspiracy theories to rest.

Experts and hosts from the series available for interviews. Please find below the official episode description, full-screener link, and press release.

EPISODE DESCRIPTION:
The Disappearance of Glenn Miller
Tuesday, July 8, 2014, 9:00-10:00 p.m. ET

One of the most celebrated, beloved entertainers of the wartime era takes off from England in heavy fog, heading to France to entertain troops. His plane vanishes. Glenn Miller’s disappearance is perhaps the biggest mystery and cold case of World War II. This HISTORY DETECTIVES investigation contains a great deal of new information: Miller’s pilot was a rank novice who had never flown over the English Channel, never mind in appalling weather; documents from a Lancaster bomber pilot support another possible accounting of the plane’s disappearance; and a 17-year old plane spotter’s notebook — discovered in 2012 at a UK Antiques Roadshow — answers a question that has long baffled investigators: which route did Miller’s aircraft take? In addition, the German-speaking Miller was working for the U.S. Army’s Psychological Warfare Division, recording German language propaganda broadcasts and musical performances.

POTENTIAL EXPERTS/SPOKESPEOPLE
· Dennis Spragg, author (Boulder, CO) – wrote a book about Miller’s disappearance and pulls together the impact of weather and air traffic control. He found that Miller’s plane had a defective carburetor that the pilots and maintenance crew knew about. He says, “You have a perfect storm of human error, mechanical failure, and weather; not independent of one another – all three.”
· Ed Polic, military historian (Boulder, CO) – helps investigate the pilot of Miller’s plane, who had never flown over the English Channel, let alone appalling weather. In response to conspiracy theories, Ed says, “It’s a real disservice to this patriot. In 1942, Glenn Miller was making 15-20,000 dollars a week, and he gave all that up and left his family to go raise the morale of troops.”
· Wes Cowan (series host) – interviwed Spragg and Polic
· Tukufu Zuberi (series host) – conducted interviews in England, including with nephew John Miller at Twinwood Farm Airfield, outside of Bedford, England, where Glenn took off from on his last flight. John remembers when they were notified of Miller’s disappearance and said it was tough on the whole family. Helen Miller, Glenn Miller’s wife, wrote letters to the Army Air force for a year for more information, but never heard back. John’s father looked for Glenn for years: they never found the body or the plane, so no one ever knew what happened. Tukufu also interviewed aviation historian and former Royal Air Force navigator Roy Nesbit, who was taken on to investigate his disappearance 40 years later.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

HISTORY DETECTIVES SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS

Tuesdays, beginning July 1, 2014 @ 9:00-10:00 p.m. ET on PBS

— New Format Investigating Iconic Mysteries —
— Series Follows Three-Part TIME SCANNERS —

HISTORY DETECTIVES SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS
, a new take on a PBS favorite, delves into the past this summer to explore some of America’s most intriguing mysteries. Four episodes introduce the fresh perspective of a new detective and focus on a single story per hour. HDSI, the reformatted eleventh season of HISTORY DETECTIVES, debuts Tuesday, July 1-22, 2014, 9:00-10:00 p.m. ET on PBS. Also debuting on July 1 is TIME SCANNERS at 8:00 p.m.

In each episode of HISTORY DETECTIVES SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS, veteran detectives Tukufu Zuberi and Wes Cowan join forces with new host Kaiama Glover to probe a single iconic mystery from America’s past. What was behind the tragic sinking of the SS Sultana, one of the worst maritime disasters in U.S. history, at the end of the American Civil War? Can the detectives solve the mystery of one of the country’s first recorded serial killings, the Austin Servant Girl Murders of the 1880s? What led to the mysterious vanishing of big band leader Glenn Miller during World War II? Who killed Jimmy Hoffa — and why?

The HDSI team brings modern forensic science and cutting-edge tools to these historical conundrums. As they discover new evidence, sift through clues and crisscross the country in search of answers, they uncover fresh leads and information to tell captivating stories from a new angle.

“We’re giving the History Detectives a broader mission this season,” says Bill Gardner, Vice President of Programming and Development for PBS. “They’re using modern technology to solve some of the toughest cold cases in U.S. history, and what they uncover is pretty surprising.”

The hosts of HISTORY DETECTIVES SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS are:
· Wesley Cowan, independent appraiser and auctioneer;
· Tukufu Zuberi, professor of sociology and the director of the Center for Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania; and
· Kaiama Glover, professor of literature of the French-speaking Caribbean and sub-Saharan West African cinema at Barnard College, Columbia University.

At 8:00 p.m. new three-part series TIME SCANNERS reveals physical and forensic mysteries of the ancient world’s most iconic structures. Through cutting-edge technology that can “read” buildings, ruins and landscapes, this series allows viewers to reach out and touch the past. Hosted by Dallas Campbell (“Bang Goes the Theory”), a team of laser-scanning researchers from the University of Arkansas led by Steve Burrows, unlocks the secrets of the world’s greatest engineering achievements. TIME SCANNERS airs Tuesdays, July 1-15, 2014, 8:00-9:00 p.m. ET

View past episodes of HISTORY DETECTIVES on our website at pbs.org/historydetectives http://pbs.org/historydetectives. “Like” HISTORY DETECTIVES on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/historydetectives. HISTORY DETECTIVES SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS is a co-production of Lion Television and Oregon Public Broadcasting for PBS.

About Lion Television
Lion Television creates hundreds of hours of programming every year from its production bases in the U.K. and U.S. Lion currently has more than 200 hours in production, specializing in entertainment, daytime, ambitious science and history shows.

About OPB
OPB is the largest cultural and education institution in Oregon and southern Washington, delivering excellence in public broadcasting to 1.5 million people each week through television, radio and the Internet. Widely recognized as a national leader in the public broadcasting arena, OPB is a major contributor to the program schedule that serves the entire country. OPB is one of the most-used and most-supported public broadcasting services in the country and is generously supported by its members.

About PBS
PBS, with its over 350 member stations, offers all Americans the opportunity to explore new ideas and new worlds through television and online content. Each month, PBS reaches nearly 109 million people through television and over 28 million people online, inviting them to experience the worlds of science, history, nature and public affairs; to hear diverse viewpoints; and to take front row seats to world-class drama and performances. PBS’ broad array of programs has been consistently honored by the industry’s most coveted award competitions. Teachers of children from pre-K through 12th grade turn to PBS for digital content and services that help bring classroom lessons to life. PBS’ premier children’s TV programming and its website, pbskids.org (http://pbskids.org/) , are parents’ and teachers’ most trusted partners in inspiring and nurturing curiosity and love of learning in children. More information about PBS is available at www.pbs.org (http://www.pbs.org/) , one of the
leading dot-org websites on the Internet, or by following PBS on Twitter,Facebook or through our apps for mobile devices. Specific program information and updates for press are available at pbs.org/pressroom or by following PBS Pressroom on Twitter.
– PBS –

CONTACT:
Eileen Campion, Roslan & Campion PR, 212-966-4600; eileen@rc-pr.com (http://c-pr.com/)

For images and additional up-to-date information on this and other PBS programs, visit PBS Pre
ssRoom at http://pressroom. (http://pressroom./)
pbs.org/

—
Melissa Remo | Roslan & Campion Public Relations
424 West 33rd Street, Suite 620 New York, NY 10001
melissa@rc-pr.com (mailto:melissa@rc-pr.com) | 212-966-4600 (o) | 646-496-5432 (m)

Unsubscribe (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]&c=d1c4ab5d37) | Update your profile (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/profile?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]) | Forward to a friend (http://us2.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=d1c4ab5d37&e=[UNIQID])

Jazz Promo Services
269 State Route 94 South
Warwick, Ny 10990
USA

June 25, 2014 / No Comments / More

Nat Hentoff Is the Subject of David L. Lewis’s Documentary – NYTimes.com

** Nat Hentoff Is the Subject of David L. Lewis’s Documentary
————————————————————

Photo
Nat Hentoff, left, with the clarinetist and bandleader Edmond Hall at the Savoy club in Boston in 1948. Credit Bob Parent
Continue reading the main story

Early in “The Pleasures of Being Out of Step,” (http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/476639/The-Pleasures-of-Being-Out-of-Step-Movie-/overview) a documentary (https://mail.google.com/mail/#inbox/146c966cb7f21454?projector=1) about the writer, critic and record producer Nat Hentoff that opens on Wednesday, Mr. Hentoff declares that “the Constitution and jazz are my main reasons for being.” That may seem an odd pairing to anyone unfamiliar with the man or his work, but Mr. Hentoff has nurtured those twin passions since the 1940s.

“Duke Ellington used to tell me that ‘we gave the world the freest expression ever in the arts,’ so I always thought there was a natural tie there,” Mr. Hentoff said in an interview last week at his Greenwich Village apartment. “The whole idea of the Bill of Rights and jazz,” he added, is “freedom of expression that nobody, not even the government, can squelch.”

Mr. Hentoff, (http://www.booknotes.org/Watch/91396-1/Nat+Hentoff.aspx) who turned 89 this month, is the author of books like “Living the Bill of Rights: How to Be an Authentic American” and “The First Freedom: The Tumultuous History of Free Speech in America.” Initially, though, he built a reputation in the jazz world, interviewing artists like Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie and turning the writing of liner notes for albums into something approaching an art form.
Photo

Mr. Hentoff in his office in Greenwich Village in 2010. Credit David L. Lewis/First Run Features

When the director David L. Lewis first approached him six years ago, Mr. Hentoff was surprised anyone would want to make a film about him (http://pleasuresthemovie.com/) : “I am not exactly a household name,” he said. But Mr. Lewis, a former producer at “60 Minutes,” regarded him as an exemplary civil libertarian, and knew little about his jazz roots or that a decade ago he was the first nonmusician to be named a “jazz master” by the National Endowment for the Arts.

“I went to high school in Westchester in the 1970s, reading Hentoff at the time,” Mr. Lewis said. “His voice always stood out in what was such an awful period in public life — Watergate, post-Vietnam, the Church Commission, F.B.I. abuses, malaise — and he was writing about all of it, so I always knew who he was.”

One of the joys of making “The Pleasures of Being Out of Step,” Mr. Lewis said, was “the chance to learn more about the music” and Mr. Hentoff’s role in documenting and popularizing it. So the film mixes and matches, with footage showing Mr. Hentoff’s friendships with the bassist Charles Mingus and the writer Amiri Baraka (who got his start writing for a jazz magazine Mr. Hentoff edited), as well as his cordial relationships with the First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams (http://www.cahill.com/professionals/floyd-abrams) and the Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan Jr. (http://www.nytimes.com/1997/07/25/us/william-brennan-91-dies-gave-court-liberal-vision.html)

Born in Boston, Mr. Hentoff came to New York in 1953 to be a writer and editor for the jazz magazine Downbeat. He was also involved in projects to bring jazz to television (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhdYoWhBKhM) and wrote essays that were thoughtful, even erudite, for the backs of jazz and folk albums: the liner notes for both John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps” (http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/19714/Giant-Steps-Movie-/overview) and “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan” are his.

In 1960, while editing The Jazz Review, notable for its scholarly bent and articles by musicians about their own work, Mr. Hentoff accepted an invitation to run the newly founded Candid Records label (http://www.candidrecords.com/about_us.php) . That interlude lasted less than two years, but he recorded work by Mingus, Max Roach, Cecil Taylor, Steve Lacy, Eric Dolphy, Booker Ervin, Booker Little and others associated with an emerging avant-garde.
Continue reading the main story

“Some of those records that came out on Candid are as good as any record made at any time by anyone,” the writer and critic Stanley Crouch says in the documentary. He adds that while many critics might feel that they have the ability to make better records than professional producers, “Nat Hentoff proved that he could.”

“I had a very simple way of doing a jazz session,” Mr. Hentoff said. “Most of the musicians were pretty well relaxed because I never bothered them and rarely interfered in the music. I’d covered some sessions and got very angry” at the label executives “who tried to run them.”

But Mr. Hentoff said he worried about being typecast, and when opportunities arose to write about other subjects for The Village Voice and The New Yorker, he leapt at those chances. In the 1960s, sensitized by his friendships with jazz musicians, he spoke out strongly in support of the civil rights movement — the film shows him squaring off against William F. Buckley Jr. — and the 1970s allowed him to focus on what he viewed as growing government encroachment on individual freedoms.

These days, Mr. Hentoff describes himself as “an imperfect libertarian.” He became a senior fellow at the Cato Institute (http://www.cato.org/news-releases/2009/2/4/nat-hentoff-joins-cato-institute) , a libertarian think tank, in 2009 and lately has been promoting the presidential hopes of Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, who, he said, “knows the Constitution” and shares his position on civil liberties issues like surveillance and the use of drones.

In the film, Mr. Lewis tracks Mr. Hentoff’s shift to what he regards as social conservatism to the early 1980s, when Mr. Hentoff broke with colleagues on abortion and responses to the AIDS epidemic. He has been particularly unyielding on abortion, “casting himself as the defender of the fetus and the rights of the fetus,” Mr. Lewis said, and alienating many friends on the left.

“He thinks he has to follow things to an absolutist position,” his wife, the writer Margot Hentoff, says in the film, for which she was interviewed separately. “He loves conflict,” she also said. “It’s fun” for him. She added: “I love it too. It’s great.”

In the film, Ms. Hentoff talks about having had an abortion in the 1960s, with her husband acknowledging that he reluctantly acquiesced. “There is an inherent contradiction between his position and his actions that I tried to bring out in the film as best I could,” Mr. Lewis said.

On other issues related to civil liberties, Mr. Hentoff’s views remain where they always have been. Asked about the current Supreme Court, he replied with a single Yiddish word, “Oy.”

“This court, I get very worried when something very important is coming up to them,” he said. “We do not have a good court, and if this continues, we will be in more and more trouble.”

“The Pleasures of Being Out of Step,” (http://press.journalism.cuny.edu/book/the-pleasures-of-being-out-of-step/) whose title comes from a phrase in one of Mr. Hentoff’s memoirs, is accompanied by Mr. Lewis’s book of the same title, published by the CUNY Journalism Press. It is an oral history with Mr. Hentoff and many others in the style of Studs Terkel, and provides firsthand accounts of some of the main ideological and aesthetic battles that engaged New York intellectuals from the 1950s onward.

“Basically, the objective was that I wanted to get all the good stuff that was on the cutting room floor out into the public,” Mr. Lewis said. “It enables the speakers to go deep, with a lot of detail you obviously can’t put into a film.”

In both the film and the book, Mr. Hentoff comes across as an iconoclast. Mr. Lewis prefers to use the word “curmudgeon,” though Mr. Hentoff begs to differ.

“I’m not doing it to be a gadfly, I’m really serious about this stuff,” he said. He added: “Without intending to, I learned to be an outsider. I’ve been an outsider all my life, and what I’ve concluded is that you can learn a lot by being there.”

Unsubscribe (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]&c=1d80c3fcc9) | Update your profile (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/profile?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]) | Forward to a friend (http://us2.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=1d80c3fcc9&e=[UNIQID])

Jazz Promo Services
269 State Route 94 South
Warwick, Ny 10990
USA

June 23, 2014 / No Comments / More

An Unholy Row – Jazz in Britain and its Audience 1945-1960 « thejazzbreakfast

http://www.jazzpromoservices.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/jazzpromo https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jazz-Promo-Services/216022288429676
http://thejazzbreakfast.com/2014/06/23/an-unholy-row-jazz-in-britain-and-its-audience-1945-1960/

** An Unholy Row – Jazz in Britain and its Audience 1945-1960
————————————————————

BY PETER BACON (http://thejazzbreakfast.com/author/peterbacon/) on 23 JUNE 2014 (http://thejazzbreakfast.com/2014/06/23/an-unholy-row-jazz-in-britain-and-its-audience-1945-1960/) • ( http://thejazzbreakfast.com/2014/06/23/an-unholy-row-jazz-in-britain-and-its-audience-1945-1960/#respond )

By Dave Gelly
(Equinox, hb, 167pp, £25.00)

** Review by Peter Vacher
————————————————————

Two things to say straightaway and interests to declare. First, I know author Gelly quite well and second, I supplied eight images from my jazz photo collection for his book. That said it may be pertinent to remind Jazz Breakfast readers of Gelly’s credentials before we talk about the book.

gelly cover He is, and has been for many years, the jazz correspondent of theObserver newspaper, has written perceptive biographies of his heroes, Stan Getz and Lester Young (the latter also published by Equinox) and of even greater moment plays jazz tenor saxophone professionally and well. Born in 1938, Gelly embraced jazz and began to play during the very period which the book covers. So his is a commentary informed as much by first-hand knowledge as it is by his extensive research.

The subtitle suggests something more than a strictly chronological account of jazz in Britain during the cited decade and a half and that is what Gelly delivers here. He’s good at capturing the mores of the times, as Britain moved from a war-time economy to the first awakening of the ‘never-had-it-so-good 1960s’.

This was when jazz found an audience among the young, newly-liberated from the stifling conventions that had marked their parents’ lives, sometimes to their senior’s despair, hence the title of the book. He’s even-handed about styles, understanding the sincerity of the early revivalists and tracing the rise and rise of traditional jazz and skiffle before moving over to consider the passionate espousal of the modern style promoted by the collective known as Club Eleven and the more aware dance band players of the day.

He rightly emphasises the role played by the open-minded Humphrey Lyttelton and John Dankworth, two men who largely shook off their early American influences as they sought to produce distinctive music of their own. There’s social history here but it’s British jazz history too, neatly caught and clearly expressed. No fuss, no over-elaboration, all appropriate quotations included, the whole a perfect reminder for this observer of a time when the discovery of jazz seemed, in Eddie Condon’s immortal words when describing Bix Beiderbecke’s playing, like “a girl saying yes”.

The typos are few although failing to spot the mis-captioning of drummer Bobby Orr as ‘Booby’ in Val Wilmer’s photo [p.122] is unforgiveable. The picture choices are excellent (I would say that, wouldn’t I?) while the accompanying Notes, Bibliography and Guide to Recordings add real value. Sadly, the indexing doesn’t. Don’t let these minor cavils put you off – Gelly’s book is literate, lightly done but meaty all the way through.

History for jazz people, you could say.

Unsubscribe (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]&c=a7fae77064) | Update your profile (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/profile?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]) | Forward to a friend (http://us2.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=a7fae77064&e=[UNIQID])

Jazz Promo Services
269 State Route 94 South
Warwick, Ny 10990
USA

June 23, 2014 / No Comments / More

Soviet-Era Bootleg Recordings of Banned Western Music

http://www.jazzpromoservices.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/jazzpromo https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jazz-Promo-Services/216022288429676
http://www.vinyloftheday.com/2014/06/18/soviet-banned-western-music/

** SOVIET-ERA BOOTLEG RECORDINGS OF BANNED WESTERN MUSIC PRESSED ON DISCARDED X-RAY PLATES
————————————————————
14 COMMENTS (http://www.vinyloftheday.com/2014/06/18/soviet-banned-western-music/)
18 JUN 2014 POSTED BY THE EDITOR

1 Star 2 Stars 3 Stars 4 Stars 5 Stars

** SOVIET-ERA BOOTLEG RECORDINGS OF BANNED WESTERN MUSIC PRESSED ON DISCARDED X-RAY PLATES
————————————————————

http://www.vinyloftheday.com/2014/06/18/soviet-banned-western-music/xray/

Before the availability of the tape recorder and during the 1950s, when vinyl was scarce, people in the Soviet Union began making records of banned Western music on discarded x-rays. With the help of a special device, banned bootlegged jazz and rock ‘n’ roll records were “pressed” on thick radiographs salvaged from hospital waste bins and then cut into discs of 23-25 centimeters in diameter. “They would cut the X-ray into a crude circle with manicure scissors and use a cigarette to burn a hole,” says author Anya von Bremzen. “You’d have Elvis on the lungs, Duke Ellington on Aunt Masha’s brain scan — forbidden Western music captured on the interiors of Soviet citizens.”

http://www.vinyloftheday.com/2014/06/18/soviet-banned-western-music/xray4/ http://www.vinyloftheday.com/2014/06/18/soviet-banned-western-music/xray3/ http://www.vinyloftheday.com/2014/06/18/soviet-banned-western-music/xray5/ http://www.vinyloftheday.com/2014/06/18/soviet-banned-western-music/x-ray2/

Unsubscribe (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]&c=c7fbd0cc09) | Update your profile (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/profile?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]) | Forward to a friend (http://us2.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=c7fbd0cc09&e=[UNIQID])

Jazz Promo Services
269 State Route 94 South
Warwick, Ny 10990
USA

June 23, 2014 / No Comments / More

Head over to Moodsville for vintage mellow jazz – Oakland Jazz music | Examiner.com

http://www.jazzpromoservices.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/jazzpromo https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jazz-Promo-Services/216022288429676
http://www.examiner.com/article/head-over-to-moodsville-for-vintage-mellow-jazz?CID=examiner_alerts_article

** Head over to Moodsville for vintage mellow jazz
————————————————————

** See also
————————————————————
* jazz (http://www.examiner.com/topic/jazz)
* Miles Davis (http://www.examiner.com/topic/miles-davis)
* John Coltrane (http://www.examiner.com/topic/john-coltrane)
* Record Labels (http://www.examiner.com/topic/record-labels)
* Jackie Gleason (http://www.examiner.com/topic/jackie-gleason)

http://www.examiner.com/slideshow/moodsville-records-select-discographyView 8 photos (http://www.examiner.com/slideshow/moodsville-records-select-discography) View 8 photos (http://www.examiner.com/slideshow/moodsville-records-select-discography)
Moodsville
Brian McCoy (http://www.examiner.com/jazz-music-in-oakland/brian-mccoy) Oakland Jazz Music Examiner (http://www.examiner.com/jazz-music-in-oakland/brian-mccoy)
* Subscribe (http://www.examiner.com/user/385351/1795611/subscribe?destination=node/72484036&render=overlay)

** Related Photo:
————————————————————
Moodsville
Moodsville
Moodsville
Related Ads
(https://www.google.com/url?ct=abg&q=https://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/request.py%3Ftrunc%3D1%26contact%3Dabg_afc%26url%3Dhttp://www.examiner.com/article/head-over-to-moodsville-for-vintage-mellow-jazz%253FCID%253Dexaminer_alerts_article%26gl%3DUS%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dca-pub-7479725245717969%26ai0%3DCtNloJGSlU7uyGsublQfB0oDIDrut_O4G8-CO8IABwI23ARABIK2BzgMoC1DG4MX_AWDJnrqLwKTYD8gBAagDAaoEvQFP0Czljfde41iLOVWgfX_gnw5mjA3-qM-RS2YssreHtdEtNkWjy_FRPaswXGRZu_FbgC3zHIaoNIenDECAYd_a4UMQnJskDsRUSElneO70PYDeG8BFMmSIwm00UAyLHR5yyAql4D6FjUSXvozeLQ2RYV00hyAoQM8mz4o8gPKwy5KPXW91r3kbastxd4b1wSzm3bdcm1E7-AG3qSfeu00l44Anjt5MYTIchLTQAoufsSIrQ4RKtUT7Uxu3ARWAB_Pruiw%26ai1%3DCo-UXJGSlU7uyGsublQfB0oDIDtnt5ucB8ZKPzCrFmbaIChACIK2BzgMoC1DD1qD6_f____8BYMmeuovApNgPoAGQnbf_A8gBAagDAaoEvAFP0Ez4jPdc41iLOVWgfX_gnw5mjA3-qM-RS2YssreHtdEtNkWjy_FRPaswXGRZu_FbgC3zHIaoNIenDECAYd_a4UMQnJskDsRUSElneO70PYDeG8BFMmSIwm00UAyLHR5yyAql4D6FjUSXvozeLQ2RYV00hyAoQM8mz4o8gPKwy5KPXW91r3kbastxd4b1wWbb2adcm1E7-AG3qSfeu0
0l44Anjt5MYTIchLTQAoufsSIrQ4RKtUT7UzD6pYgGAYAH2OJI%26ai2%3DCEJAOJGSlU7uyGsublQfB0oDIDv2luIwBs8aX-AzAjbcBEAMgrYHOAygLUISqxNT______wFgyZ66i8Ck2A_IAQGoAwGqBLoBT9As5Y33X-NYizlVoH1_4J8OZowN_qjPkUtmLLK3h7XRLTZFo8vxUT2rMFxkWbvxW4At8xyGqDSHpwxAgGHf2uFDEJybJA7EVEhJZ3ju9D2A3hvARTJkiMJtNFAMix0ecsgKpeA-hY1El76M3i0NkWFdNIcgKEDPJs-KPIDysMuSj11vda95G2rLOXcCwFOAsSmNDJt6O_gIt6kHw7tO3OAE3o1auWIi6YekhQGLyrIi3kaEqrXPl465gAe3weUS%26ai3%3DCB-mxJGSlU7uyGsublQfB0oDIDu2P25gCz8mWpA_AjbcBEAQgrYHOAygLUJLtl_IBYMmeuovApNgPoAHB6rj-A8gBAagDAaoEugFP0GytiPdY41iLOVWgfX_gnw5mjA3-qM-RS2YssreHtdEtNkWjy_FRPaswXGRZu_FbgC3zHIaoNIenDECAYd_a4UMQnJskDsRUSElneO70PYDeG8BFMmSIwm00UAyLHR5yyAql4D6FjUSXvozeLQ2RYV00hyAoQM8mz4o8gPKwy5KPXW91r3kbass5dwr2L6exKY0Mm3o7-Ai3qQfDu07c4ATejVq5YiLph6SFAYvKsiLeRoSqtZnJ_aqIBgGAB6eVxwE&usg=AFQjCNH4vo0s8xSgbA9hjv03-7wweQQpLw)
* Jazz LP (http://www.examiner.com/related-ads?google_kw=Jazz+LP&google_rt=ChBTpWQkAAzvCwrlBkFPAFrBEgdKYXp6IExQGggnMRpQU4H8_CgBUhMIu9Sz2uaKvwIVy03lCh1BKQDp&channel_id=6727461905&google_page_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.examiner.com%2Farticle%2Fhead-over-to-moodsville-for-vintage-mellow-jazz%3FCID%3Dexaminer_alerts_article)
*
* Coleman Hawkins (http://www.examiner.com/related-ads?google_kw=Coleman+Hawkins&google_rt=ChBTpWQkAAzvFArlBkFPAFrBEg9Db2xlbWFuIEhhd2tpbnMaCBhv7PViu5RyKAFSEwi71LPa5oq_AhXLTeUKHUEpAOk&channel_id=6727461905&google_page_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.examiner.com%2Farticle%2Fhead-over-to-moodsville-for-vintage-mellow-jazz%3FCID%3Dexaminer_alerts_article)
*
* Ben Webster (http://www.examiner.com/related-ads?google_kw=Ben+Webster&google_rt=ChBTpWQkAAzvGgrlBkFPAFrBEgtCZW4gV2Vic3RlchoITJY1jaDH2W0oATACUhMIu9Sz2uaKvwIVy03lCh1BKQDp&channel_id=6727461905&google_page_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.examiner.com%2Farticle%2Fhead-over-to-moodsville-for-vintage-mellow-jazz%3FCID%3Dexaminer_alerts_article)
* Music Music Music (http://www.examiner.com/related-ads?google_kw=Music+Music+Music&google_rt=ChBTpWQkAAzvHwrlBkFPAFrBEhFNdXNpYyBNdXNpYyBNdXNpYxoIvgo3HNhvcbYoATACUhMIu9Sz2uaKvwIVy03lCh1BKQDp&channel_id=6727461905&google_page_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.examiner.com%2Farticle%2Fhead-over-to-moodsville-for-vintage-mellow-jazz%3FCID%3Dexaminer_alerts_article)

* Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=http%3A//www.examiner.com/article/head-over-to-moodsville-for-vintage-mellow-jazz)
* Twitter (https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=http%3A//www.examiner.com/article/head-over-to-moodsville-for-vintage-mellow-jazz&via=examinercom&text=Head%20over%20to%20Moodsville%20for%20vintage%20mellow%20jazz)
*
* Linkedin (http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=http%3A//www.examiner.com/article/head-over-to-moodsville-for-vintage-mellow-jazz&title=Head%20over%20to%20Moodsville%20for%20vintage%20mellow%20jazz&summary=I%20have%20spent%20a%20good%20part%20of%20the%20week%20in%20Moodsville%2C%20hanging%20with%20Coleman%20Hawkins.The%20album%20in%20question%20is%20the%20suitably%20titled%20%26ldquo%3BAt%20Ease%20with%20Coleman%20Hawkins%2C%26rdquo%3B%20a%201960%20set%20that%20finds%20the%20tenor%20saxophone%20giant%20collaborating%20with%20Tommy%20Flanagan%20&source=Examiner.com)
* Google Plus (https://plus.google.com/share?url=http%3A//www.examiner.com/article/head-over-to-moodsville-for-vintage-mellow-jazz)
*
*
*

June 20, 2014

I have spent a good part of the week in Moodsville, hanging with Coleman Hawkins.
The album in question is the suitably titled “At Ease with Coleman Hawkins,” a 1960 set that finds the tenor saxophone giant collaborating with Tommy Flanagan (piano), Wendell Marshall (bass) and Osie Johnson (drums) on a program of standards including the Gershwins’ “For You, For Me, For Evermore.” It’s suitable too because the disc’s laid back vibe is exactly what the Moodsville label specialized in during its brief run (1960-63).
As to the label’s origins, I turn to David Brent Johnson at Indiana Public Media (read: the broadcasting arm of my alma mater, Indiana University).

