Fred Katz 1919-2013

[sgcim]

Yes, as nice as it would be to hear OC and DC improvise in a simple, folk-based idiom, this piece was way beyond their abilities.

The name of the Bill Smith LP is "Folk Jazz" with fabulous work by Smith, Hall, Shelly Manne and Monty Budwig, originally on the Contemporary Records label.

I loaned it to a world-class clarinetist, and he was astounded by it.

[flat5]

I enjoyed the Chico Hamilton recordings I found on Crown Records when I was 13 or 14. Later I talked with his daughter a few times when we were students at Van Nuys High School. One of my High School music classes visited his Dept. of Ethnomusicology at UCLA. Apparently he later taught at the Anthropology Department at California State University, Northridge.

[sgcim]

@sgcim: I love "Sweet Smell of Success", too!

A small label called Reboot Stereophonic did a wonderful reissue of the Folk album - I know you saw the line-ups and stuff, but they've got the entire booklet up on their site - some good notes and all info there is avaiable (who did the fine cover painting, though?):

http://idelsohnsociety.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/far_out_folk_songs_liner_notes.pdf

There's also a sound sample (Store > Albums):

http://www.rebootstereophonic.com

Thanks for the link.

I'm definitely picking this one up.

We could do a whole thread on jazz interpretations of folk music

Jim Hall did a fantastic LP with clarinetist Bill Smith, with Shelly Manne on folk themes.

John Benson Brooks also did a nice one, though I liked his "Alabama Concerto" more.

Scgim, you might be interested in this Night Lights show I did several years ago:

http://indianapublicmedia.org/nightlights/jazz-goes-folk/

Thanks for the link- another great Night Lights show. Keep it up!

[sidewinder]

Later I talked with his daughter a few times when we were students at Van Nuys High School.

Is that Harriet Katz? She was playing cello in the group I saw Fred conducting.

[flat5]

I think not.

http://baltimorecomposersforum.com/members/harriet-katz

Another take on his life from a Local 47 forum.

http://www.responsible47.com/

FRED KATZ PASSES

Jazz cellist and educator Fred Katz dies at 93
from the Los Angeles Times, September 9, 2013

Musician, composer and educator Fred Katz, the man who helped take the
cello into jazz, died in Santa Monica over the weekend from complications
from kidney failure and liver cancer. He was 94 years old.

Born in New York City in 1919, Katz was considered a child prodigy on piano
and cello. He studied under Pablo Casals and performed with the National
Symphony in Washington. Drawn to jazz and improvisation, Katz plied his
trade as a pianist backing Lena Horne and Tony Bennett before bridging the
gap between classical training and improvisation on the vibrant L.A. jazz scene
of the ’50s while part of the Chico Hamilton Quintet. Katz also collaborated
with Eric Dolphy and later Beat poet Ken Nordine on his “Word Jazz” series.

Katz’s musical résume also includes scores for films by Roger Corman, including
“Bucket of Blood” and “Little Shop of Horrors,” and his track record as an educator
is nearly as impressive with a more than 30-year career as an instructor at
California State Universities Northridge and Fullerton. He taught courses in
cultural anthropology, shamanic magic and religion (the Doors’ John Densmore
was one of his students) — all, by the way, without holding any formal degrees.

Stricken with grief after the loss of his wife, two brothers and a daughter late in
his career, Katz seldom performed in public after “retiring” in 1990. However,
in a 2011 interview Katz said he was constantly writing music, including works
inspired by the Kabbalah, “The Divine Comedy” and Chinese mysticism.

“There’s nothing more wonderful than you’re sitting in a quiet room all by yourself
thinking as hard as you can, ‘Where do I go from here?’” Katz said in 2011. “And
nobody’s there! And sometimes the answer comes, and that’s the mystery: Where
does the answer come from?”

His music also earned another turn in the public eye after his landmark 1959 album,
“Folk Songs for Far Out Folk,” was reissued by the Idelsohn Society in 2007. A richly
orchestrated mix of Hebraic melodies with American and African folk music, the
record and its corresponding show, “Jews on Vinyl,” spurred Katz to perform live
at the Skirball Center in 2010, his first such appearance in 20 years.

Katz continued to make sporadic appearances around Southern California in the
last several years, performing in San Diego as recently as June as part of the
klezmer summit “Jews on Jazz.”

In a far-reaching 2011 conversation that covered Katz’s deep interests in spirituality,
music and progressive politics, Katz was humbled, even amused, by any accolades
thrown his way. “‘Art is long and life is short,’” Katz said, citing an old aphorism.
“So that’s what I do, I do all of these things but without any feeling of accomplishing
anything. I do it because I love it.

“I have no interest whatsoever with fame - never did, never will,” he continued.
“Because it’s all artificial to me. You do what you do and if people honor you for
that or even pay you for that, fine, but you don’t do it for that. You do it because
that’s what you do.”

[Larry Kart]

"Folk Songs for Far Out Folk" arrived today and so far is just as impressive as the tracks from it that I checked out on YouTube. Whatever "Third Stream Music" was in theory, in practice Katz nailed it in an intense and quite individual manner -- not a blending of this and that but something genuine and new.

One question, though. "Folk Songs" is strikingly well-recorded, but the very full booklet of notes doesn't say who the original recording engineer was, though it credits the guy who remastered the material, Gary Hobish. Anyone know who the original engineer was?

[Utevsky]

Nice cover, I think.

[Teasing the Korean]

One question, though. "Folk Songs" is strikingly well-recorded, but the very full booklet of notes doesn't say who the original recording engineer was, though it credits the guy who remastered the material, Gary Hobish. Anyone know who the original engineer was?

Warner LPs at the time were notorious for not including such information. The back sleeves showed a photo of the mixing board, but didn't credit producers or engineers.

One noteworthy early Warners LP was Ray Heindorf's recording of Miklos Rozsa's "Spellbound," with Samuel Hoffman on theremin. It too is stunningly recorded and engineered. I'm told that back in the day it was frequently used to demonstrate high-end hi-fi gear.

[king ubu]

same for the beautiful cover ... no info in the booklet (unless it's in the notes, but I don't want to re-read them all just to find out)

[Teasing the Korean]

Picked up a pristine mono copy of Folk Songs for Far Out Folk for an obscenely low price - $2.99 - at Amoeba when I was in San Francisco. What a cool record!

[sgcim]

Picked up a pristine mono copy of Folk Songs for Far Out Folk for an obscenely low price - $2.99 - at Amoeba when I was in San Francisco. What a cool record!

Congrats! Fred's writing for small groups is a pleasure equal to the efforts of Geo. Russell, Manny Albam, Giuffre, John Benson Brooks, Bill Smith and others during that period.

[Teasing the Korean]

Congrats! Fred's writing for small groups is a pleasure equal to the efforts of Geo. Russell, Manny Albam, Giuffre, John Benson Brooks, Bill Smith and others during that period.

I've had Little Shop, and I've also heard his writing on Chico Hamilton records, notably "With Strings Attached." This is top-notch space-age bachelor pad music. You can barely recognize the tunes from which the arrangements are based. What a cool record.

[clifford_thornton]

Did Stereolab (the band) really coin the term "Space Age Bachelor Pad Music?" I think their LP with that title is the first I became aware of it. I know the Esquivel comp by that name came later. TTK, you know this stuff - what's up?

Edit for IPA-induced grammar issues.

Edited November 11, 2014 by clifford_thornton

[Teasing the Korean]

The phrase is credited to Byron Werner.

[clifford_thornton]

Thanks.

[Teasing the Korean]

Thanks.

Supposedly he came up with it in the 1970s or 80s.