Joe Albany

[Dmitry]

1 hour ago, sidewinder said:

I bought Amy’s book a while ago - enjoyed it. Need to watch this movie !

I'm on the opposing end - watched the film first, and just bought the book.

[mhatta]

I'm really glad that they used "Lotus Blossom" in the Low Down OST.  This is the most beautiful rendition of this tune as far as I know, probably rivalled only by Duke himself (he recorded right after Strayhorn's death).

 

[Dan Gould]

4 hours ago, Dmitry said:

mhatta, thank you very much for the Flea interview link! You are right, Flea appears to be a genuine jazz man.

Were you familiar with Joe Albany before this movie?
No. I knew his name, but I didn’t know much about him. When I got together with Amy, I went and got a recording of his. I grew up with those same types of guys. My house was full of these L.A. jazz guys at the time, always coming in and out. My stepdad was the one who hung out with them. It was like a weird little cult, a subset of a culture. It was all these guys who grew up in the Forties and the Fifties loving Bird, Fats Navarro, Mingus, Lester Young – jazz was the coolest thing on earth and they dedicated their lives to this incredibly sophisticated, deep art form. Come the Seventies, no one gave a fuck and these guys they just really couldn’t catch a break. They had shitty jobs. My stepdad would fix cars in a backyard. He was a great bass player, man, playing hotel lobbies, playing bullshit. He was a fucking serious bebop player.

 

I don't think I can handle Flea being this knowledgeable or sophisticated when he's also the guy who performed naked or wearing a sock on his schlong and nothing else.

[ghost of miles]

On 11/21/2020 at 10:57 PM, Dmitry said:

I just watched the LOW DOWN, feature film based on A.J. Albany's biographical book, and co-scripted by her. I'm still under the influence [no sad pun intended] of the movie, but at this instant I declare it the best jazz movie and movie on drug addiction that I've seen. Everything works: the acting, the direction, the sound; the cinematography is just right. It's almost 2 hours long, but it doesn't drag on.
Glenn Close is a surprise winner. She should've been nominated for the best supporting actress.

Film is available for free on Amazon Prime. I have not heard of this movie before reading Joe Albany's Wikipedia article.

Completely agree with you, Dmitry--one of my favorite jazz movies for sure.  I can't remember if I read the book or watched the movie first, but both are excellent.  

[Dmitry]

On 11/22/2020 at 11:26 AM, Dan Gould said:

I don't think I can handle Flea being this knowledgeable or sophisticated when he's also the guy who performed naked or wearing a sock on his schlong and nothing else.

Prepare for more.

 

[Peter Friedman]

Watched "Low Down" yesterday afternoon on Amazon Prime Video. I have mixed feelings about the movie. The parts that focused on jazz I liked very much. The scenes where music was being played were too brief, and many tunes were cut off in the middle.

I am well aware that  drug addition with all it's side effects was a far too common part of the Jazz Life , especially during the 40's and 50's. Nonetheless, observing what was happening to Joe, his daughter and his mother was depressing for me to watch.

The acting  by John Hawkes, Ellie Fanning and Glen Close was very good. But in the final analysis, watching the movie was , for me,  somewhat of a downer. Yeah, I know that is the reality of their lives, but that does not make it any less of a downer.

I would say that I much preferred the Movie with Dexter Gordon, "Round Midnight".

[Dmitry]

On 11/22/2020 at 10:55 AM, mhatta said:

I'm really glad that they used "Lotus Blossom" in the Low Down OST.  This is the most beautiful rendition of this tune as far as I know, probably rivalled only by Duke himself (he recorded right after Strayhorn's death).

 

I agree 100%.

On 2/19/2005 at 8:51 AM, brownie said:

There's another Joe Albany album out on Fresh Sound that is excellent, even better than 'Portait of a Legend'. It's 'The Legendary Joe Albany - Live in Paris', recorded live at the Riverbop club in Paris in 1977. Six solos (with vocals by Albany on 'Lush Life' and 'Christmas Song') and five trio sides with Alby Cullaz on bass and Aldo Romano on drums. Albany is magnificient thourghout. Notes by Amy-Jo Albany, his daughter.

One to get for fans of Joe Albany!

Yes, Guy, it's a nice document of a European club date, one of a great many he had while living in Europe. From this recording  I can speculate that he was a solo piano musician, and not natively a trio man. The Lotus Blossom is a small treasure, like mhatta pointed out. The recording quality is just ok, mono, probably from a single microphone reel tape deck; but that only adds to the ambience of it.

Also, I finished reading Amy-Joe Albany's memoir. It's less of a jazz book, and more of high literature. Her father is a character in it, a major one, but he is not the protagonist. After reading the book, the film Low Down seems like a very abbreviated, censored for sexual content sketch. The book must be read; it's much better than the film, which I still think was a very good piece of cinematography. After reading it, I, all of a sudden, remembered similar emotional state of mind upon reading Fleur Jaeggy's I Beati Anni del Castigo. I highly recommend both books. They have a similar, righteous blues flow.  I'm gifting the Albany book to my daughter for the holidays.