The JAZZ CULTURE THE ENGLAND ISSUE, Part II
Renato D'Aiello, ten sax, Bruno Montone, p, guitar Unknown, Emiliano Franco, d, Sandy Sudolchoski, b-- Views ofRonnie Scott's
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REVIEW Ronnie Scott’s Renato D’Aiello, tenor saxophone “Acoustic Jazz Lounge” by Doodlebug
Renato D’Aiello plays tenor saxophone at Ronnie Scott’s “Acoustic Jazz Lounge” every Monday night. Mr. D’Aiello had Bruno Montrone on piano, Sandy Suchodolski, bass, and Emiliano Franco, drums. Mr. D’Aiello’s big romantic bellowy sound, reminiscent of Ben Webster, filled the room and lifted the spirits of the audience, for he has access to a wide range of feelings, many of which these days are only addressed by pop, gospel and rhythm and blues musicians. This is because music is not in the public schools of most countries and jazz is not that accessible to most students to learn. On the first song when Doodlebug walked in, “Suite for Mother Earth,” the tempo was about 250=quarter note, and they (especially Mr. D’Aiello) were wailing in the post-Trane style. The pianist played whole-tone chords and arpeggios and scale runs. The tenor player was spewing forth a torrent of notes like sheets of sound. The guitarist filled with brief motifs. The drummer played a cacophony of licks that sounded like a mixture of Gene Krupa and Dave Gibson. They went back to about 140=quarter note; they were doing double-time. Mr. D’Aiello played a wandering cadenza that slowed to a finale during which he softened to a double pianissimo. They then played an original of Mr. D’Aiello’s, entitled “Requiem.” The pianist, Mr. Montrone, played the intro, slow long tones similar to those in “Con Alma,” but in minor with the rhythmic pattern 1+2+3, then repeated the rhythmic pattern an octave higher with different melodic ideas. The guitar repeated the melody and then soloed, first with wide tones, playing 5ths, 6ths. 2
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The tenor sax soloed plaintive and regretful playing in the middle register with the piano hitting “1” and the tenor building the intensity, repeating notes, thus leading to a 16th note-run and some cascading notes that fell from on high. The song maintained a church feeling with the pianist using 8th notes. The bass has a woody full tone, builds a melody in measures starting from a high note ending on long tones.
Reviews Renato D'Aiello 1‐5 Paul Pace at Ronnie Scott's A Life in Jazz 5‐12 Jazz at Foyle's Bookstore 13‐16 Jazz Heritage 16‐17, 21‐27 Elmo Hope by B. Hope How To Direct a Jazz Improv by H. Danko 18‐20 London Photojournal 27 Let's Link 28 Proofread by C. MacNamee info@newyorkjazzproject.com info@thejazzculture.com JazzCulture © 2012
Then Adam Garrie took over for the break. Mr. Garrie is an improvising comic. He asked the audience for four topics, completely unrelated, such as “igloo,” “South Pacific,” “training for the Olympics,” and “roast beef.” Then he invented a story uniting all these factors and recited it as a poem that rhymed. In the process, he delivered a comic monologue like a hip-hopper. With a ruddy complexion, chestnut hair and educated accent, wearing a suit, Mr. Garrie is an unlikely find in a jazz club evening act, but he managed to entertain all comers and hold their attention between sets.
Ticket sales on the main floor of Ronnie Scott's
On the second set, Mr. D’Aiello features a singer. That Monday night, it was Francesca Leone, a soprano from Italy with a lovely lyric sound. She sang “But Not For Me” at about 132=quarter note, in a cool tone, and scatted two choruses. Renato D’Aiello
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played a swinging commentary fluently on the changes, double at the end of his lament. The guitar soloed around the melody. The pianist, Mr. Montrone, showed off his stride. Next, Ms. Leone sang a pleasant bossa nova, “Chega Saudade” in Portuguese. The guitar played a nice solo, accenting tastily on 8th notes. Ms. Leone then sang “I Concentrate on You,” at about 132=quarter note. D’Aiello phrased a countermelody with well-played quarter notes. The singer sometimes used long tones in a legato phrasing style like a violin. They then played an original uptempo blues at about 175=quarter, and Ms. Leone sang and scatted a couple of choruses. Renato D’Aiello knows how to accent the upbeat and he built a solo on it, threw in some honking, for good measure. He can wail up-tempo. Bass and drums provided good support throughout; the drummer, Mr. Franco, can keep a steady tempo. The tenor and drums traded 4’s and 2’s. Ms. Leone then sang “Estate” well, and the tenor played a countermelody and wailed on it in with unrestrained passion, dancing with his horn. Ms. Leone’s tone is well-suited to cool jazz. Mr. D’Aiello announced that Ms. Leone was a lawyer who gave up her day job to pursue jazz, and Ms.
Exterior ofRonnie Scott's a landmark in jazz history
Leone expressed happiness that now she would have more time to 4
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learn songs and get closer to become her ideal of a jazz singer. Renato D’Aiello was one of the most expressive jazz musicians seen while in London, and the songs he played reflected the interest of the artist in Coltrane and post-progressive music, original songs, and the warmth of the Swing era. See Renato Daiello on google.com. For Ticket info and to see what groups will be at Ronnie Scott's, call 011-44-207-439-0747, or see ronniescotts@co.uk.
Paul Pace at Ronnie Scott’s
A Jazz Life-Interview Part I Jazz enthusiast, promoter, music booker and singer.
Paul Pace sings a standard Photo Benjamin Amure
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JC: I heard from Frank at Foyle’s Bookstore that you opened Ray's Jazz at Foyles after Ray Smith sold it. Paul Pace: I was instrumental in moving Ray’s Jazz Shop to Foyles. I proposed he shop and café business to Foyles. It was picked up by Foyles director Bill Samuel, a music enthusiast, who championed us to the board. I was manager here for six years. Previously, I had worked for three years at Ray’s Jazz old shop in Shaftsbury Avenue. I was a customer at the shop and avid record collector. I’d go in fairly often, and one time two managers had booked their holiday at the same time, so I joined the staff part time and then became full time and enjoyed my time as a specialist in jazz record retail. One of a handful of jazz retailers, there was still Mole Jazz, Dobells, and Ray’s Jazz was the third main one. It was great fun and although Ray was no longer the manager by the time I joined, he still owned business and used to drop by quite regularly on a social basis and to help with the pricing of second-hand record collections. During my time, 19982002, the managers were the very knowledgeable Glyn Callingham who ran the jazz department located at street level and Mike Gavin, an expert on the avant garde who ran the blues and roots section in the basement. During my time at Foyles (2002-2008) - as well as building the business as a jazz and world music department with two other exRay's Jazz colleagues Phil Davies and Mark Morris plus other experienced record retail staff and musicians, I instigated a programme of brief in-store events - the concept tied in with the symbiosis of the record department and cafe which were both on the first floor at the time. In 2008, Foyles expanded the café and moved Ray's Jazz upstairs to the third floor. Just before I left Foyles in November of that year, we built an events stage on the first floor. That summer I was also presented the ‘Services to Jazz Award’ by the All Party Parliamentary Jazz Appreciation Group which made me feel very much appreciated by the jazz community. 6
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In January 2009, I was employed by Ronnie Scott’s managing director Simon Cooke to join the club, initially in an administrative capacity and then as part of the music booking team which is where I am today – definitely my dream job! Running parallel with my ‘day jobs’ over the past fourteen years has been my longstanding position as jazz promoter in the atmospheric basement at the Spice of Life pub, which is located less than a minute's walk from both the bookshop and Ronnie's. This mainly twice weekly activity keeps me grounded in a very much 'hands-on' way with the local scene and informs a number of my proposals to my music team colleagues at Ronnie's. JC: It was interesting after listening to a lot of British players and players from other countries that jazz is such a creative music that they have evolved their own style and language in other countries after learning the music. Paul Pace: They developed their own language; they were
starting 30-40 years ago. It took players in each European country, players to bring their own language to the music and develop modes of expression incorporating folk forms in the way that composers Mike Westbrook, Neil Ardley and Mike Garrick did in the sixties and seventies, and rock in the way that guitarist Ray Russell who also intertwined jazz fusion with folk sounding melodies. Of the younger generation there are numerous examples such as Gwilym Simcock, a pianist who plays his own fusion of jazz and classical. JC: When did you start listening? Paul Pace: My ‘Damascus experience’ was being intoxicated by the sultry strains of ‘Tuxedo Junction’ – fat trombone riffs underpinning the counter melody played on muted trumpets and the fulsome sax section coming in to raise the heat of this unbelievably exciting big band warhorse. I heard all of this when watching the ‘Glenn Miller Story’ biopic starring James Stewart The Jazz Culture, VI:26
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and June Allison on our family TV in 1967. From then on I was hooked on this area of music and started listening to Ronnie Scott's, an international landmark of radio British jazz at 47 Frith Street, London programmes such as ‘Big Band Era’ presented by the big band and Sinatra specialist Alan Dell and other related broadcasts. Many of these I faithfully taped on our domestic Telefunken reel to reel recorder. This was also the time of a nationwide Glenn Miller revival spearheaded by ex-BBC Northern Dance Band trumpeter who started his own Miller-type band which exists to this day, now under the direction of trombonist Chris Dean. Living to close to Fairfield Halls in Croydon, a south London suburb, it was not only possible to see the Syd Lawrence Orchestra in person but also the other touring big bands which were touring during the late sixties and early seventies, such as those of Count Basie with vocalist Marlena Shaw, sax soloist Eddie Lockjaw Davis and drummer Harold Jones (now currently with Tony Bennett), Harry James featuring the spectacular drummer Sonny Payne not only as a player but as a snappy dresser, black Italian-cut jacket red shirt, dark tie and red tartan trousers who flung his sticks high into the air and catching them on the descent whilst lighting the auditorium with a thousand watt smile! However, my hero was the great Buddy Rich – a band that I saw many times and with which I literally became obsessed. The music possessed the energy of a rock band whilst retaining the sophistication of jazz. Apart from the unbelievable drum solos as performed seemingly by a ‘force of nature’ and the tight section work, the moment that I 8
