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Dave Brubeck – A Video Memorial

Posted in In Memoriam, Video Vault with tags , , on December 5, 2012 by curtjazz

Dave Brubeck (1920 – 2012)

brubeckDave Brubeck passed away today, one day before his 92nd Birthday. 

For a time, Mr Brubeck was one of the most popular jazz musicians in the world. At the same time, he was one of the most critically reviled jazz musicians around. Time heals all wounds and by the time of his death today, love and admiration was pouring in from serious and casual jazz fans alike.

A great deal of his fame stems from “Take Five”, a song first performed in 1959 by his legendary quartet (Paul Desmond, Eugene Wright, Joe Morello and Brubeck). The 45 was the first jazz single to sell a million copies. Though Brubeck was a prolific composer, he did not in fact, write “Take Five”. It was written by Mr. Desmond.

Many critics sniffed back then, at Mr. Brubeck’s music, saying that it was stiff, bombastic and worst of all, unswinging. Though the criticisms rankled at Brubeck, he kept on going, achieving great public popularity, especially  on college campuses, in the late ’50′s and early ’60′s.

I admit that when I was new to jazz, I let the opinions of others keep me from digging Brubeck’s music for a while. However, as I became a big fan of Paul Desmond’s solo work, I made my way back to the source.

I grew to like Brubeck the musician and love Brubeck the composer. His compositions, such as “The Duke”, In Your Own Sweet Way” and “Blue Rondo a la Turk” are stunning in not only for their beauty, but for the complexities that they reveal upon repeated listenings.

Those unfamiliar with Mr. Brubeck’s work should start with the most famous album, Time Out. It’s a virtual greatest hits package and it captures the essence of the famous Brubeck sound.  At Carnegie Hall includes some of the same selections as Time Out, but they are so much better in the live setting.  A personal favorite is The Real Ambassadors, Brubeck’s “protest opera”, which was only performed once, at the 1962 Monterrey Jazz Festival. The music was by Mr. Brubeck and the lyrics by Brubeck and his wife, Iola. The studio album was recorded in 1961 with a “cast” of Louis Armstrong, Lambert, Hendricks & Ross and Carmen McRae and Brubeck. There are several moments of sheer brilliance including Satchmo’s still haunting vocal on “They Say I Look Like God” and his duet with McRae on “You Swing Baby”, which is “The Duke” with added lyrics. And finally an album that I just remembered since I started writing this post; Brubeck and Rushing a meeting of the Brubeck Quartet and the legendary Basie vocalist. It sounds like a train wreck on paper, but I’ll be damned if they don’t all find common ground and pull it off beautifully!

I wrote more than I intended to here. I wanted to let the videos speak for themselves, as I’m sure they will when you watch them. In any case, Rest In Peace to a true jazz giant – Dave Brubeck.

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Father’s Day – My Dad’s Wisdom, Louis Jordan and Integration

Posted in In Memoriam, Uncategorized, Video Vault with tags , , , , on June 17, 2012 by curtjazz

My Dad was the wisest man that I’ve ever known and that I probably will ever know.

He lived 96 years and though his formal education only lasted until the sixth grade, his perpetual thirst for knowledge and insatiable curiosity earned him the life equivalent of a PhD. And as I came into adulthood, I tried to sop up that wisdom like molasses on my Mom’s homemade biscuits.

Dad always kept pen and paper handy, so that if something caught his curiosity that he didn’t know about, he would write it down, so that he could then research it. And this was before the internet age, folks. This continued right up until the end of his life – when I was gathering his effects from his hospice room hours after his death, I found another of those scraps of paper with the name “Jennifer Lopez” scrawled on it in his handwriting (Dad also had good taste in women).

Anyway, though my father was not a big jazz fan, he had an interest in a wide variety of music. It wouldn’t be odd to hear him break out in a bit of a Beatles tune, Stevie Wonder or even Fleetwood Mac (“Don’t Stop”).  When I started to love music in my preteen years, I would constantly play the album from “The Archies” TV show. The song “Truck Driver” became his favorite. 

But as far as John Davenport was concerned, the great Louis Jordan was THE MAN.  My dad was a generally reserved man, so I would always get a kick out of seeing him, out of nowhere, burst into “Caldonia” or “Is You Is or Is You Ain’t My Baby”.  He always marveled at the big sound of Jordan’s Tympany Five, which he said could sound bigger than an entire big band.

My dad was born in Mississippi in 1911. It goes without saying that he grew up in a time that legal segregation had a tight grip on his home state.  He then moved to St. Louis (where segregation was more institutional than legal) in his twenties and then to New York just after World War II.  Not too long after arriving in NYC, he heard that Louis Jordan was going to be appearing at the old Paramount Theater on 43rd & Broadway. Of course he bought a ticket and went to the show.

Keep in mind that my Dad had never experienced integrated seating before, so he was going through a bit of a culture shock. The shock turned to overload when a few minutes after he took his seat, a trio of young white girls in bobby socks and poodle skirts bounded into his row and took their seats right next to him. They said “Hi!” and then went about their business, gabbing amongst themselves with excitement about seeing Mr. Jordan.

Dad was a bit nervous at first. Where he came from, something a simple as this was unheard of…White folks, let alone young white women, would never have taken an open seat next to a black man. And if they did, trouble was sure to come for that black man.  He remained in seat, albeit apprehensively, almost waiting for some sort of trouble to come. But it never did.  The girls never said another word to him after “hello”. They were utterly unfazed by his presence.  Which, to Dad, was the most amazing thing of all.

A few minutes later the lights went down and Jordan hit the stage “Caldonia…Caldonia…What makes yo’ big head so hard!!!” As my Dad, the bobby soxers and the rest of the throng responded to Mr. Jordan, in unison, he finally began to relax and feel at home.  Within an hour, people of all races had become one, through their love of “Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens”.

Hey, maybe New York was going to be okay…

Thanks for staying in New York Dad; and thanks for sharing all of that wisdom with me.

Happy Father’s Day to my fellow Dads.

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Teddy Charles – A Personal Recollection

Posted in In Memoriam with tags , , , on April 19, 2012 by curtjazz

On hearing of the passing of vibraphonist Teddy Charles a few days ago, I thought back to the late ’90′s, when I worked for WPBX-FM (now WLIU), on Long Island’s East End; back in the days when it was an all-jazz station.

I was a few months into my tenure, hanging out with some of the other members of the on-air staff, when the discussion turned to difficult callers, some of whom were older jazz musicians who had settled out in the Hamptons. They could be a tough bunch, who didn’t suffer fools gladly, especially when it came to the music that they loved and had played for much of their lives.  The veteran guys agreed that the toughest of these cats was Teddy Charles. 

The stories bounced around the table about Mr. Charles’ calls to our listener line, each story more frightening than the last about Teddy’s profane criticisms of the musical selections, the on-air staff and the sanity of everyone involved with the station.  When I confess that I hadn’t encountered Charles yet, I was told, with a knowing grin, “Oh don’t worry, your turn will come”

A few months later, I was doing my Saturday night show.  I was closing out a three song set at the top of the hour with Dizzy’s Big Band version of Horace Silver’s “Doodlin’“, when the white light that signaled a phone call,  lit up. I answered; and a gravelly voice began this memorable exchange:

CALLER: ” I just wanna tell ya, that you’re playing some great shit tonight. I try to tell the rest of those idiots there what the music is all about, but they don’t listen to me, they’ve all got their heads up their asses, but you get it kid, so I wanna tell you to keep on doing what you do”

ME: “Well, thank you, sir; I’m glad that you like what you hear. What’s your name, friend?”

CALLER: Teddy Charles

ME (trying unsuccessfully to hide my surprise): “The Teddy Charles?”

CHARLES: “That’s right”

ME: “Well, sir; now I’m really honored to hear from you, I hear that you’re a fan of the station…”

CHARLES: “Well, I wouldn’t say I was a fan, most of you guys over there are idiots, but you and [another station personality] , are about the only ones who have a clue. I know I beat you guys up a lot, so I wanted to let you know when you get it right.

ME: “Well, Mr. Charles I really appreciate your call and the support…”

CHARLES: “No problem, now play some Mingus, will ya?” [Hangs up]

I had almost three hours to go in my shift at that point, but nothing else mattered.  I had faced the most ferocious lion in our listening audience and instead of biting my head off, he had purred.  During long sets throughout that night, I called some of my colleagues and the Program Director to tell them about my encounter. To a man, they were impressed. In fact, I seemed to go from “rookie” to “big dog”, in a few eyes, from that moment on.

I worked at the station for another three years. Though others spoke of their continuing encounters with the “Wrath of Ted”, I never heard from him again, though I heard from those who did speak with him, that he would occasionally hold my work up as an example, while berating them.

Not all of my conversations went as well during my tenure and I admit that time has washed away the details of many of them. But that one stuck and caused a smile to come to my face whenever I heard Teddy Charles’ name or some of his music.

Rest in Peace, Mr. Charles. You played some “great shit” too.

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In Memoriam – Carlos De Jesus

Posted in In Memoriam with tags , , , on February 16, 2012 by curtjazz

As a DJ on NYC’s WKTU (92.3), he was part of the crew in the late ’70′s, who helped bring disco out of the clubs and into being a cultural phenomenon.  WKTU rode wave all the way to becoming the number one radio station in the country’s biggest market, with De Jesus’ gregarious on-air personality as a major part of the lineup.  He also had a keen ear for the music of the urban streets, which led to him becoming WKTU’s program director.

He wasn’t afraid to take a chance either – in 1979, he took a gamble by playing a record by a then unknown group called The Sugarhill Gang on his show.  That record was  “Rapper’s Delight”.  The phone lines lit up and Carlos knew that this was no ordinary track. What he didn’t know then, was that he had become one of the first DJ’s to play a rap record on a major commercial radio station; Carlos De Jesus had helped birth hip-hop on the radio.  But days as a pioneer were not yet over…

Though it may be hard to believe now, there was a time at the dawn of the video age, when it was very difficult for black artists to get video airplay.  MTV, in its early days, might as well have hung out a “Whites Only” sign.  Artists of color were summarily excluded due to the station’s arbitrary format limit, which favored AOR (Album Oriented Rock).  So in the early 80′s, R & B and hip-hop artists had to scramble for other outlets that would bring their videos before the public.  BET was on the air, but still searching for direction. It wouldn’t become an influential video outlet until the late ’80′s.

In the summer of 1983, WABC-TV in New York began providing an oasis, in the form of New York Hot Tracks, a show focused on music by R & B, Disco and Rap Artists; in other words, those who couldn’t get seen on MTV.  When the producers went looking for a host, they found Carlos De Jesus.

The show was different from anything on MTV, not only for the type of music played but for the setting as well. Carlos was usually set up in one of the more popular dance clubs in the NY Metro Area, giving the show a live feel and boundless energy. Mr. De Jesus would intro each clip and often have some major artists in the club with him for live interviews.  The production wasn’t polished, but it was real. People there were having fun and you wanted to be a part of it.

Within a year of its premiere New York Hot Tracks had become must see urban viewing, even in its tough time slot (Friday nights 11:30 pm – 12:30 am). The show went from being shown on one station to being syndicated on 110.  ”NYHT” became the show to be on for artists who were visiting New York and as the host,  Carlos was the man to be seen with.  Not bad for a kid who got his start hosting a show called Alma Latina on Columbia University’s WKCR in 1971.

Carlos left NYHT in 1986. The show continued until 1989 with celebrity hosts, but without De Jesus, it lost its charm and New York energy. For my money those last three seasons might as well been produced on some farm in North Dakota.

I had lost track of Carlos De Jesus until about three years ago, when I began to use Twitter regularly.  Through a retweet he appeared in my timeline, attached to one of the mixes of classic 70′s / 80′s tracks that he was fond of dropping. I tweeted my admiration of the mix and was pleasantly surprised to get a response. Thus began our friendship.

We never met in person, but we found that we shared a common goofy sense of humor and of course, a love of that music that kept us in touch.  I was blown away when he used his new Flip video camera to make a promo for my web radio station and send it to his followers.  He always supported me – “The Jazzman of Twitterland”, as he used to call me.

I got the feeling that as much as he had done in the industry, he had been somewhat forgotten in the speed and “don’t look back” attitude of this century, so I made sure that I would regularly give him shoutouts,  reminding of what a legend he was.  He would always respond “You Crazy, Man”, but I know that he appreciated it.

When I heard of his passing today, I went to his timeline to see what his final tweets were about. I see that right until the end, he was doing his thing –  sending out hot mixes, good wishes and pictures of beautiful ladies that he had met over the years.  In his honor, I’m sharing links to some of his last posted mixes below.

