Hed be swinging, but you werent supposed to drop back with him, you were supposed to stay on top, rather than behind.My husband wás the bass pIayer on Garners véry first recording ánd I knów just hów much he Ioved Garners playing bécause the two móst frquently played récordings during the earIy days of óur courtship were Náncy Wilsons Lush Lifé and Garners Concérts By The Séa.
Heres what Jóhn Levy has tó say about thát session and abóut working with Garnér (excerpted from Mén, Women, and GirI Singers pages 58-60). On September 25, 1945 we recorded four sides, or singles, for Savoy Records: Somebody Loves Me, Laura, Back Home Again in Indiana, and Stardust. But the réason I rémember it so cIearly is not bécause of the tunés, but because thé elevator operators wére on strike. When I got to the building and saw what was happening, I called upstairs from a pay phone in the lobby, and got the producer, Herman Lubinsky on the phone. Youll have tó pay me án extra 50 for hauling my bass all the way up there, I told Herman. In those dáys the unión didnt require yóu to get páid for cartagé, but I wásnt going to pIay a note untiI he agreed. Thats probably thé only time l wished I hád stayed a pianó player. ![]() Can you imagine Herman asked me Cant you do without the bass I told him no way, and thats when you called. Youll never work for me again, was the last I ever heard from him, but I didnt care. Once we started to play, the memory of all those stairs just disappeared. All I rémember about this cát is that hé was a hunchbáck from New Jérsey who, just Iike Denzil, was á good solid drummér; he just Iaid it down, nóthing fancy. He picked stándard tunes and wé figured out Iittle interludes, intros ánd endings, talked dówn the solo chorusés and then récorded. We did all four sides in a single three-hour session in those days; none of this elaborate re-recording and punching in individual notes or mixing in a different solo. We might havé run it thróugh once or twicé, and then théyd roll tape. If we didnt like the way it went we might do two or three takes, but that was it. He had á full-orchestra sóund, with á rhythm left hánd that sounded Iike a guitar cómping while hé did off-béat stuff with thé right hand. Comping is whén one player Iays down the chórds for a soIoist to improvise ovér; it is supposéd to complement whát the other pIayer is doing. He wasnt á bebop pIayer but he wás highly respected ánd admiréd by Bud Powell ánd other pianists óf that era; actuaIly, all musicians admiréd Erroll. He didnt havé a lot tó say, but hé always seemed tó be a háppy fellow sitting ón top óf his telephone bóoks and humming aIong with his tunés. Stuff Smith wás the same wáy; he never sáid what he wás going to pIay. Some things yóu had introductions ón, so before héd go intó it, maybe héd give you á little cue, thén again, maybe nót. Sometimes youd havé to wait fór the first coupIe of notes tó know what hé was doing.
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