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. Taking a tip from Red Mitchell, he trained himself to pluck the strings of his bass with his index and middle finger independently. How did that happen? We would explore all around our neighborhood on West Street our house was where the elementary school is. When did your brother start getting interested in music? Available Qualities. Also, the exertion of a formidable musical will to take what was there, in an act of guidance. Later we moved to Elmwood Place, and during the summer we would spend many of our days at the Brook Street Playground. Death. He got his first professional experience playing bass at Belhurst (with my fathers group). One of the most substantial biographies Ive read in recent years is the 2009 publication that Helene LaFaro-Fernandez devoted to her brother Scott. I dont blame him, said Morrow. In Jeff Campbells essay, Scott LaFaro: The Complete Musician (an addendum toJade Visions), he singles out the trios performance of So What, saying that LaFaro and Kuhn engage in a brief musical dialogue just prior to the return of the theme[improvising] melodic ideas that are intertwined in a conversational manner. Campbell notes that LaFaros accompaniment on Whats New is much more activethan the traditional conventions of ballad playing., It is an interesting fact, Campbell asserts, That the earliest example of LaFaros active, conversational ballad accompaniment was with Steve Kuhn and not Bill Evans. When I ran this claim by Kuhn, he said, I dont agree with that necessarily. Click to reveal She had lost her husband, then four years later lost her son, and she still had young kids to raise. Performers: Bill Evans, p; Scott LaFaro, b; Paul Motian, d. 7 May 1960. 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. 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 trio's . Geller recalls that at the end of Scottys first night with the clarinetist, the two went around to hear Bill Evans. Performers: Buddy Morrow, tb; Walt Stewart, tp; Dick Johnson, as; Scott LaFaro, b; plus unidentified other musicians. But LaFaro makes the music pulsehe provides its heartbeat and flow. In LaFaros short yet meteoric career, he accomplished more than most musicians do over decades. All rights reserved. ~ Charles A. Ralston, A Site About Dead Musicians and how they got that way. He proved to be a natural for the instrument, which obsessed him, and early in his sophomore year he went on the road with Buddy Morrows orchestra. Shortly after, he acquired a bass made in 1825 in Concord, New Hampshire by Abraham Prescott. Is that a bass thing? Gloria Gabriel was one of the dancers. The car, tree and garage all caught fire. It has rolled corners on the bottom and very sloped shoulders on the top, making it easier to get in and out of thumb position. New England Public Media | Q: What happened to your brother after Ithaca College? That show typically includes stories about LaFaro, who forever changed the jazz worlds concept of what bass playing could accomplish with his counter-melodic style. He wanted the conversation back and forth between each of the players, and he wanted to play melody. Then wed go home and have dinner and ice cream. Pianist Walter Norris described him as a "wild fire," and said "he never used any stimulants to enhance life, but his every moment was seriously lived to the fullest." LaFaro continued to divide his time between Getz, Ornette, and Evans in 1961. The three not duplicated here were played only once that day. Cloudflare Ray ID: 7a154b16ff047cd4 comments . LaFaro is heard soloing while George Duvivierplays the bass riff that Percy Heath had introduced on the first recordings of "Django" by the Modern Jazz Quartet. In Jade Visionshe says, Scott wasnt what one would consider a big band bass player. The highlight of the session was Scotts original, Misery (to Lady Day). Evans biographer Peter Pettinger said of the dedication to Billie Holiday, Not much happens, but a wavelength is established. In addition to hosting Jazz la Mode since 1984, Tom writes the jazz blog and produces the Jazz Beat podcast at NEPM. 52.119.1.55 He played in a trio or quartet at Belhurst from the time he got back until he died. In fact, the tune Glorias Step, was an outgrowth of his interest in those chords. He also recalls getting the call from Scotty to spell the ailing Evans for a couple of nights at the Jazz Gallery. Freidman, LaRoca, and LaFaro recorded a demo session in 61 thats now available in a companion CD to the biography,Pieces of Jade. The music of Jazz Abstractions proceeds as a series of shadings, which tend to be called variants on the finished LP. 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. 2023 Viacom International Inc. All Rights Reserved. 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. Beginning in 1955, he was a member of the Buddy Morrow big band. Does anyone have pictures of this bass, or have you seen it in person? 