Vonski Speaks

[JSngry]

Von can fuck you up.

[AllenLowe]

well, I heard Freeman and Ira Sullivan (separately) on the same night, at the Chicago Jazz Fest, probably some time in the 80s, at the Jazz Showcase, and was overwhelmed - this was a time when all the "young lions" bullshit was going on, and a lot of the early Lincoln Center battles - and here were two guys who were essentially playing bebop, but bebop like you never heard (Sullivan was playing trumpet). Bebop with, as I thought, nothing to prove, no sense that they were plying "the tradition," no sermonizing on the good old days, just some of the most intense and inventive playing I have ever heard. I learned a good lesson that night, though I'm not sure I can explain it. Still trying to translate it to the horn.

[Head Man]

I do want to mention our member Jeff Crompton has posted a positive review on his very interesting blog at HIS PLACE. . Please read his other postings as well. He's a very bright guy and a good guide through the decades of "jazz".

What a great review!

Having received the CD this morning, I've been playing it all day and its a knockout. Please add my name to his list of admirers and thank you again, Chuck, for releasing it.

[Hot Ptah]

I just received my copy. The music is great. What really strikes me immediately is the incredible sound. Kudos to Mr. Nessa!

This is my current choice as top new release of 2009.

[Chuck Nessa]

What really strikes me immediately is the incredible sound.

I had really fine sources to work with courtesy of Jazzfest Berlin and Sender Freies Berlin. We just tweaked it a bit.

Thanks for the compliment.

Now go back and listen to friggin' Earl Lavon Freeman. That is what this is all about. One of the finest people and greatest musicians I've met.

Edited November 17, 2009 by Chuck Nessa

[Tom Storer]

My copy came yesterday. What great jazz. What a player, what a sound. I remember buying those Steeplechase quartet albums back in the day and listening to them over and over, just floored at the combination of jazz essence and real originality. This brought me right back--how wonderful that he's still serving the Cause!

Thanks, Chuck, for getting this out there!

[medjuck]

BTW I really liked the liner notes. As someone unfamiliar with Freeman I thought they gave a fine portrait of a dedicated musician and since Chuck supervised this I presume it's an accurate depiction.

[Clunky]

I'm looking forward to receiving my copy and listening for the tweaks. I wonder if there is a photo of Chuck tweaking ?

[Chuck Nessa]

BTW I really liked the liner notes. As someone unfamiliar with Freeman I thought they gave a fine portrait of a dedicated musician and since Chuck supervised this I presume it's an accurate depiction.

Yes, John did a fine job. I do wish to mention before the New Apartment Lounge, Von worked a similar weekly gig at the Enterprise Lounge. I spent nearly every Monday night there for years. Steve Coleman was studying with him then and occasionally sat in.

[sal]

Really great music! I hope that if there's some folks on the board who haven't listened to Von that much, or at all, that they check this one out.

[Guest Bill Barton]

This is a class act, Chuck, thank you! The performance is brilliant and the engineering knocked me out, one of the few recordings that captures the richness of Vonski's sound, maybe the only one. "Darn That Dream." Wow. What a solo. Incredible.

[Lazaro Vega]

So Kate Smith is working this for radio, eh? Good to have it -- looking forward to plugging Von into the electronic media.

[Chuck Nessa]

[Chuck Nessa]

Very nice, short review on Chris Kelsey's blog HERE.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

It's nice to see this seems popular. I do hope you won't have run out by Christmas, Chuck

Should I order early to avoid disappointment?

MG

[Chuck Nessa]

It's nice to see this seems popular. I do hope you won't have run out by Christmas, Chuck

Should I order early to avoid disappointment?

MG

Have no fear.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

It's nice to see this seems popular. I do hope you won't have run out by Christmas, Chuck

Should I order early to avoid disappointment?

MG

Have no fear.

MG

[dprfish]

Buy a copy of this without a second thought. Fantastic music.

[papsrus]

Have no fear.

[Head Man]

His two earlier Nessa albums arrived in the post this morning (thanks, Chuck!) and I've been playing them all day. Absolutely top class music and it makes me ask myself...'how have I overlooked him for the last 30+ years'?

Anyway, better late than never

[AllenLowe]

just listened last night to Vonski speaks; my reactions as follows -

1) wow

2) double wow

3) there are many reasons why I think he's one of a only a handful of sax players doing standards or playing on changes that I have the patience to listen to any more - soul, of course, but also a commitment to the music that is so intimate and first hand as to defy category or comparison.

4) as for sound - clearly falls within the Chicago school, I used to think of this as containing a dark, rubbery sound at the core. Reminds me of very late Ammons, too, and Coleman Hawkins (non-Chicago of course), though in a completely personal way.

5)Time-wise there is a debt to Hawkins, in the uneven articulation and stop-start rhythms (also, I would bet, in the absolute commitment to chromatic harmony); but Freeman is simply amazing - there is so much chord-play going on as to make this some of the deepest stuff imaginable. He seems to be saying, grab a note, grab any note, and see if you can turn it back toward the tone-center - not unlike Art Tatum.

6) I wish I could remember where I saw it, but when I was doing some of my blues research I came across an interview which included Von; this interview was noteworthy because of his deep appreciation of blues and rhythm and blues; whereas most hip jazz guys regard that music with maybe some grudging respect but primarily condescension (even in regard to guys like Muddy or Howlin' Wolf), Freeman's remarks were to the effect of well, it's a lot simpler musically than what we play, but it really ain't. I cannot tell you how important that attitude is, and it carries over to the sense of verity in every Freeman solo. Hence, too, his Blues For Sunnyland on Vonski Speaks. If there had ever been a real and honestly constituted Popular Front, Von would have led the way.

has this guy gotten one of those NEA Masters Awards yet? If not, what the hell are they waiting for? (and Obama's from Chicago) -

Edited November 27, 2009 by AllenLowe

[paul secor]

How about a MacArthur award for Mr. Freeman? He deserves it.

[AllenLowe]

those guys aren't together enough when it comes to jazz, imho. I knew a guy on the committee about 20 years ago - he used to ask me for suggestions, but it was clear from the way he reported back that they either did not know enough or went for the obvious choices (even if sometimes deserving). Maybe it's better now, I don't know, but Zorn was a bad choice, as were a few others.

[papsrus]

Great thoughts Allen. You've put into words some of what this listener, at least, hears in this man's playing. It is so unique, and so "real," so authentic, that it's difficult to categorize in many ways.

A beautiful set of music, more so with each spin.

[AllenLowe]

it's nice because I almost never listen to jazz anymore, have just been so saturated and find that the music is sagging - but this is the real thing.