Home-town heroes and under-the-radar talent

[Chuck Nessa]

I kinda based my recordings on that principle.

[king ubu]

Yes, Carrothers is a fine musician. I just played one of his discs last night - a fine trio recording:

That's the only of his recordings I own so far, but I like it. It's a slow growing one for me, not one that comes screaming at you, but that's just fine.

[Shannon Dickey]

Some of my favorites here in Denver:

Phil Urso!! One of chet Bakers best friends. He still plays once in a blue moon, he is in relatively good health for his age. I've been to his house several times and it's just amazing to look at his artifacts and letters (many from Chet and Gerry Mulligan, Mulligan called him 'one of the best arrangers in the biz'). His playing is criminally underrated. Some of his solos on Bakers "Baby Breeze" and "The best Jazz Album of 1964" are incredible.|

I think I should start a thread on phil.

More local Denver faves: Ron Miles, Amazing Trumpet player, also teaches at Metro State College. Has recorded many LPs and cds, highly recommended!!

Joe Mondragon, though he's been dead for quite a while now.

Hugh Ragin-'nuff said, a titan!

Bobby Greene: Fantastic Piano player whose been playing Denver's hip jazz joints since the '50's.

Javon Jackson: Not really my favorite player and not really "under the radar' Good Tenor, nice guy.

Lannie Garrett: When she sticks to Jazz or standards she really has a lovely voice!

Fred Hess: Fine writer and Alto/reedsman.

Dave Rucker: Bass player, once married to singer Ellen Rucker, who did an album with....

Spike Robinson! Legendary ex-pat, he stayed in England in the late 40's on and off through the 80's. A wonderful Tenor player, many of his recordings are available on Tom Burns' Capri label...The one he did with Al Cohn is a must!!

Well, that;s all for now, theres more, but I gotta' get to work!

-----HB

[king ubu]

Larry, I just wanted to thank you for pointing out Christophe Schweizer's "Physique" - I was able to pick up a new copy of it for a good prize ten days ago and it's indeed very, very good!

[Tom Storer]

Spike Robinson! Legendary ex-pat, he stayed in England in the late 40's on and off through the 80's. A wonderful Tenor player, many of his recordings are available on Tom Burns' Capri label...

I met Spike back in the 80's when he made a few jaunts to Paris. He was a friend of a friend of my wife's, and we hooked up and went out to a jazz club. Later, he came back to play at the same jazz club (the lamented Petit Opportun), and he was a beautiful player indeed. On another occasion, he and I went club-trawling and he introduced me to Sweets Edison at the bar of the Hotel Meridien. Be still, my heart!

Spike was a very funny guy who would make wry comments on his long "day-job" career as an engineer in Denver. "Meetings! Meetings! For me, that's what Hell would be: meetings." Listening to a singer at the Hotel Meridien that night doing"I Didn't Know What Time It Was," when she sang "I don't know if we're in a garden/Or on a crowded avenue," Spike leaned over and said "I don't even know what key she's in."

Several years later, after his stroke, I saw him at a jazz pub in London, where he had moved with his new wife. He was somewhat diminished but still swinging and having a hell of a time.

[Shannon Dickey]

Tom,

Great stories about Spike!! Near the end, when he was in hospital, he begged, bribed and (good naturedly) badgered his visitors to smuggle some ciggarets and a wee dram of hooch. Wonderfull cat!!

---HB

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Can I have someone else's hometown, please?

Baltimore.

Mickey Fields. A tenor player who I first heard about in Bob Porter's sleeve note for Stan Turrentine's double LP "Jubilee shouts". He said that traveling tenor bosses had better watch out for some local guys. "A Mickey Fields in Baltimore... is capable of cooking an unsuspecting tenor man into bad health!"

This guy has only made one LP: "The astonishing Mickey Fields backed by the world's number one most exciting organist Richard "Groove" Holmes". Well, he's got a title long enough for a lifetime's worth there.

This album was mainly recorded live at one of the Left Bank Jazz Society gigs. Unlike most, however, it was released at the time, on Edmar 1075. In Addition to Holmes, there is George Freeman and Billy Jackson - the same band who made "The groover" for Prestige in 1968, which must have been when this was recorded. In addition there are two poorly recorded cuts done at Fields' regular gig somewhere else.

You can imagine the sounds I made when I found a second hand copy of the LP in Mole Jazz, London!

Fields is fantastic! He's still regarded as a giant in Baltimore.

---------------

Another god guy in Baltimore is Arnold Sterling, who was featured on a number of Jimmy McGriff albums in the '80s and made an album as a leader for JAM - "Here's Brother Sterling". He dropped out of sight in the late '80s, but apparently is still playing, dividing his time between Baltmore and Washington DC.

