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.

Birth Day of Nichelle Nichols

Nichelle Nichols. She was born December 28th, 1932.

In life became a vocalist, model, actress, writer, producer, activist, and a NASA Recruiter.

She is most remembered for her role in the first Star Trek series in the 1960's. It was quite important. Those days Colored women then and prior to that show usually did not play sophisticated roles. It was quite the coup significant enough to rank among the great pivotal roles in the Civil Rights movement. - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 

Nichelle Nicoles at 80 years of age with caption of her on set of Star Trek as Uhuru in late 1960's.

Long life of an Osage woman.

Maria Tallchief's life was between these two points: Jan 24, 1925 - Apr 11, 2013 In 88 years she produced life giving gifts of dance, creativity and beyond that established links with her ancestors of the Osage nation and those who conquered her people and expanded the whole of the modern world of dance, of ballet!

How do you live? How do you plan to live? Do you plan on living as expansive energies, or trembling underneath the fear of doing, of becoming? It is a choice; it is all a choice as vital as living or dying with breath. - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories (Creek nation with African blood)

Maria Tallchief, Osage prima ballerina born 1925. photo by Vic Casamento.

Maria Tallchief, who, while she didn’t want to be defined by her Osage roots, was also very proud of them, resisting pressure to change her name to a faux-Russian “Tallchieva.” In the obituary for the ballet superstar who died last week at 88, Sarah Halzack captures a remarkable life story spanning from an Oklahoma Indian reservation to Beverly Hills High School to Monte Carlo to a globe-trotting with first husband George Balenchine, the legendary choreographer who wed some of the best ballerinas in the business over the years. With him, she helped revive the formerly obscure “Nutcracker” into a holiday classic, as she became the defining Sugar Plum Fairy. Read this: Maria Tallchief, ballet star who was inspiration for Balenchine, dies at 88.

By The  Reliable Source
April 15, 2013

Maria Tallchief was considered America’s first major Prima Ballerina.

“Above all, I wanted to be appreciated as a prima ballerina who happened to be a Native American, never as someone who was an American Indian ballerina.” ~ Maria Tallchief, prima ballerina 

At the root of American culture...

dancer Chloe Arnold !!!!

dancer, pioneer ballerina, Janet Collins.

Janet Faye Collins, was one of the first African American dancers who paved the way for modern day classical dancers such as the ballerina Misty Copeland. 

dancers from back in the day

In the roots of American culture is the African, and the hundreds of the Red nations. Without us there is only mere brutality! - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories [November 16, 2017] 

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 

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

Mr. Parks, to us.

Gordon Parks, photographer, as a young man.

From whence we came !!!

On this date, Nov. 30, in 1912, Gordon Parks was born. He was an African American photographer and filmmaker.

Gordon Parks was born in Fort Scott, Kansas and was the youngest of fifteen children. His mother’s death at a young age and his father’s inability to manage the household led to the family’s break-up, and Parks moving to Minneapolis with his married sister. Unwelcome in his brother-in-law’s house, he soon found himself living on his own struggling to attend school and support himself.

During the great depression (now out of school), Parks absorbed all forms of education with close attention to the talented men and women he encountered in his various jobs. Now a young husband and father, Parks worked as a bellhop, semi pro basketball player, musician, and member of the Civilian Conservation Corps. It was during these times that Parks wrote, composed, and took in what he was unable to receive in a school setting. The picture magazines of the times Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, and especially the brand new Life caught Parks’ imagination and with incentive from a newsreel presentation from a camera-mans war footage in a Chicago movie theater; he bought his first camera in 1937.

With zeal, talent and patience, Parks began learning his craft. A successful fashion feature for an upscale Minneapolis department store caught the eye of Marva (Mrs. Joe) Louis, who encouraged him to establish himself in Chicago. His fashion background served him well in the windy city’s Gold Coast social circles, yet in his spare time, Parks documented the torrid poverty of Chicago’s south side, and the quickening growth of African-American migration in the areas around the Great Lakes.

His insightful camera work won him the first Julius Rosenwald Fellowship in photography. The money gave Parks the ability to collaborate with visual mentor Roy Stryker in Washington D. C., at the Farm Security Administration during the closing window of the New Deal agencies documentation of depression conditions in America. He worked with Stryker until 1947, shooting for Vogue, and Glamour while writing two books on photo technique. Parks spent over twenty years shooting for Life magazine, part of which was an influential time in their Paris office where he covered fashion, the arts, celebrities, and politics.

The window of opportunity (seized) for him was modern expression and worldwide recognition, but equally important was the African-American experience of lessening racial barriers allowing his creative juices to flow. In the United States, his photographic essays of the 1950s and 1960s were poignantly impacting. He photographed all aspects of Americana and the world with a deliberate style, which won him many firsts for an African-American photojournalist. Parks’ longest assignment began in 1961, when he came to Brazil to shoot the slums of Rio de Janeiro.