** More Photos
————————————————————
View all8 photos (http://www.examiner.com/slideshow/moodsville-records-select-discography)
* http://www.examiner.com/slideshow/moodsville-records-select-discography#slide=1
*
* http://www.examiner.com/slideshow/moodsville-records-select-discography#slide=2
*
* http://www.examiner.com/slideshow/moodsville-records-select-discography#slide=3
*
* http://www.examiner.com/slideshow/moodsville-records-select-discography#slide=4
*
* http://www.examiner.com/slideshow/moodsville-records-select-discography#slide=5
*
* http://www.examiner.com/slideshow/moodsville-records-select-discography#slide=6
*
* http://www.examiner.com/slideshow/moodsville-records-select-discography#slide=7
*
* http://www.examiner.com/slideshow/moodsville-records-select-discography#slide=8

In 1960, Prestige Record label owner Bob Weinstock launched a new series of records called Moodsville, as a response to the popularity of 1950s “mood music” albums, ushered in to a large extent by Jackie Gleason (http://www.examiner.com/topic/jackie-gleason) ’s Capitol LPs featuring trumpeter Bobby Hackett.
Prestige attempted to stake a somewhat higher aesthetic ground, stating, “We at Prestige feel that there is room for honest jazz (http://www.examiner.com/topic/jazz) performances of ballads wherein the musical integrity of the artist is maintained and at the same time the original beauty and feeling of the ballad is not lost.”
What emerged was a sort of thinking-man’s jazz-ballad alternative, or jazz-for-jazz-loving-lovers.

It is easy to forget more than 60 years later just how popular those Gleason albums were in the years between the rise of bop and the arrival of rock. His debut, “Music for Lovers Only” (1952), hit No. 1 and spent three years in the Billboard top 10. Gleason churned out follow-ups on seemingly a daily basis with “Lover’s Rhapsody” (1953), “Music to Make You Misty” (1953), “Music, Martinis and Memories” (1954) and “Lonesome Echo” (1955) all topping the charts, while another half-dozen releases reached the top 10. Every one of Gleason’s first 10 albums sold in excess of a million copies.
So it’s easy to see where Weinstock was coming from in creating Moodsville, as well as its counterparts Swingville and Bluesville. There also exists the theory that he founded the labels “not as a stroke of marketing genius but as a device to reduce tax liabilities on sales on his primary label.”
Whatever the motive, there is plenty of fine jazz to be found in Moodsville, as the discography below demonstrates. My favorites, in addition to the aforementioned Hawkins album, are “Bluesy Burrell,” which pairs Hawkins with the seminal guitarist, and Gene Ammons’ “Nice an’ Cool.”

Moodsville discography
“Red Garland Trio and Eddie Lockjaw Davis,”1960
“Red Alone,” Red Garland, 1960
“Eddie Lockjaw Davis with Shirley Scott,” 1960
“Shirley Scott Trio,” 1960
“Red Garland Trio,” 1960
“At Ease with Coleman Hawkins,” 1960
“Frank Wess Quartet,” 1960
“Tommy Flanagan Trio,” 1960
“Alone with the Blues,” Red Garland, 1960
“With Feeling,” Lem Winchester, 1960
“Al Casey Quartet,” 1960
“Nocturne,” Oliver Nelson with Lem Winchester, 1960
“Ballads by Cobb,” Arnett Cobb, 1960
“The Hawk Relaxes,” Coleman Hawkins, 1961
“Interlude,” Billy Taylor, 1961
“In My Solitude,” Willis Jackson, 1961
“Nice an’ Cool,” Gene Ammons, 1961
“Like Cozy,” Shirley Scott, 1961
“Everything’s Mellow,” Clark Terry, 1961
“Mood Indigo! Taft Jordan Plays Duke Ellington,” 1961
“Eastern Sounds,” Yusef Lateef, 1961
“Good Old Broadway,” Coleman Hawkins, 1962
“The Bad and the Beautiful,” Sam the Man Taylor, 1962
“Play The Jazz Version of No Strings,” Coleman Hawkins Quartet, 1962
“Plays the Jazz Version of All American,” Clark Terry, 1962
“The Solid Trumpet of Cootie Williams,” 1962
“The Soulful Moods of Gene Ammons,” 1962
“Bluesy Burrell,” Kenny Burrell and Coleman Hawkins, 1962
“Misty,” Eddie Lockjaw Davis and Shirley Scott, 1962
“Coleman Hawkins Plays Make Someone Happy,” Coleman Hawkins
“Play Richard Rodgers,” Miles Davis (http://www.examiner.com/topic/miles-davis) and John Coltrane (http://www.examiner.com/topic/john-coltrane) , 1963
“The Music Of George Gershwin: Played By America’s Greatest Jazzmen,” 1963
“The Music Of Cole Porter: Played By America’s Greatest Jazzmen,” 1963
“The Music Of Richard Rodgers: Played By America’s Greatest Jazzmen,” 1963
“Dave Pike Plays the Jazz Version of Oliver,” 1963
“Lusty Moods, Various Artists, 1963
“The Broadway Scene,” Various Artists, 1963
“Lucky Thompson Plays Jerome Kern And No More,” 1963

Want to keep up with the best in Bay Area jazz and blues?
Subscribe to me: Have our jazz and blues Examiner columns sent to your inbox. Click the SUBSCRIBE button on this page. It’s free. (And I won’t spam you or give out your information.) Bookmark me:http://www.examiner.com/jazz-music-in-oakland/brian-mccoy. CONTACT ME FOR YOUR JAZZ AND ARTS

Unsubscribe (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]&c=f2dd2ec060) | Update your profile (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/profile?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]) | Forward to a friend (http://us2.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=f2dd2ec060&e=[UNIQID])

Jazz Promo Services
269 State Route 94 South
Warwick, Ny 10990
USA

June 21, 2014 / No Comments / More

Revisiting Jazz Roots – NYTimes.com

http://www.jazzpromoservices.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/jazzpromo https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jazz-Promo-Services/216022288429676
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/22/nyregion/revisiting-jazz-roots.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140620&nlid=16833052&tntemail0=y (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/22/nyregion/revisiting-jazz-roots.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140620&nlid=16833052&tntemail0=y)

** N.Y. / REGION | SPOTLIGHT | MANHATTAN
————————————————————

Photo
Dizzy Gillespie at a jazz loft performance in 1982. Credit Mitchell Seidel

Thirty-five years ago, the trumpeter and impresario Mark Morganelli (http://www.nytimes.com/1998/08/02/nyregion/q-a-mark-morganelli-performer-and-promoter-of-jazz-concerts.html) opened the first of two jazz lofts in Lower Manhattan. Nineteen years later, he began presenting a series of free summer concerts in Westchester County.

The lofts, at Cooper Square and on Broadway, long ago succumbed to rising real estate values. But the Westchester summer series survives, and will reap the proceeds when the loft scene comes alive for one night, on June 28, in a benefit concert at New York University’s Skirball Center for the Performing Arts (http://nyuskirball.org/) , not all that far from the lofts’ onetime locations.

“This gets us back to our roots,” Mr. Morganelli said.

For the concert, part of the Blue Note Jazz Festival (http://bluenotejazzfestival.com/) , Mr. Morganelli has commitments from over two dozen leading jazz artists, all loft veterans. The performance could yield one of the biggest assemblages of jazz musicians on a stage this summer.

It may rekindle the camaraderie fostered by the lofts during its four years, said the bassist Cameron Brown (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtj-MhqKet4) . He recalled a snowy night in 1983 when he trudged the length of Spring Street, double bass on back, just to make a loft performance.

Since then, the connections may have loosened a bit, with musicians like Mr. Brown decamping to the Hudson Valley. But, he said, the Skirball concert will be a chance to renew the bonds, especially among those who play his instrument.

“It’ll be wonderful for all the bass players to see each other,” he said.

Harvie S (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1UdE-aXb4I) , another bass-playing loft habitué who moved to the Hudson Valley, recalled the lofts as spots where he nurtured an expertise in Afro-Cuban rhythms, which he will call on during the Skirball concert, joining the guitarist Vic Juris, the percussionist Candido Camero and Mr. Morganelli, among others, in a planned tribute to the percussionist Chano Pozo.

Such multicultural fare has also been a focus of the summer series, which began on June 18 and will end on Aug. 29 after 33 concerts, in Connecticut and Manhattan as well as in Westchester locations in Dobbs Ferry (the Masters School) and Tarrytown (Pierson Park and the Lyndhurst Estate).

Under Mr. Morganelli, the concerts — which are produced by his Jazz Forum Arts (http://jazzforumarts.org/) — have often explored the music of Brazil. But this year they will do so with a slight twist: Headlining a July 31 sunset concert at the Lyndhurst estate will be the harmonica virtuoso Hendrik Meurkens (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnxCKB7IE5U) , a German who leads a samba quintet.

“Mark has always been ahead of the curve,” Harvie S said.

Unsubscribe (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]&c=9253b64d2c) | Update your profile (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/profile?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]) | Forward to a friend (http://us2.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=9253b64d2c&e=[UNIQID])

Jazz Promo Services
269 State Route 94 South
Warwick, Ny 10990
USA

June 20, 2014 / No Comments / More

Gerry Goffin, Songwriter With Carole King, Dies at 75 – NYTimes.com

** Gerry Goffin, Songwriter With Carole King, Dies at 75
————————————————————

Photo
Gerry Goffin and Carole King at the RCA recording studio in New York around 1959.Credit Michael Ochs Archives, via Getty Images
Continue reading the main story

Gerry Goffin, who collaborated with Carole King to write some of the biggest hits of the 1960s, songs that endured through generations and became classics, including “Will You Love Me Tomorrow?,” “Up on the Roof,” “One Fine Day” and “The Loco-Motion,” died on Thursday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 75.

His death was announced by his wife, Michele. No cause was specified.

Mr. Goffin and Ms. King were students at Queens College when they met in 1958. Over the next decade they fell in love, married, had two children, divorced and moved their writing sessions into and out of 1650 Broadway, across the street from the Brill Building (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/25/nyregion/half-empty-but-full-of-history-brill-building-seeks-tenants.html?_r=0) . (The Brill Building pop music of the late 1950s and ’60s was mostly written in both buildings.)

Together they composed a catalog of pop standards so diverse and irresistible that they were recorded by performers as unalike as the Drifters, Steve Lawrence, Aretha Franklin and the Beatles. They were inducted together into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1987 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. In 2004 the Recording Academy presented them jointly with a Trustees Award for lifetime achievement.
Photo
Gerry Goffin in 2004. CreditGeorge Pimentel/WireImage, via Getty Images

The couple’s writing duties were clearly delineated: Ms. King composed the music, Mr. Goffin wrote the lyrics — among them some of the most memorable words in the history of popular music.

“His words expressed what so many people were feeling but didn’t know how to say,” Ms. King said in a statement on Thursday.

This was the first verse of the first No. 1 hit they wrote, which the Shirelles (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnPlJxet_ac) recorded in 1960:

Tonight you’re mine completely,

You give your love so sweetly.

Tonight the light of love is in your eyes.

But will you love me tomorrow?

In 1962 the couple had another No. 1 hit, one with a very different feel. It was sung by their babysitter, performing under the name Little Eva (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKpVQm41f8Y) :

Everybody’s doing a brand new dance now.

Come on baby, do the loco-motion.

I know you’ll get to like it if you give it a chance now.

Come on baby, do the loco-motion.

In 1963 they reached No. 1 again with “Go Away Little Girl,” sung by Steve Lawrence (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0OrTZd5KM0&feature=kp) and dripping with sentiment and strings:

Go away little girl,

Go away little girl.

I’m not supposed to be alone with you.

I know that your lips are sweet
Photo
Mr. Goffin, far right, with, clockwise from top, Cynthia Weil, Barry Mann and Ms. King in 1961. CreditWilliam “PoPsie” Randolph

But our lips must never meet.

I belong to someone else, and I must be true.

And so it went for much of the decade. They had a remarkable run of Top 40 hits.

The Animals had a hit with “Don’t Bring Me Down.” The Drifters made “Up on the Roof” a beach music standard. The Chiffons recorded “One Fine Day.” The Monkees recorded “Pleasant Valley Sunday.” Aretha Franklin (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9nSU2hAqK4&feature=kp) reached the Top 10 with “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman.”

Even after they divorced in 1968, the duo continued writing together for a time, although they both wrote for others — and Ms. King, notably, began writing for herself.

She achieved superstardom as a solo artist with the release of her album “Tapestry” in 1971. Three songs on that album, which went on to sell more than 20 million copies, were Goffin-King collaborations, including Ms. King’s updated interpretation of “Will You Love Me Tomorrow?”
Continue reading the main story
Continue reading the main story

Gerald Goffin was born on Feb. 11, 1939, in Brooklyn and grew up in Jamaica, Queens. He began writing lyrics as a boy — “like some kind of game in my head,” he recalled once — but found he was unable to come up with satisfying music to accompany them.

He graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School before enrolling at Queens College. He was three years older than Ms. King, studying chemistry, when they met in the spring of her freshman year.

He asked her to help him write a musical. She was interested in rock ’n’ roll. They hit it off anyway, and she was pregnant with their first child when they married on Aug. 30, 1959.

“I never knew what I wanted to do,” Mr. Goffin was quoted as saying in “Always Magic in the Air: The Bomp and Brilliance of the Brill Building Era” (2005), Ken Emerson’s book about Goffin-King and other New York songwriting teams of the 1960s. “Neither did Carole, really. She never assumed she would make it. That’s the furthest thing from your mind when you’re a wannabe: actually becoming.”

In addition to his wife, Mr. Goffin’s survivors include four daughters, Louise Goffin, Sherry Goffin Kondor, Dawn Reavis and Lauren Goffin; a son, Jesse Goffin; six grandchildren; and a brother, Al.

Mr. Goffin never achieved the level of success on his own that he did with Ms. King. He released solo albums in 1973 and 1996, but they did not sell well. He did, however, show that he could still write a No. 1 song. Diana Ross’s recording of “Theme From Mahogany (Do You Know Where You’re Going To),” which he wrote with Michael Masser, reached No. 1 in 1975. Whitney Houston’s “Saving All My Love for You,” another collaboration with Mr. Masser, did the same nine years later. Mr. Goffin also wrote “I’ve Got to Use My Imagination” and other songs with Barry Goldberg.

This year the songs of Goffin and King, and the story of their marriage, became the subject of a hit Broadway show (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/13/theater/beautiful-the-carole-king-musical-at-sondheim-theater.html?_r=0) , “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical,” which opened in January. The show depicts not only the years when Ms. King and Mr. Goffin were churning out hits but also the breakup of their marriage, after Mr. Goffin’s infidelity and emotional problems.

Mr. Goffin and his wife were in the audience on opening night, but although Ms. King had attended an early reading, she did not see the show herself until April.

That night she described her reaction as “joyous” and explained why she had not shown up earlier: “I had been too afraid to come and how it would make me feel.”

That was also, she said, why she had left before the end of the reading she attended. “I didn’t get past the first act, when Gerry tells Carole that he wants to sleep with somebody else,” she said. “I was like: ‘O.K., I’ve lived this. I don’t need to see it.’ ”

The show was nominated for a Tony but did not win, although Jessie Mueller, who played Ms. King, did.

The cast of “Beautiful” dedicated Thursday night’s performance to Mr. Goffin.
Correction: June 19, 2014

An earlier version of this article misspelled the first name of Mr. Goffin’s wife. It is Michele, not Michelle. In addition, Whitney Houston’s recording of the Goffin-Masser song “Saving All My Love for You” reached No. 1 nine years, not 10, after their “Theme From Mahogany,” recorded by Diana Ross, did. And a line from the song “Will You Love Me Tomorrow?” should be “But will you love me tomorrow?,” not “Will you still love me tomorrow?”

Unsubscribe (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]&c=82994245c1) | Update your profile (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/profile?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]) | Forward to a friend (http://us2.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=82994245c1&e=[UNIQID])

Jazz Promo Services
269 State Route 94 South
Warwick, Ny 10990
USA

June 20, 2014 / No Comments / More

▶ Baby Washington Doodlin/Steve Miller – Filthy McNasty- YouTube (pop versions of Horace Silver tunes)

http://www.jazzpromoservices.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/jazzpromo https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jazz-Promo-Services/216022288429676
Baby Washington Doodlin (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgdhYqjCV0Y&feature=kp)

** Steve Miller – Filthy McNasty (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_57yXdX3zY)
————————————————————

Unsubscribe (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]&c=bf062b4e68) | Update your profile (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/profile?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]) | Forward to a friend (http://us2.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=bf062b4e68&e=[UNIQID])

Jazz Promo Services
269 State Route 94 South
Warwick, Ny 10990
USA

June 20, 2014 / No Comments / More

Rifftides: Aaron Sachs & Jimmy Scott, Gone

http://www.jazzpromoservices.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/jazzpromo https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jazz-Promo-Services/216022288429676

http://www.artsjournal.com/rifftides/2014/06/aaron-sachs-jimmy-scott-gone.html

** Aaron Sachs & Jimmy Scott, Gone
————————————————————

June 18, 2014 by Doug Ramsey (http://www.artsjournal.com/rifftides/author/dramsey) 1 Comment (http://www.artsjournal.com/rifftides/2014/06/aaron-sachs-jimmy-scott-gone.html#comments)
http://www.artsjournal.com/rifftides/2014/06/moscow-shadows-and-igor-butman.html

Moscow Shadows And Igor Butman (http://www.artsjournal.com/rifftides/2014/06/moscow-shadows-and-igor-butman.html)
http://www.artsjournal.com/rifftides/2014/06/recent-listening-lucky-thompson.html

Recent Listening: Lucky Thompson (http://www.artsjournal.com/rifftides/2014/06/recent-listening-lucky-thompson.html)
http://www.artsjournal.com/rifftides/2014/03/were-back.html

We’re Back (http://www.artsjournal.com/rifftides/2014/03/were-back.html)

It is sad to hear of the recent deaths of Aaron Sachs and Jimmy Scott.

Sachs was a gifted clarinetist and tenor saxophonist who never became as well known as many of hishttp://www.artsjournal.com/rifftides/wp/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Aaron-Sachs.jpgcontemporaries despite yeoman work in bands led by Van Alexander, Red Norvo, Benny Goodman, Earl Hines, Benny Goodman, Tom Talbert and Buddy Rich, among others. In the 1960she became a stalwart in Latin jazz, playing for Machito, Tito Puente, and Tito Rodriguez. Sachs would have been 91 on the 4th of July. I recently saw him described—dismissed, really—as a smooth clarinetist and a capable Al Cohn tenor saxophonist. He was far beyond capable and no mere imitator, as you will hear in his solo on “Do Nothing ‘Til You Hear From Me” in Talbert’s arrangement from his classic 1956 album Bix, Duke, Fat (http://www.amazon.com/Bix-Duke-Fats-Talbert-Orchestra/dp/B00005LCTV/?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=ur2&tag=rifftidougram-20) s. Sachs’ tenor solo comes 4:50 into the track. Other soloists
are Eddie Bert, trombone; Herb Geller, alto saxophone; and Joe Wilder, trumpet.

Singer Jimmy Scott died on June 12 at the age of 88. His high contralto resulted from a childhood hormonal http://www.artsjournal.com/rifftides/wp/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Jimmy-Scott.jpgcondition that blocked normal vocal development. The voice made him an object of ridicule and abuse. He managed to wrap the anguish of that discrimination into his artistry as he adapted his unusual voice to a style that attracted a wide audience. His admirers included Ray Charles, Billie Holiday and the soul singer Marvin Gaye, who was heavily influenced by Scott. In this video, Scott sings “Time After Time” and speaks a little about his performance philosophy.

For Richard Williams’ obituary of Jimmy Scott in The Guardian newspaper, go here (http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/jun/15/jimmy-scott) .

Unsubscribe (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]&c=5b4bcfc05b) | Update your profile (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/profile?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]) | Forward to a friend (http://us2.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=5b4bcfc05b&e=[UNIQID])

Jazz Promo Services
269 State Route 94 South
Warwick, Ny 10990
USA

June 19, 2014 / No Comments / More

ver – YouTube + Statement on the Death of NEA Jazz Master Horace Silver

http://www.jazzpromoservices.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/jazzpromo https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jazz-Promo-Services/216022288429676

The Hardbop Grandpop by Horace Silver

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCFPP1ERil0

* Baritone Saxophone – Ronnie Cuber (http://www.discogs.com/artist/254959-Ronnie-Cuber)
* Bass – Ron Carter (http://www.discogs.com/artist/95088-Ron-Carter)
* Drums – Lewis Nash (http://www.discogs.com/artist/253345-Lewis-Nash)
* Tenor Saxophone – Michael Brecker (http://www.discogs.com/artist/135847-Michael-Brecker)
* Trombone – Steve Turre (http://www.discogs.com/artist/174447-Steve-Turre)
* Trumpet, Flugelhorn – Claudio Roditi (http://www.discogs.com/artist/65743-Claudio-Roditi)

June 19, 2014
Contact: NEA Public Affairs, 202-682-5570

Statement on the Death of NEA Jazz Master Horace Silver

It is with great sadness that the National Endowment for the Arts acknowledges the passing of pianist and composer Horace Silver, recipient of a 1995 NEA Jazz Masters fellowship, the nation’s highest honor in jazz. Horace Silver was the heart of the hard bop era, helping to form the influential Jazz Messengers and composing many blues and gospel-flavored songs that have become part of the jazz canon. We join the jazz community in mourning his death while celebrating his life and many contributions to jazz.
Silver was exposed to music at an early age, hearing Cape Verde Islands folk music from his father, which influenced his music later in his career, and taking up saxophone and piano in high school. After a 1950 stint backing guest soloist Stan Getz on a gig in Hartford, Connecticut, Silver was enlisted by Getz to join him on tour for the next year. Getz recorded three of Silver’s earliest compositions, “Split Kick,” “Potter’s Luck,” and “Penny.” In 1951, he moved to New York and quickly found work with Coleman Hawkins, Bill Harris, Oscar Pettiford, Lester Young, and http://arts.gov/honors/jazz/art-blakeyArt Blakey, and in 1952 he began a 28-year relationship with the Blue Note label. Between 1953-55 Silver played in the groundbreaking band the Jazz Messengers, co-led by Blakey. The band was at the forefront of the hard bop movement that followed bebop. By 1956, Silver formed his own band with both Silver’s band and the Jazz Messengers turning out to be proving grounds for a
number of exceptional, aspiring musicians. Silver’s terse, funky playing has influenced pianists as disparate as Herbie Hancock (http://arts.gov/honors/jazz/herbie-hancock) and http://arts.gov/honors/jazz/cecil-taylorCecil Taylor. For several years in the 1980s, he recorded on his own Silveto label, writing lyrics to his compositions with a decidedly metaphysical bent, but in the 1990s, he returned to the hard bop sound he helped create.

Visit arts.gov for more information on Horace Silver (http://arts.gov/honors/jazz/horace-silver) .

# # #

Unsubscribe (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]&c=75c287f49c) | Update your profile (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/profile?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]) | Forward to a friend (http://us2.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=75c287f49c&e=[UNIQID])

Jazz Promo Services
269 State Route 94 South
Warwick, Ny 10990
USA

June 19, 2014 / No Comments / More

Horace Silver, 85, Master of Earthy Jazz, Is Dead – NYTimes.com

http://www.jazzpromoservices.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/jazzpromo https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jazz-Promo-Services/216022288429676

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/19/arts/music/horace-silver-85-master-of-earthy-jazz-is-dead.html?_r=0

** Horace Silver, 85, Master of Earthy Jazz, Is Dead
————————————————————

Photo
Horace Silver in 1997. Credit Alan Nahigian

Horace Silver, a pianist, composer and bandleader who was one of the most popular and influential jazz musicians of the 1950s and ’60s, died on Wednesday at his home in New Rochelle, N.Y. He was 85.

His death was announced by Blue Note Records, the company for which he recorded from 1952 to 1979.

After a high-profile apprenticeship with some of the biggest names in jazz, Mr. Silver began leading his own group in the mid-1950s and quickly became a big name himself, celebrated for his clever compositions and his infectious, bluesy playing. At a time when the refined, quiet and, to some, bloodless style known as cool jazz was all the rage, he was hailed as a leader of the back-to-basics movement that came to be called hard bop.

Hard bop and cool jazz shared a pedigree: They were both variations on bebop, the challenging, harmonically intricate music that changed the face of jazz in the 1940s. But hard bop was simpler and more rhythmically driven, with more emphasis on jazz’s blues and gospel roots. The jazz press tended to portray the adherents of cool jazz (most of them West Coast-based and white) and hard bop (most of them East Coast-based and black) as warring factions. But Mr. Silver made an unlikely warrior.
Photo
His albums included “Song for My Father,” which featured his father on the cover. Credit Blue Note Records

“I personally do not believe in politics, hatred or anger in my musical composition,” he wrote in the liner notes to his album “Serenade to a Soul Sister” in 1968. “Musical composition should bring happiness and joy to people and make them forget their troubles.”

