Thanks for the Colello article. I have a Slug's story. I went there a few times in the late '60s or maybe the very early '70s. I saw Sun Ra twice, I think, and Freddie Hubbard another time. I was about 20 and too dumb to be scared of the neighborhood.
Then I went back to college (having dropped out earlier), then to grad school and in 1978 moved to Columbus, OH for my first "real" job. Turned out that a short drive from me was a record shop called Schoolkids Records. It was in a shopping center, I think. When I came in the proprietor and an apparently steady customer were having a conversation about some arcane jazz topic. I brought my purchase to the counter, but the two guys, deep into their conversation, ignored me. I just hung out respectfully and listened.
One of the two guys mentioned Freddie Hubbard. I interjected and said, "Oh, I saw him at Slug's." Their conversation halted immediately. They turned to me and one said, "YOU WENT TO SLUG'S?!!!" I nodded. I didn't realize it was a big deal. I wasn't a deep jazz fan, but I had a friend who was and the two of us would frequently go to clubs. Somehow I had said the magic words, but a touch of imposter syndrome kept me from capitalizing on it. :-)
I regret that I never looked into the Columbus jazz scene. Obviously, from these guys' conversation, there was one. I only later learned that Rahsaan Roland Kirk had been born there. But by the time I moved to Ohio, Slug's had closed and Kirk had died. I probably wasn't aware of either at the time.
Enjoyed your story Peter, about Slugs in the far east and then blowing the minds of those guys at the record shop. I used to go to school kids record shop but i believe it was in Chapel Hill in the 1990s. I was unfortunately way too young to get from North Carolina to Manhattan before slugs closed (& also the five spot, half note, & original jazz gallery).
Nice to come across Lon Armstrong here - he was a big presence on the messaging board that was on the Blue Note website around 2000 or so. Super-knowledgeable guy and encouraging to me when I was starting to build my Ellington collection.
Not sure, in all honesty - like you, I didn't see much of anything recently. I recall him being extremely knowledgeable about jazz, Blue Note in particular. The turn of the millennium was a interesting time for the label with its Rudy Van Gelder CD reissue series (bringing Larry Young's 'Unity' back in print was an event back in 1999 - I still remember the thrill of finally being able to hear it to see if the hype was real) and Cucsuna bringing a lot of unissued stuff into the market. Armstrong may have been involved to some extent in these efforts.
Thanks for the kind words Robert. I ran into a lot of dead ends and road blocks trying to get some opportunities to write about jazz during that period. I was invited to give some comments for an article in Jazz Times about the Rudy Van Gelder Editions as they were ramping up, and did and then I tried some reviews for All About Jazz and seemed to have a style (offering opinion!) that went against their editorial guidelines, and then I just retreated and confined myself to participation within the Organissimo forum until I created a thread to inhabit in the Hoffman board. I'm still. . . obsessed with jazz and quality audio reproduction and now living a rather complacent retired life after moving across the country to help take care of my parents until they passed.
No need to apologize! Mine is not really even a niche cubbyhole name, let alone a household one! :) I'm really glad I got the opportunity to interview Michael--he was very generous with his time. I worked hard to come up with ten questions that would get him talking, and they did, and he revealed info that he had not elsewhere before then--a few of these facts were cited in Peter Cook's book on Blue Note Records--I was pleased as punch to be cited in the footnotes there.
And also grateful that All About Jazz preserved the interview after the demise of the "Doobop" e-magazine, and grateful that you linked to it and that Mosaic linked to your article; I never expected to see my name in bold in the Mosaic Records Jazz Gazette.
Nice to hear from you, Lon. As I wrote, I recall your ennobling presence on the old Blue Note web bulletin board and appreciate the help and encouragement when I was a jazz newbie.
I wrote to Mosaic sometime ago, and Michael Cuscuna wrote me back:
LK: I just learned of these recordings of Ornette Coleman at Town Hall, Blue Note BLP 4210 and 4211. They were never released. As far as I understand, they duplicate the relatively small amount of material on the ESP-Disc, (ESP 1006 Ornette Coleman - Town Hall - 1962), but include much unreleased material. With ESP 1006 as a peak of Coleman's artistry, and Mosaic's close relations with Blue Note, it would seem a natural for Mosaic to release these much wanted and never heard Coleman recordings. Please! & thank you for your consideration.
