I'm so glad you mention his album "Free." As a 14-year old in 1964, I'd started getting Downbeat at the newsstand. Then I asked my father if he'd write a check for a year's subscription. At that time, Downbeat was offering an LP as a "premium" to new subscribers. I can't remember if they gave you a choice or if there was just one album on offer at any given time. In any case, I liked the look of the album cover as depicted in the offering, and "Free" arrived at our doorstep in the promised 6-8 weeks. I played it to death and it influenced my taste ever after.
I inherited very old fake books, reference books for a highly regarded world-class music engraver; these contained many Golson tunes, that I didn't see in the Berklee/Sher RB's, or the multi-fakebook CDs that traveled hand to hand in the 90's (Fireman's Fakebook, etc). I found Domingo, Park Ave Petite, Just By Myself, Are You Real, ... tunes I'm sure the real listeners knew/know, but for a greenhorn, treasures to share, a thread leading toward Golson-Farmer, The Philadelphians.
Happy to have been Gone with Golson. Xxx This is a nice portrait, thanks EI.
TL:DR note: I wrote Mr. Golson asking for sheet music for Staccato Swing from "Gone...", his publicist politely identified Ray Bryant as the composer; far down the food chain, I was thrilled to get a reply at all. It was the spark that eventually pulled my flimsy real book jam into really trying to bring music out, attempting to advance past jam as live karaoke fumbling, admittedly to more frightening fumbling. The Golson tunes upgraded my set list; and helped initiate my aspirations: in spite of KJAZ and KMPX (SFBay), the 70-80's loft jazz was prominent, I hadn't known to look toward the pageant of development of small group details. "What's a 'shout chorus'?" We were lost in "soloing" over revolving fakebook heads, sidestepping learning by ear. "We learned exactly from the records what each instrument played", told to me by a session musician educated working since traveling w the 30-40's big bands. TL;DR Golson's ambition, vision, and musicality opened the door, to trying to hear and understand what jazz as a community were thinking. I didn't know 2D "head-solo-head" can go 3-D, how to listen for that; luckily Golson music provided a lot of shapes to prime the green mind that was blocking my ears. :) ...sorry so long
I'm so glad you mention his album "Free." As a 14-year old in 1964, I'd started getting Downbeat at the newsstand. Then I asked my father if he'd write a check for a year's subscription. At that time, Downbeat was offering an LP as a "premium" to new subscribers. I can't remember if they gave you a choice or if there was just one album on offer at any given time. In any case, I liked the look of the album cover as depicted in the offering, and "Free" arrived at our doorstep in the promised 6-8 weeks. I played it to death and it influenced my taste ever after.
Awesome! Thanks for comment!
So important...
I inherited very old fake books, reference books for a highly regarded world-class music engraver; these contained many Golson tunes, that I didn't see in the Berklee/Sher RB's, or the multi-fakebook CDs that traveled hand to hand in the 90's (Fireman's Fakebook, etc). I found Domingo, Park Ave Petite, Just By Myself, Are You Real, ... tunes I'm sure the real listeners knew/know, but for a greenhorn, treasures to share, a thread leading toward Golson-Farmer, The Philadelphians.
Happy to have been Gone with Golson. Xxx This is a nice portrait, thanks EI.
TL:DR note: I wrote Mr. Golson asking for sheet music for Staccato Swing from "Gone...", his publicist politely identified Ray Bryant as the composer; far down the food chain, I was thrilled to get a reply at all. It was the spark that eventually pulled my flimsy real book jam into really trying to bring music out, attempting to advance past jam as live karaoke fumbling, admittedly to more frightening fumbling. The Golson tunes upgraded my set list; and helped initiate my aspirations: in spite of KJAZ and KMPX (SFBay), the 70-80's loft jazz was prominent, I hadn't known to look toward the pageant of development of small group details. "What's a 'shout chorus'?" We were lost in "soloing" over revolving fakebook heads, sidestepping learning by ear. "We learned exactly from the records what each instrument played", told to me by a session musician educated working since traveling w the 30-40's big bands. TL;DR Golson's ambition, vision, and musicality opened the door, to trying to hear and understand what jazz as a community were thinking. I didn't know 2D "head-solo-head" can go 3-D, how to listen for that; luckily Golson music provided a lot of shapes to prime the green mind that was blocking my ears. :) ...sorry so long