She writes, What he said not only had an impact on me, but seemed to sum up much of what I had been hearing as I talked to musicians. On March 5, 2014, the Geneva (New York) City Council approved making April 3 Scott LaFaro Day. With my mom and Scotty and my two sisters and then our own kids, we eventually had to build onto the house. Evanss illness resulted in the cancellation of a long engagement opposite Thelonious Monk at the Jazz Gallery. Its the top of the sheet, instead of the coarseness of the winter blanket. AMAGANSETT, N.Y. - Acclaimed tenor saxophonist Robert Berg was killed Thursday when a cement truck skidded across a snow-slicked road and rammed into his sport utility vehicle, East Hampton police said. He was his own thing. 4 or The Paradox of Continuity, The Montreal Tapes: with Geri Allen and Paul Motian, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Waltz_for_Debby_(1962_album)&oldid=1139601889, Short description is different from Wikidata, Album articles lacking alt text for covers, Articles with unsourced statements from January 2021, Articles with MusicBrainz release group identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Note on the alternate takes: "For this CD release, alternate versions of three of the six selections have been inserted just after the ones originally chosen for issuance.[] Stan said fine. Kuhn and drummer Pete LaRoca were Scottys choices, but in the midst of a two-week engagement at the Sutherland Hotel on Chicagos Southside, LaFaro had got tired of LaRocas playing. Celebrating the life of Genevas legendary jazz bass hero Scott LaFaro has become an annual event at the Smith Opera House, ever since the City of Geneva declared April 3, his birthday, as Scott LaFaro Day in 2014. Such is the legacy of bassist Scott LaFaro, though I would suggest that what was was more than we often think. Motian operated the same way; if anything, he was even more of a painter than the leader. [5] He left that organization to work in Los Angeles. Ornette drew mixed reviews everywhere including Monterey, where his performance of Youll Never Know elicited a scathing review from John Tynan, who said it was patently bad, disturbed, and utterly unhappy. Still, he singled out LaFaro for his brilliant technique and ideas [that] were remarked on by all., Scotty was given to introspective thoughts about where the music was going and what he recognized as the increasing distance between jazzs new direction and the public. Let us be grateful that he didnt rest easy during what would prove to be the last Christmas season of his life, for in December 1960, he was called in for a couple of dates that we must look to every bit as much as the June 1961 Village Vanguard recordings to fully appreciate him. Those six numbers with LaFaro making up what became the Booker Little album are a masterclass in postbop bass. The BMW then struck a fourth car which was traveling south on Corbin Avenue. Once he got the gig, his college days were over. The all-timer live session that produced the aforementioned discs is rounded out by two studio LPs, Portrait in Jazz (1960) and Explorations (1961), which I sense are not listened to as much as they ought to be, but the Vanguard date is sufficiently lambent that it pulls us to it, which is good on one handthis is one sweet, invigorating flameand less than ideal on the other, because Scott LaFaro (who, along with Jimmy Blanton, Id posit as jazzs most important bassist) was a lot more, and did a lot more, than the prevailing narrative would have us believe. Scott LaFaro - Artist Details. For when Jazz Abstractions wrapped, December 21 dawned, and that meant LaFaroalong with Dolphywas boomeranging back to A&R Studios for the landmark waxing of the legendary, epoch-rattling Free Jazz, with a lineup of Dolphy on bass clarinet, Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Charlie Haden on bass, and Ed Blackwell on drums in the right channel, and Coleman on alto, Don Cherry on pocket trumpet, Billy Higgins on drums, and LaFaro in the left. Q: Did you and your brother spend time at the Smith Opera House (which was Schines Geneva Theatre back then)? We all knew something important was going to happen with this guy., https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lN4CrJ9lyzE, Jade Visionsis suffused with the perspective of an admiring, yet candid sister who overcame the grief of her beloved brothers sudden death and drew inspiration from friends and fans who urged her to write this richly evocative and musically illuminating volume. jazz bass Another link(Born: April 3, 1936 in Newark, NJ, Died: July 6, 1961 in Geneva, NY)During his tragically short