Saxophonist Ted Brown on the radio ... and link

[alocispepraluger102]

ted is the guest host on wkcr until 9pm eastern, playing some great sides, if you enjoy early lee konitz and his amazing compatriots.

he just mentioned studying with lenny from 48 to 55.

wkcr

Edited January 5, 2011 by alocispepraluger102

[Lazaro Vega]

Nice Lester, and some swinging Mulligan now....

[brownie]

Nice article on Ted Brown (and the Tristano school) in The New York Times today!

Ted Brown

[Larry Kart]

Nice article on Ted Brown (and the Tristano school) in The New York Times today!

Ted Brown

Some interesting twisty stuff there, including this harrumph from Ethan Iverson: "I really disapprove of the way [Tristano] separated his scene from other cats who could play.”

"Really disapprove"? Ethan, get over yourself.

Nice that at the very end of the piece there's a comment from a young player that at last focuses on what the hell it is about Ted Brown's playing that's so appealing.

[Larry Kart]

It would be nice too if the article had mentioned the author of the excellent book about Tristano it mentions, "Lennie Tristano: His Life in Music." It's Eunmi Shim.

How much trouble would it have been to do that? It's both common decency and SOP.

[Larry Kart]

Nudged to let Jostber and others know that there's a link on this thread to today's NY Times piece about Brown and the current liveliness of the Tristano school, plus some talk about the piece.

[jostber]

Thanks, Larry. Didn't see this before I posted mine.

[Larry Kart]

Thanks, Larry. Didn't see this before I posted mine.

I understand. Just did it this way because I couldn't remember how to merge threads (sorry -- it's been too long), and there didn't seem to be much if any content on the second thread that called for merging.

[blajay]

Even if you accept the notion that Tristano-ite music lacks the "African diasporic rhythmic element," the assumed logic is curious through which white musicians like Iverson--who ostensibly appropriates African-American cultural forms in his own musical production--discourage other white musicians from continuing to cultivate Tristano's "cold" forms, or at least help to portray Tristano in a positive light. I haven't read Shim's book, but is it possible that either consciously or unconsciously Tristano simply opted for strategies of desegregation that didn't adhere to the more common paternalistic understanding of integration? In other words, what is the emancipatory potential of "deciding to play with 'others,'" in the first place? The assumption is that the white musician is the subjective actor; he is the one making the choice. And who benefits from that choice? Is it that Tristano created an exclusive group of white musicians or that he respected the autonomy of African-American bebop musicians and developed something else parallel to their formation of bebop? It seems to me that Iverson may suffer from what Anthony Braxton diagnoses as the “spectacle diversion syndrome,” best exemplified in “the reality of the ‘sweating brow’ as a signifier of musical realness (Lock 1988:114).”

[BillF]

Not altogether impressed by what's been said above on the question of race, as I've just been listening to Tristano in a quartet of two white and two black musicians:

Admittedly, Tristano's improvisations sound far more convincing on show tunes (or originals on the changes of show tunes) than on the one blues of the set.

[clifford_thornton]

Ah, glad to see the NYT is getting in on Ted's appearance this week.

Here's some words I penned recently, too, on Ted Brown and his work.

[bertrand]

Glad to see that my friend Brad Linde gets a mention. They should have mentioned Sarah Hughes as well.

All talk of race stuff is pointless, however. When will this country learn?

Bertrand.

Edited January 9, 2011 by bertrand

[paul secor]

Nice that Ted Brown is getting some ink in The Times but, given that he's going to have his first date as a leader in New York in over 34 years, it might have been nice if the article had been more about him and less about Mark Turner and a host of other Tristanoites. Then again, The Times probably wouldn't have been interested in an article about Ted Brown without an angle involved.

Incidentally, the Ted Brown record, "In Good Company" (Steeplechase), mentioned in the article, is actually entitled "Good Company" and is on Criss Cross.

I'd inform The Times that their writer screwed up, but I've had bad luck with corrections and The Times. Seems as if the clowns who edit the paper like to cover for the clowns who write for it.

[Quasimado]

Ah, glad to see the NYT is getting in on Ted's appearance this week.

Here's some words I penned recently, too, on Ted Brown and his work.

Nice!

The record Clifford mentions Ted recorded in Japan is: *Ted Brown Live at Pit Inn, Tokyo* on the Marshmallow label, recorded live in October 27, 2009 with a Tristano oriented group led by Yoichi Harai.

There is a new recording from Ted's Japanese tour at this time: *Ted Brown-Gene DiNovi Live in Yokohama*, again on the Marshmallow label. This was a concert recorded on October 30, 2009, with Gene DiNovi (p), Neil Swainston (b), Ernesto Cervini (d). This group really swings, allowing Ted to get his flow going, which is something to hear. His sound is not what it was (82 at time of recording), but his lines tell beautiful melodic/ rhythmic stories.

DiNovi, also in his 80's (He recorded with Lester in 1947!) is superb as accompanist and soloist, and the bass and drums complement the others perfectly, swinging, driving - no bullshit. It's a great recording...

Just as a matter of interest, the Marshmallow label is worth checking out. It's run by Mitsuo Johfu, a dedicated jazz listener/ producer who has quietly recorded people like Duke Jordan, Herbie Steward, Bob Rockwell etc. over the years. His latest releases, apart from Ted Brown, are a Stan Getz compilation of obscure items from the 50's (Including Wardell Gray), and Zoot Sims with Dave McKenna, recorded live in Yamagata in 1977.

Marshmallow Records is at - http://www.marshmallow-records.com - unfortunately it's mostly in Japanese, but I think you can get an idea of what he has. You can contact him by email if necessary - his English is very good.

Q

Edited January 10, 2011 by Quasimado

[clifford_thornton]

Yeah, they're on the list. Didn't know of the second Marshmallow disc, as Ted didn't mention it. Thanks!

[Larry Kart]

Nice that Ted Brown is getting some ink in The Times but, given that he's going to have his first date as a leader in New York in over 34 years, it might have been nice if the article had been more about him and less about Mark Turner and a host of other Tristanoites. Then again, The Times probably wouldn't have been interested in an article about Ted Brown without an angle involved.

Incidentally, the Ted Brown record, "In Good Company" (Steeplechase), mentioned in the article, is actually entitled "Good Company" and is on Criss Cross.

I'd inform The Times that their writer screwed up, but I've had bad luck with corrections and The Times. Seems as if the clowns who edit the paper like to cover for the clowns who write for it.

Paul -- I'm looking right at that album, and while it is on Criss Cross, not Steeplechase, it is titled "In Good Company."

[Chuck Nessa]

Larry, you must be looking at the lp version.

[Larry Kart]

Larry, you must be looking at the lp version.

Yup.

[paul secor]

Larry, you must be looking at the lp version.

Yup.

Thought I was losing my eyesight.

[AllenLowe]

love this: "the reality of the ‘sweating brow’ as a signifier of musical realness" is a typically astute Braxton observation.

glad to hear about DiNovi - back in about 1976 I was at Dave Schildkraut's apartment and he played me some 78s that he and DiNovi had made on a self-recording machine direct to disc - amazing stuff, probably from the late 1940s or even a bit earlier - on some of it Dave sounded like Johnny Hodges - and then later very boppish. I begged him to give me those 78s to get them transferred, but he would not, and they're probably gone now, dammit -