And Mr. Silver’s music was never as one-dimensional as it was sometimes portrayed as being. In an interview early in his career he said he was aiming for “that old-time gutbucket barroom feeling with just a taste of the backbeat.” That approach was reflected in the titles he gave to songs, like “Sister Sadie,” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXGzt1BsH3U) “Filthy McNasty” and “The Preacher,” all of which became jazz standards. But his output also included gently melodic numbers like “Peace” and “Melancholy Mood” and Latin-inflected tunes like “Señor Blues.” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUAu_3R0VPI) “Song for My Father,” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1CilMzT55M) probably his best-known composition, blended elements of bossa nova and the Afro-Portuguese music of the Cape Verde islands, where his father was born.

His piano playing, like his compositions, was not that easily characterized. Deftly improvising ingenious figures with his right hand while punching out rumbling bass lines with his left, he managed to evoke boogie-woogie pianists like Meade Lux Lewis and beboppers like Bud Powell simultaneously. Unlike many bebop pianists, however, Mr. Silver emphasized melodic simplicity over harmonic complexity; his improvisations, while sophisticated, were never so intricate as to be inaccessible.

Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silver (http://www.horacesilver.com/) was born on Sept. 2, 1928, in Norwalk, Conn. His father, who was born John Silva but changed the family name to the more American-sounding Silver after immigrating to the United States, worked in a rubber factory. His mother, Gertrude, was a maid and sang in a church choir.
Continue reading the main story

Although he studied piano as a child, Mr. Silver began his professional career as a saxophonist. But he had returned to the piano, and was becoming well known as a jazz pianist in Connecticut, by the time the saxophonist Stan Getz — soon to be celebrated as one of the leading lights of the cool school — heard and hired him in 1950.

“I had the house rhythm section at a club called the Sundown in Hartford,” Mr. Silver told The New York Times in 1981. “Stan Getz came up and played with us. He said he was going to call us, but we didn’t take him seriously. But a couple of weeks later he called and said he wanted the whole trio to join him.”

Mr. Silver worked briefly with Getz before moving to New York in 1951. He was soon in demand as an accompanist, working with leading jazz musicians like the saxophonists Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young. In 1953, Mr. Silver and the drummer Art Blakey formed a cooperative group, the Jazz Messengers, whose aggressive style helped define hard bop and whose lineup of trumpet, tenor saxophone, piano, bass and drums became the standard hard-bop instrumentation.

After two and a half years, during which Mr. Silver began his long and prolific association with Blue Note, he left the Jazz Messengers, which carried on with Blakey as the sole leader, and formed his own quintet. It became a showcase for his compositions.
Photo

Another album by Mr. Silver is “Further Explorations by the Horace Silver Quintet.” Credit Blue Note Records

Those compositions, beginning with “The Preacher” in 1955 — which his producer, Alfred Lion of Blue Note, had tried to discourage him from recording because he considered it too simplistic — captured the ears of a wide audience. Many were released as singles and garnered significant jukebox play. By the early ’60s Mr. Silver’s quintet was one of the most popular nightclub and concert attractions in jazz, and an inspiration for countless other bandleaders.

Like Blakey, Miles Davis (with whom he recorded) and a few others, Mr. Silver was known for discovering and nurturing young talent, including the saxophonists Hank Mobley, Joe Henderson and Michael Brecker; the trumpeters Art Farmer, Woody Shaw, Tom Harrell and Dave Douglas; and the drummers Louis Hayes and Billy Cobham. His longest-lived ensemble, which lasted about five years in the late 1950s and early ’60s, featured Blue Mitchell on trumpet and Junior Cook on tenor saxophone.

As interest in jazz declined in the ’70s, Mr. Silver disbanded his quintet and began concentrating on writing lyrics as well as music, notably on a three-album series called “The United States of Mind,” his first album to feature vocalists extensively. He later resumed touring, but only for a few months each year, essentially assembling a new group each time he went on the road.

“I’m shooting for longevity,” he explained. “The road is hard on your body. I’m trying to get it all over with in four months and then recoup.” He said he also wanted to spend more time with his son, Gregory, who survives him.

In 1981, Mr. Silver formed his own label, Silveto. His recordings for that label featured vocalists and were largely devoted to what he called “self-help holistic metaphysical music” — life lessons in song with titles like “Reaching Our Goals in Life” and “Don’t Dwell on Your Problems” that left critics for the most part unimpressed.
Continue reading the main story

Jon Pareles of The Times wrote in 1986 that Mr. Silver’s “naïvely mystical lyrics” made his new compositions sound like “near-miss pop songs.” On later albums for Columbia, Impulse and Verve, Mr. Silver returned to a primarily instrumental approach.

Mr. Silver was named a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master in 1995 and received a President’s Merit Award from the Recording Academy in 2005.

Many of his tunes became staples of the jazz repertoire — a development, he said, that surprised him. “When I wrote them,” he said in a 2003 interview for the website All About Jazz, “I would say to myself that I hope these at least withstand the test of time. I hope they don’t sound old in 10 years or something.”

Rather than sounding dated, his compositions continued to be widely performed and recorded well into the 21st century. And while he acknowledged that “occasionally I hear an interpretation of one of my tunes that I say that they sure messed that one up,” he admitted, “For the most part I enjoy all of it.”

Unsubscribe (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]&c=e6436405c5) | Update your profile (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/profile?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]) | Forward to a friend (http://us2.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=e6436405c5&e=[UNIQID])

Jazz Promo Services
269 State Route 94 South
Warwick, Ny 10990
USA

June 19, 2014 / No Comments / More

Jazz Pianist, Composer Horace Silver Dies At 85 : The Two-Way : NPR

http://www.jazzpromoservices.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/jazzpromo https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jazz-Promo-Services/216022288429676

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/06/18/323346744/jazz-pianist-composer-horace-silver-dies-at-85?utm_campaign=storyshare&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social (http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/06/18/323346744/jazz-pianist-composer-horace-silver-dies-at-85?utm_campaign=storyshare&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social)

This post was updated at 5:40 p.m. ET.

Pianist and composer Horace Silver, who created a rhythmic jazz known as “hard bop (http://www.jazzinamerica.org/LessonPlan/8/6/211) ” that combined R&B and gospel to go along with his eclectic style of piano playing, has died at age 85, his son confirms.

Silver began as a tenor saxophonist playing in clubs in his native Connecticut, where he was discovered by Stan Getz. He moved to New York in the 1950s, where he switched to piano, formed a trio, and began performing at the Blue Note Jazz Club (http://www.bluenote.net/newyork/index.shtml) . He eventually signed on with Blue Note (http://www.bluenote.com/) and stuck with the iconic label until the 1980s. Silver performed with not only Getz but also Lester Young, Miles Davis and Art Blakey.

Walter Ray Watson, reporting on All Things Considered (http://www.npr.org/blogs/ablogsupreme/2014/06/18/323351163/legendary-pianist-horace-silver-dies-at-85) , says: “As a bandleader, Horace Silver mentored some of the hottest musicians of his era. As a composer, he devised numerous jazz standards still played today.”

Bassist Christian McBride told NPR in 2008 (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91687982) that Silver’s music had long been his favorite.

“Horace Silver’s music has always represented what jazz musicians preach but don’t necessarily practice, and that’s simplicity,” McBride said. “It sticks to the memory; it’s very singable. It gets in your blood easily; you can comprehend it easily. It’s very rooted, very soulful.”

In his autobiography, Let’s Get To The Nitty Gritty (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5424347) , Silver said his earliest musical influence was his father, who “played the violin, guitar, and mandolin, strictly by ear.

“He loved the folk music of Cape Verde. Mr. Nick Santos and Mr. Manuel Perry, friends of my dad who were Cape Verdean, played these instruments also,” Silver wrote.

“Occasionally, they would give a dance party in our kitchen on a Saturday night. The women fried up some chicken and made potato salad. The men would get whiskey and beer and invite all their friends, Cape Verdean and American blacks, to come and have a good time,” he said.

A biography of Silver on horacesilver.com (http://horacesilver.com/silverpages/inside.php?mod=bio) notes:

“As social and cultural upheavals shook the nation during the late 1960s and early 1970s, Silver responded to these changes through music. He commented directly on the new scene through a trio of records called United States of Mind (1970-1972) that featured the spirited vocals of Andy Bey. The composer got deeper into cosmic philosophy as his group, Silver ‘N Strings, recorded Silver ‘N Strings Play The Music of the Spheres (1979).

“After Silver’s long tenure with Blue Note ended, he continued to create vital music. The 1985 album, Continuity of Spirit (Silveto), features his unique orchestral collaborations. In the 1990s, Silver directly answered the urban popular music that had been largely built from his influence on It’s Got To Be Funky (Columbia, 1993). On Jazz Has A Sense of Humor (Verve, 1998), he shows his younger group of sidemen the true meaning of the music.”

Silver’s son, Gregory, said the composer/performer died of natural causes on Wednesday morning.

Unsubscribe (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]&c=c16c7c9df0) | Update your profile (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/profile?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]) | Forward to a friend (http://us2.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=c16c7c9df0&e=[UNIQID])

Jazz Promo Services
269 State Route 94 South
Warwick, Ny 10990
USA

June 19, 2014 / No Comments / More

Be-Bop Glasses

http://www.jazzpromoservices.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/jazzpromo https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jazz-Promo-Services/216022288429676

Unsubscribe (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]&c=fdd95860fd) | Update your profile (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/profile?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]) | Forward to a friend (http://us2.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=fdd95860fd&e=[UNIQID])

Jazz Promo Services
269 State Route 94 South
Warwick, Ny 10990
USA

June 19, 2014 / No Comments / More

A Cultural Conversation: Terry Teachout and John Douglas Thompson on ‘Satchmo at the Waldorf’ – WSJ

http://www.jazzpromoservices.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/jazzpromo https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jazz-Promo-Services/216022288429676

http://online.wsj.com/articles/a-cultural-conversation-terry-teachout-and-john-douglas-thompson-of-satchmo-at-the-waldorf-1402438053?KEYWORDS=jazz

** Stage Confessions
————————————————————

John Douglas Thompson (left) and Terry Teachout are the star and playwright, respectively, of ‘Satchmo at the Waldorf,’ which is running off-Broadway. Fred Harper

New York

A day after winning the Drama Desk Award for outstanding solo performance on June 1, actor John Douglas Thompson sat on the stage at an empty Westside Theatre, where he plays Louis Armstrong in “Satchmo at the Waldorf.” Seated across from him on the set’s sofa was Terry Teachout, the play’s writer (and this newspaper’s drama critic), who was awarded a Bradley Prize days earlier. Reunited to talk about the one-man play, the performer and playwright spoke freely about craft, process and an unlikely subplot—how they wound up as collaborators.

“Most playwrights want actors to stick to the script, while most directors don’t want playwrights around during rehearsals to avoid intrusion,” Mr. Thompson, 50, said. “But having Terry there at rehearsals helped me with Armstrong’s intentions. He allowed me to validate my character choices.”

Mr. Teachout, 58, jumped in. “When John first asked me, ‘What does Armstrong mean when he says this?’ I was stunned. My instinct was to say, ‘Well, whatever you’d like it to mean.’ But after a week, I realized he needed answers to build his character. Likewise, he suggested line changes that made the play stronger. Whenever we disagreed, we agreed to try it.”

The “Odd Couple” quality of Messrs. Teachout and Thompson is unmistakable. As a critic, Mr. Teachout spends much of his time alone observing, analyzing and writing, while Mr. Thompson thrives on working with other actors. What they have in common now is artistic crossover. Few drama critics have written commercial plays or been intimately involved in a production, and most actors rarely get to perform alone or tinker with lines.

“Satchmo” opens with Armstrong backstage at New York’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel after a performance months before his death in 1971. The Armstrong character reflects on a lifetime of Faustian bargains, global celebrity and painful abandonment by black audiences and younger jazz musicians. While Armstrong’s Waldorf appearance occupies only a few pages of Mr. Teachout’s 2009 biography, “Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong,” Mr. Teachout used the green room as an ideal setting for Armstrong’s stage confessions and confusion. In “Satchmo,” Mr. Thompson plays not only Armstrong but also Joe Glaser, the trumpeter’s mob-connected white manager, and a condescending Miles Davis—startling role swaps that occur instantly on stage through changes in voice, physical appearance and lighting.

Early on, Mr. Thompson’s suggested line edits were subtle but significant. “At a critical moment toward the end of the play, Armstrong shrugs off an unfortunate event and says he’ll include it in his autobiography,” said Mr. Thompson. “When we started rehearsals, I said the line as ‘I guess I’ll have to put that in the book, too,’ almost as an afterthought. Then I took out ‘have to,’ so it was more direct and emotional: ‘I guess I’ll put that in the book, too.’ It’s a self-realization that the event is an inescapable part of his legacy. Now the line is, ‘Guess . . . I’ll put that . . . in the book . . . too.’ It’s a bit slower and weighted, and resigned to what he must do.”

From the start, Mr. Teachout knew what he didn’t want. “I didn’t want a Rich Little impersonation of Armstrong, because that’s not what real actors do. When you mimic a character, you wind up with what Gordon [Edelstein, “Satchmo’s” director] calls a ‘taxidermy play’—a stuffed model of the real thing. That’s not art. When Armstrong starts this play, he’s not a finished product. When it’s over, he is. He has answered the questions he has raised about the meaning of his life.”

But how does a theater critic suspend self-evaluation when writing a play? “When I started, I told myself I’d write only lines that Armstrong actually said,” recalled Mr. Teachout. “Well, that worked for about 10 minutes. I realized I had to go wherever the Armstrong character led me. The difference between writing a biography and a play about the same subject is you don’t have to tell the truth in the play. In ‘Pops’ I could only speculate about things that I suspected. In ‘Satchmo,’ I could imagine things and create them myself. It was liberating.”

Much of “Satchmo’s” energy relies on keeping the audience off-balance. “The audience arrives imagining the play is going to be about old Louis blowing his horn and having fun,” Mr. Thompson said. “But they quickly learn they’re in the midst of this uncomfortable drama about a man coming to grips with his legacy.”

Mr. Thompson credits Mr. Teachout’s evening job for solidifying their relationship. “Because Terry watches plays as a critic, he knew when to suggest how to play something for an audience. There was a point in rehearsals when I wasn’t really sure how to develop what Terry had written. I had the lines in my head, I had the blocking in my body but I wasn’t sure about the balance between the play’s intellectual and emotional ideas. Terry gave me the critic’s perspective in those areas and he was my first true audience.”

If there was a moment of rare divergence last week between Mr. Thompson and Mr. Teachout, it came during a discussion about whether the play had an ulterior motive. “I never thought of this play as a crusade,” Mr. Teachout said. “I didn’t write it as a mission to rehabilitate Armstrong’s reputation or to tell audiences what they should think about him. It’s up to them to determine whether or not Armstrong was an Uncle Tom, how Glaser felt about him and how he felt about Glaser. The play leaves it to you.”

Mr. Thompson had a slightly different take. “As the play’s performer, I had to come at it from the perspective of an African-American artist and the reality of my generation’s view that Armstrong was a cartoonish figure, an Uncle Tom. Then I had to go on this journey through research to understand the forces he faced and his triumphs over hardship. Along the way I was exposed to Armstrong’s integrity, virtuosity, generosity, kindness and love and his ability to entertain and spread joy. I wound up with a greater perspective and understanding of his life, which is what I want to share with audiences.”

Mr. Teachout added a caveat. “Agreed, but the play wouldn’t have worked if I had tried to do that in the writing,” he said. “It would have come off as a sermon. Oscar Wilde once said no real artist ever tries to prove anything. What he meant is that if you tell the truth, it will prove itself. Hopefully, all of us told the truth and audiences will leave with a finer appreciation of the choices Louis made and the value of what he left behind.”

Mr. Myers, a frequent contributor to the Journal, writes daily about music at JazzWax.com.

Unsubscribe (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]&c=2b795c5d84) | Update your profile (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/profile?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]) | Forward to a friend (http://us2.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=2b795c5d84&e=[UNIQID])

Jazz Promo Services
269 State Route 94 South
Warwick, Ny 10990
USA

June 18, 2014 / No Comments / More

News and notes: Jazz sleuths, saxophonists and more – Oakland Jazz music | Examiner.com

http://www.jazzpromoservices.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/jazzpromo https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jazz-Promo-Services/216022288429676

http://www.examiner.com/article/news-and-notes-jazz-sleuths-saxophonists-and-more?CID=examiner_alerts_article

June 17, 2014

Gershwin might have written the lyrics, but I seriously doubt the composer actually believed that come summertime the living is easy. Things have certainly been hectic in my world the past few days as we count down to the official start of summer and – far more important – my summer vacation. A variety of items have washed up in my e-mail in recent days, so let’s get to them.

If you’ve yet to do so, click on over to JazzWest.com (http://jazzwest.com/) to read an excerpt from “And All That Madness,” Joan Merrill’s jazz (http://www.examiner.com/topic/jazz) -themed whodunit featuring her sleuth Casey McKie. Merrill knows of what she writes, having worked in music for more than 20 years as an artist manager and documentary producer. Her previous McKie novels include “And All That Murder” (2009), “And All That Sea” (2010), “And All That Stalking” (2011) and “And All That Motive” (2014).

I had the opportunity a few years back to catch a then-teen Grace Kelly at the Brubeck Institute’s Summer Jazz Colony. The saxophonist has since matured into one of the genre’s top young talents and has a Kickstarter (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gracekellymusic/grace-kellys-working-for-the-dreamers-ep) campaign underway to fund her next recording project. This represents a fine opportunity to invest in jazz’s future at whatever level suits you best.

Bay Area trumpeter-composer Ian Carey (http://www.examiner.com/article/context-is-king-for-the-ian-carey-quintet) has been a favorite of mine since I first heard his “Contextualizin’” CD. His notoriety, it turns out, has spread to the East Coast. Carey reports being “very flattered that composer, saxophonist, author and historian extraordinaire Bill Kirchner has decided to devote an episode of his great radio show, ‘Jazz from the Archives,’ to my music. The show is broadcast on WBGO on the East Coast, but you can tune in online at WBGO.org.” The program airs 8 p.m. this Sunday.

Bay Area smooth jazz fans have the rare opportunity to catch two of the genre’s stars in action this weekend, as saxophonists Marion Meadows and Paul Taylor share the bill Saturday at Yoshi’s (http://yoshis.com/) in Oakland. The pair has dubbed their summer shows the Sax and the City tour, which is unfortunately hackneyed but should make for a fine evening of smooth jazz nonetheless.

Finally, in response to my posting (http://www.examiner.com/article/beyond-the-hendrix-connection-remembering-alan-douglas-jazz-albums) regarding Jimi Hendrix archival producer Alan Douglas’ jazz credits, I received an e-mail from Jim Eigo of Jazz Promo Services in Warwick, N.Y. “Don’t forget the Wildflowers Loft Jazz Series. I produced the reissues (http://www.examiner.com/topic/reissues) for the Knitting Factory and did the deal with Alan Douglas to secure the masters.” Here is some additional information.

The Loft Jazz scene was a cultural phenomenon that occurred in New York City during the mid-1970s at venues such as Environ, Ali’s Alley and Studio Rivbea, all in former industrial loft spaces in NYC’s SOHO (http://www.examiner.com/topic/soho) district. The scene was documented by Gary Giddins, the late Robert Palmer (author/producer) and Stanley Crouch.
Many of the musicians featured were from Chicago and particularly the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) and St. Louis’ Black Artists Group (BAG). These included notables such as The Art Ensemble of Chicago, Muhal Richard Abrams, Anthony Braxton, Dave Holland, Sam Rivers, Rashied Ali, Charles Tyler, Perry Robinson, John Fischer, Jeanne Lee, Oliver Lake, Joseph Bowie, Keshavan Maslak, Hamiett Bluiett, Arthur Blythe, Chico Freeman, David Murray, Olu Dara, George Lewis, Air, the Revolutionary Ensemble and Anthony Davis. Loft jazz was a continuation of the free jazz and avant-garde jazz traditions inaugurated by John Coltrane (http://www.examiner.com/topic/john-coltrane) , Ornette Coleman, Albert Ayler, Pharoah Sanders and Sun Ra.
A series of five LPs was released on Casablanca Records in 1976, documenting different sessions of Sam Rivers-hosted loft sessions. Portions of the sessions have been reissued variously on Alan Douglas Music and Knitting Factory Records.

Unsubscribe (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]&c=f3e34ff25e) | Update your profile (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/profile?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]) | Forward to a friend (http://us2.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=f3e34ff25e&e=[UNIQID])

Jazz Promo Services
269 State Route 94 South
Warwick, Ny 10990
USA

June 17, 2014 / No Comments / More

Donald Russell Connor, 92, bank vice president and jazz buff – Philly.com

http://www.jazzpromoservices.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/jazzpromo https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jazz-Promo-Services/216022288429676

http://articles.philly.com/2014-06-16/news/50626782_1_benny-goodman-jazz-buff-drummer

** Donald Russell Connor, 92, bank vice president and jazz buff
————————————————————

BY HIS OWN admission, Russ Connor was something of a wild man in his youth.

There was the time he and some buddies commandeered a trolley to drive them from dry Ocean City, N.J., to wet Somers Point for a night of intemperance.

He once raced his Pontiac GTO full-out on an unopened section of the Atlantic City Expressway, not the safest venture even on a vacant road.

His expenses and his caprices were paid for at least in part by the $20 weekly check he got from the government as a returning GI. He was an Army veteran of World War II.

Donald Russell Connor, who went from his carefree years to the sober world of banking, working his way up to vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, a jazz buff who wrote four books on Benny Goodman and became pals with drummer Gene Krupa, died Wednesday at age 92. He was one of the original homeowners in Levittown.

Russ, as he was known to family and friends, assembled one of the foremost collections of big-band music – buying, selling and trading records with fellow enthusiasts as far away as Switzerland and Thailand.

A drummer himself, Russ met Gene Krupa in 1936 at Atlantic City’s Steel Pier and kept up a friendship with the famed drummer until Krupa’s death in 1971.

Russ had been a fan of Benny Goodman since Russ’ teenage years and finally got to meet his hero in the 1950s after attending numerous performances of the clarinetist’s big bands.

Russ compiled Goodman’s music in books published between 1958 and 1994, starting with BG – Off the Record. The books included personal memoirs and behind-the-scenes color. He had access to Goodman’s personal archive as well as to collections of Goodmanania by researchers and specialists worldwide.

The final book, Wrappin’ It Up, catalogs hundreds of previously unknown recordings along with never-before-published photographs.

Russ was almost 88 when he shared his recollections and insight about Goodman in an hour-long interview on public radio station WDUQ in Pittsburgh in May 2009, the 100th anniversary of Goodman’s birth.

“Russ considered Goodman a friend and displayed one of his clarinets, a gift, in his music room along with drumsticks from Krupa,” his family said.

Russ was born in Philadelphia. He was raised by his mother, Clara W. Schmidt, a widow who worked for the old Bell Telephone Co., and grandparents who were immigrants from Germany.

He graduated from Frankford High School in 1938 at age 16. He won an academic scholarship to Ursinus College in Collegeville, and received a bachelor’s degree in economics in 1942.

Russ was inducted into the Army that November despite poor eyesight that made him dependent on glasses. He worried that he would be in serious trouble if he lost his glasses among enemy soldiers.

Fortunately, that didn’t happen. As a member of the 70th Reinforcement Battalion, he arrived in Normandy after the invasion and climbed Omaha Beach, where his unit had to avoid marked minefields.

He told about the time Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, the supreme commander of the Allied troops in Europe, inspected his battalion, whose job was to reprocess wounded soldiers back to duty.

When the war in Europe ended, Russ joined a postal unit and sailed through the Panama Canal to Manila. He spent time in Japan before being discharged.

Back home, Russ had a succession of jobs that he described as “semi-satisfactory,” before he joined the Federal Reserve Bank. He was promoted to vice president in 1973, and got to oversee construction of the bank building on Independence Mall.

He had the satisfaction of working with artists Alexander Calder and Beverly Pepper during construction. Calder’s mobile, White Cascade, and Pepper’s steel sculpture, Phaedrus, were installed at the bank.

Russ married Georgia Henle in 1950. Besides his wife, he is survived by two daughters, Gail Connor Roche and Donna Lee Connor, and four grandchildren.

Services: A family gathering will be held sometime in August at the Washington Crossing National Cemetery in Newtown.

Contributions in his name may be made to the D. Russell Connor Fund c/o the Institute of Jazz Studies, 185 University Ave., Newark, N.J. 07102.

Unsubscribe (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]&c=d3e0223593) | Update your profile (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/profile?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]) | Forward to a friend (http://us2.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=d3e0223593&e=[UNIQID])

Jazz Promo Services
269 State Route 94 South
Warwick, Ny 10990
USA

June 17, 2014 / No Comments / More

Review: “DO NOT SELL AT ANY PRICE: THE WILD, OBSESSIVE HUNT FOR THE WORLD’S RAREST 78 RPM RECORDS,” by AMANDA PETRUSICH | JAZZ LIVES

http://www.jazzpromoservices.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/jazzpromo https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jazz-Promo-Services/216022288429676

http://jazzlives.wordpress.com/2014/06/17/quirky-curious-wise-do-not-sell-at-any-price-the-wild-obsessive-hunt-for-the-worlds-rarest-78-rpm-records-by-amanda-petrusich/

** QUIRKY, CURIOUS, WISE: “DO NOT SELL AT ANY PRICE: THE WILD, OBSESSIVE HUNT FOR THE WORLD’S RAREST 78 RPM RECORDS,” by AMANDA PETRUSICH
————————————————————

About one-third of the way through Amanda Petrusich’s new book, I became convinced that its author was, as the British say, daft. Mildly unhinged. Charmingly irrational. I say this as a badge of honor, not an insult. It was in the middle of the chapter where Petrusich (normal-looking, quite attractive in the author’s photo) had gone through scuba training to dive into the river in Grafton, Wisconsin, near the Paramount Records factory — defunct for eighty years — in search of the rare records and Paramount ephemera that legend has it the employees had tossed into the waters.

https://jazzlives.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/do-not-sell.jpg

Although no record in the world would ever entice me into a wetsuit, I thought, “This is a kind of devotion to the cause that makes great — if slightly unstable — art.”

I had already been entranced by Petrusich’s book while she was on dry land. I am not an stereotypical record collector — I prefer to encounter jazz recordings serendiptiously — but I liked Petrusich’s manner and approach from the first pages. For one thing, she steadfastly refuses to satirize, to stand back at a mocking distance from the subject or from the figures she chronicles. She does comment on the stereotype — overly pale men who spend their lives indoors and often below ground level, but Petrusich not only treats her subjects with interest and deference, but with affectionate respect . . . and becomes one of them in her own fashion. Her writing is lively, and the book rarely lingers for long on one obsession or the next (at times, it had the snap of a series of New Yorker mini-profiles).

The book is never a slow-moving history of the field (although she does touch on some of its legendary figures, such as James McKune and Big Joe Clauberg, Harry Smith and his Anthology) but its whimsical expansiveness leaves a reader feeling elated rather than deprived. I wish I could have time-traveled Petrusich back to the mid-Seventies gatherings of collectors at the Prince George Hotel in New York City, but she has been to the New Jersey Jazz Record Collectors’ Bash, so that will do. At more than one point, I thought, “I could certainly tell her stories of collectors,” but I suspect that my reaction is far from unusual.