life, Scott LaFaro quickly developed into one of the most advanced bassists around, competing with Charlie Haden and Charles Mingus. He used a Zen epigram in the closing of his letter to Gloria: Im trying to remember a bit of Zen I like so well: If you seek the fruits ofgood actionso shall they escape you. I try to smile everyday with that., https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uugimR8honE, When I asked Kuhn if Scotty had similar anxieties about touring with Getz, he said no, but he recalled a bandstand incident between the bassist and the tenor player whom Kuhn called extraordinarily paranoid. One night at the Blackhawk in San Francisco, he said, they clashed. Performers: Stan Getz, ts; Steve Kuhn, p; Scott LaFaro, b; Roy Haynes d. Newport, 2 July 1961. We were like brothers., Six months before the session with Kuhn, LaFaro recorded with trumpeter Booker Little on April 13 and 15. I adored him, and I was thrilled to be able to work with him. Q: When did your brother start getting interested in music? LaFaro completed his first year at Ithaca, but not his second. He practiced from sheet music for the higher-pitched clarinet to improve his facility the upper register for bass. Postings here are the last known photographs or videos of a person. Then wed go home and have dinner and ice cream. Search for: Search. LaFaro-Fernandez, Helen; Ralston, Chuck; Campbell, Jeffrey R.; Palombi, Phil (2009). Our Dad was from here. Performers: Chet Baker, tp; Phil Urso, ts; Francy Boland, p; Larance Marable, d; Scott LaFaro, b. Also, the exertion of a formidable musical will to take what was there, in an act of guidance. ~ Charles A. Ralston, A Site About Dead Musicians and how they got that way. He insisted that Stan fire LaRoca and hire Roy Haynes, and Stan was so impressed with how strong and unique he was that he acceded to his wishes.. Chuck and Gap Mangione were among the locals hanging out that night, andJade Visionsincludes Gaps recollection of listening to Chet Bakers recording of Grey December with Scotty. Before that grim July night, LaFaro had been a busy bassist. There was great rapport. The two albums released by Riverside Records from that fabled performance,Sunday at the Village VanguardandWaltz for Debby, have long stood as his epitaph. After Scotty played at the Newport Jazz Festival with Stan Getz (July 1961), he went to Geneva to try to convince the people who had been renting our house to buy it. Is that a bass thing? Such is the legacy of bassist Scott LaFaro, though I would suggest that what was was more than we often think. The young bassist was friends to other artists and art during his all-too brief sojourn upon the mortal coil. Bassist Marc Johnson, who was with Evans between 1978 and his death in 1980, wrote in the liner notes forPieces of Jadethat the Vanguard performance was the highest measure of Scotts musical vision. InJade Visions, he says, I must have listened to those recordingsthousands of timesTo this day, I still dont see how Scott articulated his ideas with such startling clarity and velocity., Johnson also speaks for the continuing hold that the recordings have on listeners touched by their emotional richness. Ornette Coleman, Eric Dolphy, and others were also featured, and LaFaro drew notice from Dan Morgenstern inMetronomefor a solo remarkable for its technical skill and musical weight. The piece was Schullers Variants on a Theme by John Lewis (Django), which he would also appear on in December when Schullers work was recorded for the Atlantic Records release,Jazz Abstractions. LaFaro and his stellar bandmates pianist Don Friedman and drummer Pete LaRoca run through four jazz standards, including two takes of Sacre Blu. What happened to your brother after Ithaca College? Elsewhere, a legacy is a reflection on what might have been, based on a limited amount of what was. Includes Obituary, Biography, Discography, Photo, and Links. Dont get fancy, no double beatsPlay whats written.LaFaro flew east, passed the audition, and signed on for a six-week tour of one-nighters with Goodman. The 25-year-old Scott LaFaro's death in a car accident shortly after was a major shock to the jazz world. Performers: Buddy Morrow, tb; Walt Stewart, tp; Dick Johnson, as; Scott LaFaro, b; plus unidentified other musicians. The album was the fourth and final effort from the unitLaFaro died in a car accident just ten days after the live date at the Village Vanguard from which Waltz for Debby and its predecessor, Sunday at the Village Vanguard, were taken. He said, Man, youve gotta hear this. [14] On April 4, 2014 a ceremony to rename a downtown street Scott LaFaro Drive took place. LaFaro is a potent cup of teaa brilliant future is in store for this youthful bassist from Geneva, N.Y., (Film footage ofLaFarois extremely rare. Bassist Dave Green joins Alyn Shipton to pick the highlights of these, and to trace the other significant records in LaFaro's brief but brilliant career. Rocco Scott LaFaro, in a career that lasted only six years, developed skills on the upright bass that few have been able to match. Evans also went on hiatus after LaFaro's death for a period of several months. 