An Anecdote from Neville Ann (Mrs. Johnnyjazz)

Johnny Mercer and The Golden Key Club

I had on occasion been going out with an older man - Floyd Huddleston from Leeland Miss. (a song writer) He was a very close friend of Johnny Mercer who was married at the time. Anyhow Floyd wanted me to fix Johnny up with one of my room mates so I picked Miss X (You'd recognize the name) who even though very young was fairly sophisticated-- very New Yorky--from up state N.Y. We went somewhere very classy and expensive for dinner; then went club hopping until the bars all closed. Johnny had a membership card to an after hours club called The Golden Key Club. I can't remember what street it was on, but the place was ELEGANT!!!!! Room after room with grand pianos in each one. Divine little sofas with marble coffee tables in front. When a drink was ordered, i.e. Scotch...a whole crystal decanter was put on the coffee table and a butler poured a drink to your liking but left the decanter on the table. Can't remember any names, but there were lots of people playing pianos including Johnny and Floyd.At the end of the evening Johnny gave Miss X his membership card. He and Floyd were leaving town the next day. A few days later, some boys from Raleigh who just graduated from college and were starting out on new jobs came up to New York and called us to "go out on the town" We did this and ended up going to The Golden Key Club after hours. The card got us in the place but the poor guys with us had to pay the tab and it was probably a month's salary for each guy. I always felt sorta guilty about that. But it was FUN!!!! Can't remember any more about Mercer but Floyd Huddleston introduced me to Gordon Polk who had been a singer with Tommy Dorsey. He was one of the sweetest, kindest people I've ever known. Anyhow, he was a recovering alcoholic and was into some kind of metaphysical religion. He took me to several parties.. one of which was being given for the Dorsey band..They had a gig at the Café Rouge at the Statler for a couple of weeks and this was a farewell party. I remember there were lots of intoxicated people there . For some reason I never drank around Gordie...I guess just out of respect.
After that whenever they were in town, Gordon called me and we would go to a movie or museum. After I moved back to Raleigh, we corresponded for a while. He became a minister and got married but was still in show biz. He was in an Ethel Merman show on B'way and sent tickets..We were going up to Maine (Carol Whittier's family's summer home) and stopping off in New York on the way up. We saw the show and got together with Gordon afterwards. The show was cute even tho I never liked Merman. that was the last time I ever saw Gordon but after moving to California I heard that he had died...enlarged heart or some such ailment. His family had originally been from Van Nuys..vaudeville people. His sister Lucy Ann is still singing the last I heard.......

Neville gracefully went to her maker on May 14, 2003,,,And Heaven is a better place for it....She was one helluva dame.....God rest her soul.

I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life;  and, if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death.
E.B. Browning

Enough power to light up L.A.

Reichenbach, Bill
Carl Saunders,
Johnnyjazz,
Frank Collett,
Kevin Axt

A Mighty Blast from The Past..1966

L-R..Johnny Jazz, Dee Montesano, Griff Park (Bassist in band I was with) Vernon Brown (aka Fice Mook, pianist with Lee Castle band) and Doris Ann Freeman (Griff's chick)

Karina Zorn

Jazz Vocalist

Johnnyjazz By The Great Munoz

Anita O'Day And Duke Libby

John: During our happy times together in Norfolk, you might recall I collected the likes of Chris Connor, June Christy, and, my favorite, Anita O'Day. I thought you might enjoy the attached story and photo on a "jazz anecdote" that happened to me.
 
In 1964, I found myself living in Bangkok in charge of selling airplanes throughout South East Asia for a large U.S. helicopter manufacturer. Although, I was primarily a marketing director, I still flew them due to my previous and flight-test background (no need for Johnny Jazz to bring up my crash record, now). On a trip to Djakarta, Indonesia, I checked in at the Intercontinental Hotel. Walking through the lobby, I was shocked to see a sign announcing that the great American jazz singer, Anita O'Day, was performing this week. Excited as hell to see one of my all time favorites in person, I showered, shaved and walked into the main dining room at showtime. I remember it was mid-week and a monsoon had prevented anybody from attending other than a few locals and an overjoyed pilot from Southern California. Alas, it was not a good performance. Anita was not only disappointed in the lack of a crowd but also in the terrible accompaniment she received from the four local musicians who would have been better served playing the percussion bell background sounds for the famed RAMAYANA play performed in nearby Bali. During a break I had the waiter take up a note requesting her to sing, "Let Me Off Uptown," the bouncy number she made with Krupa featuring the high shrill notes of a young Roy Eldridge. (You remember: "...Well, blow, Roy,blow!). It's considered her standard although I personally prefer Body and Soul and Stella By Starlight.
 
Though she wouldn't sing it with her mediocre accompaniment, she demanded to know who sent the note. I identified myself and bought her a double cognac and Pepsi--her staple. It was the first time I had ever seen her up close. Let me tell you, she looked trim (I believe she was into tennis) and very,very cute -- reminding me a bit of June Allison. Anita explained she was living in Hawaii at the time and was gigging through Asia but not enjoying it because of a lack of quality musicians who could follow her style...especially the "scat" phrasing she did better than any other female except, of course, Ella. Anyway, she said she was stopping off in Bangkok for one week of R&R. after this gig. Single at the time, I offered to show her Bangkok at night.
 
