Downbeat. Bitter Hope (John Tynan)
More in disgust than anger or resentment, modern jazz pioneer Elmo Hope [..] gave vent to some of the frustrations that in recent years have complicated his existence. Now 37, the diminutive pianist-composer—a contemporary of Bud Powell and Thelonius Monk—lives in Los Angeles. He has two reasons for remaining: “The weather is great, and there are a few people I dig.”Two of them were with him in my office—his wife, Bertha, and tenor saxophonist Hank Bagby.
[..] however, the pianist has to contend with what he terms the lack of music knowledge and the artistic immaturity of most Los Angeles-based jazzmen. He stresses that he is not referring to those who work more or less regularly in studios but to those usually referred to as “the blowers.”
“They don’t have the musical foundation,” he shrugged.
[..] “The white musicians are better equipped to make my music,” he said. “But when they get down into those changes, they’re in trouble.”
[..] “I don’t dig that church style for jazz,” he amplified. “To begin with, they’re not creating anything new. But I don’t dig it because I’m not a religious cat, or anything like that …” he glanced impishly at his wife “… but because it’s just not creative.”
[..] Hope turned to tenorist Bagby. “What do you have to say?”
Bagby leaned forward, frowning. “The horn men out here, they’re playing ‘scientific jazz,’” he said. “I don’t think you can approach jazz scientifically,”
“It’s synthetic jazz,” interjected Hope. “Outside of Harold Land and Bagby here, there isn’t a tenor man on the coast saying anything.”
“Dexter’s sounding a little better,” Bagby concluded. Hope shrugged and said, “But he’s still in that old bag.”
Both musicians agreed on the scarcity in Los Angeles of good bass players and drummers.
Nachdem ich gestern diesen Elmo Hope Artikel im ersten Downbeat Heft von 1961 gelesen hatte, muss ich unbedingt heute Hank Bagby’s einziges Album von 1964 hoeren, Opus One…
eine interessante Ansammlung von Leuten… Al Hines (b) der spaeter einige credits aus dem Tapscott Umfeld hat… Al Levitt, der in jeder Szene der Welt zu Hause war teilt sich das Schlagzeug mit Chiz Harris, der in den 40ern mit Bill Doggett gespielt, in den 60ern mit Onzy Matthews, in den 80ern mit Jay Migliori… Klavier spielt Dave Mackkay, der sogar einen Impulse Leader Credit hat, mit einem Album, das allerdings mehr Girl from Ipanema als A Love Supreme sein wollte…
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