MG

[Larry Kart]

Larry, I just wanted to thank you for pointing out Christophe Schweizer's "Physique" - I was able to pick up a new copy of it for a good prize ten days ago and it's indeed very, very good!

Thanks. If you ever run across Schweizer, say hello and ask him to get in touch if possible. I want to know what he's been up to lately.

[king ubu]

Larry, I just wanted to thank you for pointing out Christophe Schweizer's "Physique" - I was able to pick up a new copy of it for a good prize ten days ago and it's indeed very, very good!

Thanks. If you ever run across Schweizer, say hello and ask him to get in touch if possible. I want to know what he's been up to lately.

Hm, his appearances here are very scarce. I wouldn't even know if he's living in Switzerland at all... if I have an opportunity to hear him live I will try not to miss and will remember you, for sure!

[robviti]

i'd like to draw your attention to greg abate, a fine alto sax player squarely in the bebop tradition who lives in rhode island. some of his recordings, like candid's straight ahead, are great blowing sessions with a solid band (claudio roditi and hilton ruiz on that one). my favorite abate title is aptly called evolution. it's a little more open-ended than his others, and it features some great playing by james williams and billy hart. being "under-the-radar," abate's cds often can be found for very little money. definately worth a listen, imo. here's a link to his website: abate

[Chalupa]

Nate Wiley......

http://www.citypaper.net/articles/032698/cover.shtml

http://www.philebrity.com/2006/11/21/rip-n...2006/#more-4744

http://blogs.philly.com/blinq/2006/11/nate_wiley_83.html

Damn, I'm gonna miss him.

I love this quote,"I don't know how to play jazz. I play liquor-drinking music."

[marcello]

Can I have someone else's hometown, please?

Baltimore.

Mickey Fields. A tenor player who I first heard about in Bob Porter's sleeve note for Stan Turrentine's double LP "Jubilee shouts". He said that traveling tenor bosses had better watch out for some local guys. "A Mickey Fields in Baltimore... is capable of cooking an unsuspecting tenor man into bad health!"

This guy has only made one LP: "The astonishing Mickey Fields backed by the world's number one most exciting organist Richard "Groove" Holmes". Well, he's got a title long enough for a lifetime's worth there.

This album was mainly recorded live at one of the Left Bank Jazz Society gigs. Unlike most, however, it was released at the time, on Edmar 1075. In Addition to Holmes, there is George Freeman and Billy Jackson - the same band who made "The groover" for Prestige in 1968, which must have been when this was recorded. In addition there are two poorly recorded cuts done at Fields' regular gig somewhere else.

You can imagine the sounds I made when I found a second hand copy of the LP in Mole Jazz, London!

Fields is fantastic! He's still regarded as a giant in Baltimore.

---------------

Another god guy in Baltimore is Arnold Sterling, who was featured on a number of Jimmy McGriff albums in the '80s and made an album as a leader for JAM - "Here's Brother Sterling". He dropped out of sight in the late '80s, but apparently is still playing, dividing his time between Baltmore and Washington DC.

MG

In regards to Baltimore, where I visit because a daughter lives there, there are two fine players:

Pianist Bob Butta and drummer Nasar Abadey

[Chalupa]

Here's another hometown hero who lived his life under the radar.....

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/obit...es/16181247.htm

Edward 'Chick' Davis, a pool-hall pro

By Sally A. Downey

Inquirer Staff Writer

Edward "Chick" Davis, 99, a pool-hall owner and billiards expert, died Sunday at Statesman Health and Rehabilitation Center in Levittown.

Growing up in South Philadelphia, Mr. Davis learned to play basketball and shoot pool at the YMCA on Christian Street. He played for semipro basketball teams in Philadelphia. He couldn't make a living, though, so he turned to his other talent, billiards, said his daughter, LaDeva M. Davis.

His reputation grew, she said, and by the late 1930s he was competing in tournaments with pool legends like Willie Mosconi, Minnesota Fats, and former world champion Ralph Greenleaf.

"If someone wanted to set up a high-stakes game at the Kentucky Derby," she said, "they would call him, and he and a friend would drive to Kentucky."

Often in pool halls where black residents ordinarily were barred from playing, he practiced for tournaments in the moonlight after closing hours. Sometimes he faced danger from angry opponents, his daughter said, and learned how to avoid trouble. "A good run is better than a bad stand any day," he would tell his children.

Eventually, Mr. Davis earned enough money as a pool player to open a pool hall at Broad and Bainbridge with a partner. He later owned and operated his own pool halls on South Street and Broad Street. He retired in the late 1980s. Though as a child he preferred playing marbles to hitting the books and dropped out of school in the seventh grade, he financed his son and daughter's college education. "He always urged us to 'get your piece of paper,' " she said, referring to a diploma.

Last summer, Mr. Davis attended the dedication of a mural on South Street depicting a pool game he played with Willie Mosconi in the 1940s.

