Other Forces Are At Play

Me with Cal's snare, a Gretsch -- May 20, 2o13  Santa Fe  (photo by Cal Haines)

Me with Cal’s snare, a Gretsch — May 20, 2o13 Santa Fe (photo by Cal Haines)

THE THURSDAY JAZZ RADIO SHOW

February 5, 2o15 – Jazz @ Noon every Thursday (starts at 12:07 after the satellite news) Host MARK WEBER – KUNM Albuquerque, USA – 89.9 FM (Mountain Standard Time) also streaming on the web > KUNM.org – Current time zone offset: UTC*/GMT -6 hours (*Coordinated Universal Time)/Greenwich Mean Time)

OTHER FORCES ARE AT PLAY

I used to ask jazz players
what the mind was doing
while deep into an improvisation —-

A fair question, although, strikes
me as a little dumb, now
after several years of meditation practice —-

And, to a person, these improvisers
all said that they weren’t “thinking”
that they were just letting go —-

Besides, it’s all going by too fast for “thinking”

My yoga teacher Supriti says: “No matter what a
mind can think, thinking is a limitation on the mind”

It probably has more to do with intuition

Whatever it is, it sure adds to the mystery

Nor do I subscribe to the notion that the subconscious
is at work: Something more simple and basic is going on —-

Conversely, with line drawings, somewhere along the way
I had learned that the “gesture” had to be fast, like a furious
squiggle, which does get there before the mind can “think” —
which is what the zen folks are so interested in —— BUT
I found out that if you slow down your hand and not be
so damn fast that it revealed something else: A sort of
logic was able to reveal itself ( ! )

This is close to explaining why the jazz standards are
employed so often: It’s a shared language, the lingua franca of
…………….jazz so to speak, the chords &
melodies are ingrained so thoroughly that a chance to really
…………….delve deep is possible —-

It’s almost as if
spontaneous improvisation is an artifact
of the way our minds worked
before words invaded our consciousness
before words made us self-conscious
before words clutter’d up our heads
before word virus removed us yet
one more step away from actual living
in the present

Gary Foster & Putter Smith at Local 47 Hollywood ---- May 31, 2o14 ---- photo by Mark Weber ----  in 2007 these two quietly released one of the great jazz albums of all time (as far as I'm concerned) entitled PERFECT CIRCULARITY recorded in the previous year, nothing but duets, of all kinds, it brings together a long friendship of playing together ---- (on Putter's very first album LOST & FOUND (Vee Jay, 1977) he included two duets with Gary)

Gary Foster & Putter Smith at Local 47 Hollywood —- May 31, 2o14 —- photo by Mark Weber —- in 2007 these two quietly released one of the great jazz albums of all time (as far as I’m concerned) entitled PERFECT CIRCULARITY recorded in the previous year, nothing but duets, of all kinds, it brings together a long friendship of playing together —- (on Putter’s very first album LOST & FOUND (Vee Jay, 1977) he included two duets with Gary)

Line drawing on glass ----- Mark Weber -- August 13, 2o13

Line drawing on glass —– Mark Weber — August 13, 2o13

Bobby Bradford and Charlie Haden backstage before their duo concert  at Century City Playhouse, Los Angeles -- February 17, 1980 -- I actually have an  "unofficial" audience recording of this concert around here somewhere, maybe I'll find  it in time for this radio show . . . . .  photo by Mark Weber

Bobby Bradford and Charlie Haden backstage before their duo concert at Century City Playhouse, Los Angeles — February 17, 1980 — I actually have an “unofficial” audience recording of this concert around here somewhere, maybe I’ll find it in time for this radio show . . . . . photo by Mark Weber

Bertram Turetzky & his wife the flutist Nancy drove up from San Diego for this concert  of solo contrabass + tape + various flutes at the venerable Little Bridges concert auditorium, Claremont Colleges, California -- February 14, 1980 -- photo by Mark Weber -- What could be better on a bleak,  stark, cold, winter morning of snow than to listen to Bertram's Turetzky's 1977 album NEW MUSIC FOR CONTRABASS (Finnadar), you can really see (hear) the lineage that Mark Dresser emerged from (Dresser  studied with Turetzky)