I should alert JAZZ LIVES readers that Petrusich’s fascination has almost nothing to do with the objects of the jazz lover’s sacred quest. ZULUS BALL does not rate a mention here, nor do the Bix Old Gold broadcast acetates, or the “little silver record” of Lester Young that Jo Jones talked about.

Petrusich is captivated by rural blues — of the sort recorded by Paramount before the company folded in 1932 — and she has her first epiphany listening to Mississippi John Hurt’s BIG LEG BLUES with collector John Heneghan. But what saves this endearingly wandering narrative from being One Woman’s Descent Into The Maelstrom is both Petrusich’s light touch and her willingness to ask deeper philosophical questions about collecting, music, and our perceptions of both.

For all its amiability, DO NOT SELL AT ANY PRICE is a deeply serious book that — sometimes indirectly, other times head-on — asks hard questions about what makes an object valuable, and what drives certain people to amass such objects, both in what we see of them and what they see of themselves.

Anyone reading this book who is new to record collecting will find it impossible to look at a 78 rpm record the same way again — even the dullest one — without sensing its almost mystical electrical power to entice. (I write this, fully aware that I already knew how a blandly labeled RECORDS paper folio in a shelf at Goodwill may contain objects that would increase my pulse rate.)

A pause, so that you can hear Petrusich’s own voice, while she muses over the gap between the music and the artifact, the sound and the shellac disc with its memorized matrix number, and tried to figure out where our feverish excitement comes from:

That chasm–between a studied response and a gut-borne one–seemed even more palpable in the specific context of prewar blues music, where the hunt for (and especially the subsequent analysis of) the records appeared to run directly counter to the lawless spirit of the work. With a few notable exceptions, blues music was rowdy and social, and its creators led brash, lustful lives. They drank and roamed and had reckless sex and occasionally stabbed each other in the throat. There was something incongruous about sitting in a dimly lit room, meticulously wiping dust and mold off a blues 78 and noting the serial number in an antique log book. Why not dance or sob or get wasted and kick something over? Some collectors, I knew, did exactly that, but for others, the experience of a rare blues record involved a kind of isolated studiousness, which of course was fine–there’s no wrong way to enjoy music, and I understood that certain contextual details could help crystallize a
bigger,richer picture of a song. But I continued to believe that the pathway that allowed human beings to appreciate and require music probably began in a more instinctual place (the heart, the stomach, the nether regions). Context was important, but it was never as essential–as compelling–to me as the way my entire central nervous system convulsed whenever Skip James opened his mouth.

Balancing such vividly evocative meditations — which open out into lovely elusive speculations — are the concrete, often hilarious markers in Petrusich’s quest: buying records with collector Chris King at a flea market in Hillsville, Virginia; visiting Pete Whelan amidst his rare palm trees and rarer records in Florida, talking with John Tefteller over lunch in Brooklyn, being admitted to Joe Bussard’s basement shrine to hear Black Patti 8030; looking through Don Wahle’s papers with Nathan Salsburg; talking about collectors with Ian Nagoski and with Bear Family’s Richard Weize.

As the book winds down — through “ethnic music” and cowboy throat-singing, a visit to the Southern Folklife Collection, a detour into SKOKIAAN, a few pages where Petrusich muses on the relations between autism, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and collecting, and finally visits from two people active in the contemporary New York City world, phonograph collector / expert exhibitor Michael Cunella and musician / collector Jerron Paxton — I confess my jazz self became slightly restless. “Couldn’t you have written about just one person who collects Leon Roppolo?” I muttered to myself. But Petrusich’s many narratives are so sweetly compelling — vivid in their understated way — that I forgave her that omission. And the book ends with yet another epiphany, when Petrusich encounters the “new” set of Paramount Records issues:

I felt suddenly and fiercely protective of a subculture I had no real claim to. I wanted 78s to continue offering me–and all the people I’d met–a private antidote to an accelerated, carnivorous world. I didn’t want them to become another part of that world. I wanted them to stay ours.

I do not know if Petrusich’s fierce protectiveness is possible or plausible, or even desirable. I understand it completely: so much of the lure of collecting these artifacts is the secret, even snobbish delight one can take in moving so far outside the mainstream as to require subtitles, a translator. But I wonder if the world would be happier if everyone could listen to Charley Patton 78s while making breakfast.

And I wonder if Petrusich will check in with us in ten years. Has she purchased a turntable on which to play her recent beloved acquisitions? I hope so. It would sadden me immensely if I learned, through whatever avenue one learns such things, that she had thrown it all over for a smartphone with a larger memory for music and a new delight in, say, swizzle sticks or first editions of Yeats. But I think this won’t happen. Among its other virtues, and they are numerous, DO NOT SELL AT ANY PRICE is the journal of a spiritual enlightenment, a finding of a series of personal truths. And that is always fascinating to read.

Much, if not all, of the music Petrusich falls in love with in this book is either outside my sphere of pleasure or I am ignorant of it. But before I had read thirty pages of this book, I was already recommending it to people who love the music and the records. I recommend it to you as a deep, elegantly quirky pleasure, whose music reverberates long after one has finished reading it.

May your happiness increase!

Unsubscribe (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]&c=93d493f12c) | Update your profile (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/profile?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]) | Forward to a friend (http://us2.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=93d493f12c&e=[UNIQID])

Jazz Promo Services
269 State Route 94 South
Warwick, Ny 10990
USA

June 17, 2014 / No Comments / More

Conversation: Jazz Musician Jason Moran | Art Beat | PBS NewsHour

http://www.jazzpromoservices.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/jazzpromo https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jazz-Promo-Services/216022288429676

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/art/conversation-jazz-musician-jason-moran/

** Conversation: Jazz Musician Jason Moran
————————————————————

Unsubscribe (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]&c=47955bf812) | Update your profile (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/profile?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]) | Forward to a friend (http://us2.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=47955bf812&e=[UNIQID])

Jazz Promo Services
269 State Route 94 South
Warwick, Ny 10990
USA

June 17, 2014 / No Comments / More

The Machine That’s Saving the History of Recorded Sound – Adrienne LaFrance – The Atlantic

http://www.jazzpromoservices.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/jazzpromo https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jazz-Promo-Services/216022288429676

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/06/how-a-machine-in-the-basement-of-the-library-of-congress-is-saving-the-history-of-recorded-sound/372723/

** The Machine That’s Saving the History of Recorded Sound
————————————————————

Digital conservation specialist Peter Alyea at the Library of Congress. (Shealah Craighead/Library of Congress)

When recorded sound was in its infancy, more than 150 years ago, inventors still hadn’t answered what was, to them, a fundamental question:

What does sound look like?

They knew what sound sounded like, of course, and even what it felt like but what would it mean to see sound on paper? It was this question that inspired the French inventor Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville to design the phonoautograph, which is widely considered the earliest sound-recording machine. His theory was that if he could build a device that transcribed sound, he could read sound the way we read text.

“No one had really looked at sound waveforms before so he didn’t really know,” said Peter Alyea, a digital conservation specialist at the Library of Congress. “So he created basically what is, in current and modern terms, an oscilloscope.”
Phonoautograph circa 1860. (Wikimedia Commons)

De Martinville’s device, modeled after the human ear canal, worked by having a stylus attached to a piece of parchment. “And so he just etched it with a diaphragm that would vibrate a little hog’s bristle as he spoke into it,” Alyea said. “He wasn’t interested in actually recording sound and playing it back, he was interested in recording sound so he could look at it. He thought he could read the waveforms. He thought he could take someone speaking and transcribe something like, ‘The cow jumped over the moon.'”

The inventor found, of course, that sound waves couldn’t be read like text. The visual representation of sound varies based on amplification, not enunciation. But through his experiment, de Martinville ushered in a new era of recorded sound, the implications of which are too enmeshed in the technological world as we now know it to fully appreciate.

Here’s de Martinville’s April 9, 1860 recording of the French folksong, “Au Clair de la Lune,” the earliest known recording of a human voice:

The clip is an odd and ethereal treasure of de Martinville’s legacy. But more than that, it is a reminder of the inherent physicality of recorded sound. It took the engineering of new machinery to capture that wobbly strain at all, and more machinery still to resurrect it 148 years later.

“Au Clair de la Lune” is all over the Internet now, having proliferated digitally and endlessly since it was first discovered in 2008. (Before that, researchers believed a recording of Thomas Edison had made the earliest recording in the 1870s.) But in order for de Martinville’s lost 20 seconds of melody to be found for the Internet age, scientists first had to figure out a way to turn his fragile paper recording—the transcription of sound de Martinville hoped he would be able to read—back into song that could be heard.

To do so, researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory used a combination of optical imaging and high-resolution scanning, then converted the patterns they captured into readable—that is, playable—sound. The technology, originally developed by particle physicists, allows for optically recovering sound recordings without touching the medium on which the sound is recorded. This technique has been around for more than a decade now. The machine invented at Berkley is now, through a partnership, the center of sound preservation efforts at the Library of Congress.

“They called it IRENE because the first recording they did an image of was ‘Goodnight, Irene (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpZ1Cx1IcC0&feature=kp) ,’ by the Weavers,” Alyea told me. “And then they made it a reverse acronym and decided it would stand for Image, Reconstruct, Erase Noise, Etcetera.”
Close-up of vinyl record (flickr/Stewart Black)

IRENE (http://irene.lbl.gov/) lives in the cool basement of the library’s James Madison building. It looks, well, like a machine—all metal and lasers and motor—a little bit like a cross between a microscope and the guts of a home printer. How IRENE works: It’s basically a digital-imaging device. So, say you have a vinyl record you want to preserve. IRENE scans the topography of the disc, and sends the images it produces to a computer. Separate software on the computer then converts those images into sound.

“You have optics that magnify the surface of the disc,” Alyea said. “You have a laser that actually drives a motor that moves the whole system up and down like the autofocus on your camera. Most of these discs are not flat at all and there’s a fairly small area of focus. Some light comes in here and is split and shone directly on the surface of the disc, and then there’s a camera.” More simply, IRENE is a mapping device that tracks the terrain of a recorded medium—like the pattern of the grooves etched onto a flat vinyl record.

The device knows how to image the architecture of other recorded formats, too, including older shellac-coated vinyl, and glass records like the ones made during the rationing of World War II. In the ten years since IRENE was invented, institutions have discovered a spate of esoteric formats and unknown recordings, strange items in long-forgotten collections that haven’t even been catalogued.

“These whole different ranges of formats that IRENE can save that are in people’s collections, and people don’t even know what’s on them,” said Fenella France, the chief of the preservation research and testing at the Library of Congress. “Things keep coming out of the woodwork.”

IRENE is even able to resuscitate the sound recorded to wax cylinders from the late 19th century, which became the first medium for commercially recorded sound.
New York Tribune ad, October 1908 (Library of Congress)

People played them on phonographs, and certain kinds of wax were soft enough to be shaved down, making the cylinders rewritable.
New York Tribune ad, January 1911 (Library of Congress)

Whereas the topography of a record is like a riverbed, a cylinder’s recording is etched around its circumference like a skyline—the stylus would trace the path of a cylinder by going up and down rather than side to side like on a vinyl record—which means imaging a cylinder requires different motion than would be required for a record. For a record, a groove’s squiggly line is what determines the sound you hear. With a cylinder, the depth of the groove is what counts. “So it has something called a confocal probe that uses a lens that focuses light at different distances to get three-dimensional data,” Alyea said. If you tried to image a cylinder the way you image a vinyl record, “all you’d see would be a straight line,” he said.

In 2012, a team of curators at the Smithsonian worked at the Library to retrieve the audio from a set of experimental recordings made by telephone pioneer Alexander Graham Bell in the 1880s. What they uncovered was remarkable. “A recording made on a brass disc covered with wax yielded a recitation from ‘Hamlet,'” Carlene Stephens, a curator at the Smithsonian, told the Library of Congress in 2012 (http://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2012/03/unlocking-sounds-of-the-past/) . “A glass photodisc features the word ‘ba-ro-me-ter’ enunciated over and over…It made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. It was so thrilling. It was so eerie. It was so much a glimpse into a time period we have never heard from before, ever.”

IRENE has also enabled scientists to piece together complete sound from broken media, including minor glitches like vinyl imperfections and major damage like records that are physically broken in half or worse. Here’s a clip of a 1940s song that researchers reassembled with software after imaging a shellac disc that was smashed into six separate pieces:

The clicks, pops, and skips of regular vinyl wear don’t interfere with the sound IRENE images because the machine never touches the medium the way the stylus on a record player would. “So when you play a damaged record with a stylus, you get a skip in the groove,” Alyea said. “This is not a problem with IRENE because IRENE just sees that as a small little blemish and just goes right through it.”

For more severe degradation or damage, it’s time consuming—but possible!—for IRENE to image shards of a record or cylinder separately, then piece back together full recordings using computer software. Eventually, scientists say, IRENE could be hooked up to additional 3D printing technology so that sound retrieved from an old format could be preserved and reprinted onto something new. But the resolution isn’t quite where it needs to be. (“We’re imaging on the micron level and you can’t quite do that with a printer,” Alyea told me. “But it certainly seems quite feasible that at some point in the near future you’d be able to print it out. That’d be fun.”) In the meantime, the library is in the process of establishing workflow so it can figure out which recordings to prioritize and, hopefully, save as much historically valuable sound as possible.

In the scope of human history, the era of recorded sound is a blip—and yet the volume and fragility of what’s been created in that time is overwhelming. Already the Library of Congress is hard at work on the preservation of CDs (http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/05/the-library-of-congress-wants-to-destroy-your-old-cds-for-science/370804/) , and the newest wave of digitized recordings presents a litany of fresh preservation challenges. The perceived dichotomy, though—this idea that there’s analog on one side and digital on the other—is all wrong. Ancient formats and modern formats may look different but they both require hardware, machinery you can hold in your hands.

“They’re very different kinds of formats, but they’re all physical,” Alyea said. “Still, even with digital data, there’s no way to just—I mean, in theory you could have someone sit down and memorize all the values or something, but then it’s in their brain. So with recorded sound, it’s always something physical.”

Unsubscribe (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]&c=c6639567ec) | Update your profile (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/profile?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]) | Forward to a friend (http://us2.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=c6639567ec&e=[UNIQID])

Jazz Promo Services
269 State Route 94 South
Warwick, Ny 10990
USA

June 16, 2014 / No Comments / More

▶ 4400 Vinyl Record 45 rpm DJ Dream Collection for sale – YouTube

http://www.jazzpromoservices.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/jazzpromo https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jazz-Promo-Services/216022288429676

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vluRnmRTrj0&feature=youtu.be (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vluRnmRTrj0&feature=youtu.be)

** 4400 Vinyl Record 45 rpm DJ Dream Collection for sale
————————————————————
(https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCb_Qzxfmp4CE_ypS2oG5_rg)
starrynightrecords’s channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCb_Qzxfmp4CE_ypS2oG5_rg) ·22 videos (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCb_Qzxfmp4CE_ypS2oG5_rg/videos)
Subscribe17

68 views

Like 0 Dislike 0
I like this LikeI dislike this
About Share Add to No statistics available yet Report

Unsubscribe (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]&c=e2effc7685) | Update your profile (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/profile?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]) | Forward to a friend (http://us2.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=e2effc7685&e=[UNIQID])

Jazz Promo Services
269 State Route 94 South
Warwick, Ny 10990
USA

June 16, 2014 / No Comments / More

Billy Taylor Street Naming

http://www.jazzpromoservices.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/jazzpromo https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jazz-Promo-Services/216022288429676

PRESS RELEASE – Street Naming Ceremony Honoring Dr. Billy Taylor
http://jazztimes.com/articles/132022-dr-billy-taylor-street-naming-ceremony-to-take-place-june-21
http://jazztimes.com/articles/132022-dr-billy-taylor-street-naming-ceremony-to-take-place-june-21

Unsubscribe (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]&c=0d3f66ed6c) | Update your profile (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/profile?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]) | Forward to a friend (http://us2.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=0d3f66ed6c&e=[UNIQID])

Jazz Promo Services
269 State Route 94 South
Warwick, Ny 10990
USA

June 16, 2014 / No Comments / More

Street Naming Ceremony Honoring Dr. Billy Taylor

http://www.jazzpromoservices.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/jazzpromo https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jazz-Promo-Services/216022288429676

PRESS RELEASE – Street Naming Ceremony Honoring Dr. Billy Taylor

Unsubscribe (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]&c=5fb72bac83) | Update your profile (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/profile?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]) | Forward to a friend (http://us2.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=5fb72bac83&e=[UNIQID])

Jazz Promo Services
269 State Route 94 South
Warwick, Ny 10990
USA

June 15, 2014 / No Comments / More

Alan Douglas, Who Mined Hendrix Archive, Dies at 82 – NYTimes.com

http://www.jazzpromoservices.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/jazzpromo https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jazz-Promo-Services/216022288429676

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/15/arts/music/alan-douglas-who-mined-hendrix-archive-dies-at-82.html

** Alan Douglas, Who Mined Hendrix Archive, Dies at 82
————————————————————

Photo
Alan Douglas

Alan Douglas, a music producer and packager who worked with jazz greats like Duke Ellington, recorded the prerap stylings of the Last Poets and published a book of monologues by Lenny Bruce — but who is best known as a controversial steward of the legacy of Jimi Hendrix — died on June 7 at his home in Paris. He was 82.

The cause was complications after a fall, his daughter Kirby Veevers said.

A jazz fan from boyhood with an ear for the new, Mr. Douglas spent his career trying to keep his favorite sounds in circulation and the musicians who made them part of the pop culture discourse. His taste was sophisticated though not necessarily avant-garde, and though he strove to push musicians to do their most imaginative work, he wasn’t interested so much in challenging listeners as he was in attracting more of them.

As a producer primarily for United Artists Records in the early 1960s and later for his own label, Douglas Records, Mr. Douglas ushered into the world a number of notable albums, among them “Money Jungle” (1963), a studio collaboration of Ellington, the bassist Charles Mingus and the drummer Max Roach; two early albums by the influential jazz-rock guitarist John McLaughlin, “Devotion” and “My Goal’s Beyond”; and “The Last Poets,” a self-titled album that introduced a group of street chanters whose rhythmic incantations and angry political verses anticipated hip-hop.
Photo

Mr. Douglas is best known as a controversial steward of the legacy of Jimi Hendrix. Credit Reprise

“He and I had our differences and ups and downs; however, he took a chance on us when no one else would,” Umar Bin Hassan, an original member of the Last Poets, said in a statement about Mr. Douglas after his death, adding, “Whether you liked him or didn’t you had to admit he was one of the giants in what he did, and that was to put out responsible, intelligent and remarkable music.”

Hendrix, who died in 1970, had a brief friendship with Mr. Douglas, who was later hired to go through the many hours of unreleased recordings the guitarist left behind. The anger Mr. Douglas stirred in many Hendrix fans began in 1975, when he released two albums, “Crash Landing” and “Midnight Lightning,” culled from these tapes; most critics found them, or at least parts of them, worthwhile, but trouble erupted with the revelation that in remixing the originals, Mr. Douglas had replaced tracks backing Hendrix’s guitar with newly recorded music by other players.

In the wake of the outcry, his explanation was always that he wanted Hendrix’s music to find its way to a new audience at a time when his star had begun to fade; the playing behind him on the tapes was, by Mr. Douglas’s lights, substandard, and failed to showcase Hendrix to the best advantage. But among rock critics and fans, the debate lingered for years.

“If you take this work at face value, without the baggage of what ‘producer’ Alan Douglas did to the tapes,” Joe Viglione wrote in a review on the website AllMusic that also disparaged a co-producer, Tony Bongiovi, “it’s still Hendrix. Maybe God allowed the series of albums to happen so the world could see Hendrix’s work could survive doctoring and musicians jamming with his art after the fact.”
Continue reading the main story

In Mr. Douglas’s defense, the rock journalist and critic John Masouri wrote a long piece in 2011 on the website densesignals.com (http://densesignals.com/) , calling Mr. Douglas “one of our last great musical visionaries.” Of the Hendrix kerfuffle, he wrote that Mr. Douglas’s decision to improve the original tracks was the right one.

“Wisely, he’d also edited out passages where Jimi had toyed with a riff repeatedly, searching for just the right phrase,” Mr. Masouri wrote. “All things considered, it’s highly unlikely that Hendrix would have sanctioned the release of poorly executed material, yet the die was cast, and the producer has been branded a controversial figure ever since.”

Alan Douglas Rubenstein was born in Chelsea, Mass., on July 20, 1931, to William Rubenstein and the former Rose Silbert. His father was a junk seller who eventually started a successful mattress manufacturing business. Alan graduated from a local high school and played football briefly in college — at Colby in Maine and the University of Miami — though he never graduated. He received a medical discharge from the Army after an abbreviated period of service.

He worked for Roulette Records in New York and Barclay Records in Paris before becoming head of the jazz department at United Artists, where he worked with the singer Betty Carter, the flutist Herbie Mann and others. Later, at the short-lived FM Records, he recorded two albums by the celebrated avant-garde saxophonist Eric Dolphy.

When FM dissolved, he started his own company. His first acquisition was the rights to Lenny Bruce’s written monologues and tapes, which were then published as “The Essential Lenny Bruce.” He also published work by Timothy Leary. In 1969, after seeing the Last Poets on television, he tracked them down performing on a run-down basketball court in Harlem and brought them right to the recording studio.

Mr. Douglas met Hendrix in 1969; they encountered each other at the Woodstock festival (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/w/woodstock_music_festivals/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier) and also through the intervention of Stella Benabou, Mr. Douglas’s wife at the time, who owned a clothing store in Manhattan where Hendrix liked to shop. Mr. Douglas arranged several recording sessions with him and other musicians, some of which appear on the album “Nine to the Universe,” released in 1980.

In 1995, a court settlement took the rights to the Hendrix archive from Mr. Douglas and awarded them to Hendrix’s father, Al. Years of legal wrangling ensued, and Mr. Douglas was eventually able to retain the right to compile Hendrix’s writings into a book and to make a documentary film about him. Both are titled “Starting at Zero.” (http://starting-at-zero.com/film/) The book was published last fall; the film has yet to be released.

Mr. Douglas was married four times. In addition to Ms. Veevers, he is survived by his wife, Lucia Solazzi; a brother, Jerry Douglas; a sister, Beverly Shuman; another daughter, Solo Douglas; a stepson, Darnell Greene; and three grandsons.

Unsubscribe (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]&c=595adb3aaa) | Update your profile (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/profile?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]) | Forward to a friend (http://us2.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=595adb3aaa&e=[UNIQID])

Jazz Promo Services
269 State Route 94 South
Warwick, Ny 10990
USA

June 15, 2014 / No Comments / More

Diggin’ In The Crates With A Legend

http://www.jazzpromoservices.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/jazzpromo https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jazz-Promo-Services/216022288429676

It’s not often you get to share the bins with a bonafide music legend, but there was the great maestro and NEA Jazz Master Eddie Palmeri (http://eddiepalmierimusic.com/) ‘digging in the crates’ at Fred Falk’s SECOND SATURDAY Record & CD Show (http://www.showsandexpos.com/rswayne.htm) in Wayne, NJ.

For all you record freaks out there come to the 40th Annual Jazz Record Collectors’ Bash (http://www.jazzbash.net/) June 27th – 28th, 2014

Who knows you may just bump into a legend.

78s, LPs, CDs & Memorabilia – Plus
Buy, Sell, Swap, Trade, Schmooze
Rare Jazz Films
Please pass the word to all your Vinyl Collecting Friends!
Hilton Woodbridge
120 Wood Avenue South
Iselin, NJ 08830

General admission: $20.00 covers buyer’s admission for two days (Friday & Saturday).

After 5:00 p.m. Friday (including Saturday reentry) and all day Saturday admission is $10.00.

Early buyers will be admitted Thursday evening after 7:30 pm for $40.00.

Doors open 8:00 a.m. on Friday & Saturday.

Special hotel room rate of $119 per night, Thursday through Saturday. For reservations, call hotel directly and mention Jazz Bash: 1-732-494-6200.http://www.hiltonwoodbridge.com (http://www.hiltonwoodbridge.com/)

More information at:

www.jazzbash.net (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=0224ff7bf3&e=d32333411f)

or contact:

Art Zimmerman

P. O. Box 158

Jericho, NY 11753-0158

zimrecords@msn.com (mailto:zimrecords@msn.com)

http://www.jazzbash.net (http://www.jazzbash.net/)

Unsubscribe (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]&c=f48af00acf) | Update your profile (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/profile?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]) | Forward to a friend (http://us2.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=f48af00acf&e=[UNIQID])

Jazz Promo Services
269 State Route 94 South
Warwick, Ny 10990
USA

June 15, 2014 / No Comments / More

Jazz Singer Jimmy Scott Dies at 88 – Hollywood Reporter

http://www.jazzpromoservices.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/jazzpromo https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jazz-Promo-Services/216022288429676

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/14/arts/music/jimmy-scott-singer-whose-star-rose-late-dies-at-88.html?%00%2C%A0%D6%A4%94%934%0A%EBc%A1%E4%B1f%ACrN%98%00%07%81%C0%03y%A6%B1=&emc%18%9A%9EU%00%DD%8C%9A%074%24v=&nlid=16833052&_r=0 (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/14/arts/music/jimmy-scott-singer-whose-star-rose-late-dies-at-88.html?%00%2C%A0%D6%A4%94%934%0A%EBc%A1%E4%B1f%ACrN%98%00%07%81%C0%03y%A6%B1=&emc%18%9A%9EU%00%DD%8C%9A%074%24v=&nlid=16833052&_r=0)

** Jimmy Scott, Singer Whose Star Rose Late, Dies at 88
————————————————————

Photo
Jimmy Scott performing at Lincoln Center’s Kaplan Penthouse in 2001. Credit Jack Vartoogian for The New York Times

Jimmy Scott, a jazz singer whose distinctively plaintive delivery and unusually high-pitched voice earned him a loyal following and, late in life, a taste of bona fide stardom, died on Thursday at his home in Las Vegas. He was 88.

The cause was cardiac arrest, his wife, Jeanie Scott, said.

Mr. Scott’s career finished on a high note, with steady work from the early 1990s on, as well as a Grammy (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/g/grammy_awards/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier) nomination, glowing reviews and praise from well-known fellow performers like Madonna, who called him “the only singer who makes me cry.” But the first four decades of his career were checkered, with long periods of inactivity and more lows than highs.

After enjoying sporadic success in the 1950s, he had almost none in the 1960s. Albums he recorded for major labels in 1962 and 1969, which might have jump-started his career, were quickly withdrawn from the market when another company claimed to have him under contract. He virtually stopped performing in the 1970s and made no records between 1975 and 1990.
Photo
Mr. Scott in a portrait from the early 1950s. Credit Little Jimmy Scott Collection

But if Mr. Scott spent most of his career in relative obscurity, he always had a core of fiercely devoted fans — among them many prominent vocalists who cited him as an influence, including Marvin Gaye, Frankie Valli and Nancy Wilson.

The fact that both men and women considered themselves Mr. Scott’s disciples is not surprising: because of a rare genetic condition called Kallmann syndrome, (http://www.kallmanns.org/) which caused his body to stop maturing before he reached puberty, Mr. Scott’s voice never changed, and he remained an eerie, androgynous alto his whole life.