The first five days with Anita didn't go well. I took her to all the jazz joints along PatPong Road where doll-faced Thai singers tried their best to sound like Sarah Vaughn, Nancy Wilson, and ... yes, Anita O'Day. By evening time, she was pretty much into several double cognac and Pepsis and constantly making vociferous critiques from our  table. During the days, she slept late. I rendezvoused with her around dinner and was usually "three sheets" by the time the entertainment started trying to keep up with her. The attached photo is typical: taken at the Hotel Siam bar, you can see your old buddy looking much more "haggard" than Anita in spite of the fact I was close to 15 years younger  and had consumed less than half what she had. (Let me know if the photo doesn't download). There was a short helicopter flight together and some wonderful memories she shared with me when she sang with Krupa (including an irresistible story how she, Gene, and her dog were busted in So Cal once for smoking pot in a car. But the big moment came the last night. We were having dinner at some quiet Thai restaurant when she suddenly acquiesced to a request I had been making all week. For some unknown reason, she put down her umpteenth double cognac and Pepsi, reached over and sang "Stella By Starlight" into my ear.
 
It made the whole week worthwhile.
 
Happy Jazz, pal.
Duke

Freddie Redd

A true virtuoso in the bebop tradition.

The Three Jazzateers

Denise Donatelli, Johnnyjazz, Nancy Kelly

Charlie And Jo-Ann

The 'Shadowy' Charlie and His Worthy Constituent Jo-Ann ..The Powers That Be At Charlie O's Jazz Club In Los Angeles

John Coltrane

This photo was taken by Trane's friend, jazz singer Francine Griffin at Babe Baker's jazz club in Chicago a few months before his death.

Johnnyjazz

Photo by King Pleasure

This picture was taken in 1965 by King Pleasure at a service club in North Carolina.
He was traveling through that part of the country using local rhythm sections. Earl Coleman recommended me to King Pleasure for the gig, and it turned out to be a lasting friendship. I came to California in 1969 and we played some in L.A. until his health failed badly (emphysema).

Pleasure stayed with my wife and I for a while in Sherman Oaks, Ca. My son was an infant and he would serenade him to sleep. I was also associated with Earl Coleman at the time.

King Pleasure was initially impressed with the fact that I knew all of the words to 'Moody's Mood For Love' and other tunes that he had
recorded. He was a sweet man and very helpful to me.

Pleasure related to me that the greatest moment in his musical career came in New England. He was at a low point in his life, sitting at the back of a bus when a group of school children boarded the bus and one was chirping out 'Moody's Mood" which was a hit at the time. They had no idea that the figure in the back of the bus was the man himself. He got a big kick out of this and often happily reflected on that moment in
time.

An Article By Bill Reed On Danny Knight (pictured)

Research at (relative) Warp Speed

Not long ago, a friend in Chicago (someone I met a few years ago. . .via the internet) began sending me a series of rather remarkable jazz photos, including some extremely rare pics of the likes of Eric Dolphy, John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Sarah Vaughan and the one you see here of singer Danny Knight.

If you're not familiar with Knight, I wasn't either until I began digging into this latest batch of photos. As is my wont, I began googlin' away, but just about the only significant info I could find, at first, were references to Knight possibly being a singer on a section of the legendary Charlie Parker tapes recorded by Bird meta fan, Dean Benedetti. Possibly, because there are two schools of thought; some think it's Knight, others feel it could be Earl ("Dark Shadows") Coleman.

Thanks to further powers of the internet, allowing me to get in touch with some who knew and worked with Knight---as opposed the old labor intensive ways of a bygone research era---I have been able to rather quickly unearth a bit of information about this most recherche of jazz vocalists. I was even able to order a rare Knight 45 single on the net.

Knight, it seems, just might be the pluperfect example of a singer who was supposed to "happen" but didn't. Apparently another Chicago singer, Johnny Hartman, got there first with the "goods", for as one friend of Knight's emailed me: "Insiders held little respect for Hartman who blatantly stole from Danny." Harsh words to say the least, and one that I'm not going to let get in the way of my all-abiding love of the great Hartman, whose voice belatedly became familiar to a wider listening audience when Clint Eastwood used various tracks of his singing voice wall-to-wall throughout the film Bridges of Madison County.

In addition, singer Earl Coleman was quoted, by the same e-mailer, as one time saying to Hartman's face, "What are you gonna steal from me today M-F?" Making it all beginning to sound like a bop version of All About Eve.)

So here you had Hartman, according to record, walking around bitter and disillusioned because he felt as if he hadn't "made it," and Knight and Coleman envious of Hartman because they felt that the latter HAD. All relative, I suppose. Hartman had to go fairly far afield to places like Japan for work, but at least he was employed; Knight could hardly even get arrested in his hometown of Norfolk, Virginia.

A friend of Knight's, jazz writer Johnny Gilbert, sent me a funeral notice:
"Aug. 25, 2000 Funeral services For vocalist Danny Knight Today. New York Funeral services for jazz vocalist Danny Knight will be held today at the Marion Daniels Funeral Home, 164 W. 136th. St. at 10 am with a viewing at 11am. A popular figure on the Harlem music scene, Knight was a roomate of John Coltrane's and introduced Coltrane to Charlie Parker. Knight, born Jan.17th, 1927, died on Aug. 17th. at age 73."
I hope to post a few of those other above-noted jazz photos herein from time to time.
Here's a bit of what Knight sounds like on an atypical, highly commercial, decidedly non-jazz (and extremely scratchy) MGM single, the theme song, "Ride Away," from John Ford's The Searchers. It's difficult to find any others recordings by him, though a few jazzier ones are known to exist.