Bertram Turetzky & his wife the flutist Nancy drove up from San Diego for this concert of solo contrabass + tape + various flutes at the venerable Little Bridges concert auditorium, Claremont Colleges, California — February 14, 1980 — photo by Mark Weber — What could be better on a bleak, stark, cold, winter morning of snow than to listen to Bertram’s Turetzky’s 1977 album NEW MUSIC FOR CONTRABASS (Finnadar), you can really see (hear) the lineage that Mark Dresser emerged from (Dresser studied with Turetzky)

Lanny Morgan - Jack Nimitz Quintet in Cucamonga!  on Route 66 no less ---- November 9, 1980 --  Dick Berk, drums; Andrew Simpkins, bass; Lou Levy, piano; Lanny Morgan, alto saxophone -- my 4 favorite baritone saxophonists are: Lars Gullin, Arlen Asher, Bob Gordon, AND Jack Nimitz ---- I love their smooth  round mellow Prez sound they get on that horn ----- Jack was wearing a shirt that said on the front in  capital letters SUPER WHAT?  referring of course to Supersax, of which these guys were all members  at one time or another . . . . .photo by Mark Weber  (Cucamonga is about an hour east of Los Angeles)

Lanny Morgan – Jack Nimitz Quintet in Cucamonga! on Route 66 no less —- November 9, 1980 — Dick Berk, drums; Andrew Simpkins, bass; Lou Levy, piano; Lanny Morgan, alto saxophone — my 4 favorite baritone saxophonists are: Lars Gullin, Arlen Asher, Bob Gordon, AND Jack Nimitz —- I love their smooth round mellow Prez sound they get on that horn —– Jack was wearing a shirt that said on the front in capital letters SUPER WHAT? referring of course to Supersax, of which these guys were all members at one time or another . . . . .photo by Mark Weber (Cucamonga is about an hour east of Los Angeles)

Toshiko Akiyoshi in Barnsdall Park -- August 4, 1977 ---- photo by Mark Weber ---- I'm going  to play a track from her trio album DEDICATIONS cut only 4 months previous to this shot and it's  a beaut (the Lp) where Toshiko is looking into a lot of things associated with Miles during his Blue  Note period (1952-1953 and earlier)(Barnsdall Park is a special place, situated on a small hill  at the furthermost eastern part of Hollywood: You drive east from the 101 down Hollywood  Blvd toward the Los Feliz arrondissement -- inside the Park on the hilltop is the Frank Lloyd Wright Hollyhock House, 1919)

Toshiko Akiyoshi in Barnsdall Park — August 4, 1977 —- photo by Mark Weber —- I’m going to play a track from her trio album DEDICATIONS cut only 4 months previous to this shot and it’s a beauty (the Lp) where Toshiko is looking into a lot of things associated with Miles during his Blue Note period (1952-1953 and earlier)(Barnsdall Park is a special place, situated on a small hill at the furthermost eastern part of Hollywood: You drive east from the 101 down Hollywood Blvd toward the Los Feliz arrondissement — inside the Park on the hilltop is the Frank Lloyd Wright Hollyhock House, 1919)

Don Preston and Buell Neidlinger -- September 18, 1976 -- Los Angeles -- Photo by Mark Weber

Don Preston and Buell Neidlinger — September 18, 1976 — Los Angeles — Photo by Mark Weber

Linda Hill at the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra rehearsal space, 8461 Vermont Avenue, Los  Angeles -- July 12, 1980  ---- (that's Aubrey Hart on flute) ---- photo by Mark Weber ---- even someone  as strong as Linda can be taken away by alcoholism, we had planned to make a record of my poetry  and her piano, but July 1987 was her departure

