Jim Hall, RIP
I just picked up The New York Times this morning and saw the Jim Hall has passed away at the age of 83. He was an excellent player and quite influential. I used to see him quite often at the Village Gate in the 1970s, and as recently as a few years ago at the Village Vanguard. I loved the way he played off his fellow musicians, particularly Sonny Rollins and Paul Desmond. There’s an apocryphal story that Sonny Rollins fired Jim Hall after a Downbeat cover featured Hall and had Sonny in the background. The story was that it had to do with race and Sonny was pressured because he was the leader and Hall was the sideman. I don’t know if this story was actually true, but I have a feeling my friend Dan knows the real story, as he was friends with Jim. So I am hoping perhaps Dan can comment here. I was just looking through the collection I purchased last week and one of the records was Jazz Guitar: Jim Hall on Pacific Jazz. At some point today I will place it on the turntable. Perhaps also If Ever I Would Leave You from the Sonny Rollins Album What’s New. Or Time After Time, Jim Hall with Paul Desmond. There is a wide range of choices.
As a guitarist and occasional bassist myself, I am hosed for role models, as I am a devotee of the free/spiritual school.
Strata East had some great guitar albums. Albert Ayler made the blues guitar free on his Impulse LPs… but there isn’t much. I was pleased to discover the intricacy of Joe Pass several years back and after cuing up some Jim Hall thanks to this post and the magic of the internet, I may have found another more traditional player to add to my regular listening.
nice Legacy, nice ( jazz ) age…
my dessert jazz album still is Art Farmer ( & jim hall) – To sweden with love.. a beautiful intimate guitarist..
If there was any truth to that “Downbeat” issue happening, they must have put it behind them, as I know Sonny and Jim were great friends up until Jim’s passing.
Jim Hall, in my opinion, was one of the most underated and understated Jazz Guitarists of our time.
I am listening to Intermodulation with Bill Evans and Jim Hall on Verve at present; a wonderful collaboration between these two along with the album Undercurrent.
R.I.P. Jim Hall
Love your posts Al.
Farewell to Jim…particularly loved Concierto…and of course, Intermodulation….always amazes me what our culture deems “awesome” ….RIP Jim…you are always on my turntable…!!
I’m with you Steve; Concierto may just be the best jazz album of the 70’s
I only have Jim Hall’s seminal “Concierto” album on CTI and it’s still superb to my ears. May he rest in peace.
–
ONE THING THOUGH: what about Chico Hamilton’s recent death? On November 26 it was online everywhere: he died, 92 years old. Let’s not forget Chico, folks. May he, too, rest in peace.
Would love to hear what Dan has to say, but according to “Open Sky,” Eric Nisenson’s bio of Sonny, the racial issues did a play a part, but only a part. Specifically, Sonny was angry because club owners and technicians spoke only to Jim and ignored Sonny. In the book, Sonny stresses repeatedly that is was not Jim’s fault and he never blamed Jim. It just put some pressure on Sonny. Also, Sonny frequently changed personnel, so he was ready to change anyway. Also, Sonny more specifically wanted to explore a freer sound with Don Cherry, and after playing with those two a few times, Jim felt uncomfortable, and Sonny also thought Jim was not a fit. Both were sad about it, but felt it was OK to move on. (pgs. 155-157).
On a separate note, just want to echo the love for Concierto. Jim’s playing is great, and he brought out the best in Chet Baker (never any easy thing post-1970).