The painting, which was sponsored by the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program, is on the 1400 block of South Street, where one of Mr. Davis' businesses was. When he operated pool halls, his daughter said, he allowed men and women and blacks and whites to play. He taught anyone who wanted to learn the game, she said, and never permitted gangs, drugs or illegal activities.

Mr. Davis was married to LaDeva Coleman Davis for 75 years. The couple raised their children in South Philadelphia and Germantown and moved to Levittown in the 1970s. She died in 2004.

In addition to his daughter, Mr. Davis is survived by a son, Edward 3d; 10 grandchildren; and 10 great-grandchildren.

[Fer Urbina]

Several years later, after his stroke, I saw him at a jazz pub in London, where he had moved with his new wife. He was somewhat diminished but still swinging and having a hell of a time.

Sometime in 98-99 I saw Spike Robinson at the Bull's Head, a pub in Barnes (London) by the river, incidentally, not too far from where Alan Bates, the current owner of Candid, lives. Conte Candoli was on trumpet, Martin Drew on drums and Dave Newton on piano (can't remember who was on bass). Robinson was great throwing around a lot of quotes in his solos (while Candoli was apparently stuck on Fascinatin' Rhythm).

Swinging and having a hell of a time indeed!

F

PS Incidentally, again, Howard Rumsey was in the audience.

[alocispepraluger102]

Ernie Krivda, tenor saxophonist, Cleveland, OH

That made me think of Dominick Farinacci (trumpet) who plays on Krivda's CJR & CIMP CDs & has his own series of CDs only released in Japan.

...not to mention the incredible chops of trumpeter jack shantz, director of the cleveland jazz orchestra.

[montg]

Ari Brown from Chicago. I've been really enjoying his Delmark CD 'Venus'. I saw this notice from aaj recently which is good news for Ari fans:

ARI BROWN Quartet- Live at the Green Mill in Chicago for upcoming Delmark Records DVD/CD - Friday, June 22nd and Saturday, June 23rd, 2007

[marcello]

I made this tape at the Vanguard:

Elvin Jones at the Village Vanguard

11/18/80

1. Elvin Track 01 27:26

2. Elvin Track 02 13:47

3. Three Card Molly Pt. 1 5:16

4. Three Card Molly Pt. 2 11:32

5. Elvin Band Intros 1:39

Elvin Jones - Drums

Andrew White - Tenor

Ari Brown - Tenor

Andy McCloud - Bass

Marvin Horne - Guitar

Woody Shaw - Trumpet

Ari is smokin' but Andrew White is outrageous!

[milestones20]

In the (admitedly lackluster) NY capital region (Albany, Saratoga etc...) jazz scene, we've got 2 guys who can both play their asses off: Keith Pray and Brian Patneaude. Both are saxophonists, and if they really wanted to, I think they could probably fit their way into the NYC scene.

[Chalupa]

http://www.philly.com/philly/travel/visito...zz____more.html

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

http://www.philly.com/philly/travel/visito...zz____more.html

Bootsie is very nice - I've got three or four albums with him on them. And I think there are three he's done himself, maybe at CDBaby.

Thanks for the reminder.

MG

[clifford_thornton]

Allan Praskin (1949) grew up in North Hollywood, Ca.

He learned to play Trad, Bebop, Free all before the age of 17.

On alto and clarinet. He could play fast through ANY set of changes at that age.

His first record was Zitro on ESP. I think he was 16 then. Made a few records in Japan while with the NORAD

band. Then Germany. A few records with Gunter Hampel. Since the late 1970s he has mostly played the hell out of bebop. He has been teaching in Lentz, Austria since the 1970s. He is one of the finest bebop alto players in the world.

http://shopping.yahoo.com/p:Allan%20Praskin:1927173127

Does anyone here have anything to say about him?

He's very good on that Zitro record; thanks for filling in why he appeared on some obscure Japanese free records in the '70s.

Alex Coke is a fine player in Austin, though CDs don't always do him justice. In the '80s he lived in Amsterdam and worked with Willem Breuker, and he's a smokin' freebop tenorman.

[flat5]

Yeah, Allan was 16 when he made that record. He works hard at his craft. Still playing, practicing, teaching and writing.

I live in Amsterdam and remember Alex. He's on my email address list :-)

[clifford_thornton]

Yeah, Allan was 16 when he made that record.

No shit...

[umum_cypher]

London trumpeter and flugelhornist Gerard Presencer would be world famous if he was American and if his recorded output wasn't so uneven.

Edited July 3, 2007 by umum_cypher

[Alexander Hawkins]

London trumpeter and flugelhornist Gerard Presencer would be world famous if he was American and if his recorded output wasn't so uneven.

Interesting you should suggest Presencer in this thread...I think he's a fine player, but not outstanding, even amongst London trumpet players (all IMHO!).