MC: Larry,
I discovered the complete concert in three-track tape in the Blue Note vaults in the '70s. After research I discovered that Blue Note no longer had the rights but Ornette did. I sent them back to Ornette and bugged him every two years to let me license them for Mosaic or somewhere. But no luck. Working on his son Denardo now!
Will never give up.
MC
— I was surprised by and impressed with his interest in one unknown fan's concern, and thought it worthwhile to share this indication of his generosity here. Regardless of the missing releases, it seems that the WWW is already there; https://www.google.com/search?q=Ornette+Coleman+at+Town+Hall%2C+Blue+Note+BLP+4211 hs details.
Michael was a jazz fan just like us. . . I loved his generosity with fans and the gift of his time and attention and. knowledgeable replies, his work for the artists and the art form was probably . . . unmatched. He is so missed.
On my vinyl copy of Brilliant Circles something is really out of wack besides the bass sound/mix.
Tyrone Washington's channel sounds as if it's only coming through a reverb chamber and very little of the actual microphone sound is present at all. I later bought it on CD and although it still sounds bad, it might have been remixed to try to compensate for the saxophone sound/mix.
Even though the mix is very bad, this record has always been in my top ten favorites from that decade. It really sounds as if all of the musicians are trying to push themselves into uncharted territories. It reminds me of another of my favorite records right around the same time...Lee Morgan's last studio record, the double album...Lee Morgan...with Croquet Ballet, In What Direction Are You Headed, Capra Black, Angela, and Inner Passions Out.
Even though an All Music reviewer said it was a nod to Jazz Fusion, I don't hear that.
I do hear these great Bop/Post Bop/Hard Bop/ Cutting edge with a nod toward free jazz musicians pushing themselves to create new sounds, ideas, and compositions.
I played at various times with Sonny Fortune, Larry Coryell and John Abercrombie, and wasn't really aware of their history with Slugs - I regret now that I never talked to them about it. Dave Liebman told me a fantastic story of 'auditioning' for Elvin's band in Slugs.
My man Stanley Cowell! I was lucky to hear him 1970's solo at the Smithsonian and with the Heath Brothers (Jimmy and Percy quintet) at Blues Alley where Cowell would take a solo spot on "Parisienne Thoroughfare" or "Round Midnight." Like Dave McKenna he was at his most musical unaccompanied, an orchestra really. For me the outstanding piece on the forward-looking "Musa" is the high intensity minor key "Departure No. 1." I hear the tune as a blues even though its structure is song form. Also "Equipoise," a hypnotic piece that bears resemblance to "Acknowledgement" ("A Love Supreme") in the same way "Impressions" links to "So What."
Small world! I know Tom Collelo pretty well, I actually play bass in a band he runs up in Saugerties. Great guy, and has a million stories about Slug's.
You're spot on about Mr. Cowell's "Musa - Ancestral Streams". I loved that album plus the first Piano Choir on Strata-East. Thanks for more about Slug's as well.
About Slugs, I read Tom Collelo’s incredible memoir some time ago, and I just looked at Downbeat 1972 archive to learn about the end of the story. I found out that Slugs’ remained active until the very end of 1972 (even a little bit of 73) with the usual suspects : Elvin Jones, McCoy Tyner, Archie Shepp, Max Roach, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard…
Here is the last mention of Slugs’ in Downbeat :
(march 15 1973) " ... A second generation Blakey, drummer Art Jr. led his own group at Slugs' Jan 23-28 (...) The Louis Hayes Quintet (...) were in the following week."
I have been also collecting and sorting all the Slugs’ handbills available on the internet, and began to establish a chronology of concerts at Slugs’ from 65 to 73. It is far from complete but I will be glad to share it with anyone interested.
