Gigi Gryce

[T.D.]

Thanks for the recommendation.

Larry Kart tipped me off to the album. During the original Concord blow-out (IIRC), he posted a strong rec.

[ghost of miles]

If anybody's interested in picking up a copy of the now-quite-scarce Gryce bio, RAT RACE BLUES--I just got a note from co-author Noal Cohen saying that he's unexpectedly come into possession of several more. He's offering to sell them at $17 a pop plus a small shipping fee--drop me a PM if you'd like to contact him.

[bertrand]

It's a shame that this book is OOP.

I got the e-mail from Noal as well - I suspect his copies will be gone in a flash. ACT NOW!!!

Bertrand.

[ghost of miles]

Noal said I could go ahead and post his e-mail address, so that any interested party can contact him directly:

cohens2@mindspring.com

It's a very good jazz bio--one of the best I've read. And it's extremely unlikely that anybody will ever tackle Gryce again.

[sidewinder]

I'll second the recommendation on the Gryce book. A thumpin' good read !

[Tom 1960]

I contacted Noal yesterday and the book is on it's way!

[trane_fanatic]

Currently spinnin' the OJC of Saying Somethin' w/ the quintet of Williams, Wyands, Workman & Roker.

[king ubu]

I was rather slow in picking up on Gryce, but I got his three Prestige albums (two OJCs, the orange one as a Japanese mini-LP), as well as the three Gryce Jazz Lab ones from Lonehill. Also got the Monk sides of course - those were my first encounter with Gryce... and the Brownie Paris material. Guess I really should listen to all of this in a row soon!

Posting here because just recently that Mathews album was recommended by Larry in another thread... it's very OOP it seems, just ordered a copy for around 18 euro, rather steep!

[BruceH]

I love Gryce!!!

[Shannon Dickey]

I dig Gryce!! "Rat Race Blues" both the record and the book swing. Dig!

[BillF]

Two excellent radio shows on Gryce involving his biographer were done on Night Lights from WFIU in 2006 and can be found in the show's archives.

[six string]

Like King Ubu I was a little slow on hipping to Gryce. Until a year or so ago I only had When Farmer Met Gryce. Then I picked up the Japanes Savoy pressing of Nica's Dream and then an OJC Rat Race Blues on lp which I really liked.

He makes me think of Benny Golson but not his playing style so much as his all around skills as an arrangeer, composer AND player. That's wierd that his second wife didn't know he had ever been a jazz musician. Was he bitter about his jazz career?

This book initrigues me and it sounds like I'd better get movin' on it soon.

[Duvivierlover1960]

Some of the nicest Gryce is on Dutch accordionist Mat Mathews' Dawn album "The Modern Art of Jazz," with Art Farmer, Dick Katz, Oscar Pettiford, and Kenny Clarke. Mmmm -- Pettiford and Clarke. And Mathews was a nice player. Just a beautifully relaxed date, though it doesn't take up the whole album. It's available here:

http://www.freshsoundrecords.com/catalogue...label_id=10#874

Also worth seeking out are his three Metrojazz lp's that he cut in the mid fifties with milt Hinton, Johnny Cleveland and a host of all stars, he was a great horn player and I especially love the Rat race Blues and the cut Frankie and Johnny as well as the Jazz Lab stuff of course, with super bassists, Wendell Marshall and Paul " Onion Head" Chambers, if you have that LP you will understand the Onion Head comment.

[fasstrack]

Quick answer is: Yes!

And be sure to check out the Noal Cohen/Michael Fitzgerald bio Rat Race Blues if you haven't already.

Noal Cohen came out to introduce/moderate a pre-concert discussion with Teddy Charles back in early October, I believe. He did a good job and we have one mutual friend.

I want to read this, b/c Gigi was not only a hell of a musician, but he caught hell starting his own publishing company and the powers that be, that famous non-instrumental group, tried to run him out of the business.

Sadly, it seems they succeeded.

[blajay]

Quick answer is: Yes!

