Jim Hall R.I.P.

[Clunky]

Very sad , played Undercurrent repeatedly the other day . Such beautiful music. Thanks.

[BillF]

He played so well in so many contrasting contexts - with Hampton Hawes, Chico Hamilton, Art Farmer, Sonny Rollins, Freddie Hubbard, Bill Evans - just to mention the 1955-62 period.

And the great 1959, 1961 and 1963-1965 recordings with Paul Desmond on Warner Bros. and RCA, and his Pacific Jazz dates, Jazz Guitar and Good Friday Blues - The Modest Jazz Trio.

Forgot Desmond. Have edited post.

[J.A.W.]

He played so well in so many contrasting contexts - with Hampton Hawes, Chico Hamilton, Art Farmer, Sonny Rollins, Freddie Hubbard, Bill Evans - just to mention the 1955-62 period.

And the great 1959, 1961 and 1963-1965 recordings with Paul Desmond on Warner Bros. and RCA, and his Pacific Jazz dates, Jazz Guitar and Good Friday Blues - The Modest Jazz Trio.

Forgot Desmond. Have edited post.

He not only recorded with Desmond in the period you mentioned, but also after 1962.

[BillF]

He played so well in so many contrasting contexts - with Hampton Hawes, Chico Hamilton, Art Farmer, Sonny Rollins, Freddie Hubbard, Bill Evans - just to mention the 1955-62 period.

And the great 1959, 1961 and 1963-1965 recordings with Paul Desmond on Warner Bros. and RCA, and his Pacific Jazz dates, Jazz Guitar and Good Friday Blues - The Modest Jazz Trio.

Forgot Desmond. Have edited post.

He not only recorded with Desmond in the period you mentioned, but also after 1962.

I know. I've got the discs!

[J.A.W.]

He played so well in so many contrasting contexts - with Hampton Hawes, Chico Hamilton, Art Farmer, Sonny Rollins, Freddie Hubbard, Bill Evans - just to mention the 1955-62 period.

And the great 1959, 1961 and 1963-1965 recordings with Paul Desmond on Warner Bros. and RCA, and his Pacific Jazz dates, Jazz Guitar and Good Friday Blues - The Modest Jazz Trio.

Forgot Desmond. Have edited post.

He not only recorded with Desmond in the period you mentioned, but also after 1962.

I know. I've got the discs!

[mikeweil]

oh no ..... one of the greatest jazz guitarists ever, IMHO. R.I.P.

[Chuck Nessa]

As I posted elsewhere, the last record I listened to last night was the Art Farmer Quartet's "Interaction".

[Mike Schwartz]

Ted Panken on Jim Hall.: R.I.P. Jim Hall (Dec. 4, 1930-Dec. 10, 2013)

LOVED this.....thanks for posting!!

[JohnT]

Many years ago I saw the duo of Jim Hall and Ron Carter at the Detroit Institute of the Arts. Great Jazz + Great Art = One of the best concerts I ever saw. RIP Jim Hall

[Jim R]

Two days ago, I was looking for a video on Youtube. Something related to guitarist Ed Bickert. The first thing I noticed and watched was a clip (probably a few years old by now) of Hall paying tribute to Bickert. Not with his guitar, but via comments in a one-on-one interview. I don't think I've ever seen Hall on video, and it occurred to me that I may not have ever seen/heard him speak before (I never saw him perform in person), and the way he presented his tribute, I just thought... what a cool guy. RIP to one of the masters on his chosen instrument.

[Mike Schwartz]

http://youtu.be/f6xAkULRuUk

http://youtu.be/gEBnek07FgA

Library of Congress 2009.....58 minutes wonderful presentation

Edited December 11, 2013 by Mike Schwartz

[bluesoul]

From 6PM December 10th to 1AM December 12, WKCR honors the memory of jazz guitarist Jim Hall, who died December 10th, 2013 at the age of 83. Having first gained recognition as a member of Chico Hamilton’s quintet, Jim Hall went on to become an extremely well celebrated guitarist, composer, and arranger of jazz music. He worked with many significant jazz personalities, including Sonny Rollins, Lee Konitz, and Paul Desmond. In 1997, Hall received the New York Jazz Critics Award for Best Jazz Composer/Arranger and continued to perform up until his death.

http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/wkcr/story/jim-hall-memorial-broadcast

One of the players who inspired me to really dig deeper into jazz. Very influencial on my listening over the years. RIP Mr. Hall, thank you for the wonderful music.

[Peter Friedman]

My strongest memory of seeing Jim Hall was a number of decades ago. I was in New York for a long weekend and discovered that the Jim Hall - Ron Carter Duo was playing at a club called The Guitar. My wife and I along with another couple went that evening and stayed for two marvelous sets. The atmosphere in the club was extremely quiet and it seemed as if pretty much everyone was there

to listen carefully to these two wonderful musicians. It was a night to remember.

[Mark Stryker]

Many years ago I saw the duo of Jim Hall and Ron Carter at the Detroit Institute of the Arts. Great Jazz + Great Art = One of the best concerts I ever saw. RIP Jim Hall

Quick aside: Pretty sure there's a tape of that performance. A remarkable number of concerts at the museum in the 1970s and 80s were taped for archival purposes -- I saw a list last spring that was stunning and I recall seeing the Hall-Carter duo there. An incredible list of performers, from bebop to free jazz, with a major emphasis on the cats from Detroit in various combinations. I believe they are in the process of transfering many of the reel-to-reel tapes to digital but don't know where they are in the process. As you might imagine, I'm interesting in having a listen to more than a few ...