His story and photos of Flavio da Silva, a boy Parks found dying of asthma attracted international attention, gifts and medical treatment. Simultaneously, with the emerging Civil Rights Movement, he engaged in the activities its personalities through his craft. His 1971 anthology Born Black is a collection of these images. His gift for telling stories came to fore in 1963 with The Learning Tree, this was followed in 1966 by A Choice of Weapons. In 1969, he was the first black to direct a major Hollywood film (The Learning Tree), which he wrote and produced. Parks also gained attention as a poet, composer; to his various credit are- Shaft 1971, Leadbelly 1976, and Odyssey of Solomon Northrup 1984.

Parks has received many awards, degrees, and citations including Photographer of the Year from the American Society of Magazine Photographers, 1960 and the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP, 1972. In 1989 Parks created a Ballet entitled "Martin".

Books that he has written are Half Past Autumn," 1997, "A Star for Noon," 2000, "A Hungry Heart: A Memoir," 2005, and "Eyes With Winged Thoughts," 2005 Gordon Parks died on March 8, 2006 and was a fine pioneering black representative in visual media for print and features content worldwide.

As a photographer, It was a personal honor to meet Gordon Parks in the early 90's and attend two of his seminars at Henry St. Settlement, NYC. Hosted by him and NY Times Photographer, Chester Higgins Jr.

written by Peter U. Cole 

photographer Gordon Parks.

Understanding & Managing Self

cell phone religion 4

"There is more to innovation than cell phones, war planes and home appliances. The innovations unique to reconciliation, marriages, business structures and friendships are of equal, if not more importance. The very imbalance of American life should engineer more boldness in the approaches individuals must make to be free to uncover the ways to balance one's life and relationships. But if freedom is not a priority think of the impact of that upon the lives of your children, the impact on work relations, and the possibility of living deeper within the imbalanced structure of American life." - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 5.18.15

Erica Dean sat on my car ... 

Hidden from Today: our stories



Lola Falana greeted by Muhammad Ali



Leslie Uggams had the first variety show headed by a Colored person
since Nat King Cole's show in the 1950's



Cartoonist, Zelda "Jackie" Ormes was a first. Here with her creation Patty-Jo doll!!
But, fellas! Fellas can we first stop and talk about how fine she was?

OK. Now we got that out the way... Her legacy. Would she be proud of her innovation, her achievement and would she be deeply moved by how her vision altered Blacks from the practice of measuring themselves against white standards? What would she feel looking into how we see ourselves today? Would it have been in vain? Is it vanity to have a vision of a people better than how the people see themselves? - Dawn Wolf, Keeper of Stories 6.26.16 

Altovise Davis (August 30, 1943 – March 14, 2009) was an American entertainer, best known as Mrs. Sammy Davis, Jr.
 

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

 

1 9 4 6

"In 1946, Ophelia Devore was determined to create a new market for non-White women in the U.S., DeVore would establish The Grace Del Marco Agency.

In the agency's early days, it was a stepping stone for countless household names; Diahann Carroll, Helen Williams, Richard Roundtree, Cicely Tyson and others. Racism was rampant in New York's fashion business and the Grace Del Marco Agency was one of the few places non-White models could gain work." ~ Old Black Hollywood


  

 

visionary business woman, Ophelia Devore created a market for non-white women in fashion establishing The Grace Del Marco Agency in the U.S.
August 12, 1922 – February 28, 2014

"She was 24 years old when she established The Grace De Marco Agency! In those times? I wonder what obstacles she went through to make that happen right after World War II? I wonder about her family? How did she live? How did she die? What else did she create against large obstacles? Did she marry, have children?" - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 12.13.15
 

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

 

The Blues, a scholarly approach

 

The Blues

 -Blues Changes
-Special Kinds of Blues
-The Blues Scale
-The Minor Pentatonic Scale
-Pentatonic Minor Pentatonic
-And Blues Scale Equivalents

 Traditional Music theory doesn’t “explain” the blues very well. Consider This: The I chord in the blues is a dominant 7th chord. Also, the blues scale is unlike any other scale found in Western Music. Take a look the image below, which shows the blues scale based on C.

Blues scale in C

It has two minor 3rds (C to Eb and G to Bb), a chromatic passing note between F and G (F#), and consecutive half steps (F,F#,G) intervallic arrangement not found in such western scales as the major and melodic minor scales. The interval structure of the blues is “minor 3rd, whole step, and half step, and minor 3rd, whole step.”
Jazz evolved in nineteenth century from diverse African-American, and Latin-American sources, including African call-and –response chants, field-hollers, gospel music, marches and popular songs of the day, ring shouts, and a largely Cuban influence called “The Spanish Tinge.” However, no one source of Jazz was more than the Blues.