Off topic, Mr. Iverson, I would love to hear your thoughts on Seong-Jin Cho’s new album of the complete solo piano works of Maurice Ravel which I find spellbinding. Thank you.
gotta read this - as a matter of fact I think I met that guy who wrote the memoir, Colello, at some point - I was at SUNY Binghamton a little later, but one day I was with someone who said "you gotta meet this guy, he worked at Slugs." And I did talk to him for a short while, and it must be the same guy (he said he had worked the door at Slugs). The thing I remember him saying, which I thought was hilarious, was about Mingus' diatribes; IIRC he said "Mingus used to give long speeches accusing us of being white (which we were)."
Stanley Cowell's 1981 appearance on piano jazz (he also appeared on the show in 1999) is a real treat with a funny story about Art Tatum and also Cowell playing the African thumb piano.
Some issues of Brilliant Circles were poorly mastered or pressed… if you dial the balance knob over it improves the front line mix and the overall sound.
Well I haven’t heard the Arista/Freedom LP you pictured. The Black Lion CD is pretty terrible. I just spotchecked and even with stereo adjustment the bass is still very prominent.
The Arista/.Freedom is the same. And the comment I've seen online, "you can't hear Tyrone Washington in this mastering" is obviously untrue. The balances were always a problem in this session. Out of tune piano also! I'm sure it was a budget affair, which is too bad, since the music deserves much better. Part of the "hole in the discography" my Nation article is about.
Thanks for the Colello article. I have a Slug's story. I went there a few times in the late '60s or maybe the very early '70s. I saw Sun Ra twice, I think, and Freddie Hubbard another time. I was about 20 and too dumb to be scared of the neighborhood.
Then I went back to college (having dropped out earlier), then to grad school and in 1978 moved to Columbus, OH for my first "real" job. Turned out that a short drive from me was a record shop called Schoolkids Records. It was in a shopping center, I think. When I came in the proprietor and an apparently steady customer were having a conversation about some arcane jazz topic. I brought my purchase to the counter, but the two guys, deep into their conversation, ignored me. I just hung out respectfully and listened.
One of the two guys mentioned Freddie Hubbard. I interjected and said, "Oh, I saw him at Slug's." Their conversation halted immediately. They turned to me and one said, "YOU WENT TO SLUG'S?!!!" I nodded. I didn't realize it was a big deal. I wasn't a deep jazz fan, but I had a friend who was and the two of us would frequently go to clubs. Somehow I had said the magic words, but a touch of imposter syndrome kept me from capitalizing on it. :-)
I regret that I never looked into the Columbus jazz scene. Obviously, from these guys' conversation, there was one. I only later learned that Rahsaan Roland Kirk had been born there. But by the time I moved to Ohio, Slug's had closed and Kirk had died. I probably wasn't aware of either at the time.
Enjoyed your story Peter, about Slugs in the far east and then blowing the minds of those guys at the record shop. I used to go to school kids record shop but i believe it was in Chapel Hill in the 1990s. I was unfortunately way too young to get from North Carolina to Manhattan before slugs closed (& also the five spot, half note, & original jazz gallery).
Nice to come across Lon Armstrong here - he was a big presence on the messaging board that was on the Blue Note website around 2000 or so. Super-knowledgeable guy and encouraging to me when I was starting to build my Ellington collection.
I didn't know his name but was impressed with his approach with Cuscuna. Is he still around? He doesn't have much of an online presence these days.
You can find Lon on the Hoffman Forum where he hosts the Listening to Jazz and Conversation thread. His handle is @Lonson
Not sure, in all honesty - like you, I didn't see much of anything recently. I recall him being extremely knowledgeable about jazz, Blue Note in particular. The turn of the millennium was a interesting time for the label with its Rudy Van Gelder CD reissue series (bringing Larry Young's 'Unity' back in print was an event back in 1999 - I still remember the thrill of finally being able to hear it to see if the hype was real) and Cucsuna bringing a lot of unissued stuff into the market. Armstrong may have been involved to some extent in these efforts.
