Parody in jazz

[Fer Urbina]

This came up in another thread. Are you Americans familiar with the Fast Show? It was a quite succesful sketch show on UK telly, and one of the regular sketches was "

Any other suggestions of jazz parodies... when did Downbeat "kill" George Crater?

F

[BillF]

This came up in another thread. Are you Americans familiar with the Fast Show? It was a quite succesful sketch show on UK telly, and one of the regular sketches was "

Any other suggestions of jazz parodies... when did Downbeat "kill" George Crater?

F

That Fast Show clip is wonderful! And Geoge Crater! That takes me back! Didn't he have an album on Riverside called Out of My Head? The only other jazz parody to compare with these people must be Henry Jacobs' 1958 "Interview With Shorty Petterstein". Ghost of miles included it in his WCIU Night Lights show for Dec. 31 2005, which you can find archived by going to nightlights.blogs.wfiu.org/shows.

Edited March 9, 2008 by BillF

[Larry Kart]

I believe George Crater killed himself. That is, the guy who wrote those columns -- Ed Somebody? -- committed suicide.

[JSngry]

MORRIS GRANTS PRESENTS J.U.N.K. (JAZZ UNIVERSITY'S NEW KICKS) -- Argo LP 4006

[BillF]

MORRIS GRANTS PRESENTS J.U.N.K. (JAZZ UNIVERSITY'S NEW KICKS) -- Argo LP 4006

Yes, that one rings a bell! Tell me a bit more about it.

[JSngry]

It's a faux-concert recording in which many of the big names of jazz circa 1961(?) are mercilessly parodied. Nobody has yet come forth with who the actual participants are.

[BillF]

It's a faux-concert recording in which many of the big names of jazz circa 1961(?) are mercilessly parodied. Nobody has yet come forth with who the actual participants are.

Yes, I've definitely heard that, but if it dates back to the early sixties, I guess I'm excused for not remembering much about it!

[Don Brown]

I've heard that the alto player was Bunky Green. As for the others, who knows?

[Larry Kart]

I believe George Crater killed himself. That is, the guy who wrote those columns -- Ed Somebody? -- committed suicide.

Ed Sherman.

[Larry Kart]

MORRIS GRANTS PRESENTS J.U.N.K. (JAZZ UNIVERSITY'S NEW KICKS) -- Argo LP 4006

Yes, that one rings a bell! Tell me a bit more about it.

The album comes up midway through this thread on rec.music.bluenote:

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.music.b...d24ef4b39113a2a

[Larry Kart]

More "Morris Grants Presents J.U.N.K." info:

http://www.angelfire.com/ca/mferguson/Grants.html

http://cgi.ebay.com/MORRIS-GRANT-Junk-ARGO...803071032a14196

http://www.organissimo.org/forum/lofiversi...php/t16520.html

http://eil.com/shop/moreinfo.asp?catalogid=363765

[paul secor]

I believe George Crater killed himself. That is, the guy who wrote those columns -- Ed Somebody? -- committed suicide.

Ed Sherman.

Haven't listened to Sherman/Crater's Riverside LP in a while, but I remember him sounding like a Lenny Bruce wannabe.

[BillF]

More "Morris Grants Presents J.U.N.K." info:

http://www.angelfire.com/ca/mferguson/Grants.html

http://cgi.ebay.com/MORRIS-GRANT-Junk-ARGO...803071032a14196

http://www.organissimo.org/forum/lofiversi...php/t16520.html

http://eil.com/shop/moreinfo.asp?catalogid=363765

Thanks for the research, Larry!

[Christiern]

Ed Sherman was a nice guy, he used to hang around at Riverside, but I never found him to be funny. I also found Steve Allen's comedy to be somewhat strained. I don't think either gentleman's humor has passed the test of time. Lord Buckley was, IMO genuinely funny, as were Lenny Bruce and Woody Allen (although jazz was not the topic of their humor).

Thanks for posting the Jazz Club skits--very clever and funny, indeed.

[Teasing the Korean]

IIRC, there is a Stan Freeberg skit in which jazz guys are brought in to do a recording session for a pop ballad. The recording starts, and after the first line of the song, a horn player answers with an over the top bebop line that is completey out of place. Pretty funny.

[Larry Kart]

Ed Sherman-George Crater's stuff never struck me as funny either, in part because its premises were so often reactionary/defensive, as though Charlie's Tavern was and for all time ought to be the center of the universe. Lord knows there were are some great jokes/true funny stories that are associated with that and similar scenes -- a fair number of them about trombonists -- but they work in part because they are genuinely from the inside; Sherman-Crater never seems to be IMO.

[Hot Ptah]

I wonder if those who read Down Beat magazine at the time would comment on whether the Blind Orange Adams hoax seemed funny or not, as it was happening

It sounds like a mildly humorous idea, to hear it described decades later.

[Christiern]

I don't recall "Blind Orange Adams," but that alone sounds like the kind of pedestrian college humor I associate with Ed Sherman.

[Free For All]

Lord knows there were are some great jokes/true funny stories that are associated with that and similar scenes -- a fair number of them about trombonists

Tell me about it.......

[Hot Ptah]

I don't recall "Blind Orange Adams," but that alone sounds like the kind of pedestrian college humor I associate with Ed Sherman.

It is described at page 175 of Bill Crow's "Jazz Anecdotes" book. According to Crow, Gene Lees, while editor of Down Beat in 1959, received a notice from Louisville correspondent Don DeMicheal about a legendary blues singer performing there, Blind Orange Adams. At first Lees did not understand the wordplay or the joke. After it was described to him, De Micheal and Lees dropped references to the activities and appearances of Blind Orange Adams into several issues, creating a fictional career for the non-existent bluesman.

According to Crow, the owner of a small folk music record label contacted them and wanted to record Adams. They decided to tell him that Adams was a recluse and would only record in their presence. They were going to line up Eddie Harris to sing some blues to continue the joke. But the label owner insisted on meeting Adams in person, which ended the entire creation.

It is much more humorous when Crow tells it, of course.

[Christiern]

The Orange story reminds me of Buck Hammer, a creation of Steve Allen. He heard Cannonball say that "jazz critics are a joke" on TV show, so he decided to see if it was true. He recorded an album of piano solos that was issued by Jazztone.. The notes told of Buck Hammer, a true legend from Mississippi, who died shortly after making his only recordings, recently unearthed.

"The Discovery of Buck Hammer"album received favorable reviews and only Nat Hentoff was sharp enough to note that Mr. Hammer had the distinct advantage of extra hand.

Guess Cannonball was right.

[user0815]

This came up in another thread. Are you Americans familiar with the Fast Show? It was a quite succesful sketch show on UK telly, and one of the regular sketches was "

thanks for posting this !

omg ... that was ... niice !

[Chas]

The Orange story reminds me of Buck Hammer, a creation of Steve Allen. He heard Cannonball say that "jazz critics are a joke" on TV show, so he decided to see if it was true. He recorded an album of piano solos that was issued by Jazztone.

Actually , The Discovery of Buck Hammer and the other Allen hoax record , The Wild Piano of Mary Anne Jackson , both came out on the Hanover label ( under the aegis of both Allen and Bob Thiele ) . Here are the covers :

That's Allen's maid posing as "Mary Anne Jackson" !

[Chas]

One hoax record I've long wondered about is this one :

Just which instrumentalists were masquerading as Mexican peasants "Juan & Jose Santos" ??

[JSngry]

One hoax record I've long wondered about is this one :

Just which instrumentalists were masquerading as Mexican peasants "Juan & Jose Santos" ??

Don Elliot is the name most often associated w/that one.