ghost of miles Posted November 30, 2004 Report Posted November 30, 2004 Got the book today! I just couldn't wait for Christmas. Larry's last post just brightened my upcoming-birthday thoughts. Really looking forward to reading the book! Quote
ghost of miles Posted November 30, 2004 Report Posted November 30, 2004 A bit long for a field goal, but if you got the wind to your back... How about a javelin throw? Maybe not the best way to introduce yourself to a neighbor, I guess... Quote
pryan Posted November 30, 2004 Report Posted November 30, 2004 Got the book today! I just couldn't wait for Christmas. Larry's last post just brightened my upcoming-birthday thoughts. Really looking forward to reading the book! Me too. My parents know it's on my wish list; I think they've ordered - I hope! Quote
montg Posted December 10, 2004 Report Posted December 10, 2004 LK's book received a very nice review in the Jazz Record Mart's catalog: "The Neo-Con Game is particularly interesting and a breath of fresh air..." "interesting and provocative"... "This book is VERY highly recommended" I expect to find this book under the Christmas tree--looking forward to it. Quote
JSngry Posted December 10, 2004 Report Posted December 10, 2004 I'm up to the Bill Evans essays, which I am LOVING. My sentiments exactly. I can see why they provoked a death threat, though. The truth can drive some people crazy. Quote
Jim Alfredson Posted December 10, 2004 Report Posted December 10, 2004 One of them turned out to have moved three weeks ago from Chicago to Whitehall, Mi., where Chuck and Ann live. This guy, in his mid-70s it seemed, had some great stories about gigs at South Side Chicago clubs like the Crown Propeller Lounge, including one where both Jimmy Smith and Jack McDuff were on the bill, and they played at each other for part of the evening from opposite sides of the room. Larry, after you emailed me about this I looked up the address and ran a map program on the computer. They seem to live 448 yards from our house. Get that man to an Organissimo gig! Quote
Brad Posted December 10, 2004 Report Posted December 10, 2004 I've been a little tardy in reading this but I've just finished the Dizzy Gillespie article. The only thing I can say is that you know how to write because there is some beautiful expressive writing. I skipped ahead to the Sonny Stitt article and what you wrote really summarizes Sonny. This and the Morgenstern book are required reading. I hope your father is getting better. Quote
Larry Kart Posted December 10, 2004 Author Report Posted December 10, 2004 Thanks Jim and Brad. The direct real response you get at a place like this, and from people who really know what they're talking about (because for years they've been talking about and thinking about the same things you have), is something else. It's like you're a caveman drawing on the walls what you hope are interesting images of bison, and then your fellow cavemen come by and say, "Now that's a bison." Quote
pryan Posted December 10, 2004 Report Posted December 10, 2004 Hey, Larry, would you mind signing my copy after I get it for X-Mas? That would be super. B-) Quote
Larry Kart Posted December 10, 2004 Author Report Posted December 10, 2004 pyan (and anyone else who'd like a signed copy) -- I think the simplest way (maybe the only way, though I'm open to suggestions) is for you to send me your copy, and then I'll sign it and mail it back. When the time comes, send me a personal message and I'll pass along my street address. Quote
Larry Kart Posted December 10, 2004 Author Report Posted December 10, 2004 "I can see why they provoked a death threat, though. The truth can drive some people crazy." I had a similar feeling at the time -- that the depth of anger among those musicians I knew (or knew of) who were angered by the piece seemed to confirm my point about the crutch-like relationship (in both literal musical and emotional/spiritual/cultural terms) between Evans' playing and that of many of his many disciples. Of course, you could say that it was self-serving of me to think that; those angry musicians just might have been reacting to views they found unfair and/or stupid. But at the least, I don't think that either my tone or stance in that piece (or in the new epilogue to it) is/was other than genuine, however wrong what I had to say might seem to a stone Evans admirer. Quote
pryan Posted December 10, 2004 Report Posted December 10, 2004 pyan (and anyone else who'd like a signed copy) -- I think the simplest way (maybe the only way, though I'm open to suggestions) is for you to send me your copy, and then I'll sign it and mail it back. When the time comes, send me a personal message and I'll pass along my street address. Thanks, I'll do that. Quote
desertblues Posted December 10, 2004 Report Posted December 10, 2004 Just bought my copy from B&N website and sent you a pm - really looking forward to this book! Quote
