Chris Albertson, R.I.P.

[clifford_thornton]

I was so sad to learn this the other day during my travels westward. Never met him, sad to say, but his contributions are immense.

I hope that his archives (paper and otherwise) are in good hands.

[Matthew]

Very sad to hear of this, he was an interesting man who did great work in jazz. RIP

[7/4]

Chris had an interesting life, thanks for sharing it with us Chris.

[king ubu]

Very sorry to hear that  

[Hardbopjazz]

He'll be missed. RIP.

[Matt]

I just read the news here. RIP Chris. What an interesting person.

His blog sites:

http://stomp-off.blogspot.com/

http://brobergblog.blogspot.com/

and

http://wbai-nowthen.blogspot.com/

Looks like he posted on WBAI just a few days before his death.

 

Edited July 19, 2019 by Matt

[Chuck Nessa]

This was posted on FB today by Ricky Riccardi: 

Every now and then, my job requires me to embody Indiana Jones (minus the hat) and do some archeological digging. Today, I ended up in hellishly hot storage unit in Amityville, NY where, joined by intrepid staff members from the Armstrong House and the Institute of Jazz Studies, we collected precious artifacts belonging to the late Chris Albertson. Here I am, drenched in sweat, surrounded by heavy boxes, sitting on the ground, going through a filing cabinet....and finding an unpublished autobiographical manuscript written by Lil Hardin Armstrong in the 1960s! One of the all-time great work moments. I’ll have more to post on it once we start processing it at the Archives—stay tuned!

 

[Larry Kart]

10 minutes ago, Chuck Nessa said:

This was posted on FB today by Ricky Riccardi: 

Every now and then, my job requires me to embody Indiana Jones (minus the hat) and do some archeological digging. Today, I ended up in hellishly hot storage unit in Amityville, NY where, joined by intrepid staff members from the Armstrong House and the Institute of Jazz Studies, we collected precious artifacts belonging to the late Chris Albertson. Here I am, drenched in sweat, surrounded by heavy boxes, sitting on the ground, going through a filing cabinet....and finding an unpublished autobiographical manuscript written by Lil Hardin Armstrong in the 1960s! One of the all-time great work moments. I’ll have more to post on it once we start processing it at the Archives—stay tuned!

 

Wow!

[mikeweil]

[EKE BBB]

Chris was working on a Lil Armstrong autobiography (“as told to”) for some time but he gave up some years ago.

[Dan Gould]

Very glad to hear that the archives were placed in a storage unit sometime before and it sounds like they were willed to the Institute and the Armstrong House.  I had visions of a landlord ordering the pitching of things into a dumpster.

[Big Beat Steve]

4 hours ago, EKE BBB said:

Chris was working on a Lil Armstrong autobiography (“as told to”) for some time but he gave up some years ago.

And he talked about it here and there in his postings (and on his blog IIRC) so while it would be great to see it published this does not seem to be some news out of the blue.

1 minute ago, Dan Gould said:

Very glad to hear that the archives were placed in a storage unit sometime before and it sounds like they were willed to the Institute and the Armstrong House.  I had visions of a landlord ordering the pitching of things into a dumpster.

Yes, this is very comforting to know. I had similar fears (it has all happened before, and dispersing archives like this piecemeal on ebay or elsewhere isn't much better).

[JSngry]

Chris Albertson FTW.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

I wonder if they'll also find all of his interview tapes? He always said that he had boxes of them. He talked about writing them all up and publishing them but he only as far as posting a few of them on his website for streaming.

[BERIGAN]

On 7/31/2019 at 8:18 PM, Chuck Nessa said:

This was posted on FB today by Ricky Riccardi: 

Every now and then, my job requires me to embody Indiana Jones (minus the hat) and do some archeological digging. Today, I ended up in hellishly hot storage unit in Amityville, NY where, joined by intrepid staff members from the Armstrong House and the Institute of Jazz Studies, we collected precious artifacts belonging to the late Chris Albertson. Here I am, drenched in sweat, surrounded by heavy boxes, sitting on the ground, going through a filing cabinet....and finding an unpublished autobiographical manuscript written by Lil Hardin Armstrong in the 1960s! One of the all-time great work moments. I’ll have more to post on it once we start processing it at the Archives—stay tuned!

 

WOW! I wonder if there would be interest in crowdfunding the publication of this manuscript? Or perhaps there is enough interest that wouldn't be necessary ? 

[AllenLowe]

you wouldn't need much - the book can be printed for under $1000. Bigger job would be hiring someone to retype and format the ms.

[mjzee]

I would think the Armstrong House would publish it, given the author and subject matter.

[jazzbo]

Once Ricky had it in his hands I bet he finds the way.

[medjuck]

I just found this under a photo on Ricky's Instagram account :

"Famed jazz historian, producer and author Chris Albertson passed away on April 24 at the age of 87. The Jazz Foundation of America helped find a home for Albertson’s massive collection, with most of it going to the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers. But Albertson has a close relationship with Louis’s second wife, Lillian Hardin Armstrong, and the Jazz Foundation decreed that anything relating to Lil and/or Louis could go to the Louis Armstrong House Museum. Yesterday, on a sweltering hot summer day, a team comprised of Armstrong House staff members Ricky Riccardi, Sarah Rose, Hyland Harris and Junior Armstead descended upon a storage unit in Amityville, NY to search for Lil and Louis items. 210 boxes were opened and rifled through (with help from Rutgers, New School and Jazz Foundation friends) and we’re happy to report that we have brought some stunning artifacts back to Queens! 
This includes an autobiographical manuscript Lil and Chris worked on in the 60s; other autobiographical writings by Lil; numerous letters from Lil to Chris; rare photos of young Lil; photos of Louis and Lil from one of her scrapbooks; a framed autographed photo of Louis; a poster for Louis’s 1932 debut at the London Palladium; Lil’s framed version of an original King Oliver publicity photo; and more."

BTW The photo makes the storage space look more like a warehouse than a storage space-- not quite of Citizen Kane/Raiders of the Lost Ark proportions but more like someone's basement than a Pod. 

 

[gmonahan]

Cool! It would be interesting to have Lil Hardin Armstrong's perspective. Now, if only Ricky could find those Buddy Bolden cylinders.........

[Son-of-a-Weizen]

Damn.  I didn’t even know that Chris had passed away.   
I was flipping through his Bessie book a few weeks ago and wondering what he was up to. 
We had lots of….um, ‘spirited’ exchanges in the old Politics threads long ago …….but also a great many pleasant email and PM exchanges on the side.    Sad news. 

[Ken Dryden]

Who was the journalist who had the floors collapse in his NYC apartment from the weight of the records? I can't remember if it was Chris Albertson, but it was someone who had been on the scene a long time and is now deceased.

 

 

 

[Dmitry]

2 hours ago, Ken Dryden said:

Who was the journalist who had the floors collapse in his NYC apartment from the weight of the records? I can't remember if it was Chris Albertson, but it was someone who had been on the scene a long time and is now deceased.

 

 

 

Wasn't him. I was at his apartment once. It had "some" records, but not a lot. He lived in a pre-war apartment building on Central Park West. Those buildings don't just collapse, even under the weight of billions of dollars housed in them.

But just to let your imaginations run wild - was he an heir to the Albertson's Supermarkets fortune?

 

[Ken Dryden]

I don’t think he was related to them. Didn’t he come from Europe to live here in the late 1950s or so?

[Rooster_Ties]

11 minutes ago, Ken Dryden said:

I don’t think he was related to them. Didn’t he come from Europe to live here in the late 1950s or so?

Finland, iirc.