The Significance of Reader’s Polls

Posted on November 11, 2014 by Scott K Fish

602212_downbeatSKF NOTE: I have mixed feelings about musician’s readers polls. Always have. My great dislike is when players deserving of a spot in, say, a Hall of Fame, never get it because their heyday was too long ago, or the quality of their recordings are sub-standard to the ears of today’s listeners. Of course, when musicians I like win reader polls, I’m as happy as the next guy.

Down Beat Managing Editor Don DeMichael introduced DB’s 1960 Reader’s Poll results with an explanatory piece called, The Significance of the Poll. I re-read Mr. DeMichael’s piece this morning, pulled out its key points, and I’m posting them here. I think DeMichael  captures for all time the essence of all reader’s polls.

“To the casual reader, the poll is nothing but a list of names and figures. But the more astute and serious student of jazz will find it the reflection of the jazz population’s present tastes, trends in the making, dominant schools of thought, traces of fading eras. He will not find with musicians are ‘best,’ for there is no ‘best.’

“[T]he winners are those who are satisfying some emotional need in the greatest number of listeners, even if, by voting for certain men, the voter is merely conforming to others’ opinions – for conformity in itself is satisfaction of an emotional need.

“Exposure of the artist, of course, is a necessary and vital prerequisite to his obtaining votes. All the winners had ample exposure, including publicity, throughout the year.

“But more important than who won what is the undercurrent of the poll – the rise of new names, the decline of old ones. This is the heart throb, the real significance of the poll.

“As the new rises, the old falls. Most of the former winners are still listed in the categories – some… are strong contenders. Others have fallen to mediocre positions. And many…did not garner enough votes to be listed.

“How fleeting fame – how changing emotional needs.”

Source: Down Beat, The Significance of the Poll, by Don DeMichael, 12/22/60

–end–

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George Russell: Max Roach Made Me a Composer/Arranger

Posted on November 8, 2014 by Scott K Fish

Composer George Russell“I came into music as a drummer, at 15, in 1938,” [George Russell] said. “The swing period was at its height…. I played many gigs around my home time [sic], Cincinnati, but mostly at the Cotton club. Two years later, at Wilberforce college on scholarship, I joined the college band….”

Three years at Wilberforce were followed by a stay with the Benny Carter Band, one of the more formidable units of the period.

[Trombonist J.J.] Johnson recalls Russell as a “fine big-band drummer, with excellent time and imagination.” The trombonist said he thought Russell would continue playing drums because he seemed so deeply interested in the instrument. But that was before Russell heard Max Roach.

“Max was nothing short of fantastic,” Russell said. “He seemed to have it all on drums. I felt it would be ridiculous to continue playing, feeling as I did. I decided to pursue another course – to arrange and compose – and returned to Cincinnati to start all over.”

Source: Who Is George Russell?, by Burt Korall, Down Beat, February 16, 1961

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Photo: Joe Morello and Buddy Rich Sharing Ideas 1961

Posted on November 7, 2014 by Scott K Fish

rich_morello_dbSKF NOTE: This photo by an unidentified photographer is from the February 16, 1961 issue of Down Beat magazine.

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Judge Says Teen Drummer’s Playing Isn’t a Nuisance

Posted on November 7, 2014 by Scott K Fish

drums_garageSKF NOTE: This is an interesting court case describing a situation most drummers deal with at some point in their lives. I sympathize with both sides. Another news report said this young man’s drums are in a garage 15-feet from Joanne Traetto’s home. But it’s a drag for drummers to never have a chance to practice on real drums. And this young man sounds as if he’s trying to strike a balance between his need to work/practice and his neighbor’s need to work.

Judge Says Teen Drummer’s Playing Isn’t a Nuisance
Michael Booth, New Jersey Law Journal
November 5, 2014

A teenage drummer’s occasional afternoon practice sessions in his family’s garage do not rise to the level of a nuisance and he won’t be ordered to stop or move his drum set somewhere else, a New Jersey judge has ruled.

Morris County Superior Court Judge Stephan Hansbury on Oct. 30 refused to grant injunctive relief to a Boonton, N.J., woman, Joanne Traetto, who complained that drumming by her next-door neighbor, Daniel Palazzo, makes it difficult for her to sleep and work.

Traetto’s attorney, Joseph Murray of Schiller & Pittenger in Scotch Plains, N.J., said he does not anticipate an appeal.

Traetto is a computer analyst for a pharmaceutical company who is on call 24 hours a day, working out of her home, according to court documents. She filed her lawsuit against the Palazzos in December 2012, when Daniel was 15. He is now 17.

The lawsuit alleged that the drumming went on at all hours of the day and night and that it interrupted her ability to do her job and get some sleep.

The Palazzos, in their answer and motion to dismiss, said their son plays only from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., and that the town’s health administrator had determined that the sound from the drumming does not violate the town’s noise ordinance.

In a response, Traetto…included a certification from another neighbor who said the drumming is “unreasonably loud” and is “so incessant and loud that the drums appear to be beaten by a maniac.”

Full Story

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Terri Lyne Carrington’s Pittsburgh Jazz Seminar

Posted on November 5, 2014 by Scott K Fish

[SKF NOTE: I first met Terri Lyne Carrington in 1983. She was 17-years old. We sat in my Modern Drummer office and I interviewed her for the magazine. At the time she had just released her first album and had been playing drums for 10 years with Clark Terry, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Illinois Jacquet, Kenny Barron, and Buster Williams. 

“Terri Lyne is not kidding around,” I wrote in my introduction to her interview. “She knows where she’s going and she’s self-assured about getting there. I’m sure she will.”]

Preview: Drums run in the family for Terri Lyne Carrington
October 30, 2014 12:00 AM

Terri Lyne Carrington is…taking time out of her busy schedule of performing, producing and teaching to participate in this year’s University of Pittsburgh Jazz Seminar, which takes place this week and culminates with the annual Saturday concert.

Among the notables she’s worked with over the years is Herbie Hancock, from 1998 to 2007. She’s also won two Grammy awards as a leader — best jazz vocal album for the 2011 “The Mosaic Project,” which featured numerous female artists, and best jazz instrumental album for last year’s “Money Jungle: Provocative in Blue.”

Indeed, there will be a distinct feminine flavor to this year’s seminar, with a rhythm section composed of Ms. Carrington, bassist Esperanza Spalding, and pianist and Pitt’s director of jazz studies Geri Allen performing, along with alto saxophonist Tia Fuller. The first three regularly work together as the ACS Trio.

Ms. Carrington has returned to Berklee, teaching privately and leading ensembles.

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