I came across...

[AllenLowe]

here's one - as I mentioned, I recently have been going through old photos, though I may have posted this before - that's me, 1970, high school variety show, playing tenor - behind me is the now-famous Elliot Easton (than known as Steinberg), later lead guitar player for The Cars -

Edited September 5, 2008 by AllenLowe

[AllenLowe]

this is me and David Allen Grier - on stage, Yale Cabaret, circa 1979-80

[AllenLowe]

was she Dizzy's running mate?

hope to do some scanning this weekend -

[AllenLowe]

Grier was hosting a variety/comedy show at the Yale Cabaret while I briefly attended Drama School there (in playwriting) - as I recall, in this particular thing he was doing some kind of song parody -

[AndrewHill]

Was Grier doing his comedy bit or did he have a serious music side?

Here's a letter from Ray Draper, a very tragic figure. I was trying to help him get back on his feet. He had family around the corner from me and he used to stop by my apartment (oh, if these walls could talk!) and discuss his plans, lots of them. I was shocked to hear that he had been murdered by a mugger—as far as I know, he was well on his way to straighten out his life at the time.

As I look through my old letters, I am reminded of many interesting musical projects that never materialized.

Woah. Did not know Draper was murdered. This is a very cool thread. Keep'em coming!

[Niko]

ok, this is against the new forum rules... but this wikipedia entry i just came across will probably not survive for long in its current form... written by chewy? (not written by chewy, chewy doesn't think don sleet is from NY) lots of information in here i haven't seen elsewhere...

do i have to delete this post?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Draper

Raymond Allen Draper (August 3, 1940–November 1, 1982) was an American hard bop tuba player.

Born in New York City. After attending the Manhattan School of Music in the mid-1950s, he played or recorded with Jackie McLean, Donald Byrd, John Coltrane, Max Roach, Don Cherry, Horace Tapscott, Archie Shepp, Teddy Wender, Brother Jack McDuff, Dr. John, Mick Jagger, Eric Clapton and Howard Johnson. He also recorded as a leader in the late 1950s And upon being released from prison in the late sixties ,formed the first jazz rock fusion band composed of Established jazz musicians of the day.This preceded the normally accepted Miles Davis Bitches Brew as first jazz rock fusion group ,and recording by three years.Original band members include George Bohannon trombone,Hadley Caliman Tenor sax, John Duke upright bass Paul Lagos drums and Tom Trujillo guitar,This band after its first live performance at the Whiskey a go go in Holly wood,co billing with THE NAZZ was offered numerous top money record deals and was booked solid for the rest of the year at all the major rock clubs.But after his wife's attempted suicide after catching Ray with another girl,Ray began using heroin again, whereupon the more experienced band members all quit except for the youngest member guitarist Tom Trujillo and his landlord Chuck Goodn .This led for a search for new members some of which included .Don Sleet veteren NY trumpet player and one of Ernie Watts first gigs in LA many other musicians came and went but After two long years of searching Ray finally relented and Paul lagos was brought back on drums ,along with Richard Aplan on sax Phil Woods on Trumpet and Keyboardist Chuck Goodn Vocal Tom Trujillo guitar Ray Draper Tuba/ vocals Ron Johnson on bass.This comprised the new group eventually named by Trujillo because of the many food named bands at the time like Cream.Vanilla Fudge etc Named the band after soul food RED BEANS AND RICE,This group played with top rock bands of its time including, Jimmy Hendrix, Chicago Transit Authority, jethro Tull, , Gil Scott Heron etc And was on its way to being possibly the best band of its era due to the musicianship in the band and the originality, range and skill in its compositions, arrangements and live performances.Musically they blew everyone away. They went on to record the album produced by Jackie Paris titled " Red Beans and Rice featuring sparerib Ray Draper" on Epic Records. But when the band saw what Ray and his manager Forrest Hamilton had done putting only Rays picture on the cover , again the whole group quit and Ray was on his own once more. After this he sporadically performed and recorded but he was no longer able recreate the band and was ultimately killed during a robbery trying to tell a young robber who he was .Ray had unbelievable charm,and charisma that overcame his addiction ,his ability as a musician and composer and vision were unparalleled .Red Beans and Rice is a favorite among Djs and collectors for its eclectic mix of quality jazz and rock fusion un equalled at its time.

[Free For All]

Fascinating stuff- thanks for sharing it, guys!

[paul secor]

Many years ago, when one of the many projects to turn my Bessie Smith biography into a film came very close to being realized, Melvin Van Peeples was hired to write a screenplay based on my book. It was pretty awful and Melvin was subsequently replaced by Horton Foote, who did a much better (albeit somewhat old-fashioned) script. Anyway, Columbia Pictures wanted Roberta Flack to star (they always go for celebrity and Roberta was hot at the time). Melvin's script, typically became a fantasy that strayed pretty far from the truth. He had Bessie as the third black heavyweight champion of the world and he persuaded Roberta to have her photo taken as such. Here is the result. Roberta ended up hating it and she and Melvin stopped speaking (but for other reasons, actually).

I hope Roberta, who I always got long with splendidly, forgives me for this indiscretion.

Now there is again talk of a film, so who knows? Considering how bio film concepts have evolved since Jolson Sings Again and Lady Sings the Blues represented the Hollywood m.o., I think the longer this drags out, the more palatable the treatment of Bessie will be.

Bizarre photo, Chris, but Roberta looks like she could kick some ass!

[medjuck]

Chris: You have a lot of material about Alberta Hunter. Were you ever planning a bio of her?

[Free For All]

Hey, that pen is cool! And that handwriting & those drawings are beautiful. Artistic handwriting seems to be a disappearing art.

Geez, Chris- all I ever find in my closet is CRAP!

[Chuck Nessa]

Keep 'em coming.

[AndrewHill]

ditto-tons of cool stuff here

[AllenLowe]

sorry I've been remiss, but promise to post photos this weekend -

[AllenLowe]

she's one of my favorites, especially on the stuff with Ladnier -

[medjuck]

Chris: How do you happen to have so much Elmer Snowden stuff?

[paul secor]

The letter from Stanley Dance brings back memories of the days when jazz critics had some power. I often felt that they thought they were more important than the music.

[porcy62]

Wow Chris, lots of great stuff.

Thanks again for sharing.

BTW I can't imagine where I could store all these stuff. Kudos to your skill as archivist.

[medjuck]

Ganja and Hess was a favorite of the critic/writer Jim Monaco. I think we published Jim's review of it in Take One, a film magazine I used to help edit.

Jim mentions Gunn several times in his book American Film Now. (It was published many years ago so should probably be referred to as American Film Then.)

[AllenLowe]

after much procrastination I have pics scanned - first off, this is me, circa 1980, playing Bill Evans Rhodes- yes, THAT Rhodes - at his wife Nan's house in Branford Connecticut (she offered to sell me that piano when he died but to my regret I could not scrape up enoough cash) -

[AllenLowe]

here is Evan Evans, Bill's son, at Bill's funeral -

[AllenLowe]

Joe Venuti, left, with Barrett Deems (I took this in Beverly Mass, maybe 1976)-

[AllenLowe]

Chet Baker, near the same time, Beverly, Mass:

[AllenLowe]

Christmas Card from Joe Albany and Jean Roth, late 1970s:

Edited September 13, 2008 by AllenLowe

[AllenLowe]

Pic I took of Duke Jordan, Carnegie Recital Hall, maybe 1975:

[AllenLowe]

letter from Barry Harris before his first big concert at Symphony SPace: