Date:	31-Jan-2001 09:43:16
From:	cd332 (cd332528200@hotmail.com)
	It was the late 80s and I was still going to see gigs at the Top of the Gate & the Village Gate in New York City with my dad. His limited knowledge of jazz began and ended with Gene Krupa. Well, after a few visits and having watched the jazz musicians play on stage, he turned to me one night and said, "I don't know jazz, but it sure looks like a very very difficult life. One must be extremely dedicated." A few nights later, I went alone over to the Vanguard to watch the Don Cherry/Charlie Haden quartet play. Now Charlie Haden has been a big idol of mine from the first Ornette note on "Free" I heard on a dusty old record. I believe it was Cherry, Haden, Billy Higgins, and (not certain)Dewey Redman. I remembered offstage Haden was visibly distraught because Cherry was onstage playing and it was apparent he was sick. Seeing this, it made me realise how among jazz musicians (playing and caring for a music that doesn't receive mass recognition), there was an inner circle that functions as its own family and they look out and care for each other the way they do their music. I stayed through the final set, and eventually went upstairs. It was a slow night in the city, and my little Toyota was literally parked in front of the Vanguard. As I was getting ready to pull away, I see a few figures trying to hail a taxi down. I looked more carefully and it was the band! Well, to make a long story short, I ended up with three quarters of the original Ornette Coleman quartet piled into my junky car. (We had to do multiple trips with that upright bass!) After having eaten at a mideastern joint and dropping everyone off, I took Haden uptown to his hotel. I asked him, "Y'know, doesn't it bother you sometimes that you've been on literally hundreds of records from ornette to keith jarrett to music liberation, and it's very obvious that it's a difficult lifestyle with little recognition and money, and on top of all this, when you walk down a busy new york city street today, hours can go by and not a single person will notice who you are? Well, it sure bothers me, because you are a real important figure in jazz history." And I can still remember this moment to this day: In his very soft and kind voice, Charlie Haden said to my question: "If you are playing music to be noticed, you shouldn't be playing at all." Hands down, a milestone in my development from a young musician to an adult musician. Thank You Charlie. I carry this story in my heart and in every note I play.

 

Date:	31-Jan-2001 11:01:26
From:	Chris M. Slawecki (cmfs@voicenet.com)
	I don't remember where I read this. But in researching an article I was writing for Music Boulevard/CDNow, I discovered a story about Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Apparently one time he went to a club owner and requested his payment up front, in cash. Upon receipt, he proceeded to sit down onstage and eat it. My other favorite anecdote is pretty sad: About how when Charlie Parker died, his body was so ravaged from various types of abuse that the coroner estimated his age at 55. He was barely 35 years old.

 

Date:	01-Feb-2001 04:16:59
From:	Mark O'Connor (markoconnor76@hotmail.com)
	This is a story told by Howard Riley. In the earlish '60s Philly Joe Jones was living in England. Work was difficult because the MU did not have an agreement with the U.S. MU. So he taught drums for £3/10s (£3.50) per hour. A student arrived for a lesson one Keith Moon and gave him the money. Joe Jones said 'OK let's see what you can do' and Moon sat down and did what he was famous for. When he stopped Jo Jones asked him in a puzzled way 'Do you play in a band, man?' And Moon replied 'yes.' Joe Jones asked him 'How much do you earn?' and Keith replied 'I dunno about £1,000 a week'. Joe Jones solemnly handed him back the £3.50 and said 'Man, I can only do you harm.'

 

Date:	04-Feb-2001 11:07:05
From:	Miles Martin
	True story : One time an interviewer asked Johnny Hodges "Mr Hodges have you ever played a bum note?" To which Mr Hodges replied with a quizzical look: "What would be the point?" Cool or what!

 

Date:	07-Feb-2001 09:33:35
From:	JW
	I think this story was from a book called Chasin' the Trane. Which has a couple of stories in it. Apparently, Coltrane had fallen on hard times, and he was doing substandard gigs with a rhythm-and-blues review band. The bandleader told him he had to "walk the bar" which was one of the things r&b players did back then. This consisted of walking from one end of the bartop to the other while "honkin'" on your sax. (I think Lou Marini did this in Aretha's restuarant in The Blues Brothers). Anyway, Coltrane didn't really want to do it. It was already bad enough doing bad gigs and now he has to walk the bar? When it came time for him to do it. He got up, started honkin' walked to the end (all the time continually playing while the entire band was playing as well), got off the end of the bar, walked out the fron entrance while playing and onto the street. I think the story goes that the band never saw him again. This is my fav story because it symbolizes all the horrible gigs every musician sometimes has to take, and in this one instance, the bough broke and he didn't take it! Go trane!