Carlos De Jesus – Latin Jazz/Salsa PodSnack

Carlos De Jesus – PodSnack 1/23/12

Carlos De Jesus – PodSnack 1/20/12

Carlos De Jesus was an original. The world was so much better because he was here and it’s a bit sadder because he’s gone.

Buenos Noches, Mi Twitta Brudda…

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In Memoriam – John Levy (1912 – 2012)

Posted in In Memoriam on January 26, 2012 by curtjazz

John Levy – A Different Kind of Jazz Pioneer

The music world lost a pioneer last week with the passing of John Levy.  Though his name was not well-known to many outside of the jazz world, Mr. Levy was one of those who broke the ground for others; however, it was not because of his music.  For though John Levy was a musician, he made his mark not so much with his bass as with his leadership.  For in an era rife with racism, segregation, shady dealings and mistreatment of musicians, especially those of color. John Levy chose to put down his instrument and put his business skills to use as one of the first African-Americans to work as a personal manager for jazz musicians.

Mr. Levy was born in New Orleans on April 11. 1912.  He was raised in Chicago.  A high school dropout, he played piano, then switched to the bass; supporting his musical income with jobs as a postal worker and hotel porter.  He became proficient enough as a bassist to work regularly, first in Chicago backing violinist Stuff Smith and then an array of jazz notables, including Ben Webster, Erroll Garner and Billie Holiday.  In fact, Levy was the bassist during Lady Day’s legendary Carnegie Hall comeback concert in 1948.

In 1949, John Levy became the first bassist in the new George Shearing Quintet, giving that soon to be famous “Shearing Sound” its bouncy bottom.  While working for Shearing he transitioned into the role of road manager for the group which led to the start of his management group, John Levy Enterprises, in 1951.  The rest as they say, is history.

During his career as a manager, which spanned an incredible eight decades Levy guided the careers of artists such as Cannonball Adderley, Betty Carter, Herbie Hancock, Wes Montgomery, Freddie Hubbard, George Shearing, Joe Williams and Nancy Wilson. Ms. Wilson’s management association with Mr. Levy lasted from 1959 until his death.

Such was the respect for John Levy in the jazz world that the National Endowment for the Arts recognized him as a Jazz Master in 2006, for his contributions as a manager and mentor to artists, especially during a time when so few were standing up for them.

John Levy is survived by his wife Devra Hall Levy (daughter of guitar great Jim Hall), a son, three daughters, 15 grandchildren and many great-grandchildren.  He is also fondly remembered by many clients, friends and admirers in and out of the jazz world.

In our video tribute below, we’ve used the music of guitarist Henry Johnson, who was also a John Levy client.  The tune is called “75th and Levy”, which Johnson wrote in honor of Mr. Levy for his 75th birthday, almost 25 years ago.  The recording is on Henry’s album Future Excursions, on Impulse! Records.

More can be learned about the life and career of John Levy by reading his autobiography Men, Women and Girl Singers  or his wonderful personal photo journal  Strollin’: A Jazz Life Through John Levy’s Personal Lens. You can also visit John Levy’s website at http://www.lushlife.com

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A Birthday Video Tribute to Ray Charles

Posted in In Memoriam, The Jazz Continues..., Video Vault with tags , , , on September 23, 2011 by curtjazz

Though John Coltrane gets most of the birthday ink today, Ray Charles Robinson was also born on this day, in 1930; four years after Trane.

Both were born in the South, both spent seminal portions of their careers recording for Atlantic Records and both were major influences on countless numbers of artists.

Just think; wouldn’t a Coltrane – Ray Charles record date have been something?

Happy 81st birth anniversary to “The Genius”, Ray Charles.

Here are some great video clips of Brother Ray in his prime, “makin’ it do what it do, baby!”

“I Believe to My Soul” – performed live at the 1960 Newport Jazz Festival

 

“Let The Good Times Roll” – also from Newport 1960

 

“I Got A Woman” – from the mid ’60′s (check out the dancers!)

 

Ray blows the alto sax on this clip from a 1963 Brazilian Concert!