Thanks for the kind words Robert. I ran into a lot of dead ends and road blocks trying to get some opportunities to write about jazz during that period. I was invited to give some comments for an article in Jazz Times about the Rudy Van Gelder Editions as they were ramping up, and did and then I tried some reviews for All About Jazz and seemed to have a style (offering opinion!) that went against their editorial guidelines, and then I just retreated and confined myself to participation within the Organissimo forum until I created a thread to inhabit in the Hoffman board. I'm still. . . obsessed with jazz and quality audio reproduction and now living a rather complacent retired life after moving across the country to help take care of my parents until they passed.
I’m sorry I was not aware of your name until reading your remarkable interview with Cuscuna. Glad to see you here! Thanks very much.
No need to apologize! Mine is not really even a niche cubbyhole name, let alone a household one! :) I'm really glad I got the opportunity to interview Michael--he was very generous with his time. I worked hard to come up with ten questions that would get him talking, and they did, and he revealed info that he had not elsewhere before then--a few of these facts were cited in Peter Cook's book on Blue Note Records--I was pleased as punch to be cited in the footnotes there.
And also grateful that All About Jazz preserved the interview after the demise of the "Doobop" e-magazine, and grateful that you linked to it and that Mosaic linked to your article; I never expected to see my name in bold in the Mosaic Records Jazz Gazette.
Nice to hear from you, Lon. As I wrote, I recall your ennobling presence on the old Blue Note web bulletin board and appreciate the help and encouragement when I was a jazz newbie.
Robert, you are welcome for any assistance. I remember those days fondly, full of excitement and discovery.
I wrote to Mosaic sometime ago, and Michael Cuscuna wrote me back:
LK: I just learned of these recordings of Ornette Coleman at Town Hall, Blue Note BLP 4210 and 4211. They were never released. As far as I understand, they duplicate the relatively small amount of material on the ESP-Disc, (ESP 1006 Ornette Coleman - Town Hall - 1962), but include much unreleased material. With ESP 1006 as a peak of Coleman's artistry, and Mosaic's close relations with Blue Note, it would seem a natural for Mosaic to release these much wanted and never heard Coleman recordings. Please! & thank you for your consideration.
MC: Larry,
I discovered the complete concert in three-track tape in the Blue Note vaults in the '70s. After research I discovered that Blue Note no longer had the rights but Ornette did. I sent them back to Ornette and bugged him every two years to let me license them for Mosaic or somewhere. But no luck. Working on his son Denardo now!
Will never give up.
MC
— I was surprised by and impressed with his interest in one unknown fan's concern, and thought it worthwhile to share this indication of his generosity here. Regardless of the missing releases, it seems that the WWW is already there; https://www.google.com/search?q=Ornette+Coleman+at+Town+Hall%2C+Blue+Note+BLP+4211 hs details.
Nice story and I didn’t know about the extra material
Michael was a jazz fan just like us. . . I loved his generosity with fans and the gift of his time and attention and. knowledgeable replies, his work for the artists and the art form was probably . . . unmatched. He is so missed.
The Town Hall concert included a collaboration with r&b musicians, which Stanley Crouch once said he'd heard and was great, but it has not surfaced.
Yes, this is the part I want to hear
On my vinyl copy of Brilliant Circles something is really out of wack besides the bass sound/mix.
Tyrone Washington's channel sounds as if it's only coming through a reverb chamber and very little of the actual microphone sound is present at all. I later bought it on CD and although it still sounds bad, it might have been remixed to try to compensate for the saxophone sound/mix.
Even though the mix is very bad, this record has always been in my top ten favorites from that decade. It really sounds as if all of the musicians are trying to push themselves into uncharted territories. It reminds me of another of my favorite records right around the same time...Lee Morgan's last studio record, the double album...Lee Morgan...with Croquet Ballet, In What Direction Are You Headed, Capra Black, Angela, and Inner Passions Out.
Even though an All Music reviewer said it was a nod to Jazz Fusion, I don't hear that.
I do hear these great Bop/Post Bop/Hard Bop/ Cutting edge with a nod toward free jazz musicians pushing themselves to create new sounds, ideas, and compositions.