AllenLowe Posted December 10, 2004 Report Posted December 10, 2004 The Evans piece does get you thinking, and I disagree with some of it, though not enough to do Larry any physical harm. It's so well written and argued, however, that it immediately sent me back to some old recordings and assumptions. It's a great corrective to so much received wisdom, as well. We could use a new and comprehensive assessment of Evans' music. I've always thought there was a bit of the narcissist about his music. I knew his wife Nan in the early 1980s and got to meet him a few times, and thought (per our meetings and from what I heard from Nan) that he was two different people - 1)a slightly whiny, addicted personality who thought nobody loved or appreciated him and was used to everyone accomodating his neuroses, and 2) a really nice and articulate guy, thoughtful and smart and interesting. So this may at least partially account for some of the shifting tone of his work - Quote
neveronfriday Posted December 10, 2004 Report Posted December 10, 2004 I've always thought there was a bit of the narcissist about his music. Interesting. I just thought about exactly that the other day. Without any proof whatsoever I do think that you're on to something there regarding the shifting tone. ================================================== And, Larry, your book is at the top of my shopping list, but I hope my dad will get it for me. Am looking forward to it, one way or the other. Cheers! Quote
AllenLowe Posted December 10, 2004 Report Posted December 10, 2004 Well, the proof is in the music, which is quite varied in it's tone and feeling. I know Martin Williams would disagree with a lot of what Larrty wrote, but I do recall him remarking on a similar problem with some of Evans's music, which he described as one of communication with the audience. I would put it in different terms, but I think I know what he was referring to. It's not surprising that the kind of personality disorder(s) that Evans had would effect his music. I have known many musicians with correlaries (spelling?) between personality and style - Quote
John L Posted December 10, 2004 Report Posted December 10, 2004 ARRGG! I was more than halfway through the book and it somehow fell out of my briefcase on the Metro. But I am off to get another one. (Or maybe somebody stole it. It IS a hot item these days. ) I was really enjoying it, just great thoughtful writing from somebody who has really penetrated the music. Some of the shorter pieces strike me as masterpieces in miniature: the one on Philly Joe Jones, for example. The Hank Mobley section is quite nice. It really got me thinking and re-listening. Yea, that Bill Evans piece is deep, maybe a little too deep for me. I don't feel that I completely understood it. Yet I am always happy for anything that makes me feel less guilty for not wanting to listen to Bill Evans. John Quote
Dan Gould Posted December 10, 2004 Report Posted December 10, 2004 Yet I am always happy for anything that makes me feel less guilty for not wanting to listen to Bill Evans. I don't want to listen to Bill Evans and have no guilt whatsoever! Quote
John L Posted December 10, 2004 Report Posted December 10, 2004 Yet I am always happy for anything that makes me feel less guilty for not wanting to listen to Bill Evans. I don't want to listen to Bill Evans and have no guilt whatsoever! Then you may not need the book. Quote
neveronfriday Posted December 10, 2004 Report Posted December 10, 2004 I'm lost. What could be a reason for NOT wanting to listen to Bill Evans? Did I miss something here? I think it's often beautiful music. Cheers! Quote
Dan Gould Posted December 10, 2004 Report Posted December 10, 2004 Damn. Now I feel guilty again. Put on some Gene Harris, John. He's a guaranteed mood lifter. Quote
Christiern Posted December 10, 2004 Report Posted December 10, 2004 Hey, weizen, have you started reading the book you found on the Metro? Quote
Larry Kart Posted December 10, 2004 Author Report Posted December 10, 2004 I like that Philly Joe piece, too -- the only damn time I got to hear him in person, but I was lucky enough to be seated half a level above the bandstand (about two steps up) and close enough to PJJ's left shoulder that I almost could touch him. The relationship between what he played and what his hands and feet did to produce those sounds was magical, hypnotic. It was like you could have been deaf and known from how he moved exactly what he was playing. Also, I think that was a so-called overnight review -- catch the first set, go back to the paper with an 11:30 p.m. or thereabouts deadline, and the review appears the next morning. I used to love to do that -- one shot and one shot only at getting it right, and a great adrenaline rush when things worked out OK. Quote
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