Category: Notables

  

This video of Jake, swinging with the All Stars: Jimmy Cleveland, Jeff Fuller, Bucky Pizzarelli, John Bunch, Warren Vaché, Scott Hamilton is a short excerpt from one posted at Drummer World. The tune is Perdido.

  

  

  

It used to be in days of yore, that news, be it good or bad, took weeks to travel – pony express. Now word goes out so fast that scarcely an hour passes before the entire world becomes aware. So it was on Friday evening that I learned that Jake Hanna had left us. It has been years since I’ve been in real touch with Jake & Denisa, but my affection for them both remains always in my heart. You’ll read elsewhere, and everywhere, about Jake’s tremedous talent, his huge heart, his super-sized sense of humor and penchant for telling a good, often hilarious story.

Not only was Jake a wonderful raconteur but he was also a perpetrator of many pranks. Every once in a while, though, someone would turn the tables on him and one such time it was my dad who, much to his own chagrin, prevailed. It was during The Merv Griffin Show days in New York. The show was taped in the Little Theatre on 44th street between Broadway and 8th avenue, next door to Sardi’s. Mort Lindsay was the band leader, and musicians included Bill Berry, Bob Brookmeyer, Art Davis, Jim Hall, Jake Hanna, Richie Kamuca,…

As Jake got up from his seat at the drums, after or during a rehearsal, he had a habit of deliberately stepping into a small waste basket — when done at the correct angle, he’d then walk a few feet with the basket affixed as a boot. One day my dad decided to put quite a few inches of water in the bottom and float a few wadded-up papers on top to hide the tide. Rehearsal came and went but Jake didn’t step in it; oh well.

That night, during the show, Jake had the rare occasion to leave his drums and walk a few feet onto the stage to hit a gong — yes, you guessed it. TV cameras rolling, Jake walks onstage with a very wet pant leg. The camera didn’t see him step in the basket, but the band did and they all fell out, quietly. The water had sloshed up towards his knee and Jake just had to keep on going to hit his mark and ring that gong.

I am sure he is now instigating heavenly hilarity and swinging with all his angelic friends – well, maybe not angelic….

Read more about Jake here and here.

UPDATE: Also check out the Rifftides post and dig the early photo of Jake that looks to me to be circa the time of the Wastebasket Caper, along with a great video clip.

Jazz And The Poet Laureate is the title of Mr. Rifftides’ piece today. I happen to be in Toronto this weekend with two poets who, as jazz lovers, have put their passions not only on the page, but into action. As poets, each has written about and been inspired by jazz, but beyond their talents as poets, their love of jazz has led them to contribute greatly to the lifeblood of jazz and so I wish to call Dana Gioia and A.B. Spellman to your attention.

A February 2003 headline in the San Francisco Chronicle read: “Who Is Dana Gioia? He’s a poet, a businessman, a Northern Californian and President Bush’s choice to head the National Endowment for the Arts.” Now, in his second term as Chairman of the NEA, Dana continues to elevate jazz, expanding the Jazz Masters program in his quest to make it equal to the prestige of the pulitzer prize. (Our good friend Terry Teachout, as a member of he National Council on the Arts, is well acquainted with Chairman Gioia.) Dana is an award-winning poet, essayist, critic, and author, and his poems have been set to music by numerous composers, from classical to rock. I asked Dana about this and he mentioned Dave Brubeck as one of those composers and also spoke of a joint performance he did in New York with Chico Hamilton. On his web site you will find his bio along with many links to poems, and excerpts from his works and interviews.