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anticipated with the most pleasure was when the electric bass kicked in with Buddy, the horns cut away and the musicians would shake and rattle on hand held percussion, particularly in the skilful and groovy hands of high-note trumpet man Lin Biviano. In addition, I was fortunate to see the mighty aggregation that was the Stan Kenton Orchestra, the leader building the evening beautiful from the piano introduction of ‘What Are You Doing The Rest of Your Life’ to the siren calls of his trumpeters as they descended the aisles from the back of the Fairfield Hall blasting away on the latin American extravaganza of ‘Peanut Vendor’. This exciting concert is preserved on ‘Stan Kenton Today’ (Decca/Vocalion). Of a more contemporary bent, complete with a Fender Rhodes-led rhythm section was the jazz-rock leanings of Woody Herman’s Young Thundering Herd and in complete contrast was the ghost band of Tommy Dorsey led by trombonist Warren Covington featuring original arranger Sy Oliver on vocals, Skeets Herfurt on tenor, Johnny Mince clarinet, Bernie Privin trumpet and Panama francis on drums. These were my formative jazz years, whilst still at school and before moving to London in order to study Architecture and savour more of the jazz delights that the big city had to offer. My first visit to Ronnie Scott’s was in 1972 to see Zoot Sims, I had learnt to pre-book when I had visited the club with a couple of school friends a few months before to see Sonny Rollins who had recently returned to scene after one of his long sabbaticals but had to walk away disappointed from a sold-out house and a queue that stretched half-way down Frith Street. Whilst studying at University College London between 197376, I attended Ronnie’s as often as I could. At that time the student membership fee was £45 per year and £3 admission between Monday-Thursday. It was a fantastic opportunity to see the likes Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Art Blakey, Bill Evans, Horace Silver, Woody Shaw, Chuck Mangione and Nina Simone. The Jazz Culture, VI:26
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Ronnie Scott and Pete King Readers: Please note that stories both saxophonists (though don't from abroad may serve as an confuse the latter with Peter King introduction to jazz life in those the alto sax player) founded countries. For the past century Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club on 30th jazz has taken hold and sprouted October 1959 in Gerrard Street, a culture unique to each country. now right in the heart of For example, Italy has a varied Chinatown. They moved the club culture in different sections of the to larger premises in the adjoining country, and we were not able to district of Soho, more specifically go to Milan or other important 47, Frith Street in 1965. Up until cities to visit the clubs there, or his death in 1997, Ronnie would because of scheduling view regularly play the opening set performances of such stars as before the US headliner, Dado Moroni in Italy or Stan particularly with his quintet where Tracy in London. Those are future he shared front-line duties with the adventures that we hope you will very under-rated trumpeter Dick want to take as well. Pearce, the strong rhythm section comprising pianist John Critchinson, bassist Ron Matthewson and drummer Martin Drew. They wove an energetic and always driving sound on such staples as Freddie Hubbard’s “Little Sunflower, “ Jimmy Heath’s “Sound For Sore Eyes” plus the occasional ballad like “Send In The Clowns.” I also started getting involved in local scene as a punter along with meeting musicians at gigs in the west end organised and promoted by the Jazz Centre Society, a musicians’ co-operative founded by UK players such as trumpeter Ian Carr and pianist Stan Tracey who were keen to expand the opportunities for creative public performances. The JCS hosted and made possible through gig and membership revenue as well as some funding an array of vibrant projects led by the younger London based contemporary musicians such as Barbara Thompson, John Surman and Gordon Beck. The foundation laid down by the JCS now continues as Jazz Services who seek to upgrade the profile of UK jazz through the dispensation of information, education and tours. 10
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JC: So you got trained by listening. Paul Pace: Informal training by ear. Every Saturday I was going around all the record shops, spending [all I earned]. Investing in it. JC comment (after listening to these musicians): Dick Pearce, trumpet--an excellent musician, reminiscent of Tommy Turrentine, with a big fat tone and his own style of playing, Ron Matthews, Bass, a wonderful bassist; Martin Drew, drums--a great drummer; John Critchinson is a swinging brilliant pianist-still playing. Paul Pace: I worked about 15 years in architecture for various
