Oh yes, sure. I think you were right on all accounts. It is, in fact, pretty clear, from Miles' words, that the shock of a return to NYC after spending some time in Paris (and falling in love with the fabulous Juliette Greco) triggered something really violent in him. The contrast between the ambitious and driven Miles' of his youth and the one who lost it all from 50 to 53 is huge and quite shocking. I think, from this side of the border, it is sometimes hard to appreciate the level of racism that was current in the USA in the 50s. When you read in his book that, apart from Gil Evans', no white man has ever treated him as an equal before he went to Paris, is a bit surprising. Not that Montreal or Quebec is immune to racism, not at all. But there was a level of psychological violence down south that we are not conscious of. Although I find it sometimes depressing, I must say I can appreciate Miles' brutal honesty in the book. He's not playing any p.r. game.
Racism here was prevalent since our nation's beginnings. And to some degree, it still is. Imagine yourself, living in Montreal and being a Maple Leafs fan, or being completely against learning French. Not the same thing, obviously, but many of those musicians were living and working in their own country and rejected by society simply because of their skin color. The violence went beyond the psychological into the physical as well. For an example of this, listen to and think about the lyrics to Holiday's "Strange Fruit".
And to answer your question. . . I very rarely think about that when listening to albums from that period. Now that our house is about to start being all Christmasy, I'm reluctantly adding to the atmosphere with my favorite Christmas album.
John Kirby and His Sextet – The Complete Associated Transcriptions, Vol.2 (Jazz Unlimited) — With Charlie Shavers, Buster Bailey, Russell Procope, Billy Kyle, O'Neill Spencer; arr. by Shavers, Kirby & Lou Singer (1941) — Charlie Shavers, Buster Bailey, Clyde Hart, Bill Beason; arr. by Shavers, Kirby & Lou Singer (1943)
Stan Getz with Cal Tjader, Fantasy 1958 with Stan Getz (ts), Cal Tjader (v), Vince Guaraldi (p), Eddie Duran (g), Scott LaFaro (b), Billy Higgins (ds) JVC XRCD
Currently enjoying this one (another selection from the treasure tub from @DrJ ) "Like Minds" - Gary Burton Perfect music for a wonderful day...
Sometime in '76 I would guess it was Rivbea advertised a concert by the Sonny Fortune Quartet, but when we showed up it was a trio of David Murray, probably Fred Hopkins, and Stanley Crouch. That was the only time I heard Crouch play. I went to many concerts that he promoted at The Tin Palace and there was also a concert series in his loft, Studio Infinity I think it was called, above the Tin Palace in the same building I believe. I was there for a Sunday afternoon concert by the Hamiett Bluiett Big Band that was busted for noise. Someone called the police to complain and the cops had a long discussion with Stanley at the door before the concert was ended for good. That story about the fist fight with Sam Rivers was totally new to me. No musician who has had an opinion about Crouch in all the years I was associated with that crowd ever told me that story.
Black Friday + Thanksgiving Surprise from Chick Corea 80% off the One-on-One Music Workshop with Chick Corea. That’s 9+ hours of performances, exercises and detailed Q&A from Chick himself, to watch online. When it was first broadcast live, this workshop cost $199 (and it now sells for $149). You’re gonna get it for $29.79. Here’s what you need to do: 1. Click on this link to register 2. Enter the code THANKS80 in the “coupon” field when you’re checking out. That’s it! We’ll send you a confirmation email wth details on how to access the videos. This is a one-day special event...
I love stories from the NYC downtown scene of the 60's-70's. Your post inspired me to dig up this article on the Tin Palace: http://www.furious.com/perfect/tinpalace.html
Picked up tonight on a regular trip to Ray's Jazz. Others which happened to find their way home with me will follow over the weekend. Now on CD2. Anyone interested in what is in there in date order can look here. As i said there, I'm pleased that they managed to put in the show in London in 1980 as I think this was the best I ever saw them play - completely blown away by that one at the time.
Illinois Jacquet - Swing's the Thing, Verve 1956 with Illinois Jacquet (ts), Roy Eldridge (t), Herb Ellis (g), Jimmy Jones (p), Ray brown (b), Jo Jones (ds) Analogue Productions SACD
Albery Ayler, Live at Greenwich Village, complete. The first bit of music I've been able to hear in months not on tiny in ear headphones. And a great comp to get back into it.
Weldon Irvine - Cosmic Vortex. Excellent Funk Jazz fusion from 1974. I just picked this one up by test playing it at the store. Excellent Reissue.
Listening to the Dave Douglas's Night Two - Early Set from the Jazz Standard -- I was not familiar with the newer quintet of his -really enjoying Jon Irabagon on tenor.
For me, it means more pop music than jazz. I was responding to J.A.W.'s post about a number of the big band Mosaic sets he was listening to sounded to commercial. The little Kenton I've heard doesn't sound like jazz. I have only heard a little, but there was nothing there to make me want to explore further. There were some great singers in the 50s singing jazz influenced pop music, but I'm not a big fan of vocal music so it's not something I like.
I'm still in two minds about the 2 Kenton Mosaics. There's bombast, which I don't like, and they have some awful vocals (Gene Howard, for instance), but there are also mostly great vocals by Anita O'Day and June Christy and some very fine soloing by great jazz musicians (too many to mention here). At one time I was inclined to sell the sets, at other times I wanted to keep them. Not sure yet.
