Old Way of Teaching.

"The Next Forty Years"

By Dave Liebman 

I had many mentors mainly Pete La Roca, Elvin Jones and of course Miles (Davis). They each had there own particular way. Pete was quite an intellectual and very smart. He could explain things to you in detail. Elvin was not that verbal about the music itself but he was an amazingly beautiful player. What he played was enough. Miles said hardly anything. You kind of had to decipher the code. It was a subculture, the jazz world was unique. Mostly African American till the seventies. You were entering a whole other way of thinking, certainly speaking, living and making a living. There was a lot to be gleaned just from innuendo and nuance and your imagination. I think those guys were all kind of "Zen like."

I have my quotations from each of these guys that I use for teaching. I'll say, this is what I thought of that then and this is what I think of it now. They didn't say, "play that play this." They said, "play like I do or watch me."

We had more playing and when you have the process of on the spot in the moment learning there's nothing like that. Even listening to a record is remote until you're on the stage in the heat of the battle. Each of them gave me words of different depths. I'd take that home and think, "what did he really mean by that?" You didn't go back to ask these guys, this was not the scene. You said "thank you" and thought about it for the next forty years."

*excerpt of my radio (Jake D Feinberg), interview with Dave Liebman from yesterday's broadcast of the JFS on Powertalk 1210 

Drummer Elvin Jones playing with John Coltrane.

a slice of life.

"Traded Sandals"

By Jim Keltner

"You should never compare yourself in the first place. Your competition should be you and you should be inspired by other musicians, not intimidated. ...

I would see Clare (Fischer) play at Shelly's Manne Hole with Gene Stone on drums. Gene had a beautiful touch......

During the late sixties I was playing with Bobby Hutcherson and John Handy at The Both/And Club. After the last set guys would come up and sit in.

Hampton Hawes sat in with us. It is astonishing to see that man in person, let alone play.

Jack DeJohnette would come and hang out. I got to be really good friends with Jack. I had already met Jack before, we traded sandals in the parking lot at Huntington Beach at The Golden Bear."

*excerpt of my 2nd radio interview with JK from 2016

Drummer Jack DeJohnette.

Being Clear: a Musican's story.

"Groups like Weather Report, when they first formed, they had yet to play a concert. They would always come to hear MWANDISHI concerts. Then when Downbeat Magazine came out they were voted the number one group in the world and they had never played a concert.

We played The Troubadour one time and that was the downfall of the MWANDISHI group. Herbie wasn't making any money during all those years and the band was getting paid $300 a week. Herbie was in debt to his manager David J Rubinson $30,000. DR had just hired a new group in his stable of artists called "The Pointer Sisters." He wanted to show Herbie he couldn't make money playing with the MWANDISHI group, that he had to go commercial.

So he booked "The Pointer Sisters" who had never worked before, opposite Herbie at "The Troubadour." Of coarse "The Pointer Sisters" went over like a household word and we bombed because it wasn't that kind of club. That's why Herbie made his change to "The Headhunters."


*Excerpt of my interview with Eddie Henderson from Jan 2012.

Jake D Feinberg 

Ahmad Jamal, jazz pianist

Ahmad Jamal -Ahmad's Blue's [Playlist] 208 Tracks 15 Hours 37 Min https://open.spotify.com/user/121809214/playlist/7HuUreKdAVADu8m1eRBSRk



One of Miles Davis' favorite musicians, Ahmad Jamal has a unique approach as a pianist, composer, and arranger that is highly influential and distinctive. Possessed of a light, almost classical touch, and a purveyor of negative space and minimal phrasing (his influence on Davis can certainly be seen here), Jamal worked largely in trio settings and used his conceptions of space and subtlety to create dynamic tensions within the group.

At the same time, the artist's work is rooted firmly in the blues and swings intently, without fail. Ahmad's Blues, the trio's 1958 live date in Washington D.C., demonstrates all of these qualities in spades. Supremely attentive playing by bassist Israel Crosby and drummer Vernel Fournier (his brush work on the intricate, gear-shifting "Autumn Leaves" is especially noteworthy) provides groundwork, foil, and shifting frames for Jamal's virtuoso explorations.