2023 Madavor Media, LLC. We never got to enjoy it as a concert venue in our day, unfortunately. Later we moved to Elmwood Place, and during the summer we would spend many of our days at the Brook Street Playground. I return to the idea of the helmsman, because LaFaro always plays as if hes en route to some vital destination, and hes helping to take other musicians there, and, of course, those of us who are listening in. Composer: Hawes Scotty grew up in Geneva, where his father Joe, whod played with the Paul Whiteman and Dorsey Brothers orchestras, earned a living as a violinist and shared his fondness for both classical music and big band jazz with his children. The Getz Quartet, with either Henry Grimes or Jimmy Garrison spelling LaFaro (Kuhn cant recall for certain), was playing that week at Saranac Lake in the Adirondacks. LaFaro died in an automobile accident in the summer of 1961 in Flint, New York on U.S. 20 between Geneva and Canandaigua, two days after accompanying Stan Getz at the Newport Jazz Festival. Is that a jazz thing? For the 1964 album with Monica Zetterlund, see, The Complete Village Vanguard Recordings, 1961, "Bill Evans Trio: Sunday At The Village Vanguard & Waltz For Debby", Plays the Theme from The V.I.P.s and Other Great Songs, Turn Out the Stars: The Final Village Vanguard Recordings, Consecration: The Final Recordings Part 2, On Broadway Vol. He played a lot of top, cymbals, and Scotty wanted more drums, says Kuhn. Tracks. He was in his second year at college to study music when he joined Buddy Morrow's band and went on a cross country tour. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. A master of the upright bass, he recorded with Bill Evans and Ornette Coleman before he died in a car crash at age 25. The tendency is to associate him with classical predilections, but here he is at one of the zeitgeist-shaking avant-garde sessions, and boy, does he drive the sound. The 25-year old Scott LaFaros death in a car accident shortly after was a major shock to the jazz world. Sound-carver. Mr. Berg, whose career encompassed free jazz, soul jazz, jazz rock, and straight-ahead playing, was driving east on Route 27 with his wife when He felt such a strong passion for the bass that he became obsessed with practicing, spending countless hours in the rehearsal rooms at Ithaca College. ~ Scott Yanow. It was then he fell in love with the tenor saxophone. Tom holds a BA from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where he majored in English and African American Studies. Jade Visions: The Life and Music of Scott LaFarorecounts how three days after his appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival with the Stan Getz Quartet, hed driven to Geneva, NY to take care of some business related to his mothers home there. LaFaro burned like a meteorite, rising to the top rank of bassists in a few short years and working with a Whos Who ofjazzgreats in the compressed time frame preceding his death at age 25. Scott LaFaro - Death. [15][16], According to Joachim Berendt, LaFaro's innovative approach to the bass caused "emancipation", introducing "so many diverse possibilities as would have been thought impossible for the bass only a short time before". Already a member? Remembering Geneva's jazz legend Scott LaFaro: An interview with his sister Helene LaFaro-Fernandez - Smith Center for the Arts Smith Center for the Arts CONTACT US 82 Seneca Street Geneva, NY 14456 315-781-5483 BOX OFFICE Tuesday-Friday 10am-4pm ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES by appointment boxoffice@thesmith.org [10] Obsessively he played "I Loves You Porgy", a song that had become synonymous with him and LaFaro. In his playing you can hear how happy Evans is to have this helmsman at the back of the boatI think it helped him see better at the front. Genre. Hentoff heard LaFaro as the most important new bassist since Paul Chambers and Wilbur Ware, and added, It may be necessary to add for those hearing LaFaro for the first time that his bass is not electronically amplified. Brother man, I can all but hear Ornette saying, we are going to blow some minds tomorrow.. How did that happen? Hes