Larry Kart

I'm halfway through the newish LaFaro biography written by his younger sister Helene LaFaro-Fernandez, "Jade Visions," and despite what one might expect (his sister?), it's quite good so far. She and Scott were very close apparently, she was on or around the scene enough back then to get the flavor of things, has talked to a lot of the right people, and just has a lot of soul. Scott's intense drive toward perfection comes through quite clearly; he would practice all day if he could, then play the gig and come back and practice some more. One nice scene, related by Scott's girlfriend of the time, Suzanne Stewart, is when Scott is on the road with the Buddy Morrow band in Detroit in Feb. 1956 (Stewart was the band's vocalist), and the MJQ happened to be staying at the same hotel. Percy Heath walks by Scott's room, hears him practicing, knocks on the door and says, "If you're going to go to all that trouble, man, why not play guitar?" Scott replies, "Because bass is my instrument." Several months later the Morrow band was in Memphis, and it was suffocatingly hot. Stewart urged Scott to join her in the hotel swimming pool. He begged off, saying, "I can't, I've got some good callus going." Link to the book: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_0_12?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=jade+visions+the+life+and+music+of+scott+lafaro&sprefix=jade+visions

Pickens and Mance would certainly qualify. Grey can function in that style but came along well after the era when hardbop was an urgently "present" music in Chicago, which is what I think David has in mind as the organizing principle for the show. A guy who I'm pretty sure came to Chicago after the city's hardbop era but who spent a lot of time there, was a significant figure on the scene, and who certainly fits in stylistically would be tenorman Lynn Halliday, whose at times erratic but at best striking work can be found on several Delmark albums. BTW, in that new coffee table book about photographer W. Eugene Smith's NYC jazz loft, which is put together quite scrappily IMO, one startlingly intense passage is a transcription of a 1961 or '62 conversation between Halliday and his friend Sonny Clark (Smith had tape machines running in the loft all the time, recording just about everything), whom Halliday fears has just taken enough heroin to kill himself. It seems quite clear from what is being said that if Halliday and his girlfriend hadn't been there, Clark would have died on that night rather than (of related causes) on Jan. 13, 1963. Link to the W. Eugene Smith Jazz Loft book: http://www.amazon.com/Jazz-Loft-Project-Photographs-1957-1965/dp/0307267091/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261531183&sr=1-1

The Gaia (or Gaia-ish) idea "that the fertile earth itself is female, nurturing mankind," does seem to have links with so-called "ecofeminism": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecofeminism If it doesn't, that's cool too.

Saw it yesterday, in 3-D. Been thinking about what I thought. First take is that I accepted from the first the alien or avatar lead characters as characters, not special-effects creations, especially the female lead; for me, that counted a great deal. Second take is that my attention never really wandered, although the whole Gaia (sp?) basis of the alien civilization seemed familiar bordering on the cheesy -- Cameron as male feminist? Third take is that Sigourney Weaver is a treat; her performance/presence helps a lot. Fourth take is that the avatar entertains the hope that somehow he can mediate between the humans and the aliens for far too long. But, basically, it passed the Harry Cohn test. The 3-D, as others have said, is not obtrusive, but as someone who wears regular glasses, I think I might have liked it as well or better without the 3-D; I adjusted for the most part to the 3-D glasses but became conscious of them at times, felt at once that I should be closer up or farther back.

Bassists Victor Sproles, Bob Cranshaw, and Donald Garrett, drummers Dorel Anderson and Walter Perkins, tenorman Johnny Board (recently mentioned on another thread). As RPKlich said, Joe Daley for sure. Trumpeter Art Hoyle. Venturing toward the relatively obscure and probably unrecorded, tenorman Dick Kroll (Mobley-esque and a frequent associate of Ira Sullivan in '56-'57) and tenorman/altoist Haig Tchician (who had a "pecking" style a la Shafi Hadi/Curtis Porter, though Tchician sounded that way before any Hadi/Porter recordings emerged).

What Mark says above (though he disagrees) was the only point I was trying to make -- the phrase "has absorbed his Branford" just struck me as absurd in a "so we've come to this" manner (vampirish "young lions" giving birth to "young lions"). Have heard a little Strickland, have avoided Branford as much as possible over the years after early encounters. It's certainly not impossible that the latter has an identity by now, but if so, he's absorbed his Burke and Hare.

