Who had the hippest, coolest stage manner?

[Dan Gould]

I was going to make this a poll but I knew I'd forget or be unaware of deserving nominees.

But when the topic came to mind, I thought of these three:

Dexter Gordon That voice, so smooth and deep and resonant, reciting the lyrics to What's New or whatever great tune he was about to play. Way cool; how I wish I'd been around to see him.

Art Blakey For the jocularity, the "On this tune we're going to feature .... no one in particular" and the band introductions with the recitation of honors, "winner of the Downbeat award, the Ladies Home Journal award ..."

Lou Donaldson "Not recommended for fusion or con-fusion musicians"

Miles Davis If silence is golden, then Miles was the ultimate in cool stage announcements.

Who's your pick?

[TedR]

Taking the jocularity theme I'd include Dizzy Gillespie. He would say to the audience "and now let me introduce the members of the band". Then he introduced the members of his band.......to each other! They all shook hands. You could feel the warmth of his personality when he was on stage.

[JSngry]

Excellent choices all, here's two more:

Cannonball & Duke - I've long toyed w/the idea of making a CD solely of their announcements. It could/would/should be an underground hit!

Ok, THREE more - throw in Rahsaan, too. Same for him - his announcements could (and did) stand by themselves.

Screw it - FOUR more - Eddie Harris.

And lsat but by no means least, #5 on this two-person list - Dizzy. Not a surfeit of examples on record, but I caught him live a few times and can attest that his stage manner was incredibly entertaining, hip, and for the ages.

It's not particularly a mystery why guys like this were able to sustain an audience (and career) that spanned the decades - their personal presentation was magnetic and inviting, each in their own honest way (even Miles'). A lot of players today think that all you have to do is play good and look good (not necessarily in that order), and that the world will then get in line to kiss your ass for being such a Great Artist, and that personal presentation should not be a factor at all.

Yeah, sure, whatever.

[Cali]

B) Miles, hands down. You had to be there!

[wesbed]

I've seen mostly 'still' pictures of the classic jazz players. I enjoy the hell out of the black & white photographs. The clothes, the instruments, the cigarette smoke drifting through the air. It doesn't get any cooler. Not by a long shot.

I don't know whether a good stage manner/presence is determined by how the artist treats his audience, or how he plays his instrument, or how he carries himself (maybe all the above?).

My pick, from what I've seen, is Thelonious Monk, based on the clips from the Straight No Chaser film. The hat, the dark glasses, the goatee, the way his hands hit the piano keys, the odd tapping of his foot. Monk seemed so cool, so modern, so hip, so jazz perfect. I wish I could have been there at the Five Spot, enjoying Monk along with glass of a good single malt.

Edited March 22, 2004 by wesbed

[White Lightning]

I'd add Roland Kirk to this prestigious list.

[Tim McG]

Miles Davis...there could be no other.

I saw Miles on stage twice in the mid-late 80s. In one concert, he held up signs with things like "Applaud", names of the soloists and various other nose tweaking phrases.

It was hilarious

The word was he was doing a little "in-your-face" to the Jazz critics who always lambasted him for not facing or talking to the audience. The crowd loved it!

[couw]

listened to Kirk live '72 at the Jazz Workshop in Boston today.

Kirk's remarks are priceless:

"We'd like to play a ballad at this time. ... Er... I don't know what it's gonna be though. (rah laughs; background chatter chatter)

We gonna play a fast ballad at this time. Tune written by one o' the ... black masters o' music, Thelonious Monk, this tune is called: ... Apistrofree."

after which they get in to a version of the Monk staple with a Sidewinder like vamp. Gotta love the guy.

[Dr. Rat]

I got to see Benny Carter when he was doing a concert (and recording--a couple of suites) at Rutgers.

He was great at handling the crowd. Had us in the palm of his hand. A gracious, charming, man of the world.

--eric

[Johnny E]

I like the way Mingus would scold the audiences:

From one night at the Five Spot (as transcribed by his then-girlfriend Diane Dorr-Dorynek) he said:

"...You haven't even heard the conversation across the table, and that's the loudest! Have you heard the announcement of a single song title during the night? Or a pause in between tunes, hoping you'd hear yourselves, then quiet down and listen?"

~or~

From "Charles Mingus Presents..."

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, we'd like to remind you that we don't applaud here at the Showplace, or where we're working. So restrain your applause and, if you must applaud, wait till the end of the set - and it won't even matter then...In fact, don't even take any drinks, I want no cash register ringing. Et cetera!"

Anyone who would talk through a Mingus set deserves, at the very least, to be verbally thrashed.