Standing 4-foot-11, with a hairless face to match his boyish voice, he was originally billed as Little Jimmy Scott, and he was presented to audiences as a child until well into his 20s. In his mid-30s he unexpectedly grew eight inches taller and, although he otherwise remained physically unchanged, doctors told him an operation might stimulate his hormonal development. He decided against it.

“I was afraid of entering uncharted territory,” Mr. Scott told David Ritz, the author of “Faith in Time: The Life of Jimmy Scott” (2002). “Besides, fooling with my hormones might mean changing my voice. Whatever the problems that came with the deficiency, my voice was the one thing I could count on.”

Mr. Scott’s condition left him incapable of reproduction.

James Victor Scott was born on July 17, 1925, in Cleveland. The third of 10 children, he lived in orphanages and foster homes after his mother was killed in a car accident when he was 13. After singing in local nightclubs for a few years, he went on the road in 1945 with a vaudeville-style show headed by Estella Young, a dancer and contortionist. He moved to New York City in 1947 and joined Lionel Hampton’s band a year later.

His 1950 recording of “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srP6mod9lCo) with Hampton set the pattern for his later work. A mournful ballad of love gone wrong, the song was delivered with feverish intensity and idiosyncratic, behind-the-beat phrasing. The record was a hit, but because it was credited on the label simply to “Lionel Hampton, vocal with orchestra,” few people knew that Mr. Scott was the singer.
Continue reading the main story

Recordings later in the decade for the Roost and Savoy labels helped establish his name. But with a style somewhere between jazz and rhythm and blues and a voice somewhere between male and female, he found it difficult to gain a foothold in the marketplace.
Photo

Mr. Scott in 2006. Credit Kate Simon

The vagaries of the record business did not help. An album he recorded for Ray Charles’s Tangerine label in 1962, featuring Charles on piano and a string section, garnered radio play and, with national distribution from ABC Records, seemed likely to expand his audience. But Herman Lubinsky, the owner of Savoy Records, threatened legal action to block its release, claiming he still had Mr. Scott under contract. A similar fate befell “The Source,” an album Mr. Scott made for Atlantic seven years later.

By then, a frustrated Mr. Scott had moved back to Cleveland, where he held a variety of nonmusical jobs, including cook, hotel clerk and nurse’s aide, for the better part of two decades, although he continued to perform occasionally and even recorded an album for Savoy in 1975.

“When the gig ain’t there, you still got to pay the rent,” he told The New York Times Magazine (http://www.nytimes.com/2000/08/27/magazine/the-ballad-of-little-jimmy-scott.html) in 2000. “I learned that a long time ago.”

In 1984, encouraged by the woman who would soon become his fourth wife, Mr. Scott moved east and began to get nightclub bookings in Newark and New York City. He released a self-produced album in 1990. But despite his renewed commitment to music, his profile remained low until 1991, when he was signed to Sire Records, a rock-oriented Warner Brothers subsidiary, on the strength of his performance of “Someone to Watch Over Me” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtqGpgdD_6k) at the funeral of the songwriter Doc Pomus (http://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/15/obituaries/jerome-doc-pomus-65-lyricist-for-some-of-rock-s-greatest-hits.html) , an old friend.

On his first Sire album, “All the Way,” he sang classic love songs by the likes of Porter and Gershwin, accompanied by first-rank jazz musicians. The album garnered strong reviews, sold well and was nominated for a Grammy Award.

After that, Mr. Scott never wanted for work. He sang at one of President Bill Clinton’s inaugural balls in 1993. He became a popular concert attraction in Europe and Japan. He sang on the soundtrack of “Philadelphia” and other movies and acted in the independent film “Chelsea Walls” in 2001. He also appeared in an episode of the cult television series “Twin Peaks.”

Mr. Scott continued to record into the 21st century, notably for the Milestone label, and to perform. His last appearance was in June 2012 at the Blue Note in Greenwich Village. In 2007, he was named a Jazz Master (http://arts.gov/honors/jazz/jimmy-scott) by the National Endowment for the Arts and a Living Jazz Legend by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington.

Mr. Scott married Jeanie McCarthy, his fifth wife, in 2003. Besides her, he is survived by a son, Tracy Porter; three sisters, Nadine Walker, Betsy Jones and Elsa Scott; and a brother, Roger Scott.

Finding himself in demand a half-century after he first sang in front of an audience, Mr. Scott was grateful but philosophical.

“I appreciate the fact that these things are finally happening for me,” he told The Plain Dealer in Cleveland in 1997, “but I wish they could have happened earlier in my career so I could have enjoyed the retiring years much better.” Still, he conceded, “in show business, generally you don’t retire. If you love it, that is, you’re in it forever anyway.”

Unsubscribe (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]&c=1f2fb09b1f) | Update your profile (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/profile?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]) | Forward to a friend (http://us2.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=1f2fb09b1f&e=[UNIQID])

Jazz Promo Services
269 State Route 94 South
Warwick, Ny 10990
USA

June 14, 2014 / No Comments / More

Jazz Singer Jimmy Scott Dies at 88 – Hollywood Reporter

http://www.jazzpromoservices.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/jazzpromo https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jazz-Promo-Services/216022288429676

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/jazz-singer-jimmy-scott-dies-711829

** Jazz Singer Jimmy Scott Dies at 88
————————————————————
1:45 PM PDT 6/13/2014 by Mitch Myers
* 80
* 79
* 0
* 0
* 0
* Email (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/jazz-singer-jimmy-scott-dies-711829#)
* Print (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/print/711829)
* Comments (http://j.mp/1psGxqk#comments) (2 (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/node/711829#disqus_thread) )

Jimmy Scott 2004 P
Associated Press
Jimmy Scott

** He famously made an on-screen appearance on the finale of “Twin Peaks” to sing “Sycamore Trees,” a song co-written by the show’s creator David Lynch.
————————————————————

Jimmy Scott, the jazz star whose small stature, romantic phrasing and distinctly high voice helped make him one of the most unique vocal stylists of his era, died in his sleep on Thursday at his home in Las Vegas. The singer was 88.
RELATED TOPICS
•Obituaries (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/topic/obituaries)

His death was confirmed by his biographer,David Ritz, according to the Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/jimmy-scott-hard-luck-singer-with-a-haunting-voice-dies-at-88/2014/06/13/270725b6-48c3-11e3-a196-3544a03c2351_story.html) .

James Victor Scott came into this world on July 17, 1925, and considering the struggles that he faced in his professional and personal life, the empathy his unique soprano voice conveyed was impressive, generous, and even noble. Jimmy and his brother Kenny were just two of ten children born to Arthur Scott and his wife Justine in Cleveland, Ohio. As the two brothers were approaching puberty it was determined that they both suffered from a rare hormonal deficiency called Kallmann’s Syndrome, which caused them to experience a sustained state of (physical) pre-adolescence. It was this sad and unusual circumstance that contributed to Jimmy Scott’s high-pitched voice.

PHOTOS Hollywood’s Notable Deaths of 2014 (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/gallery/hollywoods-notable-deaths-2014-674642)

Scott transformed that voice into a marvelous musical instrument, one that was as expressive and as nuanced as any other in the history of jazz. “Little” Jimmy Scott’s first taste of fame occurred in 1949 when he got a job singing with Lionel Hampton and His Orchestra but it wasn’t until January 1950 that Jimmy and the Hampton band recorded Scott’s one and only hit, “Everybody’s Somebody’sFool.”

Jimmy Scott began releasing records under his own name in the 1950s but in the decades that followed he was up and down, in and out, gone and back, and for a time, literally lost to the music business. A one-time contemporary of great talents like Charlie Parker and Billie Holiday, as well as more obscure musicians like Big Maybelle, he remained a jazz singer nonpareil across seven decades.

Scott’s many different “comebacks” over the years served as a testimonial to his bad luck and his endurance, as well as his consistency as a recording artist. He was once “rediscovered” singing at the funeral of his friend Doc Pomus, and was signed to Sire Records by Seymour Stein, making the 1992 recording, All The Way. Scott sang on the wonderfully poignant Lou Reed album, Magic and Loss and appeared on David Lynch’s cult program Twin Peaks, singing the song “Sycamore Tree,” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIXPG8NR5iI) co-written by the show’s creator. After Sire Records, Scott made several worthwhile albums on the Milestone jazz label until the early 2000s. In 2007, Jimmy Scott was named a NEA Jazz Master.

STORY Ray Davies, Donovan and Graham Gouldman Among Those Inducted Into Songwriters Hall of Fame (http://hollywoodreporter.com/news/ray-davies-donovan-graham-gouldman-711740)

Although he lived in obscurity for decades, new generations repeatedly discovered the legend of Jimmy Scott — everyone from Ray Charles to Marvin Gaye to David Byrne lauded him. In 2002 there was a documentary film produced entitled Jimmy Scott: If You Only Knew. In David Ritz’s as-told-to biography, Faith In Time: The Life Of Jimmy Scott, the singer is contextualized alongside brilliant saxophonists Lester Young and Stan Getz, as well as legendary friends like Bird and Lady Day. Much like his talented peers, Little Jimmy Scott inhabited a world where the line between thought and expression dissolved night after night and year after year. There won’t be another like him again.

Scott moved from Cleveland to Las Vegas in 2007 for health reasons.

Unsubscribe (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]&c=da0d532bf4) | Update your profile (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/profile?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]) | Forward to a friend (http://us2.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=da0d532bf4&e=[UNIQID])

Jazz Promo Services
269 State Route 94 South
Warwick, Ny 10990
USA

June 14, 2014 / No Comments / More

Jazz Articles: Singer Jimmy Scott Dies at 88 – By Jeff Tamarkin — Jazz Articles

http://www.jazzpromoservices.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/jazzpromo https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jazz-Promo-Services/216022288429676

http://jazztimes.com/articles/132294-singer-jimmy-scott-dies-at-88

** Singer Jimmy Scott Dies at 88
————————————————————

Jimmy Scott, whose distinctively high soprano voice—caused by a rare genetic condition called Kallmann’s syndrome—gave his music a purity and youthfulness even into old age, died June 12 in his sleep at his Las Vegas home. His death, the cause of which has not yet been revealed, was confirmed by a family friend. Scott was 88.

Born James Victor Scott in Cleveland, Ohio, on July 17, 1925, one of 10 children, “Little” Jimmy Scott, as he was known early in his career, was born with the aforementioned condition, which stunted his physical growth and made him unable to reach puberty. As a result, Scott’s singing voice was unusually high for an adult male, however he used it to his advantage onstage and in the recordings he made beginning in the late 1940s with the Lionel Hampton Orchestra, Charlie Parker and others. Scott’s appeal crossed over from jazz into the nascent rhythm and blues world, and his 1950 Decca single with Hampton, “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool,” landed in the Billboard R&B top 10 (Scott was not credited on the record label, however).

Scott began recording under his own name in 1951, releasing his debut leader album, Very Truly Yours, on Savoy in 1955. But by the early 1960s, after an album he recorded for Ray Charles’ label was withdrawn due to contractual issues, he had largely given up music and begun working at various jobs outside of the entertainment industry. He released new albums in 1969 and 1975 but they went unnoticed.

Scott began performing in clubs again in 1985, and in 1991, he sang at the funeral of his longtime friend, songwriter Doc Pomus, and was subsequently approached by Sire Records chief Seymour Stein, who expressed an interest in recording Scott again. Scott released an album titled All the Way in 1992, and subsequent interest in the vocalist mushroomed. He was championed by rock artists such as Lou Reed (Scott sang on Reed’s Magic and Loss album) and David Byrne, and director David Lynch used him both onscreen and in the soundtrack of his popular TV series Twin Peaks.

Scott continued to record for Sire, then for Milestone and other labels into the early 2000s. A documentary film, Jimmy Scott: If You Only Knew, was produced in 2002 and shown on PBS stations. A biography, Faith in Time: The Life of Jimmy Scott (DaCapo), by David Ritz, was published that same year. Several compilation albums of Scott’s early and later work have been issued by various labels, including the two-CD Someone To Watch Over Me, on Warner Bros., and a Rhino collection, Lost and Found. Jimmy Scott was named an NEA Jazz Master in 2007.

Unsubscribe (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]&c=a97d03ad4a) | Update your profile (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/profile?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]) | Forward to a friend (http://us2.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=a97d03ad4a&e=[UNIQID])

Jazz Promo Services
269 State Route 94 South
Warwick, Ny 10990
USA

June 13, 2014 / No Comments / More

June 19 –7 p.m. Panel Discussion: Jazz in the USA: On the 60th Anniversary of the Newport Jazz Festival

http://www.jazzpromoservices.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/jazzpromo https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jazz-Promo-Services/216022288429676

National Archives Public Programs
June 19
McGowan Theater

Jazz on a Summer’s Day &
Jazz in the USA: On the 60th Anniversary of the Newport Jazz Festival

Thursday, June 19, at Noon and 7 p.m.
William G. McGowan Theater

On Thursday, June 19, the National Archives continues its Jazz at the National Archives series with a noontime screening of Jazz on a Summer’s Day and an evening panel discussion titled Jazz in the USA: On the 60th Anniversary of the Newport Jazz Festival.

Noon Film Screening: Jazz on a Summer’s Day
In 1958, photographer Bert Stern produced and directed this chronicle of the Newport Jazz Festival. Featuring performances by Louis Armstrong, Anita O’Day, Mahalia Jackson, and Thelonious Monk, the film is filled with illuminating images of late 1950s America. (84 minutes.) George Wein, founder of the Newport Jazz Festival, will introduce the screening.

7 p.m. Panel Discussion: Jazz in the USA: On the 60th Anniversary of the Newport Jazz Festival
For the 60th anniversary of the Newport Jazz Festival, journalist Soledad O’Brien moderates a panel discussion with George Wein, founder of the Newport Jazz Festival; Dan Morgenstern, author, archivist, and NEA Jazz Master; and jazz musicians Jonathan Batiste and Christian McBride. Film clips of the 1960 festival (from the holdings of the National Archives) will complement the discussion.

Jazz at the National Archives is made possible in part by the Foundation for the National Archives through the generous support of Natixis Global Asset Management.

Pictured: 1970 Newport Jazz Festival (The personal collection of George Wein)

For all Public Programs, (unless otherwise noted) please use the Special Events Entrance on the corner of 7th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW. Doors to the building open 45 minutes prior to the start of the program. Late seating will not be permitted 20 minutes after programs begin.

All events listed in the calendar are free unless otherwise noted.
Reservations for McGowan Theater programs are recommended. Use the new
online event registration system from the Foundation for the National
Archives to reserve your seats:
1. Register at www.archivesfoundation.org/events/
2. Print your email confirmation and bring it with you. Please plan to be in your seats by 15 minutes before start time or they may be released.
3. To reserve by phone, call 202-357-6814.

Walk-ins without reservations will be admitted, depending on available seats.

The National Archives is fully accessible. If you need to request an accommodation (for example, a sign language interpreter) for a public program please email public.program@nara.gov (mailto:public.program@nara.gov) or call 202-357-5000 at least two weeks prior to the event to ensure proper arrangements are secured. All building entrances are handicapped-accessible.

Books are available for purchase before or during book-related programs at a 15% discount. To purchase books before an event, please call 202-357-5271.

BECOME A MEMBER!

Join the Foundation for the National Archives (http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001fTSDbaZRq6GIORxpa0WCymSnik9G1K-8Ob5ImOvJLThPPt8MUJDJfcGaoG_51T_1N5XihEhsXAxeSMloLxrpY_5m8jXGzktNbPEUgwhWduXwzXJVdYJeRsh3WVJ8RXPcezXeF6Jyc78HzI59U0IAz6UcleOHu19u1lXv63VLKsCuQziA4ydHiQ==&c=HOqLXY2V8e2f9Z8hNJvyosYsy4fjI7FxHUwqRULr8eGoSbYc84nr1Q==&ch=KTbrFuZn6kz6gsnZl8kj1cD7XFesOeG1HF1aBSqj5qtjb6X-s_y8Sw==) and help support history and civics education. Enjoy special member recognition and privileges, including:
* Priority admission to the National Archives
* 10% discount in store and online
* Members-only tours and events
* Subscription to Prologue, the National Archives’ quarterly magazine

Your membership helps support the innovative educational programming, activities, and exhibitions at the National Archives.

Sign up today at myarchivesstore.org/membership (http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001fTSDbaZRq6GIORxpa0WCymSnik9G1K-8Ob5ImOvJLThPPt8MUJDJffwxgKxXOiRMLhzYjNM0i7ZKDCI2WwBlZuo9nOBkn_n6A_kYCXg25-DsvJtCT7yG2bPq7J62Glzf4w67-E5TVQytXhEM09LUMTAb9yjPn2ulkMJkeA_FN3laxsIxTAuFHzcmaP9WpQNs9MSf5IvDzA4=&c=HOqLXY2V8e2f9Z8hNJvyosYsy4fjI7FxHUwqRULr8eGoSbYc84nr1Q==&ch=KTbrFuZn6kz6gsnZl8kj1cD7XFesOeG1HF1aBSqj5qtjb6X-s_y8Sw==) /!

View the Washington, DC Events Calendar Online >> (http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001fTSDbaZRq6GIORxpa0WCymSnik9G1K-8Ob5ImOvJLThPPt8MUJDJfVa4ORiPouvhL-9edXo6BwQ_JXoulsFz5YnhFH_Ca7ZXwCVCf71Bxr0Cp9zxq5_LBg6ZpUFnZV3-ed3W8Urvakc2GEm5rPbx4Z5FplyCqiJuvTFds94qIWlRh6sMgMQB7iKXP_LcB5Tz&c=HOqLXY2V8e2f9Z8hNJvyosYsy4fjI7FxHUwqRULr8eGoSbYc84nr1Q==&ch=KTbrFuZn6kz6gsnZl8kj1cD7XFesOeG1HF1aBSqj5qtjb6X-s_y8Sw==)

The National Archives Experience
700 Constitution Avenue NW
Washington D.C. 20408

Forward this email (http://ui.constantcontact.com/sa/fwtf.jsp?llr=eecdhtlab&m=1111967762564&ea=maujackson%40aol.com&a=1117631385058)
http://visitor.constantcontact.com/do?p=un&m=001pVmL0Dzx4Eo1NZ4deWqtQw%3D%3D&ch=4f84bb40-9312-11e3-b2b4-d4ae5275b546&ca=3edebe3b-5e6f-409c-8f19-75322de51b07 http://www.constantcontact.com/index.jsp?cc=PM_B2BA
This email was sent to maujackson@aol.com (mailto:maujackson@aol.com) by public.program@nara.gov (mailto:public.program@nara.gov) |
Update Profile/Email Address (http://visitor.constantcontact.com/do?p=oo&m=001pVmL0Dzx4Eo1NZ4deWqtQw%3D%3D&ch=4f84bb40-9312-11e3-b2b4-d4ae5275b546&ca=3edebe3b-5e6f-409c-8f19-75322de51b07) | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe (http://visitor.constantcontact.com/do?p=un&m=001pVmL0Dzx4Eo1NZ4deWqtQw%3D%3D&ch=4f84bb40-9312-11e3-b2b4-d4ae5275b546&ca=3edebe3b-5e6f-409c-8f19-75322de51b07) ™ | Privacy Policy (http://ui.constantcontact.com/roving/CCPrivacyPolicy.jsp) .
Foundation for the National Archives | 700 Pennsylvania Avenue NW | Room G12 | Washington | DC | 20408

Unsubscribe (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]&c=1766acfb5d) | Update your profile (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/profile?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]) | Forward to a friend (http://us2.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=1766acfb5d&e=[UNIQID])

Jazz Promo Services
269 State Route 94 South
Warwick, Ny 10990
USA

June 13, 2014 / No Comments / More

Ruby Dee meets Fats Waller in “Jazztime Tale” – Oakland Jazz music | Examiner.com

http://www.jazzpromoservices.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/jazzpromo https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jazz-Promo-Services/216022288429676

http://www.examiner.com/article/ruby-dee-meets-fats-waller-jazztime-tale?CID=examiner_alerts_article

** Ruby Dee meets Fats Waller in “Jazztime Tale”
————————————————————

** See also
————————————————————
* jazz (http://www.examiner.com/topic/jazz)
* Ruby Dee (http://www.examiner.com/topic/ruby-dee)
* Obituaries (http://www.examiner.com/topic/obituaries)
* Denzel Washington (http://www.examiner.com/topic/denzel-washington)
* Ossie Davis (http://www.examiner.com/topic/ossie-davis)
* Sidney Poitier (http://www.examiner.com/topic/sidney-poitier)

“Jazztime Tale”
“Jazztime Tale”
Brian McCoy (http://www.examiner.com/jazz-music-in-oakland/brian-mccoy) Oakland Jazz Music Examiner (http://www.examiner.com/jazz-music-in-oakland/brian-mccoy)
* Subscribe (http://www.examiner.com/user/385351/1795611/subscribe?destination=node/72338016&render=overlay)

* Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=http%3A//www.examiner.com/article/ruby-dee-meets-fats-waller-jazztime-tale)
* Twitter (https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=http%3A//www.examiner.com/article/ruby-dee-meets-fats-waller-jazztime-tale&via=examinercom&text=Ruby%20Dee%20meets%20Fats%20Waller%20in%20%26quot%3BJazztime%20Tale%26quot%3B%20)
*
* Reddit (http://www.reddit.com/submit?url=http%3A//www.examiner.com/article/ruby-dee-meets-fats-waller-jazztime-tale&title=Ruby%20Dee%20meets%20Fats%20Waller%20in%20%26quot%3BJazztime%20Tale%26quot%3B%20)
* Google Plus (https://plus.google.com/share?url=http%3A//www.examiner.com/article/ruby-dee-meets-fats-waller-jazztime-tale)
* http://www.examiner.com/article/ruby-dee-meets-fats-waller-jazztime-tale?CID=examiner_alerts_article#comments
*
*

June 12, 2014

News has come this afternoon of the death of actress Ruby Dee (http://www.examiner.com/topic/ruby-dee) . Here is the lead on her New York Times obit.

Ruby Dee, one of the most enduring actresses of theater and film, whose public profile and activist passions made her, along with her husband, Ossie Davis (http://www.examiner.com/topic/ossie-davis) , a leading advocate for civil rights both in show business and in the wider world, died on Wednesday at her home in New Rochelle, N.Y. She was 91.
A diminutive, placid beauty with a sense of persistent social distress and a restless, probing intelligence, Dee began her performing career in the 1940s, and it continued well into the 21st century. She was always a critical favorite though not often cast as a leading lady.
Her most successful central role was off Broadway, in the 1970 Athol Fugard drama, “Boesman and Lena,” about a pair of nomadic mixed-race South Africans, for which she received overwhelming praise. Her most famous performance came more than a decade earlier, in 1959, in a supporting role in “A Raisin in the Sun,” Lorraine Hansberry’s landmark drama about the quotidian struggle of a black family in Chicago at the dawn of the civil rights movement.

Dee’s other notable film roles include “The Jackie Robinson Story,” “No Way Out” (with Sidney Poitier (http://www.examiner.com/topic/sidney-poitier) ), “American Gangster” (withDenzel Washington (http://www.examiner.com/topic/denzel-washington) ) and Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing” and “Jungle Fever.” In 1968, she became the first black actress to be featured regularly on the titillating prime-time TV series “Peyton Place.”
Dee was raised in Harlem, an upbringing that served her well as the narrator of “Jazztime Tale,” Michael Sporn’s 1993 animated short spotlighting jazz (http://www.examiner.com/topic/jazz) and Fats Waller in particular. Here’s the L.A. Times’ original review.

Based on an original story by Maxine Fisher and narrated by actress Ruby Dee, “Jazztime Tale (http://www.fandor.com/films/jazztime_tale) ” is set in 1919 in New York’s Harlem. Billy Rowland supplies the voice for Fats.
Ten-year-old Thomas Waller is already a legend in his own neighborhood, and to a larger degree with many of the patrons of the district’s Lincoln Theater, where the boy shares piano duties with Miss Mullins playing accompaniment for the silent-movie shows. One of Waller’s neighbors is a young black girl named Lucinda, who is about 13 and enchanted by the new kind of striding jazz music she hears her chum playing on the upright in his parlor. “It makes you want to laugh,” she says.
In another part of Manhattan, a young white girl about Lucinda’s age lives with her talent-scout father. But with no mother, and her father away a large part of the time, Rose is lonely and feels neglected. One day her father tells her he is going to the evening show at the Lincoln Theater and will be late coming home.
Rose decides to tag along, and hides in the rear of her father’s auto. When he parks and goes to take his supper, she decides to explore this new neighborhood. Lost, and obviously somewhat out of place in the neighborhood, she meets Lucinda by chance.
The two girls take to each other at once, and Lucinda brings Rose home and introduces her to her rather startled mother and siblings who probably have never seen a white child that close up before. Rose’s family is on the way to the Lincoln. They leave word with the policeman on the beat that should he spy a man looking for a child, it will most likely be Rose’s father.
Meanwhile, in the last half of the show (a sterling segment done in black, whites and sepias, all in animation), when the organist for the entertainment part of the program fails to show, Thomas Waller sits in and plays the mighty organ accompaniment. But Fats cannot contain his joy, and to the consternation of the juggler on stage, begins playing jazz. The juggler’s plates survive, and the music brings down the house. Rose and her talent-scout father are reunited, and Fats . . . well, you’ll have to watch the video.

Unsubscribe (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]&c=e0e142d62d) | Update your profile (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/profile?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]) | Forward to a friend (http://us2.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=e0e142d62d&e=[UNIQID])

Jazz Promo Services
269 State Route 94 South
Warwick, Ny 10990
USA

June 13, 2014 / No Comments / More

Jazz Producer, Hendrix Confidant Alan Douglas Dies – Speakeasy – WSJ

http://www.jazzpromoservices.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/jazzpromo https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jazz-Promo-Services/216022288429676

http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2014/06/11/jazz-producer-hendrix-confident-alan-douglas-dies/

** Jazz Producer, Hendrix Confidant Alan Douglas Dies
————————————————————

The late Alan Douglas, friend and producer of Jimi Hendrix.
Philip Montgomery for The Wall Street Journal

By the time he befriended Jimi Hendrix in Greenwich Village, Alan Douglas was already an established producer of jazz luminaries.

Mr. Douglas, who died on June 7 at 82 years old in Paris due to complications from a fall, one of his daughter said, had a knack for combining unlikely talents such as Duke Ellington with Charles Mingus and Max Roach, who were of different generations and styles.

Mr. Douglas, who headed United Artists’ jazz division, also worked with Art Blakey and Betty Carter, and made a posthumous recording with his friend Billie Holiday. He issued a series of DVDs of live shows by such varied talents as Celia Cruz, George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic and B.B. King.

Mr. Douglas also was steeped in the 1960s counterculture. He discovered and produced The Last Poets, a Harlem-based cooperative of poets and musicians that presaged the hip-hop movement, and published books and recordings by Timothy Leary, Lenny Bruce and Alejandro Jodorowksy.

But it was Mr. Douglas’s association with Mr. Hendrix starting in 1969 when the guitarist lived a few blocks away in New York’s Greenwich Village that brought him the most renown—and controversy.

Mr. Douglas met Mr. Hendrix through his second of four wives, the former Stella Benabou, who owned a hippie clothing shop, the Moroccan-born former wife said.

“He used to go to my wife’s store to buy those leather jackets everybody used to have,” Mr. Douglas said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal last year. “So, I came home from a dinner one night and he was sitting there on my kitchen. My wife and he were good friends.”