And be sure to check out the Noal Cohen/Michael Fitzgerald bio Rat Race Blues if you haven't already.

Noal Cohen came out to introduce/moderate a pre-concert discussion with Teddy Charles back in early October, I believe. He did a good job and we have one mutual friend.

I want to read this, b/c Gigi was not only a hell of a musician, but he caught hell starting his own publishing company and the powers that be, that famous non-instrumental group, tried to run him out of the business.

Sadly, it seems they succeeded.

As you'd expect from Michael Fitzgerald, it's a thorough straight-forward book. It has a full Gryce discography at the end. It covers the compositions and the publishing company struggle well. There are some revealing quotes from Horace Silver on that. Gryce's disappearance from professional music to become a teacher is a fascinating story. It mentions an intriguing third world suite called A.S.I.A. that has never been recorded--I'd love to hear that some day. All in all, an enjoyable read, and obviously a labor of love.

If you can get used to the enormous block quotes, it is quite a story. I don't want to discredit this work because Michael is a former board member, and I have been guilty of an overabundance of block quotes in my writing so I understand the tendency, but some of the monster 4-page quotes in this book can be overwhelming. They could have easily been paraphrased or at least edited for their function. Did anyone else feel that way?

Either way, definitely check it out. Gryce and his legacy deserve nothing better than the fine research that Cohen and Fitzgerald did.

-Jay

[bertrand]

A copyright deposit for 'A.S.I.A.' exists at the Library of Congress in the Gigi Gryce collection that I put together.

Someone would need to talk to Don Sickler about getting it performed, as he is the publisher.

Bertrand.

Edited December 23, 2008 by bertrand

[Guest youmustbe]

As I have been told by a number of people, wanting to retain his publishing 100% earned him the emnity of a lot of people in the 'biz'. Courageous stand. Some nice compositions. But I wouldn't go overboard on his importance as a player. I've heard a lot of his records as a leader and sideman and they're really not much in the scheme of things. Unless you're white and have a thing for neglected Negro jazz musicians.

[Guest youmustbe]

His conception as a soloist would ahve been better served had he picked up the soprano. His alto has the wimpy latter day smooth jazz sound.

[AllenLowe]

geez, do we even respond to this stuff? He had a very classic '50s alto sound, metal-link mouthpiece obviously; warm, lyrical but not light or small - fine improviser -

Edited December 23, 2008 by AllenLowe

[jlhoots]

geez, do we even respond to this stuff? He had a very classic '50s alto sound, metal-link mouthpiece obviously; warm, lyrical but not light or small - fine improviser -

Thanks Allen! I agree with you.

[paul secor]

He was good enough for Monk, but not for youmust be.

[JSngry]

But the bridge to "Well You Needn't" did eat his lunch pretty uglily.

Just to be fair.

Truthfully, I think his truly wonderful composing & arranging abilities ultimately trump his playing, which definitely did get stronger over time, but which also was not always, uh... "fully formed" early on.

Also, I'd in no way call his tone "wimpy", but the parallel to the "smooth jazz" sound, although not really appropriate, does hit on the fact that his tone was not nearly as "declarative" in either timbre, density, or volume as the usual bop/bebop tone, yet it was not as "dry" as the "cool" players. It, and his whole style of playing, was more like a guy standing in the corner commenting on the action to a few people within earshot.

He was a unique cat, Gigi Gryce was. That much is safe to say.

[Guest youmustbe]

Not every Negro jazz musician was a genius! He was okay, nothing special.

I like a lot of obscure jazz musicians, part of the charrm of being a jazz lover.

But geez, let's get real! Gigi Gryce?!!

With all that's going on in the world and in America today, we're arguing about Gigi Gryce?

[JSngry]

You'd rather we argue about Leslie Caron?

[John L]

Count me in as a fan of Gigi Gryce. I find his sound on the alto to be quite distinctive. He was a genuine voice in the music. Those quintet albums on Prestige always sound great to my ears. Richard Williams really shines on some of them too. The albums with Art Farmer as also favorites of mine.