My web site http://www.cllrdr.com
Blog http://people-vs.drchildaire.blogspot.com

Footnote from Johnnyjazz.. The quotes in this article are from me. Reed in his generosity wanted to keep me anonymous..(I don't ever want to be anonymous)

I played with Danny and he was in a sense my mentor...He was as nice to me as Tadd Dameron was later on.

I'll tell you one thing Danny was one helluva singer, Bird, Diz, Tadd, Bud et al thought he was the best of the best...

Danny was beset with the problems that many in the jazz world had at that time. Trane wanted to use Danny on the album that Hartman eventually sang on, but the circumstances surrounding Danny at that time negated this. Danny Knight sang his posterior off, and that's bankable. Bird would come to the gigs in NYC that Knight was appearing, curl up in a booth and ask him to sing "Tenderly"

We had a great band and I was honored to have played with him....And so it goes.

Francine Griffin And The Brothers Heath

Francine Griffin , Jimmy and Percy Heath at The Chicago Jazz Showcase, Sept. 2001

The Five Spot..Giacomo Gates

THE FIVE SPOT
ZEN and NOW
 
On Sunday afternoon, February 8, 2004, I did a performance at Wesleyan University, where I am part of the private lesson faculty. The gig was held at Russell House, a beautiful old mansion, converted to performance spaces and Philosophy Department offices.  There was standing room only, with people overflowing into the next room and sitting on the staircase.  The rhythm section was made up of Tony Lombardozzi, guitar, Jeff Fuller, bass and Jesse Hameen, drums.
 
Halfway through the set, a bearded man in the back of the room raised his hand and said, "Five Spot Blues!"  It's a Thelonious Monk composition, with my lyrics to Monk's melody and Charlie Rouse's solo… a historical lyric.  It's the opening tune on my first album, "Blue Skies."  I tell a short story about the club to set up the tune, and we do the request.
 
About twelve years earlier, when I had begun to write the lyrics, I had met Stuart Troup, a Jazz critic and writer.  I asked him if he had any information on the Five Spot, as I had done some library research, but was looking for something more personal.  He suggested I call Charles Turyn, who used to be a waiter at the Five Spot. 
 
Charles Turyn was open and willing to share some great stories. He spoke very well of the two brothers that owned the Five Spot, Joey & Iggy Termini. Sometimes there weren't enough chairs in the club, although Turyn remembers a slow night, the brothers paying the band, then borrowing money from the waiters, to get cab fare home…and of course, paying them back…. real people, golden cats.  Little tables big enough for four drinks and an ashtray…. Monk keeping the club alive, and the club keeping Monk alive…  along with stories of players and people who frequented the club. 
 
Turyn is a book of Jazz history himself, working at the Five Spot, in 1957-58 and again in '60 and '61.   Later, he was a bartender at the Tin Palace… and lastly, the head bartender at the very famous and now unfortunately defunct, Bradley's, from 1980 to '86.  He knew all the cats, and he plays tenor and piano, as well.  Charles told me so many stories; I told him he should write a book.  We have also become good friends.
 
"Johnny Griffin and John Coltrane, David Amram, Cecil Taylor blew there too.
Let me hip you, it was a time of innovation, there was a sextet with Phil Woods,
Charlie Mingus played his goods, and Sphere, no square.
Everyone raved, Five Cooper Square! Everyone played there, Art Farmer, Lou Donaldson, and even Lester….
Joey and Iggy Termini, they really loved the music, they even helped Monk get his Cabaret Card back for him, yeah."                     (Quote from the lyrics)
 
One summer night in 1990, I go to Condon's, on East 17th, to listen to the great Lou Donaldson.  He is very gracious and asks me to sit in with him.  I call a Blues in Bb, and sing my new lyrics to Monk's Five Spot Blues…. partially to try 'em out, but mostly because Lou is one of the cats mentioned in the lyric, and I wanted him to hear it.
 
So, I finish the tune, and sit down at one of the tables.  A man wearing a black, flat- rimmed hat comes over to me, and asks me where I got those lyrics.  I respond, "I wrote them."  He says, "My Daddy wrote that tune, my name is T.S. Monk.  Would you like to sit at my table for a minute?" Just a few weeks before, I had sent my lyrics to the Thelonious Monk Institute, and now, by chance, I'm sitting with his son, T.S.   To cut to the coda, Thelonious Music and T.S. Monk gives me permission to record my lyrics to Monk's "Five Spot Blues."  I call it "Five Cooper Square" the address of the club.  It gets released on the DMP label in 1995, the CD titled, "Blue Skies."
 
Return to Russell House, Wesleyan… a very good gig, the rhythm section sounds great, really happenin'…an exuberant crowd, and I feel good.  After the performance is over, the bearded cat approaches me holding a black T-shirt… printed on the front are white piano keys, with the words, "Five Spot" over the top, and the address, Five Cooper Square, NYC.  I look at him, he says to me, "This shirt is from the Five Spot, and I'd like you to meet my father, Iggy Termini." 
 
Needless to say, I am gassed!  We have a short conversation, while I am pumping Mr. Termini's hand.  I'm knocked out to meet him, knocked out that he's hip to my lyrics that pay tribute to his club, the music, the era, and to he and his brother, Joe, who passed away a few years ago…and of course to Thelonious Monk and Charlie Rouse.
 
His son, who I am too wigged to even think to ask his first name, says to me, "When I heard your lyrics to this tune a few years ago, it made me cry."  I thank them both profusely, for coming, and a bit choked up myself, take my treasured T-shirt home. 
 
"Goin' to a night club, got to be the right club, good folks and swingin' music…
Everyone'll be there, baby, don't you be square, we're goin' to the Five Spot…
Baby, can you make the scene?"
 