Months later, of the Woodstock music festival, Mr. Douglas said, “Jimi was supposed to be the last performer of the evening. At midnight. But it was 4 a.m. and he still hadn’t gone on stage yet. So, we were backstage hanging out. He finally went on at 7am.”

The two men went on to work closely together in Mr. Hendrix’s Electric Lady Studios in the Village and in Mr. Douglas’s midtown office, and began discussing new, more jazzy directions.

One such recording session they planned involved trumpeter Miles Davis, keyboardist Larry Young and drummer Tony Williams, and another was with pianist and composer Gil Evans, said Ross Firestone, a longtime friend and colleague of Mr. Douglas’s.

“They were developing all sorts of projects that would have been quite interesting,” Mr. Firestone said.

Mr. Hendrix’s unexpected death in London in 1970 scuttled those plans. But Mr. Douglas obtained the rights to manage the late guitarist’s creative legacy, which he did over the next quarter century.

In several albums, Mr. Douglas mixed Mr. Hendrix’s guitar and voice recordings with newly recorded studio musicians because he was dissatisfied with the quality of the original. The technique drew fire from Hendrix purists, who felt the original recordings shouldn’t have been trifled with; some of them also contended that the recordings were never intended to be released.

Mr. Douglas’s supporters say his Hendrix releases were impeccably produced, unlike many of the hundreds of shoddy bootleg Hendrix albums, and helped popularize Hendrix among a new younger generation. In the Journal interview, Mr. Douglas said, “We got accused of manipulation but it was a manipulation with a good and honest heart.”

A 1995 court settlement that gave ownership rights to Mr. Hendrix’s father also froze the Hendrix projects Mr. Douglas was still developing. After years of litigation, a 2012 court order allowed Mr. Douglas to complete a biographical book and documentary, both called “Starting From Zero,” based on the late guitarist’s original writings and statements.

Before he died, Mr. Douglas approved the documentary’s final edit and its producers hope to release it this year, said Stuart Shapiro, a Douglas friend and colleague who married Stella after her divorce from Mr. Douglas.

Mr. Shapiro said those close to Alan Douglas called him “A.D.,” a moniker first coined by Mr. Hendrix, who joked that it also meant “after death.”

“Now I’m living in the A.D. world,” said Mr. Shapiro, who Mr. Douglas tasked with completing and distributing “Zero,” his last Hendrix project. “The last thing Alan said to me was, “’Don’t compromise over your quest for quality.”’

For the latest entertainment news

Unsubscribe (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]&c=667bc08cfe) | Update your profile (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/profile?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]) | Forward to a friend (http://us2.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=667bc08cfe&e=[UNIQID])

Jazz Promo Services
269 State Route 94 South
Warwick, Ny 10990
USA

June 13, 2014 / No Comments / More

Postscript: Alan Douglas, Jazz Legend : The New Yorker

http://www.jazzpromoservices.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/jazzpromo https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jazz-Promo-Services/216022288429676

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/movies/2014/06/postscript-alan-douglas-jazz-producer.html

** POSTSCRIPT: ALAN DOUGLAS
————————————————————
74270176-580.jpg

The mark of a great producer is to create the artistic equivalent of a family, in which, however clear the resemblances may be and however similar the shared practical experiences, they never get in the way of individual self-expression. With loving guidance, the producer helps to encourage individuality, to foster audacity, to coax the members of the family into situations where unexpectedly fruitful possibilities arise—and to provide the means for doing so. On Saturday, a great producer, Alan Douglas, died at the age of eighty-one. He is responsible for some of the greatest modern jazz recordings ever released (and perhaps for some that remain unreleased, too).

Douglas is best known for his work with Jimi Hendrix, and some of that work has proved controversial (although I think the pairing with the modern-jazz organist Larry Young (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7Hwt2aRYWo) is excellent). For me, his most interesting work with Hendrix is a recording that didn’t happen: a session with Miles Davis. There’s a terrific 1997 article by Edwin Pouncey from The Wire that’s posted on Douglas’s Web site (http://www.douglasrecords.com/bio.htm) , in which the producer speaks at length about this project, noting that he had fostered a two-year friendship between Hendrix and Davis, and that the recording session, which was on the verge of taking place, foundered over money (a half-hour before the session, Davis asked for fifty thousand dollars, and the drummer, Tony Williams, countered by asking for the same sum). But, intriguingly, Douglas adds, “ ‘Bitches Brew’ ”—the seminal work of Davis’s turn to electrically amplified band and rock-based
rhythms—“was the result of Miles hanging out with Jimi for two years.”

Douglas’s epochal insight regarding the merging of jazz and rock was rooted, from the start, in his profound understanding of jazz itself, with its own inherent clashes and fusions of styles. He was a modernist from the start, putting Cecil Taylor and John Coltrane together for “Hard Driving Jazz (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEtMgUZXthU) ,” in 1958, and recording some of the most electrifying live dates involving Charles Mingus (“Nostalgia in Times Square (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HafQ0B36ZIQ) ”), Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers (“Three Blind Mice (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fOM08TXG8E) ”), and Jackie McLean and Kenny Dorham (“Inta Somethin’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1L5PzXoYumA) ”). But his taste was matched by the discerning originality of his sound world. Douglas’s live recordings have a stark, harsh dryness that captures the intimate physicality of performance: the breath in the saxophone, the vibration of a reed, the drummer’s contact of wood
on skins and metal rims, the plucking of a string bass and the resonations of its body. Until reading about Douglas now, after his death, I had never realized that he was responsible for these recordings, but their family resemblance in the tone of their musical voice is distinctive; it’s one of the sounds of the era.

But Douglas’s absolute artistic coup, the crowning glory of his career, is a studio session that brings together three of the best of all jazz musicians—two longtime modernist allies, the bassist Charles Mingus and the drummer Max Roach, and their regal swing-era elder, Duke Ellington, playing piano. Douglas explained that, as a record-company employee in Paris in the nineteen-fifties, he had worked with Ellington’s band. When Douglas was placed in charge of the new jazz label at United Artists, in 1960, he recalled,

Duke said to me one day, “Why don’t you make a record with me?” I thought that he should make a piano record. I wasn’t so keen on the big band stuff, because he had done so many records like that. Six months later he called me at United Artists and I said, “Let’s do it with people who are from your mould, the next generation.”

The record that resulted, “Money Jungle,” is unlike any other that Ellington made, before or after. Here’s the title track (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mE4kPbMwXbA) . From the start, Mingus’s tone is aggressive, his rhythms provocative and fluctuating, as if to goad Ellington, who, for his part, responds with aggressive playing of his own. His left hand slams the keyboard in a persuasive emulation of Bud Powell or Thelonious Monk, and some of the figures (as at 2:55-3:10) have a chromatic wildness—and a percussive pugnacity—worthy of Taylor’s. Here, too, Douglas, by emphasizing the snap of Mingus’s bass and catching Ellington’s piano head on and close up, creates a soundscape that is as crucial to the record’s impact as the performances themselves.

As a teen-age aficionado of modern jazz, and especially the music of Eric Dolphy, I bought an odd-looking record on a knockoff label, on which Dolphy and some unnamed musicians played Fats Waller’s “Jitterbug Waltz” and an exotic, Latin-tinged, jinglingly comical tune called “Music Matador (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-f3ZKjVheE) .” The record featured soloists whose sound was unfamiliar to my ear but joyfully distinctive and decidedly avant-garde. It turns out that these recordings, too—as well as others by Dolphy from 1963 that feature many of the same musicians, on a record called “Iron Man”—are Douglas’s (I blew out a pair of speakers with Dolphy’s solo on thetitle track (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BHjs_9Xq9s) ). It’s some of Dolphy’s most advanced work (and, again, it’s recorded with a startling immediacy). But what Douglas says about the recording sessions sets me dreaming:

We spent an entire week in the studio with these guys playing non-stop from three o’clock in the afternoon to four o’clock the next morning. They just kept blowing. We weren’t even thinking about records, we were just thinking about music & getting Eric’s ideas out. There was stuff coming out of those sessions that nobody had ever heard before.

And, I wondered on Twitter this week, stuff that nobody has heard since? Do those tapes, with their likely dozens of hours of music—featuring Dolphy with such luminaries as Woody Shaw (in his first recordings, at the age of eighteen), Bobby Hutcherson, Richard Davis, Sonny Simmons, Prince Lasha, and Clifford Jordan—still exist? Finding and releasing them would be an extraordinary tribute to Douglas’s musical vision—and to his large and enduring artistic family.

Alan Douglas (right) with Duke Ellington and Charles Mingus during the recording of the album “Money Jungle.” Photograph by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty.

Unsubscribe (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]&c=650051fd02) | Update your profile (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/profile?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]) | Forward to a friend (http://us2.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=650051fd02&e=[UNIQID])

Jazz Promo Services
269 State Route 94 South
Warwick, Ny 10990
USA

June 13, 2014 / No Comments / More

Sex and pop: The forgotten 1909 hit that introduced adultery to American popular music.

http://www.jazzpromoservices.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/jazzpromo https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jazz-Promo-Services/216022288429676
http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2014/06/sex_and_pop_the_forgotten_1909_hit_that_introduced_adultery_to_american.html

** Oh! You Kid!
————————————————————
2.2k (http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?s=100&p[title]=How+a+Sexed-Up+Viral+Hit+From+the+Summer+of+%E2%80%9909%E2%80%94+1909%E2%80%94Changed+American+Pop+Forever&p[summary]=In+the+spring+of+1909,+American+popular+song+got+sexy.+Of+course,+love+and+courtship,+and+by+extension+sex,+had+been+Topic+A+in+pop+music+for+decades.+But+while+songwriters+had+long+trafficked+in+euphemisms+and+innuendo%E2%80%94coy+talk+of+%E2%80%9Csighing%E2%80%9D+and+%E2%80%9Cspooning%E2%80%9D+beneath+the+old+oak+tree+and+by…&p[ref]=sl_live&p[images][0]=http://www.slate.com/content/dam/slate/articles/arts/culturebox/2014/05/oh_you_kid/140530_CBOX_OhYouKid.jpg/_jcr_content/renditions/cq5dam.web.1280.1280.jpeg&p[url]=http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2014/06/sex_and_pop_the_forgotten_1909_hit_that_introduced_adultery_to_american.html)
358 (http://twitter.com/search?q=http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2014/06/sex_and_pop_the_forgotten_1909_hit_that_introduced_adultery_to_american.html)
57 (http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2014/06/sex_and_pop_the_forgotten_1909_hit_that_introduced_adultery_to_american.html#comments)

** How a sexed-up viral hit from the summer of ’09—1909—changed American pop music forever.
————————————————————
By Jody Rosen (http://www.slate.com/authors.jody_rosen.html)

1 =A FORGOTTEN HIT=

In the spring of 1909, American popular song got sexy. Of course, love and courtship, and by extension sex, had been Topic A in pop music for decades. But while songwriters had long trafficked in euphemisms and innuendo—coy talk of “sighing (https://i.imgur.com/R56wSEW.jpg) ” and “spooning (https://i.imgur.com/AkI5gm2.jpg) ” beneath the old oak tree (https://i.imgur.com/w5CGlxm.jpg) and by the light of the silvery moon (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIkU7V89t30) —it was a 1909 hit by composer Harry Von Tilzer and lyricist Jimmy Lucas, “I Love, I Love, I Love My Wife—But Oh! You Kid!,” which opened Tin Pan Alley to brasher, bawdier, more raucously comic songs of lust.

In 2014, “I Love, I Love, I Love My Wife—But Oh! You Kid!” is forgotten by all but a few antiquarians. It deserves better. It’s a landmark, worthy of a place in the pantheon alongside “Give My Regards to Broadway (https://i.imgur.com/KqZfsZT.jpg) ” (1904) and “Alexander’s Ragtime Band (https://i.imgur.com/MF8bMry.jpg) ” (1911)—and, for that matter, “Like a Rolling Stone” and “Rapper’s Delight.” Like “The Twist (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twist_(dance)#Twist_hits_on_Billboard) ” and “Call Me Maybe (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYWDySIzfFU) ,” it was a viral hit, inspiring hundreds of spinoffs and rippling through American culture for decades before dropping out of earshot. It was a succès de scandale, which brought roars from vaudeville audiences and censure from social reformers, with all sides agreeing that “I Love, I Love, I Love My Wife—But Oh! You Kid!” had captured the zeitgeist, that it was a sign—the sound—of the times. It incited countless newspape
r editorials, fulminating sermons by preachers, and at least one fatal shooting.

Today, to the extent that we think at all about the turn-of-the-century hit parade, we regard it as prehistoric: quaint old music, redolent of ill-tuned pianos and gas-lit Rialtos, that was swept aside by grittier sounds, by the triumphal rise of jazz and rock ’n’ roll. If we listen closely to “I Love, I Love, I Love My Wife—But Oh! You Kid!” we may hear a surprising lesson: that the culture-quaking shocks, the salaciousness and transgression we associate with blues and jazz and rock and hip-hop, first arrived in American pop many years earlier. There is more than a nostalgia trip in this 105-year-old opéra bouffe about an adulterous husband and wife.
2 =ADDING SEX TO A STOLEN SONG=
140529_CBOX_Cover-OhYouKidShapiro

The saga of “I Love, I Love, I Love My Wife—But Oh! You Kid!” began like many on Tin Pan Alley: with theft. In 1908, the Shapiro Music Company published “Oh, You Kid!,” by the songwriters Edgar Selden and Melville J. Gideon. “Oh, You Kid!” was standard fare, a typical comic-courtship song: a catchy trifle, carrying a whiff of sex, but moderate in temperature and tempo.

Oh, you kid! Oh, you kid!
Come now, say you’ll let me cuddle closer
Nod your head but don’t you answer “No sir”
Oh, you kid! Oh, you kid!
I mean every word I’ve ever told you
Kiss me quick or else I’ll have to scold you
Oh, you kid!

The appeal of “Oh, You Kid!” lay mainly in that slangy endearment, “kid.” Like another novel usage of the period, “baby (https://i.imgur.com/ZtCVTmH.jpg) ,” “kid” held a hint of pillow-talk intimacy—a frisson that was enhanced by the threat to “scold” the kid who fails to deliver a quick kiss.

“Oh, You Kid!” was evidently a minor hit. (Just after the new year in 1909, the New York Star, a show business trade paper, reported (http://books.google.com/books?id=zDZPAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA229&lpg=PA229&dq=%22oh+you+kid%22+%22edgar+selden%22+%22general+manager+for+M.+shapiro%22&source=bl&ots=9tnKI7zYbH&sig=5ELF5BRP1e8Kc-g10z9to9fOqnM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=p320Uuu5OPfJsQST3YFI&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22edgar%20selden%22%20%22general%20manager%20for%20M.%20shapiro%22&f=false) that sales of the song’s sheet music had surpassed the 100,000 mark.) It certainly caught the attention of songwriters. In May 1909, Harry Armstrong and Billy Clark (https://i.imgur.com/zh8hU8K.jpg) , a vaudeville duo that also wrote songs, borrowed the “Oh, You Kid!” refrain for a new number, “I Love My Wife; But, Oh, You Kid! (https://i.imgur.com/lOEj0wa.jpg) ,” about a henpecked husband who lusts after a lady seated next to him in a restaurant. Armstrong & Clark’s song had a plodding tune and an awkward
lyric; it didn’t catch on. But it did its work, inspiring another song.

Copyright law had not yet caught up with the pop song business in 1909. Plagiarism was a thriving Tin Pan Alley institution; a pilfered song was, in the language of the trade, “a steal”—a fact of life in a cutthroat industry that thrived on trendiness and topicality, and held as an article of faith the belief that every hit could and should serve as a launching pad for dozens of light rewrites. The situation was exacerbated by the proximity of rival song publishing companies, which were clustered, in box-like offices, in the buildings that lined West 28th Street between Broadway and Sixth Avenue in Manhattan. In this cheek-by-jowl setting, new melodies could filter through walls and windows and be co-opted by competitors; songwriters threaded folded newspapers between piano strings to mute the instruments. The result was a tinkling, tinny piano sound, ringing out of the windows of song publishing firms, a din that earned the West 28th Street strip, and the song business at
large, the moniker Tin Pan Alley. The nickname was bestowed by journalist Monroe Rosenfeld, who, according to legend, coined the term while interviewing Harry Von Tilzer at the songwriter’s office in 1900.
140529_CBOX_Portrait-HarryVonTilzer

Courtesy of
Wikimedia Commons (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:HarryVonTilzer.jpg)

Von Tilzer muted his upright piano to protect against song thieves; he was a charter member of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers, the performance rights organization, founded in 1914, that brought a measure of law and order to the Wild West of pop music intellectual property. But that didn’t stop Von Tilzer from swiping a good idea when he heard one.On May 12, 1909, just nine days after Armstrong & Clark published “I Love My Wife; But, Oh, You Kid!,” Von Tilzer and Jimmy Lucas released their own variation. It was a heist and an upgrade, improving on the Armstrong & Clark original with a more winning melody, with sharper and racier lyrics, and with not one but three “I Loves” in the title.
140529_CBOX_Cover-LoveLoveLove

Now Jonesy was a married man—oh yes, he was
Sweet girlie on the single plan—I guess she was
Jonesy stopped and spoke to girlie
Just as old friends often do
And he said, “I’m married but”
“That ‘but,’ my dear, means you”

I love, I love, I love my wife—but oh, you kid!
For my dear wife I’d give my life—but oh, you kid!
Now wifey dear is good to me, a wrong she never did
I love, I love, I love my wife—but oh, you kid!

The success of Von Tilzer and Lucas’ “I Love, I Love, I Love My Wife—But Oh! You Kid!” was in part a matter of the superior song craft. The lyric is cheeky; turn-of-the-century slang dictionaries suggest that I may not be wrong in detecting a saucy pun (http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=butt) on the word “but” in the last line of the first verse. (“I’m married but/That‘but,’ my dear, means you.”) Von Tilzer’s fluency with hooks is on display, especially in the chorus, with its wide melodic leaps and that taunting singsong refrain, “Oh, you kid!”

What really set the song apart in 1909, though, was its tone: the relish with which extramarital shenanigans were depicted. For decades, popular songs about adultery had been Victorian morality plays—dolorous parlor ballads in 3/4 time, which promised that loneliness (https://i.imgur.com/N4dB1BZ.jpg) and ostracism (https://i.imgur.com/WT0imeM.jpg) awaited those who dared defile the marital bedchamber. Even comic songs had a strain of moralism: In Armstrong & Clark’s “I Love My Wife; But, Oh, You Kid!,” the husband with the wandering eye gets his comeuppance when, in the second verse, his wife turns up in the restaurant to drag him out the door. But in Von Tilzer and Lucas’ song, the flirting in verse one is apparently successful—and when the wife materializes in the second verse, she’s busy having her own fun, with a butcher:

Now Jonesy’s wife and butcher man each morn would chat
This butcher too was married but she didn’t mind that
And when poor Jonesy left the house each morning
They would sit and spoon
“Tell your tootsie who you love”
Then softly he would croon:
“I love, I love, I love my wife—but oh, you kid!”

What we have here, in other words, is a Progressive Era “O.P.P. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xGuGSDsDrM) ”—a song that insists, as Irving Berlin put it a few years later in spiritually kindred number, “everybody’s doin’ it now (https://i.imgur.com/KFccuRp.jpg) .” How exactly Von Tilzer and Lucas’ song became a hit is uncertain. In 1909, the recording industry was still in its infancy, the popular music economy was fueled by sheet music sales, and hit songs were usually made in live performance, on the vaudeville circuit. The surest way for Tin Pan Alley song pluggers to turn a new number into a hit was to place it in the act of a prominent variety stage performer, a task usually accomplished by pressure or payola—by arm-twisting, horse-trading, and often enough, straight pay-for-play bribery. If all went well, the song would be added by a well-known singer and “go over” onstage; additional performers would make room for the number in their repertoires, and vaudeville
touring troupes would take the tune from New York out across the country. Dance bands, restaurant orchestras, singing waiters, and street-corner buskers would likewise pick up the song; player-piano rolls would be recorded, and occasionally, singers would cut a wax cylinder or 78 RPM record. Eventually, a hit song would make the leap that music publishers really cared about, from the public to the private sphere: from the vaudeville proscenium to the sheet music stands of a million parlor room pianos.
3 =FROM THE STICKS TO THE WHITE HOUSE=
140529_CBOX_Comic-DesMoines

Graphic by Slate

The performance provenance of “I Love, I Love, I Love My Wife—But Oh! You Kid!” is unclear: I’ve found no evidence indicating when the song was introduced, or by whom. We can assume, though, that it was scooped up by several singers. Harry Von Tilzer was a reliable hitmaker; when a new Von Tilzer number was published, vaudevillians snapped to attention. In any event, the historical record is unambiguous about the song’s swift migration from New York to, as Von Tilzer and his Runyonesque Tin Pan Alley colleagues would have put it, the sticks. Less than a month after its publication, “I Love, I Love, I Love My Wife—But Oh! You Kid!” had traveled as far west as Iowa: On June 10, the Des Moines News ran a front-page above-the-fold editorial cartoon about congressional spending (http://i.imgur.com/MQpSzvE.jpg) that punned on the song’s title.

By the time spring turned to summer, “I Love, I Love, I Love My Wife—But Oh! You Kid!” was inescapable. “In 1909, most of us gentlemen…were parroting ‘I love my wife, but oh, you kid!”’ wrote the Algonquin Round Table wit Franklin P. Adams in a 1938 New Yorker reminiscence. Gentlemen weren’t the only ones who succumbed. The song cut a wildfire path across popular culture. What survives today of the craze that one wag called “the ‘Oh, You Kid’ madness” is a cabinet packed with curiosities: one-reel motion pictures (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1315958/) , studio photographs (http://i.imgur.com/Jjx54if.jpg) , neckties (http://i.imgur.com/vWdXHsd.jpg) , pinback buttons (http://i.imgur.com/9kd9N0V.jpg) , lapel pins (http://i.imgur.com/obBy4zY.jpg) , porcelain figurines (http://i.imgur.com/9YArvdK.jpg) ,souvenir dishware (http://i.imgur.com/6g1dDCb.jpg) , and hundreds of picture postcards, which savored (https://i.imgur.com/SstUqwI.jpg) the song’s naughtiness
(https://i.imgur.com/ugxEVgp.jpg) and found (https://i.imgur.com/BABa9HC.jpg) fodder (https://i.imgur.com/xTgAXIM.jpg) for lame jokes (https://i.imgur.com/w4BqjE8.jpg) , silly wordplay (https://i.imgur.com/lz1IBhV.jpg) , and racial (https://i.imgur.com/xgxUcD2.jpg) and ethnic (https://i.imgur.com/IIGUDaH.jpg) caricatures.
140529_CBOX_Postcard

Like other pop culture catchphrases, from “Elementary, my dear Watson” to “Whoomp! There It Is,” the song’s slogan quickly became ubiquitous, seducing millions and annoying nearly as many. It was used in advertisements for everything from Broadway musicals (http://i.imgur.com/3FyC4Rg.jpg) to pretzels (https://i.imgur.com/Kt3UiPe.jpg) . It was translated by newspapers into Esperanto (https://i.imgur.com/UzGPXQP.jpg) (“Ho! Vi kaprido!”). It was bellowed by a lovelorn Philadelphian (http://i.imgur.com/H2i5T6E.jpg) as he leaped from a bridge into the Schuylkill River, attempting suicide. It brought scandal (https://i.imgur.com/9PoviI9.jpg) to a church in Geneva, Ill., when a prankster altered the hymnal, adding the line “but, oh, you kid!” to the lyrics of the devotional “I Love My God.” It wasgraffitied on a newlywed couple’s honeymoon cabin (https://i.imgur.com/m5Qxpac.jpg) , next to another bawdy phrase, “Cum Rite Inn.”

A dispatch from New York published in the July 19, 1909, edition of the Walla Walla, Wash., Evening Statesman bemoaned the “damfoolishness” of the “Oh! You Kid!” phenomenon:

If anything was lacking—but there it  isn’t—to prove that New York is the  biggest yap town in the universe, and  entitled to the appellation of the rube  city, it could be found in the acceptance of such slang phrases as “Oh, you kid.” Meaningless jargon that it  is, utterly bereft of any glimmer of  common sense that would appeal to  the intelligence lurking in the noodle of a new-born doodle-bug, the phrase has been taken up and perpetuated by millions of the human insects that have their burrows in the metropolis. On the streets one is greeted by  hawkers offering for sale buttons bearing the idiotic refrain—buttons from  which dangle rude caricatures of nude  infants—and which are thrust into the  faces of men and women alike with  insulting repetitions of the  phrase. Phonographs repeat the idiotic exclamation, and vaudeville performers inject it forcibly into their already wearisome dialogue.

The reach of “I Love, I Love, I Love My Wife—But Oh! You Kid!” extended to the White House. At the Gridiron Club Dinner, the annual gala gathering of Washington elites attended in December 1909 by President William Howard Taft, the president was saluted in song (http://books.google.com/books?id=bOIrAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA16&lpg=PA16&dq=%22but+oh+you%22&source=bl&ots=gX3kRp1mAL&sig=FZQ0K72dps4VLAurmcqApVOLOys&hl=en&sa=X&ei=tLwBUOP9HIjL6wHHqYHxBg&ved=0CGMQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=%22but%20oh%20you%22&f=false) : “We love, we love, we love Roosevelt—but oh, you Taft!” By the time the new year rolled around, “I Love, I Love, I Love My Wife—But Oh! You Kid!” fatigue itself had become a cliché. (“Perhaps the worst thing 1909 has to answer for is the ‘Oh You, Kid!’ idiocy,” sighed the editorial page of the Arizona Silver Belt.) The Denver Post simply gave in, greeting 1910 with the inevitable “We loved  the old year, but Oh, You Kid!”