practices and some of my own and [did some] illustration. I had left architecture when I got the job at Ray’s 1998. I had started as the jazz promoter at the Spice of Life in 1998. It’s been running 14 years, [which is] quite an achievement for a grass roots venue. JC: What is their music policy? Paul Pace: Music: Wednesday and Thursday instrumentally. JC: What genres? Paul Pace: Straight ahead, jazz funk and free form. At the moment I’m getting other people involved. Delegating various nights to other musicians so I’d like to keep the space for the music, to carry on. JC: And what is your title at Ronnie Scott’s? Paul Pace: At Ronnie Scott’s I’m part of the music booking team. We work as a group and see who we can book. There is a team of five of us, and between us we program the music. JC: Ronnie Scott’s was sold in 2005? Paul Pace: Sally Greene is new owner as of 2005. It reopened after renovation in April 2006. Since then got a broader policy than Ronnie had, but the idea is to sellout all the nights. MondayWednesday, Ronnie Scott’s was half empty; they they’d fill up The Jazz Culture, VI:26
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Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and they’d book 2-3 weeks at a time.. [Now] we book according to the nights they [a group] can sell out. JC: What percentage is foreign and what is British. Paul Pace: Mostly headliners are from overseas, because that’s what they specialized in. One third are UK based. JC: What is the format of sets? Paul Pace: Support (reading: opening act) is UK, [then there is the] main show, support and headline act. 6:00-7:30 Support; Main act from 8:30-10:30. At 11 the Late show starts, usually a quartet and there are invited guests till 2 a.m. I try and hear all acts I’ve not seen before. So I draw from years of experience and way they work with the room. JC: It’s a beautiful room. Paul Pace: Yes.
Foyle’s Jazz Interview with Frank van Binsbergen, Jazz product selector, Foyle’s Bookstore, London.
Mr. van Binsbergen has worked at Foyle’s Jazz [doing product selection] for five years as of September, 2012. Pub Note: Ray Smith was a Jazz at Foyle's pioneer of English jazz, a drummer who collaborated with booksellers to sell jazz records, books, and magazines, and to have concerts in bookstores. Ray Smith died of cancer in 2011. 12
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Mr. van Binsbergen: “Ray worked with Colette’s, a left-wing
bookshop that sold blues and folk from 1956 to the late ‘60s. He moved to Shaftsbury in the late 1960s until 1975. Ray was a very well-known jazz drummer till the late ‘60s. Until 1975 at Shaftsbury’s, “Ray’s Jazz” had impromptu jazz sessions. Musicians would come--Ben Webster would come. In 2002, Ray Smith sold his business to Foyle’s. Paul Pace, who became Ray’s Jazz’s manager for Foyle’s, was instrumental in bringing Ray’s Jazz into Foyle’s. In 2002, Ray Smith could no longer afford to run Ray’s Jazz because of the increase in rates and rent. The other jazz shops [at the time] were “Dobells” on Charing Cross Road (which closed when the owner died in 1987) and “Mole Jazz” in Kings Cross. [Ray’s Jazz] We’ve been here ten years. [During that time] we’ve had about 400-500 concerts, from solo to septet, unpaid, traditionally, for artists to launch cds. [In England, the cd launch party is done like a book reading on the American circuit where the author benefits from book sales]. Ray’s Jazz is well known in retail.” JC: Do the musicians sell cds? Mr. van Binsbergen: [He nods.] They get better known. JC: Does it increase sales? Frank van Binsbergen: Yes. JC: What kind of person was Ray? Mr. van Binsbergen: He was a very nice man. He did not think he was more than he was. He left here six months before [he died of cancer]. He was a bit short with people if he felt they were wasting his time, but he always had time for jazz, and he loved a good drink. [nods] I don’t know if cricket means anything to you [but it’s big here]. He was an avid cricketeer. He was a very good spinballer. JC: Is there anyone to carry on his work? Mr. van Binsbergen: Well, Sam Sollai used to work in Ray’s. The Jazz Culture, VI:26
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He left the beginning of this year. As long as I’m here, I will. Examining the display stands, there is one full of old albums, lps. There is a sign over one rack, “Rare As Hen’s Teeth.” JC: What does that mean? Mr. van Binsbergen: “Rare as Hen’s Teeth” is a name that some guy {?} gave for an original pressing; a lot of records only had one pressing. JC: How did you meet Ray? Mr. van Binsbergen: I used to go to his shop in the ‘90s as a customer. I used to work at Tower, but Ray’s had things they didn’t. I am interested in jazz and the history and social history of jazz. JC: When was the last time he came here? M. van Binsbergen : Ray’s friend, Matt Wright, said, “We have to find the right date.” [Ray was sick, and he had good days and bad days]. [When he died] in April 2011, there was a lot of reaction in the press. Everybody had a strong point of view [about it] on the jazz scene. They [Ray and Matt, his friend] called one Thursday. Matt said, “Can we come in today?” He [Ray] was feeling well. They were here two hours, telling stories. Ray was wandering around, so it was very pleasant. He was a regular guy, he was like one of the lads. JC: A lot of jazz is sold on the Internet now, 99 cents a song. Mr. van Binsbergen: A lot of things on the Internet are like snacking, rather than having a good meal. JC: Some people say that there are no more big personalities left in jazz today. Mr. van Binsbergen: I don’t think there are any big personalities, but there are people who built on traditions. In “trad” (traditional or early jazz) there was Chris Barber, Humphrey Lyttleton, both have passed. Johnny Dankworth (also died last year,[known for 14
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his interpretations of] Ellington but was veering toward modern). Tubby Hayes on sax--he played like Prez and Bird from the ‘70s. Joe Harriotte, alto sax, he died very young in the ‘70s. There is Stan Tracey, still playing today. Do you know Stan Tracey [the pianist]? It’s true what you say, those old guys, they go onstage and the years just fall off. They live for the music. JC: [nods.]
