Percy France Memorial Website

[Kevin Bresnahan]

Great sound samples in there. He had quite the unique tone.

In Bill Easley's remembrance, it looks like 1970 is written with an 'O' and not a zero. Also, in his bio, why are there some random dots?

Percy France ... became a regular in those legendary uptown haunts, often jamming but frequently gigging. ... (At Minton’s Playhouse, Percy) really got

... Percy France stayed for several years, including tours, some con

[Dan Gould]

23 minutes ago, bresna said:

Great sound samples in there. He had quite the unique tone.

In Bill Easley's remembrance, it looks like 1970 is written with an 'O' and not a zero. Also, in his bio, why are there some random dots?

Percy France ... became a regular in those legendary uptown haunts, often jamming but frequently gigging. ... (At Minton’s Playhouse, Percy) really got

... Percy France stayed for several years, including tours, some con

Ellipses signify that I edited for clarity - you know, words missing and in some cases added, signified by the parentheses.  I also state "adopted from" WKCR broadcast. (As you may have heard, Phil can be a bit verbose.  )

Glad you like the audio clips. Percy had a huge and expressive sound and was by no means just an R&B type player. And he loved standards and Ellingtonia. The earliest tune he probably played was "A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody" but the oldest one I've seen is "Blue Bossa" and I only have a few examples of him playing that, "Sonnymoon for Two" or "In Walked Bud."

(and thanks for spotting the Bill Easley error.)

Edited July 14, 2021 by Dan Gould

[Dan Gould]

 

I am posting some audio bits to youtube hoping to drive traffic to the site so here they are. Bob Neloms in on piano for Ain't Misbehavin':

 

 

 

Edited August 16, 2021 by Dan Gould

[EKE BBB]

Dan, you got a warm review on Michael Steinman's 'Jazz Lives' website. Congrats for that... and primarily for the excellent research and the nice website!

https://jazzlives.wordpress.com/2021/08/16/a-classically-big-toned-tenor-player-the-many-kingdoms-of-percy-france-thanks-to-daniel-gould/

 

[JSngry]

Dan's probably sick and/or tired of me saying this, but this really is god's work.

[Dan Gould]

25 minutes ago, EKE BBB said:

Dan, you got a warm review on Michael Steinman's 'Jazz Lives' website. Congrats for that... and primarily for the excellent research and the nice website!

https://jazzlives.wordpress.com/2021/08/16/a-classically-big-toned-tenor-player-the-many-kingdoms-of-percy-france-thanks-to-daniel-gould/

 

Yes he wrote some really nice words about the site, I hope it triggers a nice spike in page visits!

(Still haven't gotten the plug in the Mosaic Gazette but with the Jazz Lives post I am less inclined to nudge Mr. Cuscuna too soon. Only so many bullets in my clip, would rather space out the promotional efforts.)

10 minutes ago, JSngry said:

Dan's probably sick and/or tired of me saying this, but this really is god's work.

Nah, I actually used your phrase in a conversation with Mike Longo's wife who asked me for advice on donating his archive, which also includes many private recordings.

Edited August 16, 2021 by Dan Gould

[Dan Gould]

For whoever might be curious, and for whatever it is worth, current stats since launch:

404 total hits

317 unique visitors

5:35 average session time.

I can get bounce rate by page but I'd really like to see total number of bouncers that spend no time on the site, to calculate session time by people actually interested. Given the number of brief "looks" the site gets, that 5:35 average session time feels pretty good to me.

I've still got at least two promotional efforts to come - Night Lights broadcast early next month, thanks to GoM, and the Mosaic Gazette mention which MC promised but hasn't followed thru on. After that I rely on a future WKCR broadcast, should the pandemic ever end, and that might be just about it.

[ghost of miles]

Hey fellow Percy fans, the Night Lights Percy France show (developed with considerable assistance from Dan Gould!) is finally up for online listening, with some extra goodies included in the web post:

Out Of The Shadows: Percy France

[JSngry]

Dan's been doing some seriously exceptional work with this. Shine the light!

[Dan Gould]

On 10/30/2021 at 5:07 PM, JSngry said:

Dan's been doing some seriously exceptional work with this. Shine the light!

A message from a gentleman in Australia, sent to GoM about his Percy episode:

Percy France is the best "find" for decades. He slipped by me on the Jimmy Smith album, but you have brought him into the forefront: a superb player who carried long solos effortlessly with just the right amount of repetition. Well done!

[mikeweil]

The way you did it can do something like this, bringing attention to an underrated musician. The simple discography is more for those looking for dteailed information once they have been hooked. Excellent job, Dan!

[Dan Gould]

19 hours ago, mikeweil said:

The way you did it can do something like this, bringing attention to an underrated musician. The simple discography is more for those looking for dteailed information once they have been hooked. Excellent job, Dan!

Thanks Mike.

Here's the kind of traffic report I like to see - over last seven days, decent number of people spending a good deal of time (on average) with the material. 

Edit to add:  No doubt a lot of people listen to Night Lights when its up on the web, not when it goes out live.

Edited November 4, 2021 by Dan Gould

[Dan Gould]

Since many have probably exhausted the site's charms, wanted to say I added two remembrances today, this one I absolutely love:

https://www.percyfrance.info/michael-hashim-steve-holtje

 

And Joe Magnarelli just sent me his thoughts, it's added here (scroll down past Sid Gribetz entry)

https://www.percyfrance.info/others

 

[Dan Gould]

I've published a few audio clips of Percy back in the summer but ran out of "free time" with the site I used and didn't want to pay for the privilege. Took me til today to find an easy movie-maker option to resume. So here is Percy blowing on his own "Early Bird", January 1982 in Belgium with the Oliver Jackson Trio:

 

[Dan Gould]

Percy playing Honky Tonk but kept more at a low simmer than was typical. Bob Neloms piano.

 

[JSngry]

37 minutes ago, Dan Gould said:

Percy playing Honky Tonk but kept more at a low simmer than was typical. Bob Neloms piano.

 

This Percy France guy can play!

[Dan Gould]

15 hours ago, JSngry said:

This Percy France guy can play!

Indeed ... and I like Leonard Gaskin's deadpan answer to Percy's what's my favorite song question: "Why Was I Born".  

 

Edited December 6, 2021 by Dan Gould

[Dan Gould]

 

[Dan Gould]

Almost slipped right past me ... Dec 11 was six month anniversary of launching of site. 

Traffic:  576 site sessions / 429 unique visitors

I think all things considered that's not bad.

[Dan Gould]

Happy New Year from the Percy France Memorial management:

 

 

[Dan Gould]

And more Percy w. his original tenor inspiration, Budd Johnson:

 

[Dan Gould]

 

Haven't been uploading as much but here are the two latest:

 

[Shrdlu]

That's a Conn 10M tenor saxophone in those pics.

[Dan Gould]

13 hours ago, Shrdlu said:

That's a Conn 10M tenor saxophone in those pics.

Is there particular significance to that?

[Dan Gould]