Serge Chaloff stories

[BruceH]

  BillF said:

To turn to Serge the musician, having read that Blue Serge was a classic, I rushed out and bought it, but was very disappointed. I found it very difficult to listen to because of what I thought were intonation problems in Serge's playing. Was it that my non-musician's ear wasn't hearing things properly, or was this a deliberate stylistic thing that I would happily accept from Ornette Coleman or Archie Shepp, or did Serge's deteriorating physical state mean that he could no longer control the horn properly? Your views would be appreciated!

It sure sounds fine to me.

[Quasimado]

  BruceH said:

  BillF said:

To turn to Serge the musician, having read that Blue Serge was a classic, I rushed out and bought it, but was very disappointed. I found it very difficult to listen to because of what I thought were intonation problems in Serge's playing. Was it that my non-musician's ear wasn't hearing things properly, or was this a deliberate stylistic thing that I would happily accept from Ornette Coleman or Archie Shepp, or did Serge's deteriorating physical state mean that he could no longer control the horn properly? Your views would be appreciated!

It sure sounds fine to me.

I remember being a little startled when I heard his *Fable of Mable* on Storyville (1954) for the first time - Serge's sudden surges(!) of volume and wide vibrato, together with Twardzik's kind of spooky comping on the title track took a little getting used to. Blue Serge is much more a (classic) bebop session. He was certainly his own man!

Q