After two years of hard paddling on that Big River called Jazz and over 100 posts, it’s time to pull the canoe out of the water and enjoy some idle moments reminiscing about the many miles we have covered.
As I look back over two years of posts, I think the musicians who had the most impact on my jazz journey are: Herbie Nichols, the AACM, and Sun Ra. These jazz artists drew me into the waters that started my voyage of discovery.
Herbie Nichols
Although I cut my teeth on Chet Baker, Gerry Mulligan, and West Coast Jazz, when I heard Herbie Nichols’ tunes, even more than Monk’s, I fell in love with jazz.
I learned about Nichols from Misha Mengelberg’s Regeneration, which I bought in 1986 at The Jazz Inn record store in Den Haag in The Netherlands. That album not only introduced me to Nichols, but it also brought me into the hemisphere of Steve Lacy, Roswell Rudd, Han Bennink, Willem Breuker’s Kollektief, the Instant Composers Pool, and later to Peter Brötzmann and the FMP label.
Here’s that post:
AACM
Next to Sun Ra’s Arkestra, no other group of musicians had a greater influence on my journey than The AACM.
It was a chance meeting with Anthony Braxton in 1990 at a Steve Lacy Sextet show in Oakland, California that led to a phone call to AACM’s headquarters in Chicago. That call led to breakfast with Lester Bowie, who just happened to be out on the West Coast with his Brass Fantasy. I will never forget when I asked him to tell me about the music of the Art Ensemble of Chicago, he paused for a moment, looked me square in the eyes, and said, “Listen to People in Sorrow.” When I later moved to Chicago, the AACM was alive in the city.
Here is that post:
Sun Ra
Finally, of course, there is Sun Ra and his Arkestra.
I first learned about Sun Ra from The Wire magazine in 1986, which I picked up as often as I could at the British Army base near Verden in West Germany. However, I first heard his music on the Evidence CDs that came out in the early 1990s. Here’s one:
My buddy Luis and I played them at night on Tom Haydon’s CD player at Wessex Books in Menlo Park, where we worked the Friday and Saturday night shifts. When the Arkestra came to California, we went to see them. That first show changed my life.
Here’s that post:
The Record Store
Also, as I look back, I understand the vital role the record store played on my jazz journey. When my journey was starting, in the mid-1980s, the only way to learn about jazz was to go to the record stores and mine the information. However, not just any record store would do - you had to find the right record store….
Record stores are like people. They are all different and all have a personality. Some speak to you right away and others repel you. When I found a record store that spoke to me, it felt like home.
In the pre-Internet years, the records store I hung out in, like Ray’s Jazz Shop in London:
and The Jazz Record Mart in Chicago:
were like live chat rooms. You had to actually go in and listen and pick up bits of information from people talking about music. I would go in and try to learn as much as I could about jazz. I’d thumb through records I had no interest in just to hear the guys talking jazz or blues. Some of the guys were like walking jazz encyclopedias (Lenni - I think you know what I mean).
It’s been my goal that From Fred Astaire to Sun Ra: A Jazz Journey would be like those old record stores - a place where folks can go and feel right at home, feel the warmth of the music, and follow the music on their own personal journey of discovery.
Finally, I want to take this opportunity, after two years, to thank you all for coming along….
From Astaire to Sun Ra: A Jazz Journey is a reader-supported publication. To show support for my work and if you feel like it has brought you value, consider becoming a paid subscriber at an amount that realizes that value.
Next week on that Big River called Jazz, we’ll jump across the pond and dig our paddles in to explore the waters behind the Iron Curtain.
If you are not inclined to become a paid subscriber, please hit this link to buy me a cup of coffee, if you’d like to show your guide some appreciation for this and past journeys. Know in advance that I thank you for your kindness and support.
If you like what you’ve been reading and hearing so far on our journey and would like to share this with someone you think might be interested in learning more about our great American art form: Jazz, just hit the “Share” button at the bottom of the page.
Also, find my playlist on Spotify: From Fred Astaire to Sun Ra.
Feel free to contact me at any time to talk shop. I welcome and encourage that.
Until then, keep on walking….
Well done on this two year journey of love, TK! Great drifting along with you. \m/ Shaun
Thanks for coming along, brother.