 

“In the Evening, When the Sun Goes Down” -  Ray stretches out a bit on the 88′s…

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A Birthday Video Tribute to John Coltrane

Posted in In Memoriam, The Jazz Continues..., Video Vault with tags , , , on September 23, 2011 by curtjazz

Today, John William Coltrane would have been 85 years old.

His face is on my personal “Mount Rushmore of Jazz”, so I admit to zero objectivity about him.

Like Miles, much has been written about him, but limited video footage exists. So here are a few fine examples of the art of “The Greatest of All Time”. I hope that you dig them as much as I do.

“Naima” from 1965

“Afro Blue” from Ralph J. Gleason’s legendary ‘Jazz Casual’ TV series

From the same program, the still haunting “Alabama”

“Impressions” - featuring Eric Dolphy (camera work is so-so, at best)

“My Favorite Things” – also featuring Dolphy

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Gil Scott-Heron (1949 – 2011) – A Video Tribute

Posted in In Memoriam, Video Vault with tags on May 27, 2011 by curtjazz

Though I knew that Gil Scott-Heron had been battling various health problems the last few years, hearing of his death a few minutes ago still was a shock. It hit like a ton of bricks.

I first heard Gil Scott-Heron in my early teens as “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” burst into my darkened room as I listened to WBLS overnight. His words have occupied rent-free space in my brain ever since.

He was once of the most memorable, creative, stunning and misunderstood artists I ever heard.

Here are five of his works of art that meant the most to me.

You are free at last!

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

The Bottle

Johannesburg

Whitey on the Moon

Pieces of a Man

Plus there was ”B-Movie” a Reagan-era classic. I couldn’t embed it, but see it on YouTube by clicking below:

B-Movie – Gil Scott-Heron

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A Birthday Video Tribute to Miles Davis

Posted in In Memoriam, The Jazz Continues..., Uncategorized, Video Vault with tags , , on May 26, 2011 by curtjazz

Today is the 85th Anniversary of Miles Dewey Davis’ birth.

People who are far more learned than I claim to be, have spilled much ink over this man and his influence on jazz, on music and on our society as a whole. So I won’t spill much more.

I’ll just say that Miles was/is THE greatest of all time. You can argue about that if you want, but you’ll do it by yourself. My mind is made up.

Here are a few video clips to celebrate by. I hope you dig ‘em!

(The music starts at around 00:58. Stay with it. It’s 100 times hipper than anything on TV today!)

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Mother’s Day…Dinah’s Biggest Fan

Posted in In Memoriam, The Jazz Continues..., Video Vault with tags , , on May 7, 2011 by curtjazz

My mother loved life and lived it joyously.  She loved to be around people, she loved to laugh and though she didn’t do it very well, she loved to sing. I still remember the sound of Mom’s singing voice as she was in the kitchen or at her sewing machine.  However, even when I was a child, her singing sounded unusual to me. It was a bit affected and nasal.  It sounded nothing like her speaking voice.  I often wondered, but never asked, where in the world did it come from?

I also knew from an early age that my mom was a fan of Dinah Washington. Though Mom was not a big LP buyer, I noticed that there were three Dinah Washington albums in the storage side of the stereo console; more than any other artist.  Mom also spoke often of hearing Dinah live back when she lived in Chicago.  I never bothered to listen to those records – they belonged to my parents, so they had to be corny.  Besides, one of them was a “Memorial Album”, so this Dinah lady was dead. Why should I listen?

Mom died of breast cancer when I was 28.  I was a nascent jazz fan by then, but I was yet to develop the love for the classic female vocalists (Sarah, Ella, Billie, Anita, etc.), that I now possess.  Not too long after Mom’s death, I was on a therapeutic Tower Records run, with a good friend, Mike, who was/is a big fan of vocalists. One of the things he picked up was a 2-LP Dinah Verve Collection.

We got back to his place to have a few beers and listen to our spoils. The first thing he dropped on the turntable was the Dinah album. After the brief swinging horn line she began to sing:

“If they asked me; I could write a book…”

I stopped talking and I listened intently. All at once it hit me.  That was the sound that Mom was looking for, but never quite achieved.  Consciously, or not, each time my mother sang, she was paying tribute to her favorite vocalist: ”Miss D”.

From that night on, Dinah Washington became  my favorite jazz vocalist.  The others are all great in their own way, but Dinah – well, she’s special…

Happy Mother’s Day y’all.

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