Linda Hill at the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra rehearsal space, 8461 Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles — July 12, 1980 —- (that’s Aubrey Hart on flute) —- photo by Mark Weber —- even someone as strong as Linda can be taken away by alcoholism, we had planned to make a record of my poetry and her piano, but July 1987 was her departure

Sal Mosca and Connie Crothers at Sal's studio in Mt Vernon, NY -- December 4, 2004 --  photo by Mark Weber

Sal Mosca and Connie Crothers at Sal’s studio in Mt Vernon, NY — December 4, 2004 — photo by Mark Weber

Heading west we're just about to cross the Mississippi River into St Louis -- December 20, 1988 --  Janet & MW on a road trip during a school break (for her) -- photo by Mark Weber

Heading west we’re just about to cross the Mississippi River into St Louis — December 20, 1988 — Janet & MW on a road trip during a school break (for her) — photo by Mark Weber

Saraswati on 113th & Broadway ----- most of the time when I'm visiting NYC I stay with  Janet's sisters and am lucky to have Saraswati the God of music & learning to watch over me ----  if you stuck your head out the window and looked left you'd see the mighty Hudson River, this  apartment is on the tenth floor directly above legendary West End Cafe and across the street from WKCR, from that window I can see Phil Schaap spinning Bird records! ---- July 2, 2oo9 -- photo by Mark Weber

Saraswati on 113th & Broadway —– most of the time when I’m visiting NYC I stay with Janet’s sisters and am lucky to have Saraswati the God of music & learning to watch over me —- if you stuck your head out the window and looked left you’d see the mighty Hudson River, this apartment is on the tenth floor directly above legendary West End Cafe and across the street from WKCR, from that window I can see Phil Schaap spinning Bird records! —- July 2, 2oo9 — photo by Mark Weber

When a radio show is good it feels like what it must be like to ride on a galloping horse  in all the mornings of the world ----(I wrote one of my best poems after a horse ride through a pine  forest on the Kaibab Plateau of Arizona last year)---- photo by Mark Weber -- December 1977 -- foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains where I was raised

When a radio show is good it feels like what it must be like to ride on a galloping horse in all the mornings of the world —-(I wrote one of my best poems after a horse ride through a pine forest on the Kaibab Plateau of Arizona last year)—- photo by Mark Weber — December 1977 — foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains where I was raised

10 Comments

  1. Mark Weber

    TWO THINGS

    1) Until we substantiate the actual dates, the best we have to go on is that Linda Hill was born in Los Angeles October 6, 1935 a lifelong Angeleno (and angel) until the disease claimed her at age 52 in August 1987 (or possibly July) —– I was living in Cleveland when I got the sad news, Alas. I intend to put up a page about her someday soon.

    2) The photo of Connie & Sal looks fried because it is fried: That’s what happens to undeveloped negatives when psychopath TSAs at LGA remove the film and jam it into their infernal X-Ray machines and crank up the dial —- There’s more to the story and you can read about it in my book PLAIN OLD BOOGIE LONG DIVISION

  2. Mark Dresser

    Thanks Mark. Nice picture of you.
    Thinking about your poem. I’ve a colleague who writes on improvisation as well as being a good player, David Borgo.
    He wrote a chapter in this anthology, “Soundweaving: Writings on Improvisation” http://www.cambridgescholars.com
    His chapter “What the Music Wants” rang with some resonance.
    Thought you might find it interesting….
    Best to you and Janet!
    Mark

  3. Mark Weber

    3) BB gave Haden the sheet music to a few of his tunes that maybe Old & New Dreams might consider, which, if you think about it, is a pretty good fit

    4) Someday I intend to write more on the subject of Word Virus which is something first brought to my attention by William S Burroughs who pointed me toward the “it” book of the time (all us armchair anthropoligists were reading it) THE ORIGIN OF CONSCIOUSNESS IN THE BREAKDOWN OF THE BICAMERAL MIND (1976) by Julian Jaynes (I don’t recommend this book because it’s just too verbose — you can get the entire drift (ie. snopsis) by reading the Wikipedia citation on it))

  4. Marty & Lanny Morgan

    Hi Mark,

    Cannot believe you still have a photo from Gilberto days (Cucamonga). That was quite a surprise. Your photo collection must be massive, and dare I suggest—orderly. Ours is big, but it would be difficult to put our hands on any one item under pressure. Loved the poem, too, as always. Thanks for staying in touch and for being one of the most informed and colorful communicators in the history of jazz.

