Don Friedman (1935-2016)

[clifford_thornton]

The great pianist Don Friedman has passed, as I'm told by my editor at the NYC Jazz Record (who's confirmed it).

I was slated to see him recently but he was too ill to perform. A life in music well-lived and he'll be missed.

[Larry Kart]

Damn -- he was a fine player. Liked his stuff from "Circle Waltz" on.

[JSngry]

RIP. I love how he could play really open and still do the Clark Terry gigs, lot of love in that man, had to be.

[six string]

R.I.P. to an artist I was just starting to discover.  I own a whoppng two cds by him.  I don't know how he escaped my radar but he did.  I don't see his music in my local stores so I ended up ordering on line. 

[Ted O'Reilly]

What a shame...he was a very nice, gentle man and a fine jazz talent.  I recorded him several times over the years, with a CD issue drawn from  two nights of concerts with bassist Don Thompson showing his depth. (Opus D'Amour; Sackville SKCD2-3058)

[soulpope]

R.I.P

[Hardbopjazz]

This is sad news. RIP.

[Peter Friedman]

Very sorry to hear this sad news. I had the opportunity to see Don Friedman live a number of times.

Also have a large collection of his recordings. Will pull one out to hear later today.

[catesta]

15 hours ago, clifford_thornton said:

The great pianist Don Friedman has passed, as I'm told by my editor at the NYC Jazz Record (who's confirmed it).

I was slated to see him recently but he was too ill to perform. A life in music well-lived and he'll be missed.

Was that the Kitano show?

RIP, Mr. Friedman.

 

[clifford_thornton]

Yes indeed - good show in spite of his absence and Grace Kelly's singing/grandstanding.

[catesta]

I was disappointed I missed it. I had no idea he was ill and didn't perform. 

[paul secor]

Don Friedman had a long career - at least 60 years - and remained true to himself and the music. Much to be said for that.

Thank you, Mr. Friedman.

[Joe]

Sad, sad, sad to learn this. Mr. Friedman was a wonderfully muscular but lyrical player. Thank goodness he was able to play until the very end of his life.

[king ubu]

(if it's any comfort, Grace Kelly has been dead for quite a while)

 

r.i.p. Don Friedman - he's one of those that should have been *much* better known. Always enjoyed his playing a lot (once I got over the bad cover art his records usually came with, excepting the early ones).

[JSngry]

C'mon folks, Grace Kelly is young and has a career playing Young People Music, and apparently a viable one at that. Did anybody really think she was going to grow up to be Lee Konitz? I mean, hope springs eternal and all that, but reality being the unrelenting bitch that it is...no.

So instead, celebrate life, celebrate Don Friedman (RIP) and fix yourself a bigass burrito!

Grace Kelly, parallel universe, worlds not expected to collide. Hilah, like Don Freidman, welcome ANY time.

[jlhoots]

2 hours ago, JSngry said:

C'mon folks, Grace Kelly is young and has a career playing Young People Music, and apparently a viable one at that. Did anybody really think she was going to grow up to be Lee Konitz? I mean, hope springs eternal and all that, but reality being the unrelenting bitch that it is...no.

So instead, celebrate life, celebrate Don Friedman (RIP) and fix yourself a bigass burrito!

Grace Kelly, parallel universe, worlds not expected to collide. Hilah, like Don Freidman, welcome ANY time.

Agree.

Although Grace plays better than she sings.

[kh1958]

Jazz Wax is re-running an interesting interview with Don Friedman from 2009.

http://www.jazzwax.com.

 

[soulpope]

2 hours ago, kh1958 said:

Jazz Wax is re-running an interesting interview with Don Friedman from 2009.

http://www.jazzwax.com.

 

Interesting read ....

[Justin V]

I only picked up my first Don Friedman-led (well, co-led with Don Thompson) date, Opus D'Amour, earlier this year and was very impressed.  I believe that he played Mezzrow either shortly before or shortly after one of my latest visits to New York, and I probably would've seen him had I been in town for it.  I'll be spinning Scott LaFaro's Pieces of Jade soon, as the bulk of it consists of five tracks by a trio of Friedman, LaFaro and Pete LaRoca and a later solo piece by Friedman dedicated to LaFaro (and a long rehearsal take by Bill Evans and LaFaro).

Given how fresh and unhackneyed I find his playing to be on Opus D'Amour, I'll definitely be picking up more of his music.  Thank you for the music, Mr. Friedman, and rest in peace. 

[bluesoul]

NYT:  Don Friedman, Versatile Jazz Pianist, Dies at 81

[Dan Gould]

Got an email from Jazzology which listed this under upcoming releases:

 

DON FRIEDMAN: LOVE MUSIC
feat: Don Friedman (p), Frank Luther (b), Billy Hart (d) (note: previously unreleased)

[JSngry]

Frank Luther?

[paul secor]

Might be this guy:

 

[HutchFan]

Frank Luther also played on another one of Friedman's Progressive LPs called Jazz Dancing.  

Back in the day, it was only released in Japan.  Now it's available as a download.

 

EDIT:

Turns out that Frank Luther was on this Friedman LP too (also Japan only):

Edited July 11, 2016 by HutchFan

[JSngry]

So, not this guy?

Guess I'm equal parts relieved and disappointed, then.