Reprinted from http://jazzwax.com
A week or so ago, reader David Langner asked if I had seen a documentary filmed in February 1992 about the making of pianist Frank Strazzeri's album, Wood Winds West. I hadn't, and as I watched, there was jazz author and Rifftides'blogger Doug Ramsey (above) doing the interviewing. I reached out to Doug about the film, but first have a look at the documentary. It features Bill Perkins (sop,as,fl,alto-fl), Bob Cooper (ts,cl), Jack Nimitz (bar,b-cl), Frank Strazzeri (p,ldr,comp,arr), Dave Stone (b) and Paul Kreibich (d,perc)...
Last week I caught up with Doug and asked him a few questions about the session and film...
JazzWax: How did your involvement in this documentary come about?
Doug Ramsey: I don’t remember whether Frank Strazzeri or Bill Perkins asked me to be involved in the film. I had written the liner notes for the Wood Winds West album on JazzMark at the request of Bill Craig, the label's owner. Merle Medven, who is Mrs. Paul Kreibich, produced the film with Paul. The same band recorded a followup album, Somebody Loves Me, two years later, almost to the day. It’s equally good. Cooper had died by then and Pete Christlieb played tenor on that date, beautifully. I did the notes for that one, too.
JW: When you see yourself now, what do you think? You had quite a bit of on-camera experience by this point.
DR: I was a TV news anchor and correspondent for 15 years in a number of cities, including New Orleans and New York. It was fun working with Paul and Merle, particularly in the reverse-question shots. They and the crew did a great job of camera positioning and shot matching. It was fun doing that again. In 1975, I had gone into the news director business, running television news departments in San Antonio, New Orleans and San Francisco. But maybe the skills hadn’t rusted entirely.
JW: How did you first get to know this particular group of West Coast jazz musicians?
DR: Hanging out. My family lived in L.A. for 14 years in the 1980s and ‘90s. I was senior vice president of the Foundation for American Communications (FACS), educating professional journalists about coverage of issues. When I wasn’t on the road doing conferences, seminars and workshops, and often when I was, I kept up with the music and musicians. Perk and I became close and, eventually I became close with Strazz, too, among many others.
JW: These guys didn’t seem past their prime. In fact, they seemed better than ever. Did you get the same sense?
DR: Oh, yes. I heard everyone on those albums and in the film live at clubs fairly often. I heard Strazzeri and the three horn players do things when they were in their 60s that made my jaw drop. Perkins could be astonishing. Listen to his 'Round Midnight solo on Bill Holman’s Thelonious Monk album, Brilliant Corners. I was at that session. The guys in the band were shaking their heads at what he played.
JW: What was special about Frank Strazzeri? What set him apart?
DR: I agree with what Perk told me about him for the Somebody Love Me notes: “When we were playing together at Din’s in the early days, I taped most of what we did. I’d go home and listen to the tapes. My intention was to listen to myself. That’s human nature. But I would find that I was riveted by his solos. I kept thinking of early Lester Young because, like Prez in those days, Frank never repeats himself. He has the gift of beautiful melody. I never get tired of listening to him. His solos are models for my own playing. Maybe Frank would be more famous if he were less unselfish. He’s the supreme accompanist.” I would add only that that he suffered from excessive modesty. A great guy. Such a cliche, but that’s what he was.
JazzWax notes: Frank Strazzeri's Wood Winds West seems to be out of print. His Somebody Loves Me is available here. Frank's reed writing was gorgeous, probably because he started on the saxophone.
Dig Doug's tribute post on Frank Strazzeri at Rifftides after Strazzeri died at age 84 in May 2014 (go here).
Used with permission by Marc Myers
0 Comments:
Post a Comment