Definitely not fusion! Thanks for comment
I played at various times with Sonny Fortune, Larry Coryell and John Abercrombie, and wasn't really aware of their history with Slugs - I regret now that I never talked to them about it. Dave Liebman told me a fantastic story of 'auditioning' for Elvin's band in Slugs.
Regarding Michael Cuscuna, on a recent edition of David Brent Johnson's long running 'Nightlights' online jazz show there's very interesting commentary from Cuscuna about Columbia's jazz output in the late 70's, and about Bruce Lundvall etc. https://indianapublicmedia.org/nightlights/a-winning-season-of-jazz-columbia-records-in-the-late-1970s.php
My man Stanley Cowell! I was lucky to hear him 1970's solo at the Smithsonian and with the Heath Brothers (Jimmy and Percy quintet) at Blues Alley where Cowell would take a solo spot on "Parisienne Thoroughfare" or "Round Midnight." Like Dave McKenna he was at his most musical unaccompanied, an orchestra really. For me the outstanding piece on the forward-looking "Musa" is the high intensity minor key "Departure No. 1." I hear the tune as a blues even though its structure is song form. Also "Equipoise," a hypnotic piece that bears resemblance to "Acknowledgement" ("A Love Supreme") in the same way "Impressions" links to "So What."
I agree that Cowell is a phenomenal solo pianist!
Small world! I know Tom Collelo pretty well, I actually play bass in a band he runs up in Saugerties. Great guy, and has a million stories about Slug's.
what? Incredible. Well say hi to Tom from me and the gang!
You're spot on about Mr. Cowell's "Musa - Ancestral Streams". I loved that album plus the first Piano Choir on Strata-East. Thanks for more about Slug's as well.
About Slugs, I read Tom Collelo’s incredible memoir some time ago, and I just looked at Downbeat 1972 archive to learn about the end of the story. I found out that Slugs’ remained active until the very end of 1972 (even a little bit of 73) with the usual suspects : Elvin Jones, McCoy Tyner, Archie Shepp, Max Roach, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard…
Here is the last mention of Slugs’ in Downbeat :
(march 15 1973) " ... A second generation Blakey, drummer Art Jr. led his own group at Slugs' Jan 23-28 (...) The Louis Hayes Quintet (...) were in the following week."
I have been also collecting and sorting all the Slugs’ handbills available on the internet, and began to establish a chronology of concerts at Slugs’ from 65 to 73. It is far from complete but I will be glad to share it with anyone interested.
very cool, George, maybe we post all that here at some point when you feel ready.
Hi Ethan, thanks for the offer. I'll be ready soon!
Here am I, after some hard work, the Slugs' chronology is ready. How can I send it to you?
Off topic, Mr. Iverson, I would love to hear your thoughts on Seong-Jin Cho’s new album of the complete solo piano works of Maurice Ravel which I find spellbinding. Thank you.
gotta read this - as a matter of fact I think I met that guy who wrote the memoir, Colello, at some point - I was at SUNY Binghamton a little later, but one day I was with someone who said "you gotta meet this guy, he worked at Slugs." And I did talk to him for a short while, and it must be the same guy (he said he had worked the door at Slugs). The thing I remember him saying, which I thought was hilarious, was about Mingus' diatribes; IIRC he said "Mingus used to give long speeches accusing us of being white (which we were)."
Stanley Cowell's 1981 appearance on piano jazz (he also appeared on the show in 1999) is a real treat with a funny story about Art Tatum and also Cowell playing the African thumb piano.
Some issues of Brilliant Circles were poorly mastered or pressed… if you dial the balance knob over it improves the front line mix and the overall sound.
I read about that but I A/B’s my LP and the digital issue and don’t hear much of a difference. Do you hear a serious difference?
Well I haven’t heard the Arista/Freedom LP you pictured. The Black Lion CD is pretty terrible. I just spotchecked and even with stereo adjustment the bass is still very prominent.
The Arista/.Freedom is the same. And the comment I've seen online, "you can't hear Tyrone Washington in this mastering" is obviously untrue. The balances were always a problem in this session. Out of tune piano also! I'm sure it was a budget affair, which is too bad, since the music deserves much better. Part of the "hole in the discography" my Nation article is about.