                   Giacomo Gates

Interview With A 'Vamper' Milcho Leviev

Two beautiful pianos grace the living room of Milcho Leviev's comfortable house in the San Fernando Valley of Southern California. There are shelves and drawers full of videos, tapes and CD's everywhere. This is one of many visits to Milcho's for me, and as always I am greeted warmly (and) from the look in his bright and mischievous dark eyes, I know that I will be treated to an afternoon of informative and provocative conversation....
I say to Leviev, "You know what the state of jazz is now? and before he can answer I say "California!" and he laughingly replies "That is very true"....
Leviev observes that the Indians used to pack their pipes with a mixture of marijuana and tobacco before a pow-wow. "That's why they sold Manhattan for 30 dollars" he says with a grin. "OK, Maestro tell me about the blues" "Da Blues", he muses and begins a discourse on it's origins, "They talk about the blues and gospel emerging as jazz, but it is much later than the work songs and gospel music. The blues as a historical art form appeared a little bit later, but the important thing is that the blues were born here on this soil. Africans didn't bring the blues, they brought the DRUMS (laughter and moans) my point is jazz is the first example in human history when an art form is born from a different culture. Slavery was bad shit, but if there were no slavery, there would be no blues. Who made the first music? Darwin's theory is that the first music was not art it was communication by drums. The first art of any kind came from the cave man when he made cave drawings of bisons etc. Their intention was not to make art, it was more like a road sign, like the bison are here, the deer are located the other direction. But it's art anyhow, because how could he, this first artist, know that a three dimensional thing could be two dimensional? So the drummer who is communicating is also grooving ..So this is art, it is not only saying, watch out the mother fuckers are coming, he is saying listen to my shit"
I opine, "It must have been a miracle to them, that first drawing. It was magic, there was nothing and he made substance from nothing and there it was.....not unlike writing" (laughter)
Leviev leans forward "because when he did it he couldn't believe it himself..it looks like an animal but it is not animal. What is interesting is that they say primitive art is not realistic, it is cartoon like, stick figures as it were"
"But it was beautiful, I say. it was brilliant, the animals depicted had a modernistic look"
"Exactly, modernistic came from the primitive..The worst art was the 19th. century realists..We have photographs already".
"Well Milcho, that's where we part company, I love realism"
"You have a valid point Johnny, people say what about before the invention of the photograph, or camera I should say, when the only means to reproduce or approximate, was to be realistic, to try to use perspective. You know how those things in the renaissance were born? because the church art was flat shit, they did not know the laws of perspective like making the object behind the figure smaller..The question is, didn't they know or just not want to do it this way? That's the whole question. I think it is more art when it is so called 'modern art' where all the rules of perspective are out, because the purpose of art is not to represent reality, the purpose of art is to represent ANOTHER reality which is neither seen nor heard in the obvious way, in art we do shit that is hidden, that's where the art is"
"But Milcho, I admire the work of Rockwell..The way he captured the expressions and mood was extraordinary"
"Johnny, you are right, Rockwell was the perfect example of the realist whose art on the outside looks like a photo but a photographer could never get the shit he gets...A photographer doesn't want to capture the ordinary, he strives for the extraordinary. Man, do you know that birds are the best singers? I tape them..Nobody not even Dizzy could play that shit, they do not repeat exactly, (here he demonstrates a bird call and 'response') ..Everything is different, like an artist. I don't think that the birds are communicating only, they are making art too"
I ask, "what do you think of music today?"
"It sucks (all laugh)..Look Johnny, music will always be here, but we are in a downfall now, in the 60's we were uphill, right? All of the awareness went up in the 60's, people started getting aware of some shit, the smoking thing etc. Jazz reached its zenith and then went down...Trane, Miles, MJQ all were best in the mid 60's" Milcho, I think the awareness started in 1939 when Bird made 'Cherokee' into KOKO" ..that was the moment of illumination"  
"And gradually Johnny it started going down and down. Now Wynton is a great composer and craftsman but as an artist he is very low. He does not project personality of his own, he just imitates with nothing fresh and new. Now Jimi Hendrix when he came up, the kids didn't listen to his good stuff, just the distortion...The same with Trane, the kids only heard the distorted sheets of sound, he is the most imitated sax player, even more than Bird. Coltrane played a lot of notes but he played ballads too, and in the ballads he played only the melody, remember? So the kids grab only the bad shit that's why they don't get it. Johnny, what did you say about Trane? the endless choruses? He suffered from this ..He complained to Miles.
Miles said, just take the horn out of your mouth. Basie, when he was young, played a lot of notes, later he came to this thing where he found that one or two notes could say the whole thing.
"Well Milcho, it's easy to imitate Trane, but not Parker".
"Johnny, a lot of people imitated Bird too".
I reply, "to my way of thinking Phil Woods lost all of his identity"....
Leviev ponders this, "OK, let's compare Woods with Wynton, Phil Woods has something similar but I can hear the personality, nobody sounded like Bird" ...
Answering, I say "But he played Bird's riffs (here I demonstrate)
"Johnny, "you mean the motifs, not the sound so much, if Phil had an insufficiency it was that the emotion was not there, Cannonball was a very emotional player and you are right Johnny your emotion is your own, you cannot imitate someone else's emotion, so OK, Phil Woods is an imitator, but I value him more than Wynton. I can never say 'this is Wynton' ..Wynton imitates everybody"
