SLSL "TSR" jazz notes

[pynchonoid]

(page numbers from Little, Brown hardcover, 1984)


"Birdland" (28) 

"[...]  Charles Parker, Jr. , also called Bird  or
Yardbird American alto saxophonist, composer, and
bandleader, a lyric artist generally considered the
greatest jazz saxophonist. Parker was the principal
stimulus of the modern jazz idiom known as bebop,
and—together with Louis Armstrong and Ornette
Coleman—he was one of the three great revolutionary
geniuses in jazz. [...] While working in Los Angeles
with Gillespie's group and others, Parker collapsed in
the summer of 1946, suffering from heroin and alcohol
addiction, and was confined to a state mental
hospital. Following his release after six months,
Parker formed his own quintet, which included
trumpeter Miles Davis and drummer Max Roach. He
performed regularly in New York City and on tours to
major U.S. cities and abroad, played in a Gillespie
concert at Carnegie Hall (1947), recorded with
Machito's Afro-Cuban band (1949–50), and toured with
the popular Jazz at the Philharmonic troupe (1949). A
Broadway nightclub, Birdland, was named after him, and
he performed there on opening night in late 1949;
Birdland became the most famous of 1950s jazz clubs.
[...]
"Parker, Charlie" Encyclopædia Britannica
<http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?eu=59965>
[Accessed December 2, 2002]. 


"Lester Young"  (28) 
"[...] one of the true jazz giants, a tenor
saxophonist who came up with a completely different
conception in which to play his horn, floating over
bar lines with a light tone rather than adopting
Coleman Hawkins' then-dominant forceful approach. 
[...] After leaving Count in 1940, Young's career
became a bit aimless, not capitalizing on his fame in
the jazz world. He co-led a low-profile band with his
brother drummer Lee Young in Los Angeles until
rejoining Basie in December 1943. Young had a happy
nine months back with the band, recorded a memorable
quartet session with bassist Slam Stewart and starred
in the short film Jammin' the Blues before he was
drafted. His experiences dealing with racism in the
military were horrifying, affecting his mental state
of mind for the remainder of his life.  Although many
critics have written that Lester Young never sounded
as good after getting out of the military, despite
erratic health he actually was at his prime in the
mid-to-late '40s. He toured (and was well-paid by
Norman Granz) with Jazz at the Philharmonic on-and-off
through the '40s and '50s, made a wonderful series of
recordings for Aladdin and worked steadily as a
single. Young also adopted his style well to bebop
(which he had helped pave the way for in the 1930s).
But mentally he was suffering, building a wall between
himself and the outside world and inventing his own
colorful vocabulary. Although many of his recordings
in the 1950s were excellent (showing a greater
emotional depth than in his earlier days), Young was
bothered by the fact that some of his White imitators
were making much more money than he was. He drank huge
amounts of liquor and nearly stopped eating with
predictable results. 1956's Jazz Giants album found
him in peak form as did a well-documented engagement
in Washington, D.C. with a quartet and a last reunion
with Count Basie at the 1957 Newport Jazz Festival.
But for the 1957 telecast The Sound of Jazz Young
mostly played sitting down (although he stole the show
with an emotional one-chorus blues solo played to
Billie Holiday). After becoming ill in Paris in early
1959, Lester Young came home and essentially drank
himself to death. Nearly 40 years after his death,
Pres is still considered (along with Coleman Hawkins
and John Coltrane) one of the three most important
tenor saxophonists of all time."
http://musicbase.h1.ru/PPB/ppb5/Bio_553.htm

"Gerry Mulligan" (28) 
"[...]  born in New York on April 6th, 1927, and died
from complications of knee surgery in January, 1996. 
[...]  Mulligan hit the big time when he became known
for his work (writing, arranging, and soloing) on
Miles Davis's first defining album, "Birth of the
Cool." Gerry's compositions for this album included
"Jeru," "Godchild," and "Venus de Milo," all songs
that would remain in his repertoire long after the
initial success of the album had died down.  [...] In
1952, Mulligan moved to Los Angeles, and embarked on
what may be the most significant, and what is
definitely the most popular, period of his career. He
and trumpeter Chet Baker formed the first "pianoless"
quartet. [...] The laid-back, melodic sounds of the
quartet helped define, with the big band orchestras of
Stan Kenton and the small groups of Dave Brubeck, the
concept that is now referred to as "west coast jazz."
Ironically, Mulligan was always considered synonymous
with the term, despite the fact that he moved back to
the east coast within a few years. Mulligan did a
short jail term in California on drug charges, and
when he was released, he expected to reteam with
Baker, but Baker had risen to a new level of fame with
his vocal talents, and had become too expensive for
Mulligan. The two split, but reunited twice in the
future, once in 1957 for the "Reunion" album, and
again in 1971 for their much heralded Carnegie Hall
Concert. 

[...] After splitting with Baker, he returned to New
York, the home of his earlier successes, and found a
new partner for his quartet, valve trombonist Bob
Brookmeyer, not only a talented soloist, but an
accomplished composer and arranger as well.
Brookmeyer's happier, more lively, style was something
of a contrast to Baker's ultra-laid back approach, but
it fit the pianoless setting perfectly. The
Mulligan/Brookmeyer group's best work can be heard on
the "Live in Paris" albums, recorded during the
group's sensational 1954 appearance at the Salle
Pleyel in that European city. During the 1950's,
Mulligan led a variety of small groups, including
another quartet with trumpeter Jon Eardley. He also
led sextet's with Brookmeyer, Eardley, and tenor
saxophonist Zoot Sims, and other larger "small"
groups, often a tentet, revisiting the style and
success of the "Birth of the Cool" group. This group
can be heard on the Gerry Mulligan Tentet album. Yet
another of his successful small groups was that with
trumpeter/flugulhornist Art Farmer, well known for his
work with tenorist Benny Golson and their "Jazztet."
While the collaboration with Farmer was not long-
lasting or even terribly commercially accepted, but
Mulligan historians generally speak of that group's
What Is There To Say? album as not only one of
Mulligan's best, but one of the best jazz albums ever
recorded. A unique idea that stemmed from that period
is documented on the Gerry Mulligan Songbook album.
This album features a five-piece saxophone section
with rhythm playing all Mulligan originals, arranged
by Mulligan and Bill Holman. That album never achieved
the critical acclaim of select others, but it is
interesting due to its different take on some of
Mulligan's most oft-played compositions. [...] 
http://www.geocities.com/BourbonStreet/Delta/1724/bio2.html#birth


-Doug









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