I met A.B. a few years ago through the jazz masters program but I did not know a lot about his background. A little web research yielded the following:

For thirty years A.B. Spellman was “a guiding force in the continuation and expansion of the NEA Jazz Masters program” and the NEA Jazz Master award given for Jazz Advocacy is now given in his name. He is an author, poet, critic, and lecturer. He was a poet-in-residence at Morehouse College, in Atlanta, Ga. He taught various courses in African-American culture; offered courses in modern poetry, creative writing, and jazz at Emory, Rutgers, and Harvard Universities. Spellman is an occasional television and radio commentator. He offered reviews and commentaries on National Public Radio’s Jazz Riffs series, including the NPR Basic Jazz Record Library program. Mr. Spellman is a graduate of Howard University. read more

And from the History Makers website:

In 1966, Spellman’s writing career took off when he published his first full-length book, Four Lives in the Bee-Bop Business, an in-depth look at the lives of jazz musicians Cecil Taylor, Ornette Coleman, Herbie Nichols and Jackie McLean. The following year, Spellman joined a group of black poets touring the nation’s historically black colleges. From 1968 until 1969, he worked as a political essayist and poet for Rhythm Magazine, and in 1969, Spellman conducted a lecture series throughout the country teaching at various colleges including Morehouse, Emory and Rutgers. read more

Here’s a brief excerpt from A.B.’s poem titled After Vallejo

…when you come for me come singing
no dirge, but scat my eulogy in bebop
code. sing that i died among gods
but lived with no god & did not suffer
for it. find one true poem that i made
& sing it to my shade as it fades
into the wind. sing it presto, in 4/4 time
in the universal ghetto key of b flat…

And here on the NEA web site you will find links to audio of his reading of After Vallejo and his remarks to the National Council on the Arts in March 2005.

These two gentlemen are well worth knowing; they have done immeasurable good for the world of jazz and in support of jazz musicians in America.

As readers of Rifftides already know, yesterday was the 100th anniversary of the birth of Bennett Carter. (If you missed the Rifftides postings go here and here.) Benny lived to see 95, and according to Quincy Jones, host of last night’s tribute at the Hollywood Bowl, Benny had a blast at his 95th birthday party.

Overall, it was an excellent concert featuring The Benny Carter Trio (Chris Neville, Steve LaSpina and Steve Johns) and the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra with many spectacular soloists, plus several special guests. For me the high-note was Russell Malone‘s most beautiful solo guitar rendition of a Carter original titled “All About You.” Backstage, during intermission, Russell told me that he was visiting Benny’s home one day and Benny played it for him. “I asked him if he wrote it and he said ‘yes, yesterday’ and gave it to me.” Other moments of great beauty included the contributions of James Moody (who now drives Benny’s Rolls Royce with a license plate that reads: “Benny’s”) and Roy Hargrove (with whom Benny alternated sets during a week at the Blue Note in New York in 1994) — both played with great sensitivity and beautiful tone.

Less pleasing were the vocalists. Roberta Gambarini, may have great chops but to my ears she has no soul, no feeling whatsoever. And Marlena Shaw hit the most sour note of the night, complete destroying “Here’s to Life.” Both Joe Williams and Shirley Horn have recorded definitive versions of that song, each plumbing the depths of the song’s lyric and harmonic intent. I am not adverse to an artist refashioning a song, infusing it with their unique interpretation, but Marlena chose to disregard both the meaning of the words and the melodic and harmonic integrity of the composition, offering instead some pseudo-hip “jazzy” arrangement. I should have been forewarned when Quincy introduced the segment with a scripted story about Benny telling Marlena that lyrics don’t matter in jazz, it’s all about the improv. Having known Benny, I have my doubts about that story, or at least about what he meant by whatever it is that he actually said. It may be relevant that the tune in question during that discussion was “Cottontail.” I am aware of only two sets of lyrics for this song, the original being about how Easter bunny Peter Cottontail brings a basket full of goodies for children on Easter morning:

Here comes Peter Cottontail,
Hopping’ down the bunny trail,
Hippity, hoppity,
Easter’s on its way.

and Ella Fitzgerald’s version:

Come on, Wail
Wail, Cotton Tail
Benny Webster, come on and blow for me

hardly in the same league as Here’s To Life ( lyrics by Phyllis Molinary, music by Artie Butler):

No complaints and no regrets
I still believe in chasing dreams and placing bets
And I have learned that all you give is all you get
So give it all you’ve got

I had my share, I drank my fill
And even though I’m satisfied, I’m hungry still
To see what’s down another road, beyond a hill
And do it all again……….