The blues has its own traditions, but also the single biggest part of the jazz tradition: Blues Changes.
There are zillions of “Blues changes.” Having said that, let’s get back to reality. There is a single, commonly accepted set of three-chord blues changes, more or less unchanged since the earliest days of jazz, and still plays today.

Modern examples of three-chord blues include Miles Davis’ “Blues By Five” and two by Thelonious Monk, “Blue Monk” and “Misterioso”. 

by Rashid Booker

Thelonius Monk and Miles Davis

Go to https://www.academia.edu/12875596/Monk_and_Miles_Played_The_Blues 
 

The Prince of Darkness



Miles Dewy Davis III playing his trumpet

Trumpeter-bandleader Miles Davis (1926-91) was a catalyst for the major innovations in post-bop, cool jazz, hard bop, and jazz-fusion, and his wispy and emotional trumpet tones were some of the most evocative sounds ever heard. He was also one of the most identifiable and misunderstood icons of the 20th century.


The book: The Miles Davis Story:The Miles Davis Story is a remarkable, in-depth look at one of the most influential figures in jazz, from the Birth of the Cool to his collaborations with legendary pianist Gil Evans to his controversial 1970s albums and beyond.


https://youtu.be/OIHjqTdRnX0?list=PLqCjLhOxHNnLzDFIHOc0F4E5oT-R-HR1c





Miles Davis
Is that Jack DeJohnette on the drums?

 

Interviewed: Herb Albert

Louis Armstrong

 

Close My Eyes

By a Herb Alpert 


"I have a classical background. I studied classical music for 12 years. Then, all of a sudden, I heard Louis Armstrong and Miles, Clifford Brown and Chet Baker and I wanted to do some of that. I wanted to close my eyes and just play whatever came out. When you're playing classical music you're interpreting the music through the composer. Not only the notes but above the notes he has how he wants it played (loud, soft etc). You don't really have a chance to be creative. You have to be creative through the eyes of the composer. When I started playing my music I started copying my favorite musicians. I could play a little bit like Louie, all the guys that I liked. After awhile I realized, "who really wants to hear that?" They've already done it. That was my "ah-ha" moment. I had to come up with my own voice, my own style, my own way of doing it if I was ever going to succeed in that business.

"When I met the great Sam Cooke I learned a lot of lessons. He didn't know he was giving me lessons but I was watching how he approached everything. He was a great artist and a genius. He came out of "the gospel field" and everything he sang was meaningful."

There's two groups of musicians; especially improvisational musicians. There are the musicians that are playing the right notes. They play high and low, all the right notes and chords. They have everything going but you're listening to them and you're staring at the wall wondering why it's not getting to you. Then they're the musicians who are searching for the right notes. Guys like Miles, Coltrane, Chet, Louie and Coleman Hawkins. They didn't care if you liked it or not they were just playing stuff that was coming from a very deep place.

One of things I'm really thinking about these days is that jazz needs a renaissance. We need the new Miles coming out here. The new guys who are going to push it forward. To play the song and take a chorus or take three choruses and let the piano player do it and give the bass player a chance to play I think is old stuff."

Excerpt from my interview with Herb Albert from today's (8.16.15) broadcast of the Jake Feinberg Show 

John Coltrane 

the NEVA

Neva Ingalls' calm angelic face

"I have always been swayed by your beauty. This photographer captured an elusive movement one can only glimpse through loving thoughts directed your way..." - Gregory E. Woods, 7.8.10

CLEO JOHNSON: a legacy of divinity

Cleo Johnson, founder of Cleo Johnson School of Charm & Modeling

Wendy Raquel Robinson arrives at the 2009 BET Awards

NEGRO SCIENCE: parent

"Many people laid down basic structure for their lives building upon the foundations established on the structures their predecessors laid. As they walked the paths their ancestors built they naturally created a legacy from their legacies. That is our history. Today, in the gap Black Americans are fond of falling into, our children are languishing. Without the Cleo Johnson's in our communities our legacy turns into shit storms. Adults cannot minimize the truth, or mince words to feel good about themselves and succumb to the numbness of conformity while the genius of their children, unable to grasp the boundaries their parents adhere to, and other authorities revere, boils in their souls, sizzles within their every thought, and murmurs under their breath resenting the form schools, homes, and churches are forcing upon them.

It is cruel what we do: sleeping on the job of guiding the spirits of children, giving our children to establishments who do not love children, care to train their minds to blossom, or allow their spirits to play. We, as a people, have assimilated so deeply into the paradigm of disbelief, of fear, and given ourselves to the image of not being ourselves in a way that keeps the tonic of slavery intoxicating.” - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories