Percy France Memorial Website

[Dan Gould]

Well the time is finally here. I have launched the Percy France Memorial Website:

http://percyfrance.info

I'd like to thank first everybody who contributed to the Go Fund Me campaign, it was greatly appreciated. I am very pleased with the end result.  There are essays and remembrances from many people who knew Percy, and the Sessionagraphy uses photos (80% or more never seen before) and clips from publications plus details on all gigs with known recordings, to tell the full story of his career.  And I attempted to include at least one audio clip for every session, usually two, so you can hear Percy's saxophone mastery. 

Please take a look when you get a chance. I hope people find it engaging and enjoyable, though I know there will be many visitors who spend about 90 seconds and leave.  Do let me know what you think and do watch this page as the Summer of Percy France is going to have more highlights than just my website.

Edit to add: Site is NOT optimized for smartphone viewing. Best seen on a PC or tablet.

 

 

Edited June 11, 2021 by Dan Gould

[HutchFan]

Congrats on the launch, Dan!  Thanks for sharing your knowledge and enjoyment of the music.  

I plan to give the site a thorough going over, and I expect I'll be seeking out more Percy France recordings in the future.   

 

Edited June 11, 2021 by HutchFan

[JSngry]

My work PC is blocking it!

But I know it will be spectacular, bringing a figure out of the shadows into the light. God's work.

[Dub Modal]

Bookmarked. Great site! 

[clifford_thornton]

Wow, kudos!

[Dan Gould]

Marc Myers plug in JazzWax coming this weekend. 

[Stereojack]

Looks great, Dan! All of your efforts really paid off.

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

good tribute page my guy!  

[JSngry]

Just had a look. To quote the perhaps incongrous source Jaco Pastorious, this shit is correct.

[Hardbopjazz]

Dan, Percy is smiling from above. You did some great work.  He’ll live on for ever now. 

[Dan Gould]

Thanks to all for their comments. 

I'd hoped Marc Myers would have said something along the lines of "Percy France was a fine tenorist who didn't get the attention he deserved. Check out this site that tries to correct that."

Instead, one sentence, Dan Gould has a tribute site, go here. That's a ringing endorsement. 

 

[sidewinder]

I don’t know much about Percy France Dan but this website looks extremely good - very comprehensive and in depth, reminding me of James Harrod’s similarly excellent West Coast site. Well done sir ! 

Edited June 12, 2021 by sidewinder

[mjazzg]

I'm no Marc Myers but I am a Mark and will happily say " "Percy France was a fine tenorist who didn't get the attention he deserved. Check out this site that tries to correct that."

I know absolutely nothing about PF but just a cursory first glance has really piqued my interest.  A work of passion, very evidently, duly rewarded by a very nice presentation.

[Peter Friedman]

Good job Dan.Just opened it up and read through the home page. Plan to spend more time with it in the coming days.

[mikeweil]

Excellent job! Only thing I miss is issue numbers for the albums, especially CDs. 

I will get me a copy of the Freddie Roach album with Percy France after listening to some tracks on YouTube.

You' re doing him justice!

Edited June 13, 2021 by mikeweil

[Chuck Nessa]

Wonderful job Dan.

[Larry Kart]

Bravo, Dan. What a sound PF had. Plumed is a word that comes to mind.

[Dan Gould]

12 hours ago, mikeweil said:

Excellent job! Only thing I miss is issue numbers for the albums, especially CDs. 

I will get me a copy of the Freddie Roach album with Percy France after listening to some tracks on YouTube.

You' re doing him justice!

Well I figured that people can go to discogs for issue numbers if they need them. I did give the issue number for the Doggett Chronological Classics at the top of the King section. 

You can see why in the end the BRIAN software wasn't going to work for my concept. Its great for standardizing discographical layout but I needed a more free-form approach. What I think I will do is ultimately add in composer credits.

 

[mikeweil]

1 hour ago, Dan Gould said:

Well I figured that people can go to discogs for issue numbers if they need them. I did give the issue number for the Doggett Chronological Classics at the top of the King section. 

You can see why in the end the BRIAN software wasn't going to work for my concept. Its great for standardizing discographical layout but I needed a more free-form approach. What I think I will do is ultimately add in composer credits.

 

I can see what you wanted - it looks great! Composer credits are always helpful as there are so many tunes with identical or similar names.

[mjzee]

I received the Jazz Gazette email this morning.  Here's their web page: https://www.mosaicrecords.com/jazz-gazette-news/.  I hope Michael can accommodate your request.

[Dan Gould]

32 minutes ago, mjzee said:

I received the Jazz Gazette email this morning.  Here's their web page: https://www.mosaicrecords.com/jazz-gazette-news/.  I hope Michael can accommodate your request.

Thanks - Their first email after the redesign gives me hope - they are still doing links to outside websites, as well as hosting their own material. I still find it odd that they continue to code their links to the Mosaic home page. 

I will probably reach out to Michael in the next couple of weeks, I am trying to stagger my promotional efforts, this week Organissimo and Facebook, plus Marc Myers' blog (23 folks have come to the site from his link so far  ).

Speaking of traffic right now I have approximately 1/3 of my unique visitors coming back for at least one more visit.  Of course that distribution is assumed, I can't tell how many people come back one time and others come back many times. I am pleased by the site numbers so far, I'll say that.

[Ken Dryden]

Dan:

You've put a lot of work into this website tribute. I will have to admit that Percy France was not familiar to me, probably because the recordings I own with him haven't gotten that many spins. But I will have to search your discography and sample a few of them to see what I have overlooked in his work.

[jazzbo]

Edited June 13, 2021 by jazzbo

[Dan Gould]

3 hours ago, Ken Dryden said:

Dan:

You've put a lot of work into this website tribute. I will have to admit that Percy France was not familiar to me, probably because the recordings I own with him haven't gotten that many spins. But I will have to search your discography and sample a few of them to see what I have overlooked in his work.

I am glad I've inspired your consideration of Percy as (perhaps) a superlative musician.  I would strongly recommend the full-length tracks found with the Allen Lowe produced sessions and the full length tracks from the Town Crier label releases. They will give you the best taste of Percy in the 1980s, at the top of his craft. 

If you are allergic to the R&B style, still check the excerpts from the ballads that he recorded with Doggett as they are wonderful examples of his beautiful tone. Last but not least you can hear the entirety (last time I looked) of the Freddie Roach Blue Note recording that features France, Down to Earth, on youtube. I linked to two tunes on the site.

I hope you will post your evaluation Ken, I'll be interested to read it.

[Brad]

Wonderful looking website Dan. I will be exploring it today. I will post a link at Hoffman unless Lon has already done that.