"I did a review of Flip Phillip's 80th birthday celebration Milcho, and Phil was there and for the first time I heard him play in his OWN way and it was great"
Leviev replies, "I am sure Phil Woods has things that nobody has heard, you see that's why Art Pepper was a great player and I said it to Willis Conover in India..So Willis asked me, "What is the most important feature of Art Pepper?"..I said, " Art is not afraid to strip his clothes and to stand naked , this is the honesty of the personality, people are ashamed to say who they are for fear of people laughing at them, maybe my ass has a cyst and they will laugh, the true artist for me is one who is completely honest with himself before he is honest with the audience. If you hide something from yourself, how do you expect people to believe you? True art reaches even the uneducated person. He or she perceives this feeling even without knowledge, they say it's good, they don't know why, but it's good. When an artist imitates, he is not projecting himself"
"You know Milcho, they said about Bird if you slowed down those torrents of notes, you'd hear little melodies"
"Oh, he was the ultimate genius in inventing lines of incredible melodies because they are not patterns or runs. The most important thing in music is the melody, the harmony and so forth is important but without the melody there is no music. The genius of Bird was that he was playing these micro melodies, you could write tunes from them" "And they did, I reply"
"Milcho, let me ask you this, if you were stranded somewhere and had the choice of 3 records to listen to, what would you choose?"
"Let's see, 3 discs? 60 minutes each? For jazz that's plenty, I wouldn't bring jazz only, I'd bring some shit that blew my mind like music from Tibet. 60 minutes would be jazz. I'd start with Gil Evans and Miles' Sketches Of Spain, the entire album is a masterpiece. Also some short takes from Satchmo, and from Duke Ellington I wouldn't take the big compositions, maybe I'll take Sophisticated Lady..I'll pick Bill Evans because I'm a pianist. I might even skip Oscar and McCoy Tyner"
"Man, I'd sure take Bud Powell"
"Right, you can't leave him out Johnny"
"OK, now I need a voice, right? I'll take Joe Williams, some might say, Oh he's not the greatest, but it's just taste and I love Joe Williams. He has a sense of humor, like he'd make the blues funny. The blues is not all sad..it's all human feelings and the craziness of the human feelings".
"Now back to Bud Powell Johnny, He never gave me goose bumps, I appreciated his marvelous inventiveness..You see I am a neurotic person and maybe that's why I push him away"
"Well Milcho, Monk was out and out insane"
"But Monk never went to an asylum, he made the world an asylum (laughter), he made others crazy, you know what I mean? People like Bud suffered because they were dragged into hospitals..they were afraid to hospitalize Monk, he would turn the place upside down, the doctors would become mad"
"Dig this Milcho, You know Monk's family called him 'Thee' they would call Freddie Redd on the phone and say, Thee is acting up, come over please we need some help"
"Yeah, Mingus had this shit. Mingus was crazy, not only the violent thing, but he was crazy in a good sense"
"Alright Mr. Leviev, let's talk about the human voice, I think that the human voice is the ultimate instrument, you can get nuances and shadings that you cannot achieve with a mechanical instrument" "
Yes, they do imitate the human voice and sometimes the human voice imitates the instrument. It's not the technical aspect of the voice, it's the emotion. Why? because a great musician becomes as one with the instrument. A lot of people, Johnny, are slaves to the instrument, the instrument has to be YOUR slave"
"If I remember correctly Milcho, the first group I heard in NYC was the MJQ"
"Oh yes, as a group, they were my favorite, they were a classical jazz group, Today, they are very traditional. They never went beserk about crazy things, for 45 years they consistently made great art, and you know what blows my mind?..I always say this...Almost every good musician can cook on a high flame, but they cooked on a low flame. All instruments need other instruments to accompany, to be with, as it were. I dislike playing solo, this is, again masturbation (laughter) masturbation can be cool but you can't do it all the time"
"If you're 16 you can" (more laughter)
"Johnny, I love duos , we are like 2 now, if it were 3 or 4 the conversation would be harder, we may be interrupting each other like on the political shows, what do you call that show, Crossfire? Sometimes I am pissed off, they all talk at once..Musicians do the same shit like in Dixieland, but they listened beautifully, no cluttering"
"That's what fusion sounds like to me" I say.
"Well, sometimes because everybody tries to play at the same time. In New Orleans music the clarinet, Trombone and trumpet basically carry the conversation..if you listen carefully you will see that THEY listen and it is not cluttering. When you are playing, as you know, you basically hear yourself, so to play and hear someone else , that's he highest thing, that's why I love duos, you can do incredible things. We don't have a bass or drums so we can go to another key..with a duo it goes bang to a new direction, one of us says something and the other is ready to either contradict or to join, because contradiction is good too. I love jazz with symphonic orchestra music Johnny. I did experiments with that. I wrote 5 or 6 pieces for jazz and symphony orchestra, I like both so why not combine them. Gershwin was the first to combine jazz..Rhapsody In Blue for example"
"That's your tour de force Milcho"
"Or Concerto For Piano", he replies. His Porgy and Bess is a typical example of wedding two genres, classical and jazz. Gershwin went to South Carolina to write this, he lived with the black people, that's why he succeeded, they accepted him. They heard how he played and said, Man that white dude can play (laughter). Some blacks say atrocious things like why should a white man write about black people,or write a screen play about Watts. We might see different shit, like maybe a black man could write about whites better than whites because he is more independent, in other words, I might not be one of you, but I understand you. It does not matter if my skin is not dark, my soul is very dark and I've got the blues more than a lot of you. Black people clap on one and three too (laughter). Like Miles said, It doesn't matter if you are green, black or white, either you can play or you cannot play.