The ensemble's work brings new ideas -- the musicians often incorporate understated mambo, fractured swing rhythms, or airy, abstract structures -- to standards ("Stompin' at the Savoy"; "Cheek to Cheek") and to Jamal's own compositions (the delicate "Seleritus"). Ahmad's Blues allows us to eavesdrop on the sophisticated, innovative artist and company at work.  - Keeping The Idiom Alive

Ahmad Jamal listening in 1961

[Image Credit from Ahmad's 1961 LP," Listen to the Ahmad Jamal Quintet"]

Release Date September 6, 1958
Live Session in Washington D.C.
Duration 01:05:00   

I learned a lot from his recordings. I learned the most in his presence at live concerts in Washington DC in his later years. The description above of his use of space and tension were evident in the way of his carriage and the modulation of his speaking voice carried a masculinity that imploded, or felt it was within an ear attuned to the subtlest of thought and experience.

It was remarkable to hear his music and listen to him looking into your eyes as a man laughing at what was funny.

Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories
9.12.16

Ahmad Jamal, an early influence of Miles Davis, was born July 02, 1930 to create and play jazz piano like no other.

Right place Right attitude

"Leadership, in my mind, is involvement and I've always prided myself on being involved. I jump right into the thick of everything, always throw out suggestions and goof around with everybody to keep the energy level high.

When I started playing all of this was so new. We didn't really have any peers to look towards. When I first started going in the studio within six months I was one of the A-list guys.
As things evolved I'd be in there with a Larry Knechtel or a Hal Blaine, Thomas Tedesco. A lot of the old "wrecking crew" guys.

I looked up to them because they had been doing it for so long and we're so successful at it. All those guys had that same energy and I just kind of jumped right into it.

I wasn't really emulating anybody it's just that the atmosphere was so comfortable. I wasn't sitting there like a neophyte scrutinizing everybody.

When I was working with Clarence (White) when he got killed. We were in the studio for about a week and we came in one day and they said, Clarence had been killed by a drunk driver." He was changing a tire on his car and a guy ran into him. He was such a beautiful person and player. That's happened to me several times. It happened to me when I was working with Percy Faith doing one of his "Orchestra" albums. Percy died in the middle of the project.

Whether I was playing with Gene Clark or Crosby I was already such a "Byrds" fan that anytime you got to play with one of those guys you sat back and were like, "I used to go see that cat at The "Hulabaloo." I still am an Uber fan because I have such respect for those players. That's one of the oddest parts of my whole career. In my heart of hearts and in my mind I'm just this dorky guy from the San Fernando Valley and than I'll wind up at a gathering and Clapton's there and he comes up and says "Hey Lee, How Ya Doing?"

By Leland Sklar


from archives of Jake D. Steinberg 

from a Jazz Storyteller

"Something A Little Different"
By Odean Pope

"Max Roach was the only guy who produced Hasaan Ibn Ali because he's in that Elmo Hope, Thelonious Monk school. His technique was so great, I've never heard a piano player play like him. He could make the most complex piece sound good, he could make the simplest piece sound good. I'll never forget, when Hasaan would get on the keyboard all of the tenor players would get off the bandstand except for 'Trane, Jimmy Heath and myself. H...is harmonic concept was so advanced they couldn't hear it and couldn't play with him.

He lived about two blocks from where I lived and one day when I was around 15, I was in the basement practicing and he came past and knocked on the window. He asked me if I'd be up for practicing with him. That's how I trained and that's how I got together with 'Trane cause he was practicing with him already.

I had the opportunity to play with Max Roach for the last 22 years of his life and I can't overemphasize how much I learned from this great man, because not only was he one of the greatest percussionists that walked planet earth, he was also a great humanitarian. He always liked to share his ideas and concepts with his group. He had a keen eye for people who were striving to be something a little different.

When Jimmy Myritt introduced me to him in 1967, I worked with Max for one year. That one year told me that music was going to be my livelihood because I had traveled all over the world with Max Roach, Charles Tolliver, Stanley Cowell, Jimmy Myritt on bass and myself."