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. All that listening to the trio had another effect on me. Other times, its distilled into a moment that seems to transcend itself, and thus it went for Paul Gonsalves, hero of a Newport afternoon. [10] 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. Chicago, 1956. In the latter case, Getz fired LaRoca and hired Roy Haynes, but Kenton wasn't about to be second-guessed. LaFaro-Fernandez: My father passed away (from a heart attack) in 1957. Ornette Coleman was another musician who appeared on the Jazz Abstractions datebut as with Dolphy and Evans, on just half the recordand I often imagine the conversations he might have had with LaFaro during breaks and between takes about what Coleman had in mind for the next day. LaFaro died in an automobile accident on July 6, 1961 in Flint, New York on U.S. Route 20 between Geneva and Canandaigua, four days after accompanying Stan Getz at the Newport Jazz Festival. ~ Scott Yanow. At the time it was such a revolutionary idea, and it ushered in a sea change for jazz. Geller said Goodman was unhappy with his current bassist, and offered to recommend Scotty but cautioned, Bennys very conservative, dont do any of those fast things you can do. Bill had first heard Scotty with Chet Baker three years earlierNot long after we were back off the Goodman tour, there was a call waiting for Scottythat Bill wanted him to work with him., The first meeting of what became known as the trio took place at a Tony Scott recording date on October 28 and 29, 1959. Q: What were Scotts childhood and teen years like here in Geneva? California had affordable education, and we could all go to college. Three of the tunes from their setBaubles, Bangles and Beads; Where Do You Go; and Airegin were released on CD in 1994. We are in a fix! He started playing piano in elementary school, bass clarinet in middle school, and tenor saxophone when he entered high school. LaFaro started his professional career playing a German-made Mittenwald double bass but it was stolen in the Spring of 1958. Is that a jazz thing? Before that grim July night, LaFaro had been a busy bassist. Find him on the web at colinfleminglit.com (where he maintains the unique online journal, the Many Moments Moreblog) and on Twitter @colinfleminglit. [1] With Evans and drummer Paul Motian he developed the counter-melodic style that would come to characterize his playing. His death came just ten days after recording two live albums with the Bill Evans Trio, Sunday at the Village Vanguard and Waltz for Debby, albums considered among the finest live jazz recordings. Little, another ill-fated star of the period who died at 23 in October 1961, described LaFaro in the liner notes as distant, but closea paradox that resolves only for those who were simpatico. He also recognized Scottys distinctiveness as an innovator who was much more of a conversationalist behind you than any other bassist I know[Hes] technicallyabout the greatest bassist we have. Remarking on the solo LaFaro plays on Bee Tees Minor Plea, the trumpeter said, The bass is a crude and rude instrument, but Scott makes it into something else. Helene says Scotty would have loved being described as something else, since I could remember how excited [he] was when he brought around to play for me the first record of Ornettes he owned,Something Else.. Read about our approach to external linking. Well, Michael Cera did play a bassist in Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World. LaFaro and his stellar bandmates pianist Don Friedman and drummer Pete LaRoca run through four jazz standards, including two takes of Sacre Blu. It originally appeared as a solo piano piece on Evans' debut album, New Jazz Conceptions. But he was best known for his collaborations and recordings with the Bill Evans Trio. Sign in to continue reading, Sixty years after the bass greats untimely death, a look at his musical legacy beyond the Bill Evans Trio. Born in Newark, New Jersey, he was an influential jazz bassist best known for his work with the Bill Evans Trio. LaFaro joined the Bill Evans Trio in 1959 and, although he would record with Ornette Coleman (including Free Jazz) and gig with Stan Getz, the bassist is best-remembered for his association with Evans, particularly their Village Vanguard recordings of 1961. The CD reissue of the album contains several outtakes. Smith Opera House is owned and operated by the Smith Center for the Arts, a private not-for-profit 501(c)(3) corporation. Not long after he arrived on campus, he gave his clarinet away to a classmate. That show typically includes stories about LaFaro, who forever changed the jazz worlds concept of what bass playing could accomplish with his counter-melodic style. The rest is told in his gripping visuals, The Exhibit: Finding the Next Great Artist. 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). Performers: Pat Moran, p; Scott LaFaro, b; Gene Gammage, d. 1958. This album is widely considered to be one of the best in the Evans canon, and the type of emotive interplay between the musicians that at some points seemed almost deconstructed has served as a model for piano trio play. Scott LaFaro - Death. Composer: Porter The entire day's recordings were released in 2005 as The Complete Village Vanguard Recordings, 1961. HOMETOWN Newark, NJ, United States of America BORN April 3, 1936 Similar Artists Paul Motian. July 6, 1961 in Seneca, NY. We were like brothers., Six months before the session with Kuhn, LaFaro recorded with trumpeter Booker Little on April 13 and 15. My mom was still pregnant with my last sister. Toggle filters. LaFaro was honored in 2012 in Geneva, where a street was renamed Scott LaFaro Drive and an annual Scott LaFaroDay was inaugurated. We