"One thing about Carl Saunders Milcho, he never plays a bad note"
"Johnny, even Jack Sheldon, as smooth as he is, I become afraid when he starts to play high...Carl seldom plays high notes, but when he does, he plays it effortlessly, like nothing. Sometimes you have to scream but not necessarily on high notes, because high notes can be unpleasant my man. The beauty of a high note is to play it soft. Mozart said something that people say is stupid, but he is right. He was asked, Maestro what is the purpose of music? and he replied, to please the ear. But whose ear? Well you have to know what your ear can accept and what it cannot, so my ear is pleased by some things and your ear by others. So I make something that pleases you and I at the same time.And that's what pleasing the ear means Johnny, and that's what an artist can do, the question is, does the public have refined ears? Kenny G. pleases the ear of idiots, the refined ear comes from the refined spirit, you have to have spirit to hear well, it's not a biological thng, it's in the heart and today, a lot of people have lost their heart and spirit, that's why they like Kenny G. because he makes them think of nothing. It's like a tapestry on the wall, it's there but you don't see it. One can talk over Kenny G's music all the time. Are we like a communist regime where we say Kenny G should be outlawed because it's not art? you don't do this in a free society, that's the complexity of life and I cannot believe the immigrants that lived under communism, they are the worst, they come to this country and say what should be forbidden. I say to them You didn't learn anything under that regime, did you? You learned the worst shit, how to forbid this, how to allow this. That's what they did to control. We must have laws but there must be some limit."
"Now Milcho, I, as a jazz writer have seen "jazz critics" have music go completely over their heads, they miss so much. Why?, because they do not have backgrounds as musicians. A person writing about a subject has to have participated in it to be an authentic spokesperson"
"That's why you are great Johnny"
"OK Milcho, if you get a call for a gig and they want a rhythm section and two horns, who would you get?"
"You mean here in town?" I would get my own rhythm section, "Lesentu" and for horns, I would have of course Carl Saunders on trumpet and on sax, let me think, there are so many good ones here..let me think....it is hard to choose. give me me 4 or 5 names..Maybe I would combine Carl with Ray Pizzi, a completely different player..The more precise Carl would be, the rougher Pizzi would become. Leonard Feather said that Pizzi would come on stage cooking and sweating before he produced one note. Ray Pizzi is all emotion. He is a studio musician classically trained. "
"I love the way Ray plays Milcho"
 " I had a duo with him but nothing was ever released"
"Did Ray ever play Bassoon with you?"
"No, just tenor. The bassoon is a tender instrument, that's why he has is own grouping, Bassoon, Clarinet and Flute and it's very good, classical mixed with jazz. I wrote a piece for them, they are great..It has jazz, classical and funny shit, IT"S MUSIC!..that's why, Johnny, we should talk about it most..Jazz! what is Jazz? Jazz is not limited, it is music. Jelly Roll said everything is jazz, it's not what you play, it's how you play..It is a manner of playing..Other music is what has been tried previously. Jazz is done on the spot, not previously conceived. Miles' "All Blues" was started in the studio, Miles improvised the melody (here he hums the melody) Now this is what I call art. 'All Blues ' is a different blues, it has something different , it is not the old funky blues, it is very impressionistic, but mournful, it reminds me of Monet.You might say how can we compare French impressionism to American jazz, well it is very close. Remember what Dexter Gordon said in the film Round Midnight? Which is the best jazz film for me by the way.It was not trying to portray the real Bud Powell or Lester Young but actually a combination of any expatriate musicians living in France. So when Dexter was explaining jazz to the little girl, he said, look at those clouds, what do you see? So my point is, well let me see, Debussy..Let me read to you what he said..(Milcho sits at the piano to demonstrate how Claude Debussy sounds like jazz) Anyhow Debussy said music is the arithmetic of sounds as geometry is the optics of the ear....I could ponder this for months and not understand it, but I can feel what he says. The attraction of the virtuoso is very much like a circus for the crowd, there is always the hope that something dangerous will happen..I love music passionately so I try to free it from barren traditions that stifle it, it is a free art gushing forth, an open air art. My point is jazz is becoming too academic, it is being taught in schools, which is good. Almost all universities have a jazz department, 50 years ago it was only the Berklee School Of Music, now Europe and Japan all have it. But with the good comes the bad..They teach them how NOT to be free, they tell them that jazz is a special art form and you can't do this or that and that is the bad part. How can this be corrected? Some of us that can play, we should also teach..so my main thing in teaching is to encourage individuality before anything..C7 flat 5 is only a tool and how you use the tool is the thing. Parker and Evans played remarkably well despite the drugs..Bird said, I play better because I fight the addiction..So you have to be open for suffering"
"Milcho, Bird defined jazz as one recovery after another" "Yes, that is truly the definition of art Johnny. Now Art Pepper would be more vulgar and basic, He would say Man, I feel like I have been 15 rounds with the heavyweight champion, I would ask him, who are you fighting with? and he would say everyone but myself. Art Pepper was a complete romantic just like you Johnny and you remind me of him a lot. Once in a theatre Art was was watching a very touching and sensitive love scene, and some guy a couple of rows back said to the screen, you'd forget that guy if you were balling me and Art was ready to climb over the seats after him. I can see that in you also. Johnny we have talked some fantastic shit, You might say we have jammed fabulously"
"I agree Milcho".          