    All the best,

    Marty & Lanny

    And thanks for keeping the light on.

  5. Mark Weber

    5) I don’t think Old & New Dreams ever used any of BB’s tunes

    6) I always bring 2 or 3 -times enough records to fill a radio show and piece it together as we go along — altho, I do spend some time before the show figuring out the opening track, afterwhich, I let the pieces fall into place as seems best

  6. Andrea Wolper

    Wonderful images, Mark.

  7. Mark Weber

    ————-playlist—————

    Thursday Jazz Show — KUNM
    February 5, 2o15
    Host MARK WEBER

    1. Cecil Taylor & Buell Neidlinger “Air” take 9 — 12oct1960– (faded up at 7:26)
    2. Jack Nimitz-Bill Harris Group “A Handful of Stars” March 1957 cd YESTERDAY & TODAY
    3. Toshiko Akiyoshi Trio “Swingin’ Till the Girls Come Home” Lp DEDICATIONS — April 1977
    4. Gary Foster & Putter Smith “You Must Believe in Spring” –2006 cd PERFECT CIRCULARITY
    5. Don Preston Trio “The Donkey” –10june2000 cd TRANSFORMATION
    6. Charlie Haden Quartet West “Passport”(Ch.Parker)–Dec.1986
    7. Sal Mosca Quartet “Scrapple From the Apple” c.2006
    8. Henry Franklin w/Benn Clatworthy “Limehouse Blues” –8sept2o14 cd TWO VIEWS
    9. Putter Smith & Gary Foster “In Praise of Malcolm X” ibid.
    10. Bertram Turetzky “Goodbye Porkpie Hat” –1977 Lp NEW MUSIC FOR CONTRABASS (FInnadar)
    11. Gary & Putter “Teef” ibid.
    12. Bobby Bradford & Charlie Haden “All the Things You Are” — duet –17feb80 private recording

  8. henry franklin

    Thanks brother your show is so informative.you’re a walking jazz enclyopedia.

  9. Chuck Manning

    Hey Mark,
    I really love your pictures and your show. I down loaded a few for my scrap book if you don’t mind.
    Take care.
    Chuck

  10. Mark Weber

    Chuck, my pictures are free for the world and history, even tho I’m a trained photographer I’m really a writer with a camera, not the other way around —- I tried for years to make money with my photos but that never happened, easier to paint houses, ha ha ha ——– When I was sitting with the curators at UCLA Special Collections in negotiations back in 2005 about the perameters of how my 10,000+ jazz photographs (prints & slides) were to be administer’d I told them give them away free to scholars & historians (BUT keep the copies on the premises!) —- UCLA has done a great job of making them available, see the Mark Weber Blues & Jazz Collection on-line . . . . (I kept the negatives, for now, and that’s what we’ve been digitizing over the last 4 years, and are coming up on 39,000 frames and still going . . . .)

    As a writer it’s sometimes easier to snap off a couple photos than to jot notes. And as I’ve explained elsewhere, I’m more of an anthropologist when I take pictures, and yes, I do sometimes frame my pictures “artistically” but mostly I’m concerned with documenting the scene, so you don’t see me focusing on the “star” in the band and getting dramatic shots of saxophones raised in ecstasy, I’m not interesting in that: I like to shoot the entire band together and to get the audience in the shot, and photo the producers, engineers, soundmen, jazz historians, record collectors, arrangers & fixers, ha ha: The Scene

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