Mayhem, Music and Miscellany

I’ve so far avoided writing about the impact that COVID-19 has had on the jazz community. At one point, I was keeping track of the deaths– Ellis Marsalis, Lee Konitz, Wallace Roney, Henry Grimes. But then my mailbox got flooded with new names, some of which I had never heard before, including local musicians and jazz people from Detroit, Philadelphia and other locales. It seemed that the jazz community was being disproportionately impacted, which was also noticed by the pop music critic in The Washington Post – “The coronavirus is devastating a uniquely American art form.” After Konitz died I had the following email/video exchange with my friend Dan:

From Dan: You heard that Konitz is gone. Dig how charming he was

https://youtu.be/6R9qyYfuCzI

After watching the clip, which is, indeed, quite charming, I replied that I regretted never seeing Konitz, although I had many opportunities.

From Dan: I saw Konitz in the 80s. I was doing a gig downtown and my friend Dave Shapiro was playing with Lee at Sweet Basil. I walked in as he was counting off the last tune of the night …Yours Is My Heart Alone by Franz Lehar at a fast tempo. He smoked the shit out of it and that memory still lingers. This is a great clip. I don’t like Lennie, but Lee plays great.

Here’s The New York Times Konitz obit. Here’s the one from WBGO.

Here’s an interview with Wynton Marsalis talking about his father.

Here’s another piece from The New York Times, talking about Giuseppi Logan and Henry Grimes.

Here’s an obit on Bootsie Barnes.

Whilst I’m in the process of going through emails and stuff, here are a few interesting exchanges with Jazz Collector readers.

From Jay: I have a quick question for you if you don’t mind. I’m curious about your opinion of the Penguin Guide(s) to Jazz by Richard Cook and Brian Morton. I know there are numerous editions (I have the 2nd and 5th) and that because Mr. Cook passed away some time ago the series is no longer being updated, still I’m curious how the books are viewed by the jazz cognoscenti.

My reply: Hi, Jay. Nice to hear from you. I don’t have an opinion because I have never read it or looked at it. I learned jazz from listening to what I liked and then checking out more from the same artist. For example, if I heard Dexter Gordon as a sideman on an album and liked him, then I would check out one of his other albums. And I’d listen to friends and other musicians who had similar tastes, and follow them. Sorry I don’t know about the book, but I can put a question on the site.

From Jay: Thanks so much for your reply! I’d be very curious to hear what others think. In my very rudimentary opinion-gathering it seems that people who developed a serious interest in jazz quite a while back haven’t paid much attention to the book, whereas jazz fans who might be less fully immersed enjoy it. I’m somewhere in between and both share your approach but love the book. One last question: Is there any jazz criticism that you do read/have read and would recommend? Again, thanks so much!

My reply: Hi, Jay. Again, my grounding is in the era of the 1950s and 1960s. I haven’t gone back and re-read a lot, but my favorites were Ralph J. Gleason, Nat Hentoff and Leonard Feather, in terms of their knowledge of the music and relationships with the musicians. There was a book a couple of years ago of interviews Gleason did in his home with some of the jazz greats. Link is below. For pure writing, Whitney Balliett of the New Yorker had a great style. I also like Gene Lees, Ira Gitler, Gary Giddins and, of the current writers, Ben Ratliff, and another recent jazz critic for The New York Times, Nate Chinen.

https://www.npr.org/2016/05/23/478884245/from-duke-to-the-dead-ralph-j-gleason-loved-it-all

From Jay: Thanks again for taking the time to reply. Most of the names I’m at least familiar with, but would like to dig deeper into a couple. Two faves of mine are an early edition of Feather’s Book of Jazz and a well-marked-up copy of Ted Gioia’s History of Jazz.

There was a question from a reader about a particular Joe Henderson record:

Diego: Hi, I wanted to ask for some advice. I’ve been wanting to get Joe Henderson’s Page One record. It is quite rare but expensive. Hard to go about it. There is many options stereo or mono, old reissues vs new reissues. Any advice? I would appreciate it! Thanks!

My reply: I have no idea of your circumstances, financial or otherwise. My feeling has always been it’s never about the record and always about the music. If you really love the music and are getting the record to listen, the Japanese pressings are typically great. If you are a collector and want a first pressing, then you either have to pay the price or wait. My philosophy was to get the music first and worry about an original pressing later. Took me 50 years to get Shades of Redd, but I always had a copy for listening — that’s how I came to love the record in the first place.

This same reader had asked a question about the quality of U.K. pressings versus U.S. pressings. He had a chance to buy a U.K. pressing and wanted to know if the sound quality was equal, better or worse. I told him to post the question on the Jazz Collector site and I promised him someone would answer. Well, he did post the question and it somehow got buried and NO ONE ANSWERED. Now is your chance, please. Wouldn’t want me to break a promise.

One more reader question:

“I am hoping you can help me find some information on a record I inherited from my grandfather. The record is ‘King Oliver and His Creole Band – Volume One’, autographed by Baby Dodds on 09-30-1945.  I have searched the web and found very limited information on the record, and potential value with the autograph by Baby Dodds. Any information you could provide would be very much appreciated.”

As I usually do when asked about an autograph, I requested a photo and copied our other friend Dan from the Jazz Collector site, who is very knowledgeable about autographs and other ephemera.  I thought this might be quite an interesting find, but alas, it was not to be. After viewing the email and the photo, here is Dan’s reply:

“Thanks for sharing. Who doesn’t love a great vintage King Oliver side!  Unfortunately, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the autograph is actually part of album’s cover photo and is printed on all copies of this particular album. As for value, like most things, it’s all based on market demand, album condition and grading. You are probably looking at around $25 based on what I’ve seen similar copies sell for on Popsike. Hope that helps.”

I posted the picture below, primarily the share the great shot of young Louis.

Finally, I saved a link to the following article because the headline irritated me all out of proportion: “Why Count Basie’s Band Was the Rolling Stones of Swing.” All due respect to the writer, who is clearly knowledgeable and respectful of the music, but why that headline? Why compare, why stretch something so out of time and context, when you could just as easily pay tribute to Basie and his band all on their own, with their own accomplishments? I have no idea what about it bothered me, so I figured I’d put it out there and see if anyone else has a similar visceral negative reaction. Maybe it’s just me.