Mr. van Binsbergen: There’s Courtney Pine. (points out Pine’s
cd on the rack).
JC: I never heard of him. Mr. van Binsbergen: He’s different. That’s him playing now(a lyrically free semi-modern alto sax sound is playing over the speakers). JC: He has a nice sound. Frank van Binsbergen: He has a nice sound. He’s trying to sample hip-hop and rhythm and blues to attract young people, I think. JC: Are there any young people coming up you like? Mr. van Binsbergen: Shabaka Hutchings. A reeds man; playing very well, grooving and changing. Veering towards the avantgarde. JC: A lot of those avant-garde people don’t believe in Swing. [we then get into a debate about swing] Mr. van Binsbergen: When bebop came along, that’s what the swing players said: “Bebop doesn’t swing.” That’s what the swing players said about bebop. Everyone has their own concept of swing. Swing is the musician’s internal sense. After World War II, the U.S. was the hero of Europe—England, France, Italy. [Jazz was] the embodiment of beauty and freedom. This was one reason why jazz was so embraced. The Jazz Culture, VI:26
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JC: What function does Jazz at Foyle’s provide to the jazz community in London? Frank van Binsbergen: It provides the jazz community in London with music. A lot of them are elderly. It feels good when people find the right thing or I can get it for them. It’s like going on a journey with them [and the artist] discovering something you like, going to hear them.
READERS: Please note that in the November issue, The Jazz Culture will start accepting ADS that start at $25. Therefore, if you have an event, cd, venue, program, book that you want to advertise, please send an email to: info@ thejazzculture.com for a rate sheet. The deadline is October 30, 2012.
JAZZ HERITAGE
ELMO HOPE & BERTHA HOPE
by Bertha Hope, Bio. Notes/Interview L. Hamanaka Bio otes: Elmo Hope was born
June 27, 1923 in New York. He was a U.S. Army veteran, who studied at the Carnegie Hall Studios as a teenager. He was childhood friends with Bud Powell, and a contemporary of Monk. In New York Hope worked with Snub Mosely, a local bandleader. Then he worked with the Joe Morris Bertha Hope, pianist Band, a territory band on the road in the southern states. Johnny Griffin and Philly Joe Jones 16
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were apart of that band and so was Matthew Gee in 1948. When Elmo Hope resettled in New York, he recorded for Decca, Atlantic, and Alfred Lion. Elmo Hope went on the road with Chet Baker to LA and decided to move there from 1957-1961. Bio otes: Bertha Hope:
“My father, C. Clinton Rosemond, was a dramatic baritone who sang German lieder and Italian bel canto art songs. He was my major influence, because I started playing for him in the traditional concert repertoire that ended with what they called at that time ‘Negro Spirituals.’ My father was a contemporary of Roland Hayes, so he was on the same circuit as Hayes and Paul Robeson. He worked for the same agency and did the same command performances for kings and queens all over the world. So he was my biggest inspiration. My mother, Corinne Meaux, was a dancer in the Cotton Club before I was born. They met in New York in 1928, after my father had spent 15 years on the road in Europe. He put together the cast for “Showboat.” She was in “Blackbirds” in 1928 and they moved to LA about 1934. I started playing when I was 3 and took private piano lessons from about 8 till about 14. I had a lush (“deep, wonderful, great”) experience in the public school system. From 7th to 12th grade, I was in music lessons, orchestras, and jazz camps. I went to the equivalent of Music and Art High School in LA. They had a great music department and a great art department. [I’d been playing professionally] Since I was about 17. I was just really beginning to meet people and my ear was beginning to be a little more sophisticated. JC: Was there a big jazz community in LA at the time you met Elmo? Bertha Hope: In LA at the time, the Watkins Hotel was one of the clubs on the jazz circuit, the Hillcrest Club, and the Troubador, and there was a club on the beach, the Lighthouse. The “IT” club, the Purple Onion, Cont. p.21
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HOW TO-EXPERT ADVICE Improvising Composer/Composing Improviser-Part II
By HAROLD DANKO
“You don’t learn to improvise, you improvise to learn.” HD “Jazz music is characterized by improvisation and further defined by repertoire.” HD The premise of my “Improvising Composer/ Composing Improviser” Harold Danko workshops and classes is a Photo: Julia Radschiner product of almost five decades of performing, teaching, and composing. I feel strongly that improvisation is a natural tendency if it is not impeded by one’s education, and I have always been an improviser, in music as well as life. Years ago I made the statement “You don’t learn to improvise; you improvise to learn.” in a magazine interview, and this idea continues to motivate my personal and public educational efforts. My current teaching methods bring this to the forefront by using my own works to facilitate the integration of improvising and composing into performance practice. My book, The Illustrated Keyboard Series, maps out basic patterns of scale usage, and many of my own compositions are used as examples of how this process unfolds. Reprints of my published articles from Keyboard Magazine help to clarify and expand the concepts 18