JohnnyJazz-Lulee Fisher...Camarillo, Ca.

Lulee Fisher..A fine actress and Jazz vocalist

photo by evelyn florence

I Concentrate On You

Ray Pizzi, Madonna, and Dick Tracy

Pizzi Man, He Delivers.......
Johnny, basically, this is my Madonna story. For the motion picture Dick Tracy, music by Madonna, she was auditioning various horn players to play a ballad solo, when Ray Pizzi comes up and plays the sexiest version, turning on his sensual, breathy, steamy, dripping sound- ala Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster (and beyond.) Madonna, completely smitten with Pizzi's version decides to call him personally, to hire him for the solo session. The phone rings, Ray answers and she announces, "Ray?...this is Madonna"....to which Pizzi replies...."Madonna who????"....after a moment of silence, she replies...."you asshole!"...and hires Ray for the gig.

Suzanne Pittson-JohnnyJazz

Sensational San Fransisco Songstress

Perpetual Motion And Tadd Dameron

Tadd Dameron was one of the kindest, gentlest men that I have ever known, with a quiet wit that was hilarious ....Once in NYC, he and I and another cat were walking toward the entrance to a nite spot (Small's Paradse) I think. I was my usual animated self gesturing , laughing, moving, dancing around....Tadd says: "Scientist's since time immemorial have sought the answer to perpetual motion without success....just look at Gilly, he is the answer, we could make a fortune"*
did stop moving once..can't talk about it

The Iridium NYC

Lenore Raphael, Percy Heath, Les Paul

On Stage

The Piquant Song Stylist Lulee Fisher in action

Pat Senatore and Johnnyjazz

Jazz and Re-Jazz

Johnnyjazz and Recording Star Lenore Raphael, Pianist Extrodinaire

Phoning with Miles In the foyer of Birdland (down dem stairs) there were adjacent phones on either wall. I was using one when I glanced over at the other telephone because I heard that familiar raspy voice.... It was Miles, I didn't acknowledge him at all, knowing of his irascable nature and disposition.....We both hung up about the same time, and as we approached the door, he kind of gave me this lopsided grin (with that lip callous) as if to thank me for not bugging him and most courteously held the door for me....I nodded and said "Thanks, Man"

Diz n' me (Dizzy Gillespie) Dizzy told me on more than one occasion that I reminded him of Joe Guy the trumpet player....He'd just laugh and say "Man,your'e just like Joe Guy".......Also was crazy about Danny Knight ,the singer.......Also hit on Neville, what would sweet Lorraine think? I was pissed for about twenty minutes.

Tadd Dameron I'm probably the only guy in history who played "Blue Velvet" with the likes of Tadd Dameron and George Kirby (Man of a thousand voices) singing....The tune was dumb but the band was cool.

Scene from "The Neverending Story"

The boys are discussng harassing Bastian. My son Nick is on the far right with the red cap. There is an interesting web site about this film and some comments about and from Nick. Check this out
http://www.geocities.com/nesonline/movies/experiences.html

The Coterie Of Tristano Lennie Tristano's minions of yesteryear quite accurately could be dubbed, "The Stepford Musicians" Fice Mook

ELECTRIC PIANOS AND ELECTRIC BASSES SHOULD COME EQUIPPED WITH ELECTRIC CHAIRS.

Earl Palmer... I had a most enjoyable chat with Earl Palmer, the legendary Drummer. Earl laid a copy of his book "Backbeat" on me for review. Dapper and spry, Palmer was most enthusiastic as he discovered that we had many mutual pals. Talking about Charlie Parker, he related that once during an interview, Bird was asked, "What exactly is Bebop" and Parker who was very astute as well as witty, replied, "It is one recovery after another." In his book Earl speaks of Bobby Darin..."I don't remember the date but I sure remember Darin, he was head above shoulders more professional than the singers I was doing then".... "Darin struck me as professional right off the bat".. I look forward to a most informative and intriguing perusal....

An Unsung Cat..The Life And Music Of Warne Marsh by Safford Chamberlain, Scarecrow Press Safford Chamberlain has amassed ten Years of research into the complex life of Warne Marsh, the underrated and (unsung) Tenor Saxophonist and as a result has penned a fascinating book which traces Marsh's beginnings in Los Angeles to his alliance with Lennie Tristano, the blind pianist and the cultish group that Tristano held sway over in an almost Sheikh Omar Abdullah Rahman fashion. Marsh would continue his on again off again stints with Tristano until Lennie, beset with constant pain and itching in his eyes and grossly overweight from excessive drinking, died. Tristano had been advised to have his eyeballs removed, but refused. His odd behavior can certainly be understood and it worsened in his final days. During Warne Marsh's periods of absence from Tristano's control he seemed to blossom and play with inspiration and explosiveness and once suggested that he had been trying for years to break away {from Tristano} but could never succeed, which clearly illustrates Tristano's grip on his band of followers.Tristano would refer to himself as "Lennie" or "We" in conversation, which,to say the least, is a most quirky affectation....John Norris says that Marsh's link to Tristano seems to have hindered his (Marsh's) career. Med Flory the brilliant Altoist describes Warne Marsh accurately as being "fey" and this characteristic was no doubt the result of the daily use of marijuana since the age of 15 and cocaine for the last 20 years of his life with alcohol and amphetamines thrown in for good measure. Warne Marsh left a legacy of fine recordings which are thoroughly analyzed by Chamberlain in his compelling and insightful journey into one jazz musician's existence. Safford Chamberlain has compiled a brilliant biography of a very complicated man.. For a book as revealing as this work, one is struck by the multitude of interviews and inside information that was garnered. The author studied with Marsh briefly and this relationship was the inspiration for this intriguing book. This is savvy writing from a man who is in tune with jazz by virtue of being a musician, scholar and a relentless searcher for truth and accuracy. This is the best and most legitimate bio that I have read in years......

