Slugs'

[BFrank]

Nice piece about Slugs' that was posted on Facebook by Jack Bruce today. Thanks, Jack!

‘It Was a Joint’: Jazz Musicians Remember Slugs’ in the Far East

[Dan Gould]

That was fantastic. Thanks a lot.

[CraigP]

That was great to read, thanks.

[paul secor]

Thanks for the link - some good stories.

[sidewinder]

Excellent article ! Like the bit about the carton of milk being poured on 'patrons'.

[Michael Weiss]

Here's another piece about the Five Spot

[l p]

http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/nat-music/audio/20145088/slugs-saloon

good audio interview with the owner of slug's. and his lee morgan story at the end which should probably be cross posted over to the recent lee morgan thread.

[Mark Stryker]

Check out the Slugs' ad at the top of the page. Anybody know the month/year? Roy Haynes Quartet -- with Wayne Shorter (!!). No LPs with Roy and Wayne together, right?

http://jazztimes.com/articles/138276-must-hear-recordings-made-at-slugs-saloon

[kh1958]

I can't believe anyone would list those Mingus/Slugs recordings--their fidelity is so bad, they are competely unlistenable.

[JSngry]

Ok, who is driving the bus on this sudden spotlight(s) on Slugs, and is it the end game or is this groundwork being laid for somethings mores?

Not complaining, not at all, very much not at all. Just...surely this is not all once cosmic coincidence, eh?

[Mark Stryker]

Christian McBride tells me that Roy remembers the rest of the band for that gig with Wayne as being McCoy Tyner and Cecil McBee. Man, what I wouldn't give to hear a tape of that gig. August 1967, apparently.

Edited October 3, 2014 by Mark Stryker

[Michael Weiss]

Haynes with Wayne also played around the same time at the Left Bank in Baltimore.

[Leeway]

Maybe this has been covered or is well-known.

I read an interview with Barry Altschul. According to Altschul, David Izenzon (or Izenson--I've seen it both ways) knew the owner of Slugs', Jerry Schult. Izenzon mentioned one day to Schult that he ought to have some music in his club. Schult agreed, so Izenzon called Paul Bly, and Bley called Altschul. According to Altschul, that trio played the first gig at Slugs'.

One of the Downtown musicians told me that Izenzon died while running down the street to stop a thief from stealing his VW.

What's with that apostrophe at the end of Slugs'?

[Michael Weiss]

I remember Jackie McLean telling me that he was involved with Slugs in the beginning.

[JSngry]

Didn't one of these recent interviews have it as LaMont Johnson who got it going?

As for Slugs', I would take it as the plural possessive, as belonging to the "slugs", the name of which was explained as having some philosophical derivation.

[Leeway]

It's like being at Woodstock; everyone remembers being there. One of the pitfalls of oral history. If someone has a chance to catch Altschul at a concert they should ask him about it.

[JSngry]

I'm trying to imagine where the fringe benefits of being a musician who also booked gigs @ Slugs' would potentially end, and so far, I can't get there.

[AllenLowe]

I really was there - and I saw Ornette's band with Haden and Dewey Redman, and Mingus with some other players, I guess (hey, I was 15).

I also, and this is true I swear, saw Jean Genet there on the night I went to see Mingus.

great place to hear music.

they don't menton that it was a very scary neighborhood; at the time the Hell's Angels were running things, dealing drugs, beating people up, throwing people off roofs. Their HQ is still there (as a matter of fact Matt Shipp lives right in that neighborhood).

Edited October 9, 2014 by AllenLowe

[Leeway]

I started going down to the East Village when I was 16 (1968) to go to the concerts at the Fillmore East. I did that for the next couple of years. A burgeoning hippie, I loved the freaky street scene. It was electric, exotic, with the feeling of foreboding one gets before a major disaster.

I well remember the Hells Angels. I soon realized they didn't mess with small fry like myself, as long as you remembered to steer clear of the bikes. It's possible that the Angels performed "security" for the Fillmore when the crowds outside the theater got too big or rowdy or stoned. That's when things could turn dangerous in a hurry.

That area was also known as Little Ukraine. I had some Ukrainian girlfriends, so that aspect seemed pretty familiar. I still love a good pierogi or pelmeni.

All I knew at the time was rock. Jazz = Miles Davis, that was all. I wish I knew more about that scene at the time. Too young probably to get into Slugs' since they served drinks. Anyway, it's mostly gentrified now, and the electricity is gone.

I'm not surprised Genet was there. Perfect sort of place for him.

Edited October 9, 2014 by Leeway

[sidewinder]

Wayne Shorter mentions in his book carrying a hand-axe to ensure his safety to and from Slugs.

Edited October 9, 2014 by sidewinder

[BFrank]

About the name and the apostrophe, it's in the article:

Despite its implication, Slugs’ took its name from the book All and Everything by mystic George Gurdjieff, who referred to three-brained humans as “slugs.” New York law in the ‘60s prohibited the name “saloon,” so the club re-branded itself – keeping the apostrophe – as “Slugs’ in the Far East.”

[sgcim]

I started going down to the East Village when I was 16 (1968) to go to the concerts at the Fillmore East. I did that for the next couple of years. A burgeoning hippie, I loved the freaky street scene. It was electric, exotic, with the feeling of foreboding one gets before a major disaster.

I well remember the Hells Angels. I soon realized they didn't mess with small fry like myself, as long as you remembered to steer clear of the bikes. It's possible that the Angels performed "security" for the Fillmore when the crowds outside the theater got too big or rowdy or stoned. That's when things could turn dangerous in a hurry.

That area was also known as Little Ukraine. I had some Ukrainian girlfriends, so that aspect seemed pretty familiar. I still love a good pierogi or pelmeni.

All I knew at the time was rock. Jazz = Miles Davis, that was all. I wish I knew more about that scene at the time. Too young probably to get into Slugs' since they served drinks. Anyway, it's mostly gentrified now, and the electricity is gone.

I'm not surprised Genet was there. Perfect sort of place for him.

My sis used to work at the Fillmore East, so I got to see a lot of free shows, and the East Village was a very exciting place back then.

She said that she saw Miles Davis snorting cocaine in the bathroom at the FE.

A friend of mine who lived in the EV said some Ukrainian guy got mad at some guy in a store, so he went to his apt. and got an axe and chopped the guy's hand off!

The Hell's Angel's were always hanging out there, but I never saw them bother anyone.

BTW, here's my favorite jazz trivia quetion:

Which great jazz guitarist was a member of the Hell's Angels, and even had a contract placed on his life by them, because he testified against them in a murder trial?

Edited October 10, 2014 by sgcim

[clifford_thornton]

Pat Martino?

[7/4]

[JSngry]

http://rec.music.makers.guitar.jazz.narkive.com/TAUDNXsW/jazz-guitar-trivia-quiz-1