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presented. In my teaching I have compiled many checklists to structure and facilitate individual learning, and “Strategies for Improvisation” is a short list of important skills and content that I developed specifically for this course in order to encourage discussion as well as individual exploration. In 2011 during a semester-long pilot course at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, with the original title “The Composer as Improviser/Improviser as Composer” I came to see in no uncertain terms that for me improvising leads to composing and the resulting compositions then provide even further exploratory opportunities for improvisation. Thus my course title was simplified to “The Improviser as Composer” and can take on several formats, based on the level of participants and time allotted. In a college level course of one semester’s length (14 weekly meetings) we explore historic aspects of improvisation in western classical, ethnic/world, popular, and jazz styles and analyze works from all genres as to content, performance practices, and possible interrelationships. Depending on the background of students, performance demonstrations and even ad-hoc ensembles can become a part of the course structure. Examples from masters in all styles, my own works, and most importantly the works of students in the class, make the processes relevant to all. Research papers and performance/analysis of original music are also assigned. Students will explore the relationship of improvisation and composition in a variety of musical styles. Topics will include jazz improvisation and theory as it relates to its history, and an examination of the works and methodology employed by the instructor, Harold Danko, in research, study, practice routines, improvising, composing, rehearsals, live performance, and studio recording. Student projects will include composition and performances/presentations of at least two short pieces and a midThe Jazz Culture, VI:26
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term paper to be revised during the remainder of the semester and due at the final class. Attendance, preparation and active classroom contribution are expected throughout the course. I Discussion of the role of improvisation/composition throughout history in various music genres as it relates to members of the class and the instructor; variation principle; recreation vs. formal disciplines; performance practices, with examples from western classical, jazz, popular, and world musics; group and solo improvisation; Concepts/Process/Results. Traditions and Innovations. II “Strategies for Improvising” – discussion. Strategies for Improvising for the Composing Improviser/Improvising Composer By Harold Danko. General principles. See Harold Danko on ggogle.com
Jay Anderson, bass, JeffHirschfield, drums, Harold Danko, piano on Unriched
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JAZZ HERITAGE Cont. from p. 17
Elmo Hope/Bertha Hope
...The Oasis, is where I played with Johnny Otis. JC: When did you meet Elmo Hope? Bertha Hope: I met him at a nightclub when he was playing with Sonny Rollins in LA. I had been listening to Bud Powell and I immediately heard some similarities and I wanted to meet him because of that. I was working at the time in LA with Teddy Edwards, tenor saxophonist and alto saxophonist Vy Redd. We got married in LA in 1960. Monica [our daughter] was born in LA. We took a road trip across country and instead of going back to LA, Elmo decided that we should come to New York because he had several record deal offers that they did not want to record in LA. So he decided it would be a good idea to move back to NY. That was the Riverside offer , the 1961 Homecoming on the Riverside label with Frank Foster, Percy Heath, and Philly Jo Jones. The second LP was Hope-Full; I was invited to play three tracks with Elmo, and it has become a collector’s item. JC: Who were his friends? Bertha Hope: He and Johnny Griffin were very close. He and Philly Joe Jones were buddies and the relationship to Bud Powell is one that I wish I knew more about. He and Thelonious and Bud were like brothers in the musical neighborhood. Thelonious, Johnny Griffin, Bud and Elmo spent a lot of time moving around to different people’s homes looking for a piano, looking to have jam sessions, looking to play together. They spent a lot of time in Elmo’s mother’s house. I guess that had to be in the ‘50s. I met Bud in LA about 1952 or ‘53. I met Monk in New York around 1961 or ‘62. When we returned to New York, Elmo introduced me to Monk. The Jazz Culture, VI:26