Also on point, not to mention speaking of Ben Webster, my husband has often told a story about Ben opining that you can’t really do justice to a song unless you know the lyrics. This is something I’ve heard many jazz musicians say. Luther Henderson (whose bio I am in he process of writing) used to go so far as write in the lyrics on the orchestral charts he was arranging so that the classical musicians might have a deeper understanding of the music.

Low-notes not withstanding, it was a lovely evening and, in these days prone to commercial pandering, I was especially heartened to see such a big turn-out to celebrate the music of Benny Carter. Those who miss him most will speak first of the classy guy whose style as a man was understated but whose friendship was fiercely loyal, and then they will regale you with stories of his prodigious talents.

It was just yesterday (technically early this morning) that I wrote about musical people who have left a void, and now I have just learned of the death of Lee Wing. You may not know her by name, but she wrote “An Older Man Is Like an Elegant Wine,” a song that was recorded to great acclaim by both Carol Sloane and Nancy Wilson.

Here’s a snippet from Nancy’s recording of An Older Man Is Like An Elegant Wine (that’s Toots Thielemans with her).

I never met Mrs. Wing, and all I knew about her was her talent as a songwriter. Now, reading her obituary (which I am posting below) I am fascinated to learn of her work in the fields of government and education. A common thread seems to be giving people a voice. Smart Start Kids is an Emmy-award-winning half-hour television program where preschool children are the “stars” of the show, and my eyes zoom in on phrases like “citizen call-ins,” and “connect people and their government.” It seems that her life touched on many of the same topics that I hold dear. Here, then, is her obituary from the Durham Herald-Sun, August 29, 2006.

Durham’s Honored Mrs. Wing dies

Lucie Lee Abramson Wing of Durham, who founded and served as president of Friends of University Network Television (WUNC) and was arts and communications policy adviser to Gov. Jim Hunt in the 1970s, died Sunday. She was 80 and had lived in Durham since 1965.

“I just loved her,” longtime friend Mary D.B.T. Semans said Monday. “She was so talented. I admired her so. She inspired me.”

Mrs. Wing also was executive director of the N.C. Agency for Public Telecommunications from 1979 to 1993, and created OPEN/net, a statewide satellite and cable television network with unscreened citizen call-ins designed to connect people and their government.

The network won the Ford Foundation and Harvard-Kennedy School of Government Award for Innovations in State and Local Government.

Mrs. Wing also received the Governor’s Award of Excellence and was inducted into the Order of the Longleaf Pine for her service to the state.

In 1993, she founded Responsive Media Inc. as a vehicle for new projects involving audience participation. She produced the Call-In Kids radio program from 1996 to 1999, and later created Smart Start Kids, produced by WRAL-TV, which won a regional Emmy Award in 2004.

Mrs. Wing also wrote music and lyrics. Her song “Pushing Forty” was recorded by Pearl Bailey and “An Older Man Is Like an Elegant Wine” was recorded by both Carol Sloane and Nancy Wilson.

From 1968 to 1972, Mrs. Wing was president of the Durham County Democratic Women. She co-chaired Terry Sanford’s 1972 presidential campaign and was a delegate to the 1972 Democratic National Convention.

“She was such a believer in democracy and worked for it all the time,” Mrs. Semans said. “She cherished the Constitution and everything about it.”

Former state Rep. George Miller of Durham agreed.

“She was really the one person who originally advocated open government in North Carolina,” Miller said. “That included the Legislature, the Office of the Governor, state agencies, and the like…. She had many talents.”

Mrs. Wing is survived by her husband, Cliff; her son and daughter-in-law, Steve and Betsy; their daughters, Ann and Marion; her son and daughter-in-law, Scott and Natasha; and their sons, Erik and Nicholas.

The family said it will announce plans later to remember and celebrate her life.

My condolences to Mrs. Wing’s family and friends.