John B Posted January 31, 2004 Report Posted January 31, 2004 I've seen a recent post on another board that Malachi Favors has passed away. I am really hoping this is not true but, give the source, I believe it to be true. If it is, my condolences go out to his family and friends. I will be breaking out the Nessa box and spending some time with the AEC this weekend. Quote
Chuck Nessa Posted January 31, 2004 Report Posted January 31, 2004 Sorry to say it is true. I received a call early this morning. Quote
Gary Posted January 31, 2004 Report Posted January 31, 2004 I will be breaking out the Nessa box and spending some time with the AEC this weekend. me too. Quote
Chuck Nessa Posted January 31, 2004 Report Posted January 31, 2004 Been thinking of Malachi all day and the following incident keeps popping into my head, but it needs a bit of a “set-up” from me. When we recorded Roscoe’s “The Maze” for 8 percussionists Roscoe rented a 19 foot Ryder truck to drive all the equipment from Madison and Chicago to Woodstock, NY for the rehearsals. We had arranged for the Creative Music Studio to house and feed the musicians for a week of rehearsals. Then we went into NYC to the CBS 30th Street studio for the recording. Afterwards Malachi drove the truckload back to Chicago. I met him there to help unload the stuff, return the truck to Ryder and pay the final bill. On the way to the Ryder location Malachi started complaining about the truck and how it was “unsafe to drive”. He wanted to vent to the Ryder people before I paid the bill. He kept repeating that the engine kept cutting out on the highway, endangering his life. It turns out the truck had a governor on it to keep it from reaching a certain speed and Malachi repeatedly hit the limiter. The thought of him barreling through the hills of Pennsylvania in a truck loaded with drums, bells, gongs, etc. brought a smile to my face. Quote
J.A.W. Posted January 31, 2004 Report Posted January 31, 2004 Very sad news. Great story, Chuck. Quote
Jazzmoose Posted January 31, 2004 Report Posted January 31, 2004 Wow...an artist I'd just "discovered" recently, and gone already... Quote
JSngry Posted January 31, 2004 Report Posted January 31, 2004 http://www.jazzhouse.org/files/panken8.php3?read Quote
ghost of miles Posted February 1, 2004 Report Posted February 1, 2004 (edited) Man, what sad, sad news. I wrote a short story set in Harlem in 1953 (Joe Milazzo and David Gitin have read it) and gave the protagonist the last name of Favors--done definitely as a tribute to Malachi. Think I'll break out that AEC box as well. Edited February 4, 2004 by ghost of miles Quote
shrugs Posted February 1, 2004 Report Posted February 1, 2004 Sad news indeed. Thanks for sharing that Chuck. I printed it and put it in with my copy of L-R-G/The Maze/S II Examples. It enhances the already wonderful picture inside the gatefold. Quote
Chuck Nessa Posted February 1, 2004 Report Posted February 1, 2004 (edited) Shrugs, at the risk of seeming really anal, I went to my "LRG/Maze" file and discovered I still have such things as toll receipts from the journey. To put stuff in perspective, Ann and I stayed at the Gramercy Park Hotel for two nights and the total bill was $101.60. The Ryder truck contract reveals the breakdown of the odometer (1062 miles out, 562 miles back). I was charged for the "reading". Messing with all these details reduces the pain and brings back pleasure. Edited February 1, 2004 by Chuck Nessa Quote
Chuck Nessa Posted February 1, 2004 Report Posted February 1, 2004 Another neat story about Malachi. At some point in the '60s, my wonderful wife Ann gave Malachi a cutting from a plant he admired in our apartment. In the mid '70s Malachi (again at our place) thanked Ann for the plant and said he still had it. He had taken it to Europe and brought it back. He still brought this up in 1998 at the re-staging of The Maze and LRG at the Museum of Contemporary Art. Quote
Guest ariceffron Posted February 1, 2004 Report Posted February 1, 2004 i saw this man and his long standing group play just last semester at the jazz alley in seattle, and it was an exceptional performance of improvised jazz. it was definetly one of the best shows i saw last semester. Quote