The epicenter of “oh, you kid!”-mania was Tin Pan Alley. Songwriters scrambled to capitalize on the big hit, pumping out parodies and rewrites: “I Love My Wife—But Oh! Her Family,” “I Love My Pipe—But Oh You Pippin! (https://i.imgur.com/xiCfr2m.jpg) ,” “I Love My Horse and Wagon—But Oh You Buick Car!,” and copious winking (https://i.imgur.com/CHrEq8X.jpg) -and (https://i.imgur.com/4VGUWF3.jpg) -nudging (https://i.imgur.com/jgLHwy3.jpg) variations (https://i.imgur.com/jZJ2P4y.jpg) on (https://i.imgur.com/74T7Pzy.jpg) the (https://i.imgur.com/8ijLO4l.jpg) “kid (https://i.imgur.com/yKve5DM.jpg) ” theme (https://i.imgur.com/C8ypYBb.jpg) —tales (https://i.imgur.com/fLltEq0.jpg) of street corner pickups (https://i.imgur.com/YopNC8i.jpg) and illicit rendezvous (https://i.imgur.com/eGoVm8p.jpg) .
140529_CBOX_Cover-Derivatives

Graphic by Slate

Meanwhile, song after song played adultery for laughs, with the body count of cuckolded husbands and abandoned wives piling high: “I Won’t Be Home ‘Till Late, Dear (https://i.imgur.com/HJ68aQx.jpg) ,” “She Borrowed My Only Husband (And Forgot to Bring Him Back) (https://i.imgur.com/kcgkzIk.jpg) ,” “If You Talk in Your Sleep, Don’t Mention My Name (https://i.imgur.com/REwlEbw.jpg) ,” “Oh! Where Is My Wife To-Night,” “I Trust My Husband Anywhere But I Like to Stick Around (http://i.imgur.com/YjhjVPH.jpg) ,” “I Can Dance With Everybody but My Wife,” (https://i.imgur.com/5MJWzFC.jpg) “Don’t Leave Your Wife Alone,” “I’m Just as Good as Single (I’ve Sent My Wife Away),” “You for Me When Your Wife’s Away (http://i.imgur.com/U7s88ac.jpg) ,” “I’m Glad My Wife’s in Europe (http://i.imgur.com/GJ2AVYo.jpg) ,” “Everything’s at Home Except Your Wife (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVuvp7Rc7Sw) .”
140529_CBOX_Cover-Wife

Graphic by Slate
140529_CBOX_Cover-Hurrah

The most successful copycat song, “My Wife’s Gone to the Country! Hurrah! Hurrah!,” was the first hit by 21-year-old Irving Berlin. Berlin’s song was a pop (https://i.imgur.com/qRMQBkB.jpg) culture (https://i.imgur.com/guOwBbp.jpg) sensation (https://i.imgur.com/tcIRXCC.jpg) in (https://i.imgur.com/ThJK5gc.jpg) its (https://i.imgur.com/bKpwkXD.jpg) own (https://i.imgur.com/3lhdMcG.jpg) right (https://i.imgur.com/8ePEre1.jpg) , but its chorus made no secret of the debt to “I Love, I Love, I Love My Wife—But Oh! You Kid!”

My wife’s gone to the country, hurray! hurray! 
She thought it best
“I need the rest”
That’s why she went away 
She took the children with her, hurray! hurray! 
I love my wife, but oh, you kid!
My wife’s gone away

These spinoffs date from the months immediately following the publication of “I Love, I Love, I Love My Wife—But Oh! You Kid!” But the original had a long cultural shelf life. In The American Language (http://www.amazon.com/dp/0394400755/?tag=slatmaga-20) (1921), H.L. Mencken complained about the banality of the phrase “I love my wife, but oh you kid!,” which he nonetheless included in a list of “current phrases and proverbs … that display the national talent for extravagant and pungent humor.” “I love my wife, but oh you kid!” was a favorite quip of Groucho Marx, who used it for years in comedy routines, and as a tagline when he signed autographs (http://i.imgur.com/U16SRyD.jpg) . The phrase pops up in John Dos Passos’ The 42nd Parallel (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00H12ACKI/?tag=slatmaga-20) (1930), in William Faulkner’s The Town (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004JHYSIA/?tag=slatmaga-20) (1957), in Joseph Heller’sSomething Happened
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005IQZ894/?tag=slatmaga-20) (1974). Delmore Schwartz, in his 1948 novella The World Is a Wedding, puts the words “I love my wife, but oh you id,” in the mouth of a character who, Schwartz writes, “had studied Freud and Tin Pan Alley.”

For decades, musical revivalists (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5qJYbOt-NQ) returned (http://i.imgur.com/ae2BEHe.jpg) to (http://i.imgur.com/ca3g86k.jpg) Von Tilzer and Lucas’ hit for nostalgic titillation—for a dose of raunchiness in period dress. The 1946 MGM movie musical The Harvey Girls (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00713872W/?tag=slatmaga-20) , a turn-of-the-century period piece starring Judy Garland, featured a new Harry Warren–Johnny Mercer song, “Oh, You Kid,” performed by Angela Lansbury as a high-kicking burlesque number. “Oh you kid, does wifey keep you hid?/I don’t know if she does, but she’d be wiser if she did,” Lansbury sang.

To filmgoers in 1946, the turn-of-the-century bawdiness revisited in “Oh, You Kid!” must have seemed quaint. In 1909, Von Tilzer and Lucas’ song was anything but. “I Love, I Love, I Love My Wife—But Oh! You Kid!” played sexual brazenness for laughs, but to many it was an affront—a fire-in-a-crowded-theater provocation that crossed the boundary of decency. The song was a culture war flashpoint, the subject of legal imbroglios, and, sometimes, an inciter of violence. A Missouri farmer who sent a young woman a postcard (https://i.imgur.com/zt4f8iJ.jpg) bearing the legend “I Love My Wife, But Oh You Kid!” was hauled into United States District  Court in Jefferson City, threatened with five years imprisonment, and given a stiff fine for the crime of “sending improper matter through the mails.” In Los Angeles, a “petite and pretty” woman, Marie Durfee, assaulted a man after he greeted her on the street with the song’s catchphrase. A police court judge sided with Durfee,ruling:
(http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=LAH19100907.2.77.10) “The salutation, ‘Oh, you kid!’ is a  disturbance of the peace and is punishable by ninety days’ imprisonment in  the city jail.”
140529_CBOX_Clipping-Insult

Graphic by Slate

Other jurists were more severe. The Oct. 28, 1909, edition of the New York Timesnoted a bizarre ruling by a court in Pittsburgh: “Any man who shouts ‘Oh, you kid!’ at a woman on the street, even though she should be his own wife, should be whipped. The Magistrate said he would not fine any man who administered the whipping.” An editorial writer in Arizona went further (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn87082863/1909-10-22/ed-1/seq-2/#date1=1836&sort=date&rows=20&words=kid+oh+you&searchType=basic&sequence=0&index=0&state=&date2=1922&proxtext=but+oh+you+kid%22&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=14) : “The man who without cause or reason, says ‘I  love my wife, but oh you kid!’ would not wear  his button long, for the fool killer would start  for him and mercifully end his existence.” That scenario was not, it turned out, farfetched. In October 1910, in Atlanta, a man named N.H. Bassett was shot by George Lambert, a railway company executive, after Bassett approached
Lambert’s wife on the street crying, “Oh, you kid!” “It is believed Bassett will die,” wire services blithely reported (http://i.imgur.com/7dxrUOg.jpg) . “Lambert surrendered, but was at  once released.”

The furor over “I Love, I Love, I Love My Wife—But Oh! You Kid!,” like the song itself, was definitively a thing of its time. Behind the sidewalk confrontations and draconian legal rulings we can perceive the anxieties of that post-Victorian moment: concerns about coarsening manners, about changing courtship rites, about the threat posed by modernity to the 19th-century ideal of “pure womanhood.” Traditionalists’ fears were heightened by the women’s suffrage movement, which held the promise of political enfranchisement and further freedoms, including sexual ones. That prospect was celebrated by popular songwriters, who indulged their taste for egalitarian erotic adventure in romps like “I Love My Husband, But—Oh, You Henry! (https://i.imgur.com/ZWRr4NR.jpg) ” and “I Love My Steady, But I’m Crazy for My Once in a While (https://i.imgur.com/vkZA5ak.jpg) .”
140529_CBOX_Cover-Suffragettes

Graphic by Slate

Blame for the erosion of traditional values was often placed on mass culture, in particular on popular music. The criticism had a racialist-tinge: Pop’s polyglot sound was scorned as a social contagion, a toxic blend of black ragtime’s “jungle rhythms” and the “low-class melodies” churned out by Tin Pan Alley’s “Hebrew song mills.” But the fears always circled back to women and sex. An article in the April 1910 issue of the American Magazine decried “The Decay of Vaudeville (http://books.google.com/books?id=3nAWAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA846&dq=%22suggestive+songs%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=1zq4UP2aHMXs0gGkj4GIAg&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22suggestive%20songs%22&f=false) ”:

The only limit is what the police will allow, and the police apparently draw the line only at indecent physical exhibitions, and not always there. The far more pernicious evil of suggestive songs and lewd, lascivious jests goes quite unheeded by the authorities. It is a fact that if your wife or your daughter goes to a vaudeville theatre at the present time the chances are at least seventy-five in a hundred that she will hear some jest or some song that reeks of the barroom or worse.

One “suggestive song” in particular drew the ire of pundits, social reformers, and clergy. Wilbur F. Crafts (http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/File:Rev._Wilbur_F._Crafts.jpg) , a Methodist minister and the head of the Washington, D.C.–based National Reform Bureau, decried “I Love, I Love, I Love My Wife—But Oh! You Kid!” in newspaper interviews. “Use of the expression ‘I love my wife, but, oh you  kid,’ greatly injures people’s morals,” Crafts said. “People laugh when I say that, but  it’s true just the same.” A 1909 essay in the magazine Physical Culture echoed the sentiment:

One of the most amazing exemplifications of the morals of mankind, and womankind also, has been indicated in the popularity of a sort of ribald song which very clearly portrays an unfaithful husband. The most popular phrase in this song is “I love my wife, but oh you kid.” Wherever this song is sung it is hilariously applauded. The singer is always careful to so modulate his voice as to make his meaning very clear. … National life depends on moral life. Loose morals, debased principles, degeneracy, they mean a gradual destruction of mankind. … “I love my wife, but oh you kid.” Is there anything amusing in the thought conveyed?

Billy Sunday. Billy Sunday.

Courtesy of Library of Congress (http://loc.gov/pictures/resource/cph.3b05466/)

The song’s most prominent opponent was Billy Sunday (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Sunday) , the evangelical preacher who commanded an audience of millions in the first decades of the century. In a 1911 sermon, Sunday rained fire and brimstone on pop music: “In times past, popular plays and their songs used to glorify the marriage relation. Now we hear such songs in the theater as ‘My Wife Has Gone to the Country, Hurray! Hurray!’ and ‘I Love My Wife, But Oh You Kid!’ These are things of the devil, things driving audiences to sin and hell.” Tin Pan Alley, of course, had an answer for the evangelist: “I Love My Billy Sunday, But Oh You Saturday Night (https://i.imgur.com/Crh69yr.jpg) .”

Sunday wasn’t exactly wrong, though. Deglorifying “the marriage relation” wasn’t just fun sport and big business on Tin Pan Alley. It was cutting edge. “I Love, I Love, I Love My Wife—But Oh! You Kid!” and the cheating anthems that followed it marked an aesthetic shift. In the past, songwriters had channeled ribaldry into minstrelsy, displacing sexual misbehavior onto ethnic characters, especially blacks, as in Harry Von Tilzer’s 1899 coon song (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coon_song) hit, “I’d Leave Ma Happy Home for You (https://i.imgur.com/MSxVAKV.jpg) .” Songs like “I Love, I Love, I Love My Wife—But Oh! You Kid!” took a different tack: They embraced mild ragtime syncopation but were performed by vaudevillians without dialect, in the voices of “normal” bourgeois white Protestant Americans. These songs were doubly modern, bringing new forthrightness about sex—it was a thing, it seemed, that even respectable white people did, for fun—while gentrifying and deracinating r
agtime: recasting the expressive vocals and jaunty rhythms, previously reserved for blackface songs, as vernacular Yankee Doodle American pop. Consider “My Husband’s in the City,” an answer to Berlin’s “My Wife’s Gone to the Country,” as drawled in a 1910 recording by Sophie Tucker.
140529_CBOX_Cover-HusbandCity

When summer comes we go away
To mountains or seashore
I can’t take hubby with me, poor boy
He must mind the store
You bet he’s having one good time
Although he writes he’s blue
But he ain’t got a thing on me
I have a good time, too

Oh! My husband’s in the city
’Bout a hundred miles away
He thinks for him I’m pining
“Fading away”
So he comes out every Friday
For what, I do not know
But he only stays ’till Sunday
Hurray! Hurrah! Hurrow!

Songs like “My Husband’s in the City” are a reminder that popular music in this period aimed for the funny bone with an intensity that it hadn’t before, and hasn’t since. The jokes were in part a response to the sentimentality of 19th-century pop, which was dominated by florid love ballads and tear-jerkers. Curiously, one of the star practitioners of the old style was Harry Von Tilzer. In the decade prior to the publication of “I Love, I Love, I Love My Wife—But Oh! You Kid!,” Von Tilzer had established himself as the Alley’s marquee songwriter-mogul by specializing in schlock.
4 =THE CONSUMMATE TIN PAN ALLEY WORKHORSE=

Harry Von Tilzer (https://i.imgur.com/EMi3UY8.jpg) is one of the more remarkable figures in the history of American song. He was born Aaron Gumbinsky, in 1872, in Detroit, to German-Jewish immigrant parents. When he was 14, he ran away from home to join the Cole Bros. Circus, where he worked as a singer and an acrobat. A year later, he relocated to Chicago, where he took a job playing piano and singing in a variety theater troupe. He began dabbling in songwriting, published his first number in 1892, and relocated to New York to pursue the career. (He was followed to Tin Pan Alley by his younger brother, Albert, who eventually earned fame as the composer of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game (https://i.imgur.com/kU7uPzn.jpg) .”) Aaron had earlier changed his name to Harry Gumm, but in New York he changed it again, adding an aristocratic “Von” to his mother’s maiden name. His breakthrough came in 1898 with “My Old New Hampshire Home (https://i.imgur.com/jzCRVI8.jpg) ,” a
sentimental ballad lifted out of the goop by Von Tilzer’s stirring tune (http://www.loc.gov/jukebox/recordings/detail/id/9683/) . The song’s sheet music sold 2 million copies—the first in a long string of multimillion-selling hits.
140529_CBOX_Portrait-HarryVonTilzerHandbill

Von Tilzer’s biography, in other words, traces a familiar path: From child of the Jewish ghetto to bootstrapping showbiz tyro to autodidact all-American hit-maker. It’s the heroic trajectory we associate with Irving Berlin, and although Berlin always claimed Stephen Foster as his muse, Von Tilzer was his real model—right down to the fancy adopted “German” surname. Berlin’s first paying Tin Pan Alley gig, when he was still Izzy Baline, was as a guerrilla song plugger, or “boomer,” for the Harry Von Tilzer Music Publishing Co. (It was his job to stir up enthusiasm for newly published Von Tilzer numbers by shouting for encores from the vaudeville cheap seats.) Not only was Berlin’s debut hit an “I Love, I Love, I Love My Wife—But Oh! You Kid!” rewrite, the song that made Berlin’s career, the 1911 smash “Alexander’s Ragtime Band,” was a sequel to Von Tilzer’s hit coon song, “Alexander, Don’t You Love Your Baby No More (https://i.imgur.com/IglzsbH.jpg) ” (1904), and
Berlin’s great 1924 torch ballad “All Alone (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81XSxM4no-w) ” (“All alone/By the telephone/Waiting for a ring …”) was transparently based on Von Tilzer’s 1911 “telephone song” of the same title (https://i.imgur.com/z3WaiAv.jpg) .

It was Von Tilzer’s approach to songwriting, his productivity and populism, which really blazed the trail for Berlin. Von Tilzer was the consummate Tin Pan Alley workhorse. He cranked out thousands of songs, trying his hand at every imaginable genre and sub-genre, while heeding the slightest shifts in the variable winds of public taste. He composed love songs (https://i.imgur.com/gMPWGO8.jpg) and rags (https://i.imgur.com/7AzlYLb.jpg) and patriotic tunes (https://i.imgur.com/l7QghCI.jpg) ; he had hits with blackface numbers (https://i.imgur.com/U4BfFNJ.jpg) and German dialect songs (https://i.imgur.com/PWeZX8q.jpg) . He put out topical songs about Ouija boards (https://i.imgur.com/U7emjjl.jpg) , Liberty Bonds (https://i.imgur.com/E10nwfD.jpg) , prohibition (https://i.imgur.com/YnOIyGP.jpg) , and the discovery of Tutankhamen’s tomb (https://i.imgur.com/sFBZXpw.jpg) . He spurred dance crazes with “The Cubanola Glide (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcHK6bdmhdc) ” (1910) and
“The Bunny Hug (https://i.imgur.com/GnjD6Wo.jpg) ” (1912). His 1905 ballad “Wait ’Till the Sun Shines, Nellie (https://i.imgur.com/JJJHAJP.jpg) ” is still the unofficial theme song of the New York Stock Exchange (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RY-uUfKcJI0) .

Top Comment

I love my content-free Slate clickbait, but oh, you Jody Rosen!

-Draugr

57 Comments (http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2014/06/sex_and_pop_the_forgotten_1909_hit_that_introduced_adultery_to_american.html#comments) Join In (http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2014/06/sex_and_pop_the_forgotten_1909_hit_that_introduced_adultery_to_american.html#comments)

Von Tilzer wrote lyrics as well as music, although he rarely took credit for them. In fact, in a 1943 lawsuit, Von Tilzer claimed that he, not Jimmy Lucas, had written the words to “I Love, I Love, I Love My Wife—But Oh! You Kid!”: that he’d agreed to give away the lyric-writing credit because Lucas had suggested the title of the song and had promised to plug it. (This kind of transactional gifting of songwriting credits was a common practice on Tin Pan Alley.) Whether or not we take Von Tilzer at his word and regard “I Love, I Love, I Love My Wife—But Oh! You Kid!” as his song, music and lyrics, it is an exemplary Harry Von Tilzer song—because of its catchiness and appeal, certainly, and because of its uncanny good timing, its arrival at just the right moment to satisfy a public eager for more piquantly spiced hits. That skill for zeroing in on the next big thing carried over to Von Tilzer’s role as a publishing tycoon and talent scout. A decade after giving Irving Berlin
his start, Von Tilzer published the first song by 17-year-old George Gershwin, an inauspicious novelty piece called “When You Want ’Em, You Can’t Get ’Em, When You’ve Got ’Em, You Don’t Want ’Em (http://i.imgur.com/6FhQUFH.jpg) ” (1916).

Von Tilzer was most famous for the ballads he composed in the 1890s and first years of the new century. The songwriter himself was unsentimental and ironic, but he had a knack for the kind of music, lavishly drizzled with schmaltz, that was feasted on by late-Victorian audiences: extravagant chromaticism bolstering lyrics about roses in bloom and sweethearts in the gloaming and old folks at home, and morbidly moralistic stories of dead babies, sainted mothers, and ruined womanhood. The biggest blockbuster of Von Tilzer’s career was the tremulous “A Bird in a Gilded Cage” (1900), which wagged a finger at a pretty girl stuck in a marriage to an old coot.
140529_CBOX_Cover-GildedCage

She’s only a bird in a gilded cage
A beautiful sight to see
You may think she’s happy and free from care
She’s not, though she seems to be
’Tis sad when you think of her wasted life
For youth cannot mate with age
And her beauty was sold
For an old man’s gold
She’s a bird in a gilded cage

If the sobs in this definitive turn-of-the-century “sob ballad (http://www.loc.gov/jukebox/recordings/detail/id/9683/) ” sound like they’re laid on extra-thick—they are. “A Bird in a Gilded Cage” began its life as a parody: Von Tilzer composed the music on a dare, when the lyricist Arthur Lamb challenged him to come up with a melody that would befit his preposterously soppy verses. The musicologist Jon W. Finson has written of “A Bird in a Gilded Cage”: “The whole song has an ironic quality to its melodrama, as if the author’s manipulation of sentiment were meant to be obvious. Von Tilzer overdoes the chromatic interludes between phrases, making a caricature of the period cliché in which imported cadences supported harmonies by descending a half step.”

The mischievousness of this stunt says a lot about Von Tilzer, and it sheds light on “I Love, I Love, I Love My Wife—But Oh! You Kid!,” which was often performed as a parody of Victorian ballad style. Listen to the hammy rendition of the song’s chorus recorded in 1909 by vocalist Arthur Collins. Collins lampoons parlor ballad waltzes, lustily rolling his R’s, quavering histrionically, and rising to a mock-operatic crescendos.

Vocal burlesques of this sort were common in the songs of the period, particularly in the adultery-themed songs that followed “I Love, I Love, I Love My Wife—But Oh! You Kid!” A textbook case is another Von Tilzer number, “I Sent My Wife to the Thousand Isles” (1916), sung by Al Jolson in a rollicking travesty of light opera vocal style.
140529_CBOX_Cover-ThousandIsles

Just think when I get home tonight
There’ll be no wifey there
And right across the table
I will see a vacant chair
I love my wife, I love my wife
I love her more each day
I love my wife, I love my wife
Because she’s far away

What we are hearing in these send-ups is not just a joke about genres. It’s the sound of a generation gap opening: the brusque changing of the musical guard that takes place every couple of decades, when the young toss their parents’ soundtracks on the dung heap. In the ’50s and ’60s, Frank Sinatra and Patti Page were elbowed aside in favor of R&B and rock ’n’ roll. In the ’80s and ’90s, the children of baby boomers ditched rock for hip-hop. Thus “Let’s Make a Rag of the Old Oaken Bucket (https://i.imgur.com/HfYqFbj.jpg) ” (1911), which remade the 19th-century parlor room standard “The Old Oaken Bucket (https://i.imgur.com/pWBMrRB.jpg) ,” a maudlin ballad (http://www.loc.gov/jukebox/recordings/detail/id/8546/) of childhood and old homestead nostalgia (http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/folk-song-lyrics/Old_Oaken_Bucket.htm) , as sex-soaked 20th-century ragtime: “Let’s make a rag of the old oaken bucket/Syncopate that melody/Let’s hug and squeeze while the keys nip and tuck
it.” The next rhyme wasn’t, as in the dirty old limerick (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_once_was_a_man_from_Nantucket#Ribald_versions) , “Nantucket”—but it may as well have been.
5 =AN ANTHEM OF FREEDOM AND YOUTH=

The standard historical narrative treats the 1950s as the dawn of popular music as we know it: the moment when the sex simmering beneath the surface bubbled to the top, when teenagers stampeded to dance floors, when rock ’n’ roll cracked open a gulf between the generations, never again to be bridged. But ’50s sock-hoppers were merely restaging scenes that had played out decades before. At the turn of the century, dance halls teemed with hormonal youth. From Dance Hall to White Slavery: The World’s Greatest Tragedy (http://books.google.com/books?id=EP6NH1jihcUC&printsec=frontcover&dq=from+dance+hall+to+white+slavery&hl=en&sa=X&ei=EanBUt_SNZXesATbjIGwDQ&ved=0CDQQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=from%20dance%20hall%20to%20white%20slavery&f=false) (1912), a tract about the evils of social dancing, noted with alarm that “an evening’s average of 86,000 young people attend the dance halls of Chicago,” where they “danced to the suggestive music of the cheap orchestras”—to Tin Pan Alley’s endless
supply of “new and more suggestive” songs.

Ragtime’s slaves-to-the-rhythm (https://i.imgur.com/bOAnvIv.jpg) weren’t just figments of Billy Sunday’s fevered imagination—and “I Love, I Love, I Love My Wife—But Oh! You Kid!” wasn’t just a novelty ditty. It was, like the other hits of its era, a generational marker, an anthem of changing times and freedom and youth. The old songs sound goofy to us, but a hundred years ago they carried a teenybopper throb and the impish menace of punk rock.

Rifling the “I Love, I Love, I Love My Wife—But Oh! You Kid!” scrapbook, we catch some intriguing glimpses of that young audience. The song was big on campus: The phrase “oh, you kid!” was banned at Yale (https://i.imgur.com/H17CBnG.jpg) , and Princeton University was scandalized when it awoke one morning in December 1909 to find those words slapped in bright red paint on the walls of the theological seminary’s chapel (https://i.imgur.com/wLevXzO.jpg/) .

My favorite “I Love, I Love, I Love My Wife—But Oh! You Kid!” artifact—the most alluring and mysterious one I’ve run across—is a photograph that I bought several years ago on eBay. Dated 1909, the snapshot captures four young people, apparently in their late teens or early 20s, sitting arm in arm on what looks like the lawn of a large house. They are pointing the soles of their eight shoes towards the camera, with a letter painted on each to spell out—what else?—OH YOU KID.
140529_CBOX_Photo-ShoesWide

Am I the only one who finds this image eerily familiar? Am I wrong to imagine that we are looking at a turn-of-the-century version of the mods, the Deadheads, the breakdance crew? Who could doubt that it was these four, or their spiritual cousins, who defaced the seminary chapel at Princeton? And who can deny the rock-star charisma of the young woman second from the left, with her scarf knotted like a necktie, and a glower worthy of Chrissie Hynde? Her gaze, implacable and sphinxlike, feels like a taunt—a reminder of how little we know, how much we’ve forgotten, about our musical past. But there’s at least one clear message in that hard, cool stare: In 1909, as in 1966, as in 2013, the kids were alright. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afam2nIae4o)
Grammy-winner Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks have played in New York nightclubs appeared in films (The Cotton Club, The Aviator, Finding Forrester, Revolutionary Road, and HBO’s Boardwalk Empire) and for concerts at the Town Hall, Jazz At Lincoln Center and the Newport Jazz Festival. Other recording projects include soundtracks for Terry Zwigoff’s Ghost World, Tamara Jenkins’s The Savages, Robert DeNiro’s The Good Shepherd, Sam Mendes’s Away We Go, Michael Mann’s film Public Enemies, and John Krokidas’s feature, Kill Your Darlings; along with HBO’s Grey Gardens, Todd Haynes’s HBO miniseries Mildred Pierce and an upcoming Haynes’ film called Carol. The Nighthawks are also seen and heard in the USA Network series Royal Pains and the PBS series Michael Feinstein’s American Songbook.

A Brooklyn native, Vince Giordano’s passion for this music and the people that made it began at age 5. He has amassed an amazing collection of over 60,000 band arrangements, 1920s and 30s films, 78 rpm recordings and jazz-age memorabilia. Giordano sought out and studied with important survivors from the period: Whiteman’s hot arranger Bill Challis; drummer Chauncey Morehouse; and bassist Joe Tarto. Giordano’s knowledge, passion, and commitment to authenticity led him to create a sensational band of like-minded players, the Nighthawks.

Giordano has single handedly kept alive an amazing genre of American music that continues to spread the joy and pathos of an era that shaped our nation. This summer, Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks will perform at Lincoln Center’s Midsummer Night Swing; Town Hall’s American premiere of Cole Porter’s La Ambassadeur Review; Music Mountain; Old Westbury Gardens; Kingsborough College; Pier 84’s Moon Dance; the Newport Jazz Festival; Morgan Park in Great Neck; and Levitt Pavillion in Westport, CT. Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks can be heard every Monday and Tuesday at Iguana NYC.

** ↂ
————————————————————
This evening’s program is the last before our summer recess. We will resume either in September or October. Mailing list members will be notified of our first meeting by Labor Day.

HAVE A HAPPY SUMMER!

** ↂ
————————————————————

**
————————————————————
DIRECTIONS TO THE SONIC ARTS CENTER
Subway: Take the 1 train to 137^th Street City College and walk north to 140^th St. & Broadway,
then go east to 140^th St. & Convent Avenue. Take the A, B, C, or D trains to 145th St, go south on St. Nicholas to 141st St, (one long block), then west one block to Convent Avenue, and south one more block to 140th & Convent Avenue.
Bus: M4 and M5 on Broadway; M 100, 101 on Amsterdam Ave (one block West of Convent Avenue.)

** ↂ
————————————————————
The Sonic Arts Center at CCNY offers 4-year Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees in Music with a concentration in Music and Audio Technology. Their program provides an in-depth curriculum emphasizing real-world skills with a project-based approach. Students enjoy a well-rounded program, with emphasis on audio technology, music theory, orchestration, and history to help them compete in a field that today demands
an ever-growing and highly diverse skill set.

All ARSC NY Chapter meetings are free and open to the public.
Voluntary contributions to help defray our expenses are welcome!