[Larry Kart]

This one is a gem for both Hall and Brookmeyer:

http://bobbrookmeyer.com/albuminfo.aspx?ID=201

Also, the Art Farmer Jazz Icons DVD:

http://www.amazon.com/Jazz-Icons-Art-Farmer-Live/dp/B002N5KE0Q

[king ubu]

He played so well in so many contrasting contexts - with Hampton Hawes, Chico Hamilton, Art Farmer, Sonny Rollins, Freddie Hubbard, Bill Evans - just to mention the 1955-62 period.

And the great 1959, 1961 and 1963-1965 recordings with Paul Desmond on Warner Bros. and RCA, and his Pacific Jazz dates, Jazz Guitar and Good Friday Blues - The Modest Jazz Trio.

Forgot Desmond. Have edited post.

He not only recorded with Desmond in the period you mentioned, but also after 1962.

I know. I've got the discs!

And you all forgot Jimmy Giuffre ... some fabulous music there - including "Traditionalism Revisited" by Bob Brookmeyer!

[JSngry]

I'd just like to say "thank you" to life for people like Jim Hall, who could take one "easy way out" too many, and instead maybe don't take any, or if they do, keep a perspective when they do and don't get rurnt for the long haul.

The first time I heard him was on either the first Chico Hamilton Quintet album or the Two Degrees East... side, both came more or less together. Then Sonny's What's New, and then one of the Helen Merrill Milestone dates, all in the space of a year or so. By then, I got the idea - Jim Hall was always going be Jim Hall, and that was always going to be something at once wholly appropriate to the setting, yet never faceless and/or phoned in.

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/jazz-guitarist-master-jim-hall-dies-83-21168067

His wife of 48 years, Jane Hall, says he died early Tuesday in his sleep at his Manhattan apartment after a short illness.

So, yeah, be a nerdy-looking guy with a twinkle in your eye, a spark in your brain, stay married a long time, then die in your sleep after a short illness. And leave behind on helluva diverse and integrety-laden legacy, one with no cheapness in in it, ever.

Again, a heartfelt "thank you" to life for people like Jim Hall.

[jeffcrom]

RIP, and thanks for the great music.

[GA Russell]

RIP. I'm pretty sure that I've mentioned this before. I saw the Jim Hall-Ron Carter Duo in Atlanta ca. 1988. (It was great!)

A couple of days before the concert, there was an interview with Hall in the paper. With that article was a sidebar briefly listing facts about Hall. One item, as if it were a major accomplishment/award, was that Mosaic chose to put out a box of Paul Desmond with Jim Hall recordings.

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

RIP. one time at a jim hall concert i was at, this young japanese fan asks jim hall: "do you have any stories to share about paul desmond". jim hall says: "no, not really....but i will tell you this: paul would have made a really good old guy." it was really sad, and i never forgot it. well jim hall did get to be an old guy, but now he is gone too.

[ValerieB]

I'd just like to say "thank you" to life for people like Jim Hall, who could take one "easy way out" too many, and instead maybe don't take any, or if they do, keep a perspective when they do and don't get rurnt for the long haul.

The first time I heard him was on either the first Chico Hamilton Quintet album or the Two Degrees East... side, both came more or less together. Then Sonny's What's New, and then one of the Helen Merrill Milestone dates, all in the space of a year or so. By then, I got the idea - Jim Hall was always going be Jim Hall, and that was always going to be something at once wholly appropriate to the setting, yet never faceless and/or phoned in.

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/jazz-guitarist-master-jim-hall-dies-83-21168067

His wife of 48 years, Jane Hall, says he died early Tuesday in his sleep at his Manhattan apartment after a short illness.

So, yeah, be a nerdy-looking guy with a twinkle in your eye, a spark in your brain, stay married a long time, then die in your sleep after a short illness. And leave behind on helluva diverse and integrety-laden legacy, one with no cheapness in in it, ever.

Again, a heartfelt "thank you" to life for people like Jim Hall.

thank you for your beautiful post, JSngry.

[sgcim]

Very sad to hear. He was looking very frail, so it's not totally unexpected, but it's still hard to believe.

I caught him live so many times in the 70s, I can't remember them all.

He's on so many great recordings it would be impossible to list them all.

The last time I saw him, he played "Skylark" at Jimmy Raney's Memorial service at St. Peter's, but who's going to play it for him?

I'm sitting here listening and taping WKCR's 24 hour tribute to him.

Absolute genius. RIP, Mr. Hall...

[sidewinder]

My first Jim Hall record and still a favourite:

Heard 'Lament for a Fallen Matador' (actually 'that' Albinoni piece) on the radio and was haunted. After hearing much more Hall I now think it's really a re-run of Concierto though still lovely - Art Farmer is beautiful.

I actually prefer Hall's take on the Rodrigo to the Miles/Evans' - just feel it does something very different to the original.

That 'Commitment' LP is probably the first one of his I ever heard too (on the radio) and it is excellent. Alan Ganley on drums fitted in ideally too.

[JohnS]

Another master gone. I did catch him live once. Thanks for the music. RIP.

[BillF]

He played so well in so many contrasting contexts - with Hampton Hawes, Chico Hamilton, Art Farmer, Sonny Rollins, Freddie Hubbard, Bill Evans - just to mention the 1955-62 period.

And the great 1959, 1961 and 1963-1965 recordings with Paul Desmond on Warner Bros. and RCA, and his Pacific Jazz dates, Jazz Guitar and Good Friday Blues - The Modest Jazz Trio.

Forgot Desmond. Have edited post.

He not only recorded with Desmond in the period you mentioned, but also after 1962.

I know. I've got the discs!

Marc Myers' JazzWax post this morning reminds me that I should have put Jimmy Giuffre, Bob Brookmeyer (thanks also, Ubu) and John Lewis in that list, too.

http://www.jazzwax.com/

Edited December 11, 2013 by BillF