3. Marcus Strickland Trio "Idiosyncracies" (Stick Muzik) A bright and sturdy saxophone-trio record ... by a young musician who's absorbed his Joe Henderson and Branford Marsalis yet never sounds overstudied." So we've come to this -- "...absorbed his Branford"? How can you tell?

Anyone familiar with the works of English composer Bernard Stevens (1916-1983)? I've known about his music for about ten years and re-listening today to his Second Symphony (1962) and his Cello Concerto (1952) I was very impressed. Other works of substantial scope that I'll be checking out now are his Violin Concerto (1943), his Piano Concerto (1955), his Variations for Orchestra (1962), his Dance Suite (1957), his First Symphony (1945), and two string quartets. It's been said that Stevens had a kinship to Shostakovich, but I don't hear it. Perhaps a bit like latter-day Hindemith but without the harmonic circularity, and with grit and balls and a terrific austere "ear," especially for brass sonority and for unusual combinations of instruments that sound inevitable, e.g. a passage in the adagio of the Cello Concerto where solo flute flies contrapuntally above cello and orchestra.

Nicky Hill, Jodie Christian, Wilbur Campbell, E. Parker McDougal.

That's on the new Hawkins Jazz Icons DVD -- in a good deal better sound than on this clip.

And did you see that the name of the show is "Dong News"?

http://www.amazon.com/Washington-Concerts-Charlie-Parker/dp/B00005AQCH The quartet material in particular. Maybe the fieriest Bird ever captured. http://www.amazon.com/Boston-1952-Charlie-Parker/dp/B00000AFBX/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1261080249&sr=1-1 The half with Twardzik et al. in particular.

Yes, but the last part of Ratliff's "[Thompson] extended the capacious, dramatic sound and modern harmonic ideas of Coleman Hawkins and Chu Berry from the 1930s, as well as the streamlined and mercurial improvising of Paul Gonsalves" is extremely dubious. If there was much relationship between Thompson and Gonsalves, it almost certainly was the other way around, Thompson having preceded Gonsalves as featured tenor saxophonist with Count Basie (Thompson 1944-5, Gonsalves 1946-49), though Gonsalves was four years older. Just as likely, the young Gonsalves was processing his and Thompson's common forerunners (Hawkins, Berry, and, above all, Ben Webster and Don Byas). I wouldn't think that Thompson, then or later on, "extended" what Gonsalves was doing; there was no need for him to do that -- his own distinctive style coalesced rapidly. One might as well say that Allen Eager extended the ideas of Richie Kamuca.

This is not Allan Chase, right? He being the saxophonist, head of the Jazz Studies Program at the New England Conservatory, and spouse of vocalist Dominique Eade.

In the Arts, Bigger Buildings May Not Be Better By ROBIN POGREBIN Published: December 11, 2009 Within months of its opening in 1997, Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum Bilbao had given the language a new term and the world a new way of looking at culture. The “Bilbao effect,” many came to believe, was the answer to what ailed cities everywhere — it was a way to lure tourists and economic development — and a potential boon to cultural institutions. Municipal governments and arts groups were soon pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into larger, flashier exhibition spaces and performance halls. Now the economic downturn has reined in a lot of these big dreams and has also led to questions about whether ambitious building projects from Buffalo to Berkeley ever made sense to begin with.... http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/12/arts/design/12build.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=bibao%20gehry&st=cse

Thanks, Jim R.

With the old server, I think that the list of recent posts was at least three screens worth. To me, that seemed about the right amount, while the number of new posts shown with the new server seems to be not enough. Could the list of new posts be expanded?

