Mundell Lowe

[brownie]

From the Knoxville News Sentinel today:

GUITARIST'S LONG LIFE, CAREER FILLED WITH ALL THAT S JAZZ

By WAYNE BLEDSOE, bledsoe@knews.com

April 15, 2007

Mundell Lowe is a name you might not know. However, the 85-year-old jazz guitarist is someone you've surely heard. Lowe has bent the strings alongside Billie Holiday, Benny Goodman, Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, Andre Previn, Lester Young, Sarah Vaughan and many, many others.

Lowe, who will perform with bassist Jim Ferguson at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the World Grotto, has played on movie soundtracks, and recorded as a bandleader or soloist for Riverside, RCA and Charlie Parker Records. He's accompanied many modern artists and worked in the studio orchestras of TV and radio shows.

"Well," says Lowe, modestly explaining his history, "I've been around for a long time."

Plenty of musicians have been around a long time and not brushed shoulders or collaborated with the giants of music.

Born in Laurel, Miss., Lowe says he grew up in an era with "no electronic music, but just about everybody played some kind of stringed instrument."

Young Mundell picked up a guitar at some point in his childhood and never quite put it down. He left home at 13, and at 16 he was playing with some Western swing acts.

"That was not too far from jazz," says Lowe.

He listened to Django Reinhardt, but wasn't a fan. He liked Eddie Lang and Ed "Snoozer" Quinn much better.

"There were not too many good players at that time because the electric guitar hadn't been thought of," says Lowe. "If you had to play in a club, the guitar was so soft no one could hear you."

When he fully immersed himself in jazz, Lowe says, he dreamed of working with the Benny Goodman Orchestra.

"I worked with him five times," says Lowe. "He fired me three times, and I quit twice!"

Goodman, he says, was not a personable fellow.

"I knew Artie Shaw, and he was a wonderful guy," he says. "He was always nice every time you'd see him. Benny Goodman was not. He always looked like he was going to rain on me."

Lowe's big break into the business came by way of legendary producer John Hammond - the man who signed everyone from Billie Holiday to Bruce Springsteen to Columbia Records.

"I went through World War II in the South Pacific," says Lowe. "I had met John in the Army, and when I got out, I sent him a telegram saying, 'I'm finally out and merry Christmas.' "

Hammond sent word back, asking if Lowe wanted a job with the Ray McKinley Orchestra. Lowe took the job and stayed with the band for a year and a half. After that, Lowe became part of the New York music scene, where he encountered people who would become legends.

"Fame is only after the fact," says Lowe. "We were just trying to pay the rent. I worked at Birdland with several people. I worked with Lester Young and Billy Taylor, and we made $17 a night."

Lowe is hard-pressed to find an era or a performance of his own that he's really happy with.

"A jazz player is never really happy with what they do," says Lowe. "I had conversations with Charlie Parker and Lester Young and they had the same opinion. It's always a matter of trying to play better than the last time."

He says he and Parker were more likely to talk about mathematics or other subjects than music.

"He was a very intelligent, very well-educated man," says Lowe.

Lowe isn't impressed with many young players.

"They sit and practice scales and modes all day," he says. "When you get on the bandstand, you're going to play SONGS."

While Lowe gives seminars, he no longer teaches individual students.

"I can't find young students who are interested in the things I'm interested in," says Lowe. "Most of the time, for what they want to know, I tell them to go find someone with lots of fingers and not many ideas!"

[Teasing the Korean]

"Satan in High Heels" is the greatest album ever made.

[Jazz Kat]

I like Transit West.

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

what is satan in high heels? why is it the greatest?

[king ubu]

This is my only album of Lowe's (of course he appears as a sideman on countless albums...):

Very nice one!

[brownie]

what is satan in high heels? why is it the greatest?

The Greatest? Will disagree with this -_-

It originally came out on Charlie Parker Records

As far as Mundell Lowe albums are concerned, I'll take the Guitar Moods instead.

That's one album I ignored for much too long!

[Man with the Golden Arm]

"Satan in High Heels" is the greatest album ever made.

well in a way!

i love that bombastic title toon the mostest. a fuggin arrangement of Hefti sugar tuckin' Quincy down at the Brown Derby.

and the fact that her cat-o-nine tails has been dipped in Tristano, Rugolo, The Tonight Show and assorted west coast swank.

chewy needs to flagellate wildly to this.

[Teasing the Korean]

what is satan in high heels? why is it the greatest?

I'm exaggerating, but only slightly.