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JC: Whose idea was it to have you on the album? Bertha Hope: That was Johnny Griffin’s idea. Johnny Griffin proposed the idea to Orin Keepnews. I was petrified. I’m on “Blues Left and Right,” “ Yesterdays,” and “My Heart Stood Still.” It’s two pianos. I think they thought that it was unique that we were a pair and there weren’t that many pairs playing jazz piano. I don’t know what they thought--I just know I was terrified. I would say that it has stood the test of time. I went to a second-hand shop to see if they had the original vinyl LP and he [the owner] wouldn’t put a price on it for me, he said, “This one is priceless.” He was very glad to meet me, but he wouldn’t sell it to me. JC: How did you feel about Elmo Hope at the time? Bertha Hope: I was absolutely--we were married by that time, we had a daughter, I was completely in love with him. JC: What kind of person was Elmo Hope? Bertha Hope: He was gregarious, he loved to have people all around all the time, he had followers, men who would follow him around from place to place; he had a very generous spirit. JC: Was jazz more popular in those days? Bertha Hope: I think it was, and more people were willing to share. That’s how Elmo acquired students, by offering to share his knowledge. He never gave a group class. If I had allowed it, the house would have been full of people all the time. I just couldn’t handle that. We had a small apartment and a baby. He was very interested in people and what they thought. We didn’t have a lot of sessions, but there were a lot of people who wanted to hear his story, and be around him. JC: What was the difference between LA and New York? Bertha Hope: Space, for one thing. If you were going to two nightclubs a night in LA, you better start at 5. A car is an essential in LA. Not in NY. You can walk from one club to 22
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another in this city and find jazz. You can be in the Village and walk from Point A to another, or hop on the train. JC: Were there more jazz fans in NY? Bertha Hope: Yes, probably. Technology has changed the world so much. You can record simultaneously with people all over the world through sending files. But in terms of a fan base, still more fans in New York. JC: You were born into a show biz family. Were you aware you were meeting celebrities? Bertha Hope: I met so many people when I was in his company. All of it was a little daunting. I knew because I was already listening to their records, most were musicians from the East Coast. I never met Dave Brubeck, Shelly Manne, people on Fantasy Red vinyl labels, who were LA musicians. I listened to the LP’s, never met them in person or live.The people who came to play the San Diego, LA, San Francisco, Vancouver circuit, Sonny Rollins, Coltrane, Johnny Griffin, were the people who called Elmo to play when they came to the Coast. JC: Where did you live in New York? Bertha Hope: We lived in the Bronx, on Lyman Place, with Elmo’s mother and father, till we found an apartment on Webster Avenue in the Bronx. Then we moved to 71st Street in Manhattan. JC: Did you learn from him? Bertha Hope: I learned by listening. He wasn’t a teacher who wrote out a lesson in the traditional sense. He would write out a set of chord changes for you and you would learn those in all keys. Then he would write a melody on those changes the next week. I learned by listening to him play. He was very informal in that way. JC: In terms of composers and players of his era, where would you place him? The Jazz Culture, VI:26
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Bertha Hope: If you listen to his compositions, they’re varied
and very sophisticated harmonically. They’re a little crowded, and I think that’s why people don’t want to dissect them too often. His music is not played often and I think it’s because there’s a degree of difficulty to it that some people don’t want to deal with. I’ve been told there are too many changes for his melody and so you have to make choices and people don’t want to. I think he’s a great composer whose music did not get played except by the people whom Elmo chose for his recording dates. He wrote for the date, for the people he was recording with, for example, the things he did with Sonny Rollins. “Carvin’ the Rock” was a composition on a date with Sonny Rollins. He and Sonny Rollins co-wrote that song for that date. I think a lot of the compositions he wrote were in preparation for recording sessions.He was a composer who wrote long piano lines, melodically speaking. He would just tell the horn players, “Find a place to breathe,” I heard him tell Harold Land. “The note is not on my horn.” “Well, find it,” Elmo said. He wrote what he heard. I think as Monk and Bud and Elmo wrote, they did not write with the idea of legacy. They probably would have written a lot more. Elmo left a lot of fragments of compositions. JC: Did it happen suddenly? [on May 1967 Elmo Hope died] Bertha Hope: He went to the hospital [with pneumonia] and was recovering, we thought, after about three weeks. The heart attack happened in the middle of the night. They called me very early in the morning. We had a funeral, but because the family was very involved, I acquiesced to his mother, and father. By the time he died, I was 31 or 32. The band, Elmollenium, is my testament and memorial to him, which I would love to resurrect. JC: Musically, you were able to interpret and record some of Elmo Hope’s compositions. What does that say about you? [given that they were so complex] Bertha Hope: I have no idea. I had a band called “Elmollenium” 24
