Herbie's Take on Joni Mitchell, and the Value of Gigging

Fradley Garner

Columnist since 2005

Fradley Garner is an American freelance writer, editor and translator based in Denmark.

Recent articles (40 total)

Published: May 14, 2008

Oh Pshaw? Oh No! Turn the clock back 67 years and see how top sidemen responded to a call from Artie Shaw to join what the clarinetist said "should be the greatest dance combo ever assembled." Wrote DownBeat on September 1, 1941: "Musicians never before heeded a leader's call as these men heeded Shaw's." Datelined New York, the story read: "When Artie sent out a call to his old sidekicks, asking them to return and be cogs in his latest orchestral venture, not a single man brushed off his invitation. Les Robinson quit Willy Bradley. George Auld refused to accept big money offers from others, and went without work six weeks until Shaw's rehearsals got under way. Lee Castaldo quit Bradley, too. And, Eddie McKinney toted his big bull fiddle right off Tony Pastor's bandstand and into Artie's room. "Lips" Page abandoned hopes to get his own jazz band clicking and made a beeline to Shaw's initial rehearsal. Mike Bryan fluffed Bob Chester to strum a guitar, even taking lessons to brush up on the electric box, which Shaw frequently likes to feature. Trombonist Ray Conniff junked his own band in preference to holding down a chair in the Shaw unit." That was another era.

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