To join ARSC, visit http://www.arsc-audio.org

Unsubscribe (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]&c=ccc6a1bf07) | Update your profile (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/profile?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]) | Forward to a friend (http://us2.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=ccc6a1bf07&e=[UNIQID])

Jazz Promo Services
269 State Route 94 South
Warwick, Ny 10990
USA

June 12, 2014 / No Comments / More

‘Never-before-seen’ 1972 Miles Davis acetate from Columbia Recording Studios available on eBay | Dangerous Minds

http://www.jazzpromoservices.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/jazzpromo https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jazz-Promo-Services/216022288429676
http://dangerousminds.net/comments/never_before_seen_1972_miles_davis_acetate_from_columbia_recording_studios

‘NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN’ 1972 MILES DAVIS ACETATE FROM COLUMBIA RECORDING STUDIOS AVAILABLE ON EBAY

06.11.2014
06:34 am

Topics:
Music (http://dangerousminds.net/categories/category/music)

Tags:
Miles Davis (http://dangerousminds.net/tag/Miles-Davis)

Miles Davis

A strange and marvelous item popped up on eBay recently—as of Wednesday, June 11, the auction in question (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Miles-Davis-Never-Before-Seen-Columbia-12-Acetate-from-1972-HEAR-IT-/201104058840) , posted by reputable eBay user carolinasoul, has four days and change to go. As of this writing, the price is at $315, for which you will receive “one jaw-droppingly special piece, a likely one-of-a-kind Miles Davis acetate.” According to the handwritten label, the material was recorded on December 28, 1972.

The two sides—you can’t even say “side A” and “side B” in a situation like this—are 14:40 and 5:40 in length. According to carolinasoul, “We’ve identified the 14:40 side as a take of the track that would eventually become ‘Billy Preston (http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=as_li_qf_sp_sr_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&index=aps&keywords=Billy%20Preston%20miles%20davis&linkCode=as2&tag=boxoffbof-20) ’ on Get Up With It (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004VWA5/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00004VWA5&linkCode=as2&tag=boxoffbof-20) .” Davis’ 1974 album (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004VWA5/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00004VWA5&linkCode=as2&tag=boxoffbof-20) was the trumpeter’s last studio album before his “retirement” in the mid-1970s.

The material on the 5:40 side has yet to be identified.

Miles Davis

Here are the snippets of material carolinasoul posted as a sample:

Excerpt #1 of the 14:40 side:

Excerpt #2 of the 14:40 side:

Excerpt #3 of the 14:40 side:

Excerpt #4 of the 14:40 side:

Excerpt #1 of the 5:40 side:

Excerpt #2 of the 5:40 side:

Miles Davis

This is one of those auctions where it’s hard to believe that “No questions or answers have been posted about this item.”

Miles Davis, “Billy Preston”:

Grammy-winner Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks have played in New York nightclubs appeared in films (The Cotton Club, The Aviator, Finding Forrester, Revolutionary Road, and HBO’s Boardwalk Empire) and for concerts at the Town Hall, Jazz At Lincoln Center and the Newport Jazz Festival. Other recording projects include soundtracks for Terry Zwigoff’s Ghost World, Tamara Jenkins’s The Savages, Robert DeNiro’s The Good Shepherd, Sam Mendes’s Away We Go, Michael Mann’s film Public Enemies, and John Krokidas’s feature, Kill Your Darlings; along with HBO’s Grey Gardens, Todd Haynes’s HBO miniseries Mildred Pierce and an upcoming Haynes’ film called Carol. The Nighthawks are also seen and heard in the USA Network series Royal Pains and the PBS series Michael Feinstein’s American Songbook.

HAVE A HAPPY SUMMER!

** ↂ
————————————————————

All ARSC NY Chapter meetings are free and open to the public.
Voluntary contributions to help defray our expenses are welcome!

To join ARSC, visit http://www.arsc-audio.org

Unsubscribe (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]&c=c8b89ec240) | Update your profile (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/profile?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]) | Forward to a friend (http://us2.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=c8b89ec240&e=[UNIQID])

Jazz Promo Services
269 State Route 94 South
Warwick, Ny 10990
USA

June 11, 2014 / No Comments / More

Teaneck jazz photographer Chuck Stewart, 87, honored by township – News – NorthJersey.com

http://www.jazzpromoservices.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/jazzpromo https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jazz-Promo-Services/216022288429676
http://www.northjersey.com/news/his-life-s-work-is-a-melody-of-images-1.1031318

** Teaneck jazz photographer Chuck Stewart, 87, honored by township
————————————————————

Chuck Stewart, 87, an award-winning photographer, was recently named one of Teaneck most outstanding residents.

VIOREL FLORESCU/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Chuck Stewart, 87, an award-winning photographer, was recently named one of Teaneck most outstanding residents.

TEANECK — Chuck Stewart didn’t move to this township half a century ago just because he’d heard good things about it.

Stewart, a renowned photographer of thousands of jazz album covers and editorial spreads for such icons as Miles Davis and Billie Holiday, had been tracking down a music industry associate, who moved from New York City to Teaneck without telling him. That business associate, famed R&B disc jockey Jack “The Pear Shaped Talker” Walker, owed him some records.

Stewart found Walker living on Teaneck’s Rensselaer Road in 1965. He also discovered a better place to live. Soon after, the photographer, his wife, Mae, and their three small children moved from their apartment in a deteriorating building in the Bronx to a two-story, three-bedroom home on Voorhees Street.

“Teaneck chose me. I didn’t choose Teaneck,” said the 87-year-old, who was recently recognized by the Township Council as “one of this community’s most outstanding residents.”

His family’s accidental landing in Teaneck worked out, Stewart said. The children grew up and attended school in a suburban community known for embracing upwardly mobile minorities, and that freed Stewart to focus intensely on his career photographing the world’s most celebrated jazz and pop musicians.

Stewart’s youngest son, Chris, 51, said his father “went to work and we were safe here. Every now and then, if I didn’t know where he was, he’d leave a ticket stub on the kitchen table. He’d take us into the darkroom and show us the pictures. So we knew dad was exactly where he said he was. He wasn’t cheating on mom, that’s for sure!”

After they met their neighbors, Mae Stewart told her husband she was worried that they weren’t going to “keep up with the Joneses,” Stewart recalled. The neighborhood, a formerly Jewish area of town where real estate agents steered black families looking to move to Teaneck, became home to couples, many making nearly $100,000 annually.

Confidently, Stewart assured his wife, “What we do is make the Joneses keep up with us.”

That took some creative thinking. Even though he held a degree in fine arts from Ohio University — “I was probably one of the best-trained photographers in the world” — advertising agencies on New York’s Madison Avenue, which paid $1,500 per ad, weren’t falling over themselves to give work to African-American photographers over whites, who dominated the trade, Stewart recalled.

That didn’t bother him much, considering he had steady work photographing the likes of Gil-Scott Heron, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald and Sonny Rollins. But that work averaged just $150 per shoot. He eventually found work with a small ad agency and used his connections to bring home the finer things to his wife and children.

The agency had an account with the Stiffel Lamps Co., which sold household table lamps for $400 each. After Stewart photographed some of those lamps, the company parted with $1,200 worth of them for $75. Later, he shot a $1,200 dining room set and took it home for $150. The floor rugs for every room of the house cost him $500, instead of the $2,000 they would have cost him in a department store, he said.

“I got these things for practically nothing, so, in some instances, I probably made more money than my neighbors did,” Stewart said. The Stiffel lamps are still in his living room.

Stewart’s wife died in 1987. The business and the neighborhood changed over time, and he closed his New York City studio and moved his darkroom to his basement in the 1990s. He started to notice there were fewer children playing in front yards and more aging residents, like him, using canes. That cycle has recently reversed as young families have moved in again.

Stewart has long been a valued member of the community. Councilman Henry Pruitt, who lives a block from him on Voorhees Street, said neighborhood block parties wouldn’t be the same without Stewart’s peach cobbler.

Stewart has passed the recipe on to his son David, 56, who, he said, “makes it better than I do.” Stewart also has a daughter, Marsha, 58, who lives in Chicago.

Stewart prizes his jazz portfolio, from which images have been published in his book, “Jazz Files,” as well as in a number of publications, including Esquire and The New York Times. His photos have also been shown in exhibitions at Lincoln Center and at the bergenPAC in Englewood. In March, he was honored by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History during its annual jazz-appreciation celebration.

Fifty years after he moved to Teaneck, the now-retired photographer knows the stability that homeownership brought was good for his family and for his career.

“I never thought of myself as an intelligent person, in terms of the subject matter,” he said. “I was taking pictures of what I was assigned to do, in order to make a living for my family. That was my job.”
Grammy-winner Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks have played in New York nightclubs appeared in films (The Cotton Club, The Aviator, Finding Forrester, Revolutionary Road, and HBO’s Boardwalk Empire) and for concerts at the Town Hall, Jazz At Lincoln Center and the Newport Jazz Festival. Other recording projects include soundtracks for Terry Zwigoff’s Ghost World, Tamara Jenkins’s The Savages, Robert DeNiro’s The Good Shepherd, Sam Mendes’s Away We Go, Michael Mann’s film Public Enemies, and John Krokidas’s feature, Kill Your Darlings; along with HBO’s Grey Gardens, Todd Haynes’s HBO miniseries Mildred Pierce and an upcoming Haynes’ film called Carol. The Nighthawks are also seen and heard in the USA Network series Royal Pains and the PBS series Michael Feinstein’s American Songbook.

HAVE A HAPPY SUMMER!

** ↂ
————————————————————

All ARSC NY Chapter meetings are free and open to the public.
Voluntary contributions to help defray our expenses are welcome!

To join ARSC, visit http://www.arsc-audio.org

Unsubscribe (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]&c=d11996e936) | Update your profile (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/profile?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]) | Forward to a friend (http://us2.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=d11996e936&e=[UNIQID])

Jazz Promo Services
269 State Route 94 South
Warwick, Ny 10990
USA

June 11, 2014 / No Comments / More

Ben Tucker widow suing city, county for his death | WJCL News

http://www.jazzpromoservices.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/jazzpromo https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jazz-Promo-Services/216022288429676
http://wjcl.com/2014/06/04/ben-tucker-widow-suing-city-county-for-his-death/

** Ben Tucker widow suing city, county for his death
————————————————————
By Chris BuchananPublished: June 4, 2014, 3:29 pmUpdated: June 4, 2014, 4:22 pm
tucker

** Related Coverage
————————————————————
*
** Play It Forward Concert honors Jazz great Ben Tucker (http://wjcl.com/2014/05/29/play-it-forward-concert-honors-jazz-great-ben-tucker/)
————————————————————
*
** Ben Tucker missed at Savannah Music Festival (http://wjcl.com/2014/03/19/ben-tucker-missed-at-savannah-music-festival/)
————————————————————
*
** Golf tournament in memory of Ben Tucker (http://wjcl.com/2013/09/06/golf-tournament-in-memory-of-ben-tucker/)
————————————————————
*
** Bond set for man charged with Ben Tucker’s death (http://wjcl.com/2013/06/21/bond-set-for-man-charged-with-ben-tuckers-death/)
————————————————————
*
** Jazz funeral held for Savannah musician Ben Tucker (http://wjcl.com/2013/06/10/jazz-funeral-held-for-savannah-musician-ben-tucker/)
————————————————————
*
** Funeral arrangements for jazz legend Ben Tucker (http://wjcl.com/2013/06/07/funeral-arrangements-set-for-jazz-legend-ben-tucker/)
————————————————————
*
** Man charged in Ben Tucker’s death appears in court (http://wjcl.com/2013/06/05/martin-charged-in-ben-tucker-death/)
————————————————————
*
** Savannah community reacts to Ben Tucker’s death (http://wjcl.com/2013/06/04/savannah-community-reacts-to-ben-tuckers-death/)
————————————————————
*
** Ga. jazz musician Ben Tucker killed in car crash (http://wjcl.com/2013/06/04/ga-jazz-musician-ben-tucker-killed-in-car-crash-2/)
————————————————————

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WJCL) – The wife of the late Ben Tucker announced this week that she is suing all parties involved in the accident (http://wjcl.com/2013/06/04/ga-jazz-musician-ben-tucker-killed-in-car-crash-2/) that killed the famous jazz great.

The lawsuit (https://lintvwjcl.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/tucker-lawsuit1.pdf) , which included the city, county and hotel where the incident occurred, was filed just days before today’s one year anniversary of Tucker’s death after a golf cart he was driving was struck by a vehicle on Grand Prix of America Avenue.

In the lawsuit, Gloria Tucker’s legal representative Paul M. Hoffman said that the plaintiff demands a trial by jury against the defendants for the full value of “the life of Tucker, his pre-death pain and suffering and his funeral expenses” – an amount to be determined by the jury.

Legal documents from Gloria Tucker’s legal counsel claim that Westin Resort owners not only knowingly ignored obvious safety concerns regarding fast driving on the aptly-named road but also chose to delay construction of safety barriers and moved existing ones.

The suit claims that the hotel and the city and county agreed to put up barriers and signs to prevent high speed driving but that the hotel failed to erect them in a timely manner. The city is also accused of taking down speed limit signs on the roadway which is owned, controlled and maintained by the city and county.

Both the city and county are named in the suit as negligent for not acting when the structures were not constructed in time.

The suit claims Tucker was crossing the road to get to his car which was in a resort-owned parking lot on the other side when he was struck.

Full lawsuit available here (https://lintvwjcl.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/tucker-lawsuit1.pdf) .
More on the anniversary memorial remembering Tucker’s life and the lawsuit tonight on WJCL News at 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. this evening.
Grammy-winner Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks have played in New York nightclubs appeared in films (The Cotton Club, The Aviator, Finding Forrester, Revolutionary Road, and HBO’s Boardwalk Empire) and for concerts at the Town Hall, Jazz At Lincoln Center and the Newport Jazz Festival. Other recording projects include soundtracks for Terry Zwigoff’s Ghost World, Tamara Jenkins’s The Savages, Robert DeNiro’s The Good Shepherd, Sam Mendes’s Away We Go, Michael Mann’s film Public Enemies, and John Krokidas’s feature, Kill Your Darlings; along with HBO’s Grey Gardens, Todd Haynes’s HBO miniseries Mildred Pierce and an upcoming Haynes’ film called Carol. The Nighthawks are also seen and heard in the USA Network series Royal Pains and the PBS series Michael Feinstein’s American Songbook.

HAVE A HAPPY SUMMER!

** ↂ
————————————————————

All ARSC NY Chapter meetings are free and open to the public.
Voluntary contributions to help defray our expenses are welcome!

To join ARSC, visit http://www.arsc-audio.org

Unsubscribe (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]&c=9cddd6bd1d) | Update your profile (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/profile?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]) | Forward to a friend (http://us2.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=9cddd6bd1d&e=[UNIQID])

Jazz Promo Services
269 State Route 94 South
Warwick, Ny 10990
USA

June 11, 2014 / No Comments / More

Next-Best Thing to Living Next Door to Your Idol – NYTimes.com

http://www.jazzpromoservices.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/jazzpromo https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jazz-Promo-Services/216022288429676
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/10/nyregion/prime-real-estate-at-the-cemetery-is-a-plot-next-to-an-idol.html?hpw&rref=nyregion&_r=0 (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/10/nyregion/prime-real-estate-at-the-cemetery-is-a-plot-next-to-an-idol.html?hpw&rref=nyregion&_r=0)

** Next-Best Thing to Living Next Door to Your Idol
————————————————————

Photo
Victor Goines, a jazz saxophonist and clarinetist, at Woodlawn Cemetery, visiting the grave of Frankie Manning, an early creator of the Lindy hop. Credit Nicole Bengiveno/The New York Times
Continue reading the main story

During a break in a concert in the Bronx, Victor Goines, a jazz saxophonist and clarinetist, realized that he wanted to spend more time in that very place — a lot more time. Being there would put him close to people he idolized, like Duke Ellington, so he decided to spend $25,000 to buy the land behind the stage.

The land behind the stage was a cemetery plot, No. 10836 GR2-5, on a slope in the Hillcrest section of Woodlawn Cemetery. It is about 50 yards from where Ellington was buried in 1974, and he is not the only jazz great in the neighborhood.

“The location is prime real estate,” said Mr. Goines, who is 52 and does not plan to occupy the plot anytime soon. “I’m looking at Miles Davis, who’s right across the same intersection, and Illinois Jacquet, who’s a couple of plots below where I am.”

For Mr. Goines and others with similar ideas about where they want to be when they die, it is a different kind of hero worship, and puts a new twist on the real estate cliché “location, location, location.” It could be the ultimate form of devotion, putting yourself closer to someone you admired than you ever were in life — especially if the only words you ever spoke to a favorite celebrity were “Can I have your autograph?” or “Can I take a selfie with you?” — or it could be the ultimate way to elevate oneself. You may not be famous, but proximity to someone who was could bestow some prestige.
Photo
Duke Ellington is among the many great entertainers and jazz musicians buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. Credit Nicole Bengiveno/The New York Times

It is one of those revealing, unexpected details of life, arranging in death to be slightly to the left or right of a Hollywood celebrity like Marilyn Monroe or a civil rights figure like Rosa Parks or someone else with a claim to fame when they were alive. It is not so surprising to people in the funeral business, though.

“It is much like it is if you want to live near your idols,” said Patti Bartsche, the editor of American Cemetery and American Funeral Director magazines. “It has the same cachet — ‘I’m going to be buried near Lionel Hampton’ or ‘I’m going to be buried near Michael Jackson.’ You want to have a connection to somebody who’s important in your life. People choose to be buried, if they choose to be buried, in a place that has meaning to them.”
Continue reading the main story Continue reading the main story

X CLOSE

There are amateur sculptors who arranged to be buried near famous ones like the avant-garde artist Alexander Archipenko. One woman who works at Woodlawn bought a space for her mother near the crypt of Celia Cruz, the Latin music star. And Jacob Reginald Scott, a businessman who was an amateur drummer before his death in 2012, has an image of a drummer on his tombstone, close to the grave of the bebop pioneer Max Roach.

“He had so many records of all the people who are there, Miles Davis and Duke Ellington,” said his widow, Merri Hinkis-Scott. “He admired all the people he happens to be with now.”

And there are people like Pauline Smith, a jazz fan and swing dancer who plans to be buried at Woodlawn near Ellington and Frankie Manning, one of the early creators of the Lindy hop.
Photo

Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn is the resting place of many well-known residents, like James S.T. Stranahan, known as the “Father of Prospect Park.” Credit Nicole Bengiveno/The New York Times
Continue reading the main story

“Who knows what life is after death?” said Ms. Smith, a retired teacher who is 74 and lives in New Rochelle, N.Y. “Not knowing what it is, I want to enjoy the thing that brings the most joy to me in my life right now, so I want to be close to them.”

That is the same motivation that prompted Marty Markowitz, the former Brooklyn borough president, to buy a plot at Green-Wood Cemetery adjacent to the graves of two prominent Brooklynites from the 19th century, one a mayor in the days when Brooklyn was a city on its own. “That’s what I wanted even before I became borough president,” he said.

Not surprisingly, graves near the final resting places of famous people can carry premium prices. “Cemeteries love this kind of thing,” said Thomas A. Parmalee, the executive director of the publishing company that produces Ms. Bartsche’s magazines and a newsletter, Funeral Service Insider. “When there’s a plot that’s in demand, they can advertise for more money, though I don’t think they go out and advertise because that’s not politically correct.”

A crypt above Marilyn Monroe’s in a cemetery in Los Angeles had a winning bid of $4.6 million on eBay in 2009. The owner, a widow who wanted to pay off the $1 million mortgage her husband had left behind, moved his remains 23 years after he had been buried there. (In 1992, Hugh Hefner, the Playboy magazine founder, paid $75,000 for another crypt near Monroe’s.)

There were reports after Michael Jackson died in 2009 that prices for plots near his in Glendale, Calif., had jumped more than $2,000, to $9,900. And in 2006, after Rosa Parks died, the prices of crypts near where she and members of her family were entombed in a cemetery in Detroit climbed as much as $15,000.
Photo
A crypt above Marilyn Monroe’s in a cemetery in Los Angeles sold for $4.6 million on eBay in 2009.Credit Andrew Gombert/European Pressphoto Agency

Some cemeteries pre-empt price-gouging. After Jim Valvano, the Queens-born basketball coach who led North Carolina State to a national championship, died in 1993, Historic Oakwood Cemetery in Raleigh, N.C., laid a sidewalk next to his grave “so that no one could buy that property and sell it at a higher rate,” said Robin Simonton, the executive director. “He was that important in Raleigh that there was a fear that someone would do it.”

She said that the plots closest to Mr. Valvano’s grave — a short walk away, on the sidewalk — now go for $4,000. One was taken when Lorenzo Charles, the player whose dunk won the 1983 championship game, died in 2011 in a bus crash.

At Woodlawn in the Bronx, Susan Olsen, the cemetery’s historian, said that Ellington bought his plot in the late 1950s. The spot he chose was not far from the grave of the singer Florence Mills, who died in 1927 and whom Ellington elegized in the song “Black Beauty” the following year.

Over the years, other jazz figures were buried in the same section of the cemetery, which covers more than 400 acres. Then, in 2000, when the tap dancer Harold Nicholas died, “he wanted to be as close to Ellington as possible,” Ms. Olsen said. “We contacted a family that had an unused space about 12 graves down and we bought it back from them for Harold Nicholas.”

The vibraphonist Lionel Hampton had his people call the cemetery about being buried in the same area, Ms. Olsen said. The cemetery was so eager to welcome him that it cut down a tree before anyone made any arrangements. “We didn’t hear a word until the night before he died” at 94 in 2002, Ms. Olsen said, “and his agent called to make sure we still had the place.”

Illinois Jacquet followed in 2004. And, several years later, Mr. Goines purchased his plot, with Ms. Olsen offering guidance.

“She was very strategic,” said Mr. Goines, who will play a free concert at Woodlawn at 7 p.m. Wednesday with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and Wynton Marsalis. “She said you should buy here because you want people to be able to look up the hill and see you. She said: ‘Don’t get behind Illinois Jacquet. No one’s going to see you there; he has a huge headstone.’ She wanted me to be visible and well received and seen when people come into the place.”
Grammy-winner Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks have played in New York nightclubs appeared in films (The Cotton Club, The Aviator, Finding Forrester, Revolutionary Road, and HBO’s Boardwalk Empire) and for concerts at the Town Hall, Jazz At Lincoln Center and the Newport Jazz Festival. Other recording projects include soundtracks for Terry Zwigoff’s Ghost World, Tamara Jenkins’s The Savages, Robert DeNiro’s The Good Shepherd, Sam Mendes’s Away We Go, Michael Mann’s film Public Enemies, and John Krokidas’s feature, Kill Your Darlings; along with HBO’s Grey Gardens, Todd Haynes’s HBO miniseries Mildred Pierce and an upcoming Haynes’ film called Carol. The Nighthawks are also seen and heard in the USA Network series Royal Pains and the PBS series Michael Feinstein’s American Songbook.

HAVE A HAPPY SUMMER!

** ↂ
————————————————————

All ARSC NY Chapter meetings are free and open to the public.
Voluntary contributions to help defray our expenses are welcome!

To join ARSC, visit http://www.arsc-audio.org

Unsubscribe (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]&c=fcf4b419de) | Update your profile (http://jazzpromoservices.us2.list-manage.com/profile?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=911f90f0b1&e=[UNIQID]) | Forward to a friend (http://us2.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=3186fe64133adb244b1010be2&id=fcf4b419de&e=[UNIQID])

Jazz Promo Services
269 State Route 94 South
Warwick, Ny 10990
USA

June 11, 2014 / No Comments / More

1 2 Next →

Archive for Month: June 2014

Teenie Hodges, Soul Guitarist and Songwriter, Dies at 68 – NYTimes.com

Joe Segal wins major jazz honor – chicagotribune.com

NEA Announces Lifetime Honors Recipients and 2015 Jazz Masters

NEW INVESTIGATION: Glenn Miller’s disappearance on acclaimed nat’l PBS HISTORY DETECTIVES series (relatives/experts/research)

NEW INVESTIGATION: Glenn Miller’s disappearance on acclaimed nat’l PBS HISTORY DETECTIVES series (relatives/experts/research)

Nat Hentoff Is the Subject of David L. Lewis’s Documentary – NYTimes.com

An Unholy Row – Jazz in Britain and its Audience 1945-1960 « thejazzbreakfast

Soviet-Era Bootleg Recordings of Banned Western Music

Head over to Moodsville for vintage mellow jazz – Oakland Jazz music | Examiner.com

Revisiting Jazz Roots – NYTimes.com

Gerry Goffin, Songwriter With Carole King, Dies at 75 – NYTimes.com

▶ Baby Washington Doodlin/Steve Miller – Filthy McNasty- YouTube (pop versions of Horace Silver tunes)

Rifftides: Aaron Sachs & Jimmy Scott, Gone

ver – YouTube + Statement on the Death of NEA Jazz Master Horace Silver

Horace Silver, 85, Master of Earthy Jazz, Is Dead – NYTimes.com

Jazz Pianist, Composer Horace Silver Dies At 85 : The Two-Way : NPR

Be-Bop Glasses

A Cultural Conversation: Terry Teachout and John Douglas Thompson on ‘Satchmo at the Waldorf’ – WSJ

News and notes: Jazz sleuths, saxophonists and more – Oakland Jazz music | Examiner.com

Donald Russell Connor, 92, bank vice president and jazz buff – Philly.com

Review: “DO NOT SELL AT ANY PRICE: THE WILD, OBSESSIVE HUNT FOR THE WORLD’S RAREST 78 RPM RECORDS,” by AMANDA PETRUSICH | JAZZ LIVES

Conversation: Jazz Musician Jason Moran | Art Beat | PBS NewsHour

The Machine That’s Saving the History of Recorded Sound – Adrienne LaFrance – The Atlantic

▶ 4400 Vinyl Record 45 rpm DJ Dream Collection for sale – YouTube

Billy Taylor Street Naming

Street Naming Ceremony Honoring Dr. Billy Taylor

Alan Douglas, Who Mined Hendrix Archive, Dies at 82 – NYTimes.com

Diggin’ In The Crates With A Legend

Jazz Singer Jimmy Scott Dies at 88 – Hollywood Reporter

Jazz Singer Jimmy Scott Dies at 88 – Hollywood Reporter

Jazz Articles: Singer Jimmy Scott Dies at 88 – By Jeff Tamarkin — Jazz Articles

June 19 –7 p.m. Panel Discussion: Jazz in the USA: On the 60th Anniversary of the Newport Jazz Festival

Ruby Dee meets Fats Waller in “Jazztime Tale” – Oakland Jazz music | Examiner.com

Jazz Producer, Hendrix Confidant Alan Douglas Dies – Speakeasy – WSJ

Postscript: Alan Douglas, Jazz Legend : The New Yorker

Sex and pop: The forgotten 1909 hit that introduced adultery to American popular music.

‘Never-before-seen’ 1972 Miles Davis acetate from Columbia Recording Studios available on eBay | Dangerous Minds

Teaneck jazz photographer Chuck Stewart, 87, honored by township – News – NorthJersey.com

Ben Tucker widow suing city, county for his death | WJCL News

Next-Best Thing to Living Next Door to Your Idol – NYTimes.com

Client Campaigns by Year

Client Comments