 

Date:	15-Feb-2001 15:34:35
From:	Paul Abella (Pabella3@aol.com)
	Well, this one happened to me, and I still consider this to be one of the coolest nights of my life... John Scofield was in town at the Jazz Showcase in Chicago, and he had stopped by the station I work at for an interview. At the time, I was doing an Acid Jazz show on top of my regular on-air duties, and I had put in a request for a John Scofield liner for said Acid Jazz show. He made one gladly, and then left for the show that night at the Showcase. After his second set, I saw him and thanked him for his act of kindness. He looked at me and shouted "Acid Jazz! I LOVE ACID, MAN!!!" We then discussed all of the Scofield cuts that would make great Acid Jazz fodder, and then he split to go tend to other matters. As he was walking up the stairs to the green room, He screamed "HEY!! KID!!! ACID FOREVER MAN!!!! WOOOOO!!!!" Not the best story on this thread by a long shot, but it holds a special place in my heart for his willingness to actually spend a couple of seconds with a fan. Keep Your Ears Open, Paul

 

Date:	22-Mar-2001 17:13:57
From:	Bilal M.
	My favorite anecdote comes from the movie "Round Midnight" (which by the way I believe Dexter Gordon was snubed an Oscar). He is standing behind a patron in a Paris bar, who upon taking a swing, becomes siff as a board and falls backwards flat on his back. Dexter's character looks at the bar keep and says: "Please (in French), l'll have what he just had.

 

Date:	25-Jun-2001 16:34:53
From:	Jim Young (youngj@carmengroup.com)
	Freddie Greene, or Father Time, took no solos and in person was notable for saying a lot in a few words. Here are two stories. The first is from Joe Williams' autobiography, about when Count Basie's band was at its peak, playing Vegas, and for Joe the night's fun was just beginning when the band played its last set. Joe told how he would play golf regularly with Freddie early in the morning, and, when Joe showed up the worse for wear after a long night on the town, Freddie checked him out and said, "Take some and leave some." The second story is a true one told by a friend of mine who managed to get a rise out of the imperturbable Freddie. My friend, a lifelong Basie freak, once caught the Basie band on its way up the East Coast, managing a front row table the first night at a Washington, DC gig, and then the next night in Baltimore. On the third night, with him again up front for the band's gig in Wilmington, Freddie finally leans toward him and says, "Man, where do you live?"

 

Date:	18-Sep-2001 03:37:42
From:	RJ Spangler (rjblues@aol.com)
	It seems to me that the guy at the bar in 'Round Midnight is Chet Baker. That movie was on cable the other and came in too late to see that now famous scene. I love that quote myself. I saw Basie a few times also and I remember a gig an Meadowbrook, in suberban Detroit where Basie threatened the audience with "the first ever Freddie Green guitar solo." They kind of built up the expectation for quite a while. When the big moment came, Freddie did his usual hip chord thing and the crowd went nuts.

 

Date:	24-Sep-2001 10:39:22
From:	DAN PLISKOW (pliskow4025@earthlink.net)
	I HAVE A GREAT STORY FOR YOU. THIS SUMMER I PLAYED STRING BASS SEVEN DAY A WEEK, NOON TO 3PM ON A JAZZ GIG AT HENRY FORD'S GREEN FIELD VILLAGE NEAR DETROIT. WHILE RIDING ON A HORSE DRAWN WAGON IN THE VILLAGE PARADE, SITTING ON A STOOL AND FACING THE BACK OF THE WAGON AND WAVING TO THE KIDS AT THE SIDE OF THE STREET, MY BASS STARTED TO QUICKLY RISE UP AND I GRABBED IT AND OF COURSE I'M NOT GOING TO LET GO. IT PULLED ME FORWARD OFF THE THE STOOL, NOW I'M STANDING UP AND THEN MY FEET ARE A FOOT OFF THE GROUND SO I LOOKED UP AND THE SCROLL OF THE BASS WAS OVER A THICK TREE BRANCH WHICH BROKE AND PLOPPED ME BACK DOWN. IT ALL TOOK ABOUT 3 SECONDS. NO HARM TO ME OR THE BASS BUT ONE OF LIFE'S SCARY MOMENTS. THE REST OF THE QUARTET JUST KEPT PLAYING AND THE LEADER NEVER ASKED ARE YOU OK OR DID IT HURT YOUR BASS? DAN PLISKOW 4025 NORMANDY ROYAL OAK, MI. 48073 248-549-5575 FAX 248-549-4613 pliskow4025@earthlink.net

 

Date:	25-Sep-2001 08:21:07
From:	TJ (Merlin_44805@hotmail.com)
	My favorite quote is one I came across on a website while surfing, thus I have no clue what the web address was, but I do distinctly remember this quote by Charlie Parker..."Know your instrument, know your music...then forget all that sh- and just play."