Conversation With Robert Bloch

Robert Bloch, author of "Psycho," was wearing a red sports jacket that almost matched his tinted hair and he was appropriately tousled as befitted his profession as a horror writer.
I jokingly said to him, as we were discussing how the world had gone sort of topsy turvy "Women with tattoos and men with earrings, I wonder who'd win in a fair fight?" his eyes widened ( I sort of leaned back), and he said, so help me God, "I'd give 'em knives, and let 'em butcher each other."
Although I was a bit taken aback by his response, I was smugly self satisfied that he had replied in a manner that reflected his writing milieu and was so apropos to my expectations...It was perfect.

Asides Overheard..... Robert Downey, Jr. is recording an old tune with new lyrics.."Days Of Lines And Noses"

Can You Name All Of The Marsalis's? Let's see, there's Wynton, Branford, Sleepy, Sneezy, Doc, Dopey, Grumpy, Bashful and Happy.....Izzat right?

Hollywood Strikes Again....! I have never really been enthused over a film being made about Bobby Darin. He was a huge star and to find an actor to portray him adequately is certainly an insurmountable task at best. ....Kevin Spacey is going to get the role. Spacey is a mediocre actor on his best day, and as far as looks go he resembles Babe Ruth more than he does Darin......Why not Arnold Swartzenegger? Why not Clint Eastwood? they make about as much sense as casting this smarmy effete thespian. All Spacey has to do is cock his head to one side with that unpleasant smirk and in that silly voice say BD's line, "The party is over Babe, lets all go to my place" and it would sound as much like Bobby Darin as Marilyn Monroe....The horse is riding the man, The dog is walking the owner, The old lady is in the cat's lap, Elton John is declared a Knight (Damn that one is true, but how can a Queen be a Knight, go figure) I thought I had seen the absurdity of Hollywood casting before, but this takes the cake! ! ! ! ! !.....Spacey looks old beyond his years and has no elan, no charisma, no brashness, none of Bobby Darins trademark charm....In a word this choice SUCKS so badly that the sound is audible wherever sonancy occurs....Hey, how about Alicia Silverstone starring as Ella Fitzgerald? Oh no, I shouldn't give 'em any ideas......Dodd Darin should sue...Sandra Dee should raise hell..and as for me I remain disgusted and dismayed.....I thought I had seen it all, but this is the capper!.........Bobby Darin you must be going nuts, maybe where you are things are so cool all this means nothing, I hope so. As for this writer I just shake my head and ponder the lunacy of Hollywood.......I personally know of an actor, of some stature, who is regurgitating at the very thought of this gross mis-casting........ If the powers that be in Hollywood had one constructive thought, it would die of loneliness.

Wisdom From Satch "How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?".....Satchel Paige

I Don't Lovely lady at the bar had her wedding band on third finger RIGHT hand...I asked her "How come your wedding ring is on the wrong hand?"..She replied sweetly "I married the wrong guy"

Ad In Madcap Musical FOR SALE: Trumpet belonging to Chet Baker, upper register brand new !

Al Cohn

Al Cohn came down to breakfast after a hard night in Italy...The fellas asked "how're you feeling Al ?"
Al: Like a million lire

Pee Wee Marquette vs. Lester Young

The term Mother F----er was used by Pres (Young) as an all purpose modifier , it became almost a gentle term with its constant use,but Pres could restore its bite....When annoyed by Birdlands midget master of ceremonies Pee Wee Marquette Lester Young dismissed him with a contemptuous:
"Get outta my face you half a mother f---er

More Gene Lees via Bill Crow Gene asked Art Farmer about his twin brother Addison. "How do you tell yourselves apart?"....Without a trace of a smile Art replied "When I get up in the morning I pick up the bass, and if I can't play it, I must be Art.

The Zitos' one and all All of the Zitos worked with Bobby Darin at one time or another...Jimmy (no relation to the other Zitos mentioned) told me that he had the best timing of any singer he had heard......Carol Kay of Studio and recording fame said that of all the singers she had played with, Sinatra, Bennett, et al, that he (B.D.) was THE real singer among the bunch.... One of the all time nicknames is the one Jimmy Zito has. they call him "Zeets"......Love it !......Ronnie Zito is the drummer on the live at the Copa CD

True Story A strange but attractive lady at 66, said to me: "I must say you look very nice tonight".....I gave her a look and said: "You're lucky , usually I'm an asshole"

Sheeps Head Bay ? As I live and breathe, Do you mean to tell me there's a place where sheep can actually do that ? AMAZING !

Blue Grass Patron to musician; "How do you like blue grass?" Musician: "Dunno, never smoked any"

A gentleman A gentleman is a man who knows how to play the accordian......and doesn't

Zoot When asked how he could play so well when he was loaded, Zoot Sims answered " I practice when I'm loaded"

Add Zoot At noon Zoot appeared at Jim and Andy's Bar,wearing a dark suit, white shirt and tie...Someone asked "How come you're all dressed up?"....Zoot grinned and said " I don't know I just woke up this way"

Drums At an African safari around a campfire at night , the drums were throbbing all night, when they finally stopped at dawn, the native guide declared "When drums stop, it's very ,very bad"....".Why is that?" asked a member of the safari ,the guide replied "Because when drums stop, Bass solo begins"

AL Cohn Bartender:" What'll you have ,Al?" Al: "One too many"

James Moody Moody says jogging is a great aid in cooling over drinking.....Must mean jogging to re-hab...Moody made a poster for me with the double o's in his name represented by eyeglasses