Moving on through these. The Hawkins is, as they say, swings and roundabouts. Hawkins himself is in fine form on the 1962 material from Belgium, but the video production is static, sound is only OK, pianist George Arvanitas is energetic but banal, and drummer Kansas Fields can be rather bombastic. The 1964 material from Great Britain has alert video production, better sound, and a better band (Harry Edison, Sir Charles Thompson, Jimmy Woode [also on the 1962 material], and Jo Jones), but it takes three numbers (of that concert's seven) for Hawkins to get warmed up; the change is quite startling, though what comes before has interest -- he just seems rather short-breathed and not full in tone by his standards. Edison is in fine form technically and not as given to his favorite phrases as usual; his "Girl from Ipanema" (on the first of the two ballad medleys) is a gem, as is Hawkins' intense "September Song" (from the second medley). I'm not the world's Number One Art Farmer fan, but the Farmer is pretty much solid gold -- good sound, good video production, and perhaps the best recorded work period of the two versions of this quartet with Jim Hall, Steve Swallow, and either Walter Perkins or (here) Pete LaRoca. All parties are inspired (though Swallow's solo work tends to swoon at times, he's otherwise right in there rhythmically), and Farmer, on flugelhorn throughout, still had much of the rhythmic definition of his trumpet playing (for my taste, eventually he could get little "cloudy" on flugelhorn). LaRoca is a particular source of fascination -- a terrific drummer just playing his ass off, and, as it happens, a terrific drummer to watch as well. I've only sampled the Smith and the Garner. Smith seems to be in top form, and the fluidity with which he apportions his hands and feet to the task is pretty mind-boggling; I'm not delighted with the sound quality though, which overloads at times (capturing Smith's sound in full flight on a concert stage in 1969 must have been no picnic). Also, based on what I've heard so far, guitarist Eddie McFadden sounds like a more interesting player than I recall him being. Garner too seems to be in great form and also is treat to watch; sound is quite good. I'll add more when I've finished listening.

Callas' is quite something. I agree with this from London Green in "The Metropolitan Opera Guide to Recorded Opera": "There is a Gypsy quality of mind in her portrayal. For once, we do not have to take the power of this haunting figure on faith; it is as if Callas' Carmen is saying, 'I have experienced, in my own special way, everything: why do we live if not to do so?' Her Carmen is such a gypsy: mythical, if you will -- subtle, adventurous, full of emotional and even intellectual byplay, inviting, and intensely alive beneath the veneer of seductive grace. Even her contempt is bewitching, so that she mocks and magnetizes at the same time." I also agree with Green's endorsement of "the wit and sexual mystery" of Conchita Supervia's excerpts.

Looks like great fun so far.

This could be easily three times as long: Lars Hallnas: Wo der Wind den Steg unwehet (Content) -- A Swede and the only damn supposed minimalist who's ever done a thing for me Messiaen: "St. Francis" Alexander Goehr : Piano Concerto and Symphony in Three Movements (NMC) -- other Goehr works, too Robin Holloway: Second and Third Concerti for Orchestra (NMC) Bill Hopkins: Complete Piano Music (Col Legno) Judith Weir: "The Consolations of Scholarship" (United) Stefan Wolpe: Just about everything that falls with this time period, especially Chamber Piece No. 1 -- unfortunately, the great recording of this piece (cond. by Arthur Weisberg on Nonesuch) may not be available, and the one that is, on Arte Nova, is not good. Salvatore Sciarrino: Complete Piano Works (Metronome) Martin Boykan: Elegy (CRI) Paul Cooper: Violin Concerto (CRI) Lots of Morton Feldman, including Triadic Memories, played by Louis Goldstein, and Three Voices, sung by ensemble accroche note

Used copy of the Harnoncourt (MHS version of the 1980s Teldec original) arrived yesterday. It's just what I was hoping for -- characterized up the wazoo. Eccentric at times in its stop and start moments (the original Gramophone review came close to saying "there oughta be a law"), and not always neatly played (the added oboes in Concerto 1 are at sea rhythmically) but full of life, drama, and music. On the strength of this and on-line samples, I've ordered Harnoncourt's recent and seemingly very gemutlich Haydn "Seasons" (Harmonia Mundi) from Berkshire. By comparison my old Dorati (London) seemed humorless.

Either Booker Ervin in a Blindfold Test or Dexter Gordon in a conversation with yours truly (I no longer recall which): "Damn -- that Jaws plays backwards!"

I think that Evans himself was implicitly making that distinction when he said: “I believe that all music is romantic, but if it gets schmaltzy, romanticism is disturbing. On the other hand, romanticism handled with discipline is the most beautiful kind of beauty.” Further, I believe that those words jibe with the way he handled IMO "pretty" and/or "cutesy" pieces like "People" and "Make Someone Happy" -- pieces that I have no doubt he chose to play. That is, again IMO, in such performances the rather whiny schmaltziness of the original tunes is not transformed by Evans' "discipline" into "the most beautiful kind of beauty" but seems to invade Evans' own musical bloodstream. As the man said, disturbing. By contrast, I think that the certainly overt romanticism of Walter Gross' "Tenderly" has a good deal more musical and emotional spine to it than "People" and Make Someone Happy" do, and that Evans' recorded performance of "Tenderly" reflects this (albeit this performance is from a much earlier period than the other two recordings).