JSngry Posted February 1, 2004 Report Posted February 1, 2004 I didn't know Malachi personally, and only had the blessing of seeing him perform twice, but this makes two AEC guys gone now, and I find myself being touched by their passings much more than I would have anticipated. Losing them makes me realize just how much I took their music, and more importantly, their spirits, as deep to heart as I think I possibly could, which is a place I let very, VERY few people get to. There is just so much LIFE in that music, so much character and personality and experience and reality and all that stuff that is conviniently and wholly inadequately labelled as "life", that it makes me feel like it and the people who made it are indestructable, that anybody who can be THAT fucking REAL must have figured out a way to hang out without ever needing to go home. But we all have to go home, don't we. If we didn't, we wouldn't be real. Get in line. This one hurts. Deeply. Compared to Chuck, Larry, and some others, I have no reason why it should. They knew the man in a way that I didn't. But still, this one hurts in a way that I haven't felt since Joe Henderson passed (sorry Chuck, sorry Larry, but...). The Natural And The Spiritual. God bless Malachi Favors. Quote
brownie Posted February 1, 2004 Report Posted February 1, 2004 Very sad news! Just had to listen to 'A Jackson in Your House' this morning. What a great player he was! Quote
couw Posted February 1, 2004 Report Posted February 1, 2004 I didn't know Malachi personally, and only had the blessing of seeing him perform twice, but this makes two AEC guys gone now, and I find myself being touched by their passings much more than I would have anticipated. Losing them makes me realize just how much I took their music, and more importantly, their spirits, as deep to heart as I think I possibly could, which is a place I let very, VERY few people get to. There is just so much LIFE in that music, so much character and personality and experience and reality and all that stuff that is conviniently and wholly inadequately labelled as "life", that it makes me feel like it and the people who made it are indestructable, that anybody who can be THAT fucking REAL must have figured out a way to hang out without ever needing to go home. But we all have to go home, don't we. If we didn't, we wouldn't be real. Get in line. This one hurts. Deeply. Compared to Chuck, Larry, and some others, I have no reason why it should. They knew the man in a way that I didn't. But still, this one hurts in a way that I haven't felt since Joe Henderson passed (sorry Chuck, sorry Larry, but...). The Natural And The Spiritual. God bless Malachi Favors. it hurt me much more than anticipated as well. I have only recently "discovered" the AEC and their music. It was my most recent complete mindphukk. thanks for those words Jim. Quote
paul secor Posted February 1, 2004 Report Posted February 1, 2004 Damn. This just hurts. Chuck, thanks for sharing those stories. Reading them made this a little easier for me, and I'm sure it helped others, too. I hope that writing and sharing them made your loss a little lighter. Quote
Lazaro Vega Posted February 1, 2004 Report Posted February 1, 2004 RIP Malachi Favors. Will be playing his music this week on the air, including the solo Tutankahman (sp) which found a new bass place, plus the Ritual Trio with Pharaoh recorded at the Wealthy Street Theater in Grand Rapids. He plays some extended solos on that. From Truck Parham to Milt Hinton to Israel Crosby, Wilbur Ware, Malachi and Fred Hopkins the story of the bass in Chicago is grand. Quote
sal Posted February 1, 2004 Report Posted February 1, 2004 This is very sad. May he rest in peace. Quote
Johnny E Posted February 2, 2004 Report Posted February 2, 2004 i saw this man and his long standing group play just last semester at the jazz alley in seattle, and it was an exceptional performance of improvised jazz. it was definetly one of the best shows i saw last semester. I was at that show as well. Wonderful, just wonderful. Malachi had a playful spirit in his peformances - I imaged that's how he was off stage as well. I loved that sound tube he would pick up every once in a while and start spinning it over his head, and his megaphone. And there was a soulful quality to his bass tone that really comforted me. Does anyone (chuck?) know how he died? He looked good in the fall when I saw him. Also, Lazaro you should play the song "Way Way Way Down Yonder" from the album 'Sightsong' that he did with Muhal Richard Abrams. That track is one of my all-time favorite bass solos. Sad. I hope he had a painless and peaceful passing. Quote
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