I'm surprised you of all members are not hip to this one. It is right up your alley, trust me. You're sure to impress the babes when you have them over for cocktails. You NEED this record, Chewy. There is a CD reissue on Collectibles if you don't want to spring for the vinyl.

Edited April 24, 2007 by Teasing the Korean

[jostber]

Lowe plays with Charlie Parker on this concert:

http://www.amazon.com/Bird-Free-Charlie-Pa...5537&sr=8-2

[king ubu]

on this one, too:

[paul secor]

on this one, too:

Same date. Bird Is Free only contained part of the material from that dance/concert.

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

the video store has the movie-- ill get that for starters- also i have a 1 cd version of that rockland show w/ just the strings part-- also have him playing a 20 min Lover come back to me at cafe society, although some sources have speculated it might be chuck wayne, but prob. not

[Teasing the Korean]

the video store has the movie-- ill get that for starters-

Keep in mind that the LP is a re-record, as was common, and that it is re-sequenced and re-arranged for a cohesive listening experience on the LP. Also, the vocal tunes sung in the nightclub scenes are not on the album. It is strictly instrumental.

That said, the arrangement of the main theme is the same. It has that nervous, caffiene-jag, juvenile delinquent jazz sound that we find so irresistable.

[bolivarblues]

Strange, I live in Knoxville and this one totally slid in unoticed. Didn't hear a word about it! Damn! Probably wouldn't have made it because of the venue, though, which is quite unusual for a jazz artist, being sort of a hipster/boho hang-out for twenty-somethings who like to lie about on couches in cavernous rooms full of strange, sweet smelling smoke and stare at the bar made of glowing geodes when their ecstacy is just starting to kick in real good. There's at least one actual jazz club here, maybe two if the 4620 Club is still open after the owner passed away recently in a car crash, as well as several other clubs that would make much more sense than the World Grotto.

Edited April 24, 2007 by Frankie Machine

[Fer Urbina]

Movie came out couple of years ago on DVD (in Europe, zone 2/PAL) with some interesting extras (related to this kind of films... interesting).

The music on the film is note exactly the same as in the record, although the title track has the same qualities as described by "Teasing".

Lowe did two albums for RCA called "TV Action Jazz" and "Themes from Mr. Lucky, The Untouchables & other TV action jazz" with the same kind of music and similar line-ups. There was a debate about the use of jazz on this kind of films and TV series on Down beat (Henry "Peter Gunn" Mancini of all people seemed to be against and got quite a funny reply from Alfred Hitchcock).

The album "Blues for a stripper" is exactly the same record as Satan in High Heels (first reissued by Charlie Parker Records themselves).

F

[brownie]

Good overview of Mundell Lowe's carrer and discography

Mundell Lowe Guitarist

The duos with Tete Montoliu 'Sweet'n Lovely' on FreshSound are highly recommended! Beautiful music.

[EKE BBB]

The duos with Tete Montoliu 'Sweet'n Lovely' on FreshSound are highly recommended! Beautiful music.

Indeed!

[Bright Moments]

just spun one of his dates with tete!

Allen - is mundell a relative of yours?

[AllenLowe]

well, he did make that sex video - no, wait, that was Rob Lowe - also no relation -

funny how this thread should pop up again, as last night I was listening to the old Ray McKinley band (1940s) and thinking, wow, what a great soloist Mundell Lowe was - glad to see he is still breathing (unlike most of my relatives) -

[Teasing the Korean]

It must be gratifying for him to know that he made the greatest album ever recorded, which is even better in that it was the soundtrack for a film featuring Grayson Hall who played Dr. Julia Hoffman on Dark Shadows.

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

he is a personal friend of the Chewy family, sadly i have not seen him play in many many years. i wanna know if thats really him playing on the 20 min. version of Lover come back to me with charlie parker and tony scott. some sources say its him, others say its chuck wayne

[Teasing the Korean]

he is a personal friend of the Chewy family, sadly i have not seen him play in many many years. i wanna know if thats really him playing on the 20 min. version of Lover come back to me with charlie parker and tony scott. some sources say its him, others say its chuck wayne

chewy, did you ever get Satan in High Heels, the greatest album ever made?

[Teasing the Korean]

Just got "Guitar Moods!" What a beautiful, understated album. Great late night listening.

I interviewed ML in the late 90s. If I can find the piece I wrote someplace on teh interwebs, I'll post it.

[Peter Friedman]

I never cared for "Satan In High Heels.

The duos by Mundell with Tete Montoliu are far more to my taste.

i need to check out Guitar Moods.

[Teasing the Korean]

I never cared for "Satan In High Heels.

But it is the greatest album ever made, next to "Jazz Heat, Bongo Beat."