just so damn elegant. He wanted the conversation back and forth between each of the players, and he wanted to play melody. He would be playing in the hotel room and hit a quadruple stop that was a harmonious sound, and then set the bass on its side and it seemed the sound just rang and rang for so long. Waltz for Debby is a live album by jazz pianist and composer Bill Evans and his trio consisting of Evans, bassist Scott LaFaro, and drummer Paul Motian. The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has We calculated our top 40 new releases of 2022 We calculated our top 10 historical/reissue You never quite knew what Chicago bassist Kelly Sill was going to play (or what he was going to say). Tales are told of how much John Coltrane practiced, but you could say the same about the bassist from Newark. The car, tree and garage all caught fire. Right there on stage, Stan stopped playing and yelled, MF, Ive got the melody! Notwithstanding flair-ups of this kind, Kuhn says that Getz held LaFaro in the highest regard. Though hed previously appeared onGolden Trombonewith Buddy Morrow,The Arrival of Victor Feldmanwas essentially the first LP that showcased his singular gifts. LaFaro continued to divide his time between Getz, Ornette, and Evans in 1961. A Dead Musician Directory Celebrity Page. Like Evans, Kuhn, whod arrived on the New York scene in 1959 as a 21-year-old Harvard grad, was being managed by Helen Keane. After Scotty joined the Buddy Morrow Orchestra, he traveled with them all over the country until they reached California, as he really wanted to be where the West Coast jazz scene was happening. We decided to move the family to California. Everyone heard him. LaFaro died in an automobile accident in the summer of 1961 in Flint, New York on U.S. 20 between Geneva and Canandaigua, two days after accompanying Stan Getz at the Newport Jazz Festival. Composer: Porter: Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZ_rZZusz90, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbTEgBEaEM4. Nearly six decades later, Helene LaFaro-Fernandez continues to keep her older brothers flame alive. As he put it, being out with a leader who was a junkie put him at risk of being strandedThe tensions ebbed and flowed [that] afternoon, but strangely enough we were accomplishing what we had set out to doThe lesson to be learned here is probably something about the value of professionalism., While LaFaro was cautious about touring with Evans and eschewed drug use (Kuhn says he was healthy as a pigdidnt smoke, drink, use drugs, but he liked to drive fast), he was intrigued by Bills interest in Zen meditation, which he practiced and discussed with Helene when he stayed with her during a Getz engagement in L.A. The great bassist is best known for his work with the Bill Evans Trio between 1959 and 61, and for the tragic car accident that claimed his life on July 6, 1961, two weeks after the trios legendary performance at the Village Vanguard. He got his first professional experience playing bass at Belhurst (with my fathers group). I was also told by classical bass players that this also changed things for them because as was with all music pretty much up until then, the bass was considered more of a rhythm instrument only. Q: What happened to your brother after Ithaca College? Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. Its no knock on Charlie Hadena formidable pioneer himselfto say that if hes a bass player, LaFaro is something else, to use the Coleman argot. What were Scotts childhood and teen years like here in Geneva? LaFaro-Fernandez: Scotty and I were born in New Jersey but we moved back to Geneva in 1942. Youll have to adjust your ears, but theyll fall into line quickly. Died . He's seen here playing "Cherry" and "Chart of My Heart" with saxophonist Richie Kamuca's Quintet on a Stars of Jazz television broadcast on April 7, 1958. He was with Buddy Morrows band (1955-56), toured with Chet Baker (1956-57) and worked during the next few years with Ira Sullivan, Barney Kessel, Cal Tjader and Benny Goodman among others. At age 12 he was recommended for the Ithaca Conservatory of Music, where he was classically trained in violin. The 25-year old Scott LaFaro's death in a car accident shortly after was a major shock to the jazz world. Born . The CD reissue of the album contains several outtakes. We were the kind that played a fraction, a millimeter behind. How did that happen? He began working in jazz radio in 1977 at WCUW, a community-licensed radio station in Worcester, Massachusetts. Been, based on a limited amount of what was Geneva in 1942 found... 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