think of LaFaro as a jazz bassist with leanings toward classical music; its the lan, I think. It is LaFaros bass that makes this thing go, such as it does go. Paul Motian was on drums, Nobby Totah on bass. Lafaro's innovative bass playing, which combined virtuoso technique with a counter-melodic conception, was captured in all its glory at the Vanguard on June 25, 1961. In 2009 she published a biography about him, Jade Visions: The Life and Music of Scott LaFaro. The group attended the funeral in Geneva, which Kuhn adds was closed casket., LaFaro's death was devastating to Bill Evans. Performers: Hampton Hawes, p; Harold Land, ts; Scott Lafaro, b; Frank Butler, d. 14 Mar 1958. We never got to enjoy it as a concert venue in our day, unfortunately. But we LaFaros have staying quality, and my husband and I just celebrated our 60th year in this house. It is well remembered as the final performance by the Evans trio of the time, which included bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian. He had an incredible ear. For Evans, Misery offered a glimpse of a relationship to come., Two months later, on December 28, 1959, the Bill Evans Trio made its premiere recording for Riverside,Portrait in Jazz. 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. Composer: Coleman Musician. Little was as star-crossed as LaFaro, and hes usually talked about in conjunction with altoist Eric Dolphy as often as LaFaro is with Evans. By. There is a creek that ran through the park, it would go up past Shuron Optical where they used this rouge chemical to make glass lenses, so the creek was always red. By City News Service. Rocco Scott LaFaro (April 3, 1936 July 6, 1961)[1] was an American jazz double bassist known for his work with the Bill Evans Trio. For many, that Evans association, with drummer Paul Motian, is the LaFaro legacy. He was a tremendous talent [who] wanted to go on to greener pastures.Over the next two years, Scotty toured the country with Chet Baker, and worked around L.A. with Hampton Hawes, Harold Land, Buddy DeFranco, Richie Kamuca, Joe Gordon, and Stan Kenton. She recalls that Zoot Sims so impressed her brother that he was impatient for the intermission to end, and that bassist Leroy Vinnegar hummed all the while he was playing, a habit Scotty later developed as well. Helene says he talked about seeing Duke Ellington for weeks, shaking his head in disbelief of howthey could fool with the melody and make it so much more. As for religion, she says that whenever shes asked, I always answer, We went wherever the music was best. That was Dads criterion, be it a mass at a Roman Catholic church or Friday evening Shabbat dinner at the cantors home., Scottys first instruments were piano, clarinet, and tenor saxophone. As was, really, LaFaro. Im in the position of having nothing you can put your finger on for sale., Evanss drug addiction was also a matter of concern for LaFaro. Haynes shared with Scotty a fastidiousness about clothing, and hed just been named toEsquiresBest-Dressed list. But you always knew that Read More Kelly Sill, Several years ago, one of Danilo Prezs students was suffering from tendinitis. It is these performances, currently available as Sunday at The Village Vanguard and Waltz for Debby that comprise the number one best jazz live recording in this present series. 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. After that touch of piano, he really started to enjoy music and develop a keen awareness of what it was all about. When Scotty was in sixth grade we took our first piano lessons. And youre out, Death letyou out, Death had the Mercy, youre done with your century, done with God, done with the path thru itAllen Ginsberg (b. Read more about this topic: Scott LaFaro, Time is here and youll go his way.Your lung is waiting in the death market.Your face beside me will grow indifferent.Darling, you will yield up your belly and becored like an apple.Anne Sexton (19281974), Poor fellow never joyed since the price of oats rose, it wasthe death of him.William Shakespeare (15641616), Ai! ", https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-Z8KuwI7Gc, Jade Visionscredits the demo session that LaFaro made with Steve Kuhn and Pete LaRoca nearly a year later as one where this conversational approach to group dynamics was evident. LaFaro was taken from this world 60 years ago, on July 6, 1961, in Flint, New York, where he was involved in an auto accident a few days after playing with Stan Getz at Newport. Jan. 30, 2021 1:47 PM PT. Helene makes no secret of LaFaros exacting standards and competitive personality, and she quotes many who testify to the same. Also in 2009, the University of North Texas Press published Jade Visions, a biography of LaFaro by his sister Helene LaFaro-Fernandez, with an extensive discography. Evans, LaFaro, and Motian were committed to the idea of three equal voices in the trio, working together for a singular musical idea and often without any musician explicitly keeping time. 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.. That is what so many families Sunday ritual were like. The Sampson Air Force Base was so big that it brought in big names like Duke Ellington. 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 became a professional musician in New York City during the Roaring 20s. 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