[catesta]

Cannonball & Duke - I've long toyed w/the idea of making a CD solely of their announcements. It could/would/should be an underground hit!

I would buy it.

I know Dan was thinking jazz, but it's hard to dispute the on stage hip and cool of Frank, Dean, and Sammy.

[RDK]

From "Charles Mingus Presents..."

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, we'd like to remind you that we don't applaud here at the Showplace, or where we're working. So restrain your applause and, if you must applaud, wait till the end of the set - and it won't even matter then...In fact, don't even take any drinks, I want no cash register ringing. Et cetera!"

Anyone who would talk through a Mingus set deserves, at the very least, to be verbally thrashed.

I was at Birdland a few weeks back and I was so hoping that the musician - who was (in this case unfortunately) much nicer that Mingus - would lash out at the drunk guy who was talking loudly to the other (mostly embarrassed) members of his party.

Charles had style, that's for sure - wish I had the chance to see him in person...

[medjuck]

Gotta go with Duke. But I do remember seeing Gerry Mulligan once in a large theater in Montreal and he was so casual it made it seem like a small club.

[MartyJazz]

I was going to make this a poll but I knew I'd forget or be unaware of deserving nominees.

But when the topic came to mind, I thought of these three:

Dexter Gordon That voice, so smooth and deep and resonant, reciting the lyrics to What's New or whatever great tune he was about to play. Way cool; how I wish I'd been around to see him.

I saw Dexter Gordon at the Village Vanguard on several occasions in the mid '70s. Terrific stage presence. As you indicate, he would very methodically recite the lyrics to a ballad just prior to playing it, in particular I recall he doing so with "You've Changed" and "Polka Dots and Moonbeams". He also did a gesture that was very hip and does not come across on live recordings except if you have a video or DVD, namely, he would extend the saxophone horizontally with both hands towards the audience as they were clapping at the end of piece, as if to say, "here is where the music is coming from, I'm simply the messenger".

He was also very funny. I was fortunate to see him invite Sonny Stitt from the audience to come up to the stage and jam with him - the tune was McShann's "The Jumping Blues" - and he did so by saying that he would like to bring up "an old........a VERY old, friend".

I didn't realize how much I valued those experiences until I saw this thread. Thanks.

[Claude]

Not hip or cool behaviour, but it's surprising that Pacific Jazz left the passage on one of the Gerry Mulligan California Concerts albums where Mulligan stops playing and takes the microphone to tell an audience member to stop whistling to his solo.

[Hardbopjazz]

After seeing Jimmy Smith, he would be at the bottom of the list coolest stage manner.

Lou Donaldson is up there for me of the live performers I've seen.

I saw the MJQ in 91. There stage manner was so professional, maybe a bit too professional. Right to busniess with them.

[sheldonm]

Not necessarily the best but James Moody has a great presence on stage. I just saw Tom Harrell, not great stage presence but a presence none the less.

Mark

[KOB]

Miles

Cannonball

Dizzy

Dex

Rahsaan

James Moody

Roy Hargrove

[Alexander Hawkins]

Trawled this thread up looking for something completely different through the search function, but Lonnie Smith has to be one of the coolest!

[Free For All]

Whether or not you liked his music, you have to admit Stan Kenton was pretty cool and charismatic in front of an audience.

Woody Herman too. Monday (May 16th) is Woody's birthday, BTW.

[marcello]

Ellington should be added to any list.

Magnetic to the end.

[Jazz Kat]

I can't believe no one mentioned Monk. He was the strangest of them all!

I'd say for coolness, definately Miles When you look at Trane on stage, you just go, "wow, what a genious." As opposed to when I see Miles, I say, "What a sharp guy."

This is a cool topic!

Dexter Gordon of course, Hank Mobley, though I haven't seen him on stage at all, he's the king of cool.

Let's not forget about Lester Young.

[sonic1]

Man, I saw Archie Shepp last summer with Roswell Rudd, Andrew Cyrille, and Reggie Workman.

Those cats, especially Shepp, are pretty old, and somehow still cool. Shepp still has the buzz of a young man. He gets my vote.

[A Lark Ascending]

Bugger 'hip' or 'cool'.

Give me a musician who is warm, friendly, approachable, humble towards their audience.

A couple of weeks back I saw Enrico Rava's band play an exquisite set, shorn of any 'hip' or 'cool'; great playing accompanied by a willingness to connect with the audience between numbers.

Worth a million affected 'cools'.

[brownie]

Duke, Dexter, Lester are the first three ones that come to mind.

Would like to add Bob Dorough to that list!