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that never got a chance to record but played all of Elmo’s compositions, a sextet. Most of the gigs were at our home base, La Belle Epoque, a lovely Creole restaurant that went under in the year of Katrina. Leroy Williams, Charles Davis, Virgil Jones, me, Walter Booker, Ronnie Ben-Hur. We were all really interested in playing Elmo’s music. We didn’t play any other music except Elmo’s. The band was dedicated to keeping Elmo’s music alive. JC: Do you think there’s an international audience for his compositions and recordings? Bertha Hope: I think there is an underground cult kind of following for him in places all over the world, especially in Europe. JC: Where in Europe? Bertha Hope: Denmark, France, Germany, England. JC: Did he play abroad? Bertha Hope: He didn’t. Dexter Gordon wanted Elmo to come to Copenhagen and relocate there also. He never really shared with me why he didn’t leave. Personally, it would have changed his life forever, and he would have enjoyed a lot of success there, because at that time, he would have been the pianist of choice for any of the groups Dexter was putting together, and for other groups as well. It would have broadened the idea that his music was loved and appreciated in other parts of the world. JC: As a musical couple, did you help each other? Bertha Hope: I know he helped me, he was so much more advanced in the music than I was. I don’t know how much I helped him. He did appreciate my ability to hear so keenly what he was doing. I was working in other directions. Sometimes I’d play a chord and he’d look over my shoulder and say, “What is that?” I did try to help him understand that he was writing lasting music and he should not take ownership so lightly, and those were things he didn’t understand—how valuable his contribution was. The Jazz Culture, VI:26
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He made some bad choices along those lines. He didn’t keep his publishing rights. He was victimized at the time, as were so many others. But many Institutes of Jazz do incorporate some of his compositions in their library, so young students know who he is and play his compositions now. His contribution is being recognized in that way and the music is available to them. Elmo would take great pride in knowing that his music is still being honored by younger musicians. Pub. ote on Bertha Hope: Hear Ms. Hope on: Nothing But Love
(Reservoir), In Search Of, (Reservoir) and Elmo’s Fire, (Minor Music)-Between Two Kings. Bertha Hope is an esteemed member of the NY jazz community. She studied theory and harmony at Los Angeles City College, and privately studied piano with pianist Richie Powell, a member of the Max Roach-Clifford Brown Quintet and brother of Bud Powell. She was Artist in Residence at NJ Council for the Arts, where she played with Dizzy Gillespie, Nat Adderly, Frank Foster and Philly Joe Jones. She received a Barry Award from Dr. Barry Harris. She also received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Mary Lou Williams Jazz Festival in the Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C, She was in the first women's quartet to play for George Wein's Kool Jazz festival in Carnegie Hall, and she was a member of the first women's ensemble to open for Jimmy Heath for the Jazzmobile Festivals in New York. Bertha Hope appears regularly in the NY area. Listen to Elmo Hope: In 1949, he recorded for Decca, and in 1951 Mr. Hope recorded for Atlantic with Winone Harris.In June 1953, he recorded with Jackie McLean (Lights Out)͞ Introducing the Elmo Hope Trio, (Blue Note 1953); Meditations (Prestige 1953); Hope Meets Foster (Prestige, 1955); Informal Jazz (Prestige 1956); Trio and Quintet (Blue Note 1957); Meditations (OJC 1958); Homecoming (OJC, 1958); Plays His Original Compositions (Fresh Sound, 1961); The Final Sessions (Evidence, 1966) ; Memorial Album (Clifford Brown, 1953); Two Tenors (Prestige, Coltrane 1956); The Fox (Harold Land, 1959); Moving Out (Sonny Rollins, Prestige, 1959); Jazz from Rikers Island 26
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(1963); Two albums for Herb Albertson Festival Records(May/August 1966).
JAZZ IN LONDON PHOTOJOURNAL
Top Left, John Watson at the Palm Court, The Langham, Right, Ronnie Scott's, below, two swing dancers at The Langham, Below, The Pizza Express
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Let's Link/Musician Friends of Jazz Culture
Dado Moroni
See Barry Harris.com
Dr. Frank Foster Photo: Brian McMillen
Virgil Jones' Memorial Oct. 22 at St. Peter's
Clarence Banks, Count Basie Trombonist, Clinics, Private Lessons, Seminars, call: 917428-6746
KuniMikami.com@CD Baby�"Hamp's Boogie"
Singer Connie Mac amee QUOTATION:
Richard Williams' debut at Triad with Frank on piano
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"Practice a Million Hours." -Junior Cook, Saxophonist "You can't take offwithout a launching pad." -Lonnie Hillyer, Trumpeter
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