Second Story

"I came out to California to do studio work because I play percussion but that wasn't my thing.

The only person I ever did studio work for was Phil Spector. He was a big fan of mine and he gave me more money than I ever made in my life.

He was recording John Lennon. I should mention that Phil Spector loved jazz. All the cats he hired to play on his records were jazzers except for the guitar players and the drummers they were Rock and Rollers. The drummers (Keltner/Blaine) understood jazz, came up playing jazz but their forte was Rock.

So I'm home, it's about 10 o'clock at night and really not feeling good and I get a call from my drummer Frank Capp. He said, "we're recording John Lennon and Phil needs a vibe player." I said, "Frank, you know I don't do studio work forget it." Well I get a call 10 minutes later and Phil gets on the phone and says "Terry Gibbs from the Steve Allen Show, ba, ba ba ba da da....(singing the theme song). He said, "come down and I'll give you ten doubles which was 10x your salary. I said, "Phil, I'm not feeling well I can't make it.

I get a call like 10 minutes later and Spector is singing the theme song again. I had never even met the guy. It sounded like they were in trouble so I go down there. I walk in and get stoned just walking in there. Lennon is surrounded by 9 Japanese girls. There playing a playback and I go over to my drummer and I hear "Take 48."

I said, "Frank, you've been playing this piece of shit 48x? He said "yea, until he gets what he wants." So Phil sees me and says "Terry Gibbs, da da da da da....I said, "Frank, where's the music?" He says, "there is no music." I said, "what am I going to play." He said, "ba, ba ba ba bop." I said, "you called me down here to play this?" Capp said, "he's giving you ten doubles."

We went till 4 in the morning and Take 85. The date is over and they wheel out a cake the size of a big table. All of a sudden out of the corner of my eye I see John Lennon running and he dives into the cake like its a swimming pool. Immediately there are these pop guns going off all around me. I freaked out and dove under the piano. I thought it was a real gun.

Hal Blaine came over to the piano looked underneath and said. "Come on out Terry, they do this all the time."

By Terry Gibbs

from archives of Jake D Feinberg 

Ella Fitzgerald: recollections during Jim Crow

Ella Fitzgerald recording in a studio.

When she began to put on weight her sensuality increased embodying something men wanted to hold, become a part of, as she got deep into the lyrics and swelled within the songs like a lady. Jazz and sensuality moved women and shaped them. It was very different the things ladies of the darker hue, from Ella Fitzgerald's era, conjured. Not wanting to say words that will separate and make younger singers defensive, suffice it to say, jazz pulls out what the times require. - Gregory E. Woods, percussionist 4/25/17

Ella Fitzgerald deep in song.

"There is a resemblance between Ella Fitzgerald and Mahalia Jackson in their spirit and deep approach from within towards deep translation, reflection and knowing about song in relation to condition of the soul!" - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 4.25.17

Ella Fitzgerald onstage during the 1960's, maybe.

"I can hear my father making a bit deal about the sound and size of her voice back then!! We had a lot of voices developed to high level back then, and enjoyed live television. It was a natural format for TV because the previous generation grew up on live entertainment. It means a lot being exposed to musicians and singers constantly developing before live audiences beyond expectations. The tempo of the bands fluctuated and not every note was perfect. It kept the sound fresh and organic free of the pretense of machines today's audiences are used to. Why this is an important footnote is obvious to one mindset, another? Well." - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 4.25.17

Ella Fitzgerald adored by Dizzy Gillepsie (r.) and support by top ranked bassist, Ray Brown and other musicians I can't right remember right now.

That's Dizzy Gillespie and Ray Brown in the background! God, that must've been a helluva sound. This has to be in the 1940's. One had to be unbelievably sharp to be onstage with the likes of these musicians. I often ponder the internal strength it took to be a Colored artist in those day. I have wondered . . . "Could any of today's Colored musicians have developed the what for to survive and live through Jim Crow under those circumstances?" - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 4.25.17

Drummer, Tony Williams



drummer Tony Williams

"Jump Cut"

By Allan Schwartzberg

 

"Tony (Williams) created these events, they were so entertaining. It's like musical acrobatics. When he would get into a groove they were really nice and intense. He is one of my heroes.

 

...

Most drummers were comfortable playing "chick-e-deesh, chick-e-deesh, chick-e-deesh. He's up there in all the fast tempos, that's where always wants to be. He would do these things that would make you fall back in your chair and say, "where did that come from?"

I can't trace that back to Kenny Clarke or anybody. Any African drummer or anything. He was the one and only guy who made events happen while accompanying horn players and piano players. Really good swinging groove.

I watched Tony Williams once at "The Village Gate" with Miles (Davis) every single night backstage. I played "The Gate" so I could go backstage, practically stand on stage. I watched every single set of every night that they played. They never played the song the same ever. They played at different tempos, Tony did Latino things, he did rhumba things, nutty stuff.

Jump cut to - I get a phone call maybe twenty years later. "Hey Allan, this is Tony Williams." I said, "the drummer?" He said, "yea man. I know you do a lot of studio work and I'd like to do some of that stuff. Boy, it would be great if you could turn me on to some contractors." I said, "Tony, are you kidding me? If I ever had the opportunity to repay you for the thrills I've gotten watching you, it would be my absolute pleasure."

He turned ice cold and said, "man it's no big deal. Whatever it was, just a thought. Alright man, take care see ya." That was my Tony Williams experience."


*excerpt of my interview with Allan Schwartzberg from January 2014
Jake D Feinberg 

Drummer Cindy Blackman 

Herbie HANCOCK

Herbie Hancock, innovator, jazz composer, pianist.
born April 12, 1940

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbkqE4fpvdI 

This was a profound and innovative musical contribution. Harvey Mason on the drums had an approach and sensitivity unlike other approaches and it was carefully crafted into the jazz fusion sound that was exploring every genre jazz could copulate with.

I could go on about each musician and the total sound and even further what the sound was like, what it felt like on the public stage.
Herbie Hancock opened for Miles Davis at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC promoting this album. I was there and remember in particular what each band member did when the show started. For now, let it all stand still. It is hard to bring moments back. All moments are like trails, or streams. They come from somewhere, lead somewhere and are traceable in the present moments. - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 1.15.16

 

Excellence is a Given amongst Africans

Cassandra Wilson further solidifies her status as not only the most brilliant jazz singer
of her generation, but one of the New South’s most provocative voices.

Amiri Baraka (center with beard) visited students in Harlem to discuss
his controversial drama Dutchman. Part 1. In those days there was no social divide
between great Black men and the young who sought them out. It is a very old
tradition. It is the African way throughout the coastlines and interior of the
Land of the Blacks. - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories

 

STRENGTH of MEN



drummers Max Roach (l.) and Tony Williams

On the left [•] Born in Newland, North Carolina on this day January 10, 1924 Maxwell Lemuel “Max” Roach, hall of fame jazz percussionist and composer.

Roach was playing drums in gospel bands and by 18 was playing in jazz clubs. Roach’s most significant innovations came in the 1940s when he devised a new concept of musical time. He studied classical percussion at the Manhattan School of Music from... 1950 to 1953 and earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in music composition.

In 1960, Roach composed the “We Insist! – Freedom Now” suite to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation.
Roach was inducted into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame in 1980, the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame in 1982, and in 1984 was designated a NEA Jazz Master, the highest honor the nation bestows on a jazz artist, by the National Endowment for the Arts.

In 1986, a park in London was named in his honor and Roach was recognized with a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation “genius” grant in 1988. Roach died August 16, 2007. In 2008, he was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. [•] ~ anon

Scipio Less War

 

 



Rastafarian men.

Haven't seen power in Black men in congregation for many years. This is impressive. Growing up well into my early adulthood it was common to see powerful Black men assemble to talk, eat together, laugh, give counsel and listen to everything around them and in the world. Good days. - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 1.11.16

 

Black Lives Matter !



Wynton Marsalis and Miles Davis backstage between sets at the Performing Arts Center on opening night of the 1985 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Photo by Paul Natkin

Ella Fitzgerald with Marilyn Monroe