This article is about the 1961 Village Vanguard recordings. In fact, the tune Glorias Step, was an outgrowth of his interest in those chords. He also recalls getting the call from Scotty to spell the ailing Evans for a couple of nights at the Jazz Gallery. Freidman, LaRoca, and LaFaro recorded a demo session in 61 thats now available in a companion CD to the biography,Pieces of Jade. 1998 Kevin Crosby. 1950s - 1960s. The 25-year old Scott LaFaros death in a car accident shortly after was a major shock to the jazz world. Perhaps one thinks of the contrast, as I do: the balmy New England coast, sailboats alongside the bandstand, and then the hard, unforgiving asphalt of the interstate. At the time it was such a revolutionary idea, and it ushered in a sea change for jazz. By. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. He played in a trio or quartet at Belhurst from the time he got back until he died. Tragically, LaFaros chance to see how far his talent would take him was cut short when he died in a car crash near Geneva in July 1961 at the age of 25. But he was best known for his collaborations and recordings with the Bill Evans Trio. HOMETOWN Newark, NJ, United States of America BORN April 3, 1936 Similar Artists Paul Motian. In Jeff Campbells essay, Scott LaFaro: The Complete Musician (an addendum toJade Visions), he singles out the trios performance of So What, saying that LaFaro and Kuhn engage in a brief musical dialogue just prior to the return of the theme[improvising] melodic ideas that are intertwined in a conversational manner. Campbell notes that LaFaros accompaniment on Whats New is much more activethan the traditional conventions of ballad playing., It is an interesting fact, Campbell asserts, That the earliest example of LaFaros active, conversational ballad accompaniment was with Steve Kuhn and not Bill Evans. When I ran this claim by Kuhn, he said, I dont agree with that necessarily. He was visiting some friends west of Geneva and was driving home late when he crashed. LaFaro-Fernandez: After Scotty joined the Buddy Morrow Orchestra, he traveled with them all over the country until they reached California, as he really wanted to be where the West Coast jazz scene was happening. Later in high school, kids would go to the movies with their friends, or boyfriends, or girlfriends. It is these performances, currently available as Sunday at The Village Vanguard and Waltz for Debby that comprise the number one best jazz live recording in this present series. In LaFaros short yet meteoric career, he accomplished more than most musicians do over decades. The album was the fourth and final effort from the unitLaFaro died in a car accident just ten days after the live date at the Village Vanguard from which Waltz for Debby and its predecessor, Sunday at the Village Vanguard, were taken. The Complete Village Vanguard Recordings, 1961, "The 100 Greatest Bass Players of All Time - BassPlayer.com", "It was just one afternoon in a jazz club forty years ago", "It's official: April 3 will be Scott LaFaro Day in Geneva", "Innovation and Inspiration: Geneva celebrates the life and legacy of renowned jazz musician Scott LaFaro", "Honoring Scott LaFaro in Geneva, NY: Scott LaFaro Day, street re-naming, and a special Geneva Night Out on April 4th", NAMM Oral History Interview with Helene La Faro, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Scott_LaFaro&oldid=1141284283, CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown, Articles with dead external links from July 2021, Short description is different from Wikidata, Pages using infobox musical artist with associated acts, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2022, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. A copy of the latest annual report may be obtained from the Smith Center or from the Office of the Attorney General, Charities Bureau, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271. My mom was still pregnant with my last sister. In addition to hosting Jazz la Mode since 1984, Tom writes the jazz blog and produces the Jazz Beat podcast at NEPM. Composer: Porter: This was Scottys home, and he would practice bass facing the corner in the living room because he could better hear the sound quality. [10] He had an incredible ear. They spent so much time discussing music, listening to records, at the piano, they were inseparable. The album was the fourth and final effort from the unitLaFaro died in a car accident just ten days after the live date at the Village Vanguard from which Waltz for Debby and its predecessor, Sunday at the Village Vanguard, were taken. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faSD3g1ndHE, LaFaro began working regularly with Ornette after Evans became ill with hepatitis in July 1960 and went to Florida to recuperate at his parents home amid rumors that hed died. Lets call it the chimerical voice of the rhythm sectionas well as what could often be the lead instrument when LaFaro was in your band. That show typically includes stories about LaFaro, who forever changed the jazz worlds concept of what bass playing could accomplish with his counter-melodic style. Mom needed the money. LaFaro died in an automobile accident on July 6, 1961, in Seneca, New York,[5] on U.S. Route 20 between Geneva and Canandaigua,[9] four days after accompanying Stan Getz at the Newport Jazz Festival. Born in Irvington, New Jersey, the son of a big band musician, Rocco Scott LaFaro (April 3, 1936 - July 6, 1961) was five when his family moved to Geneva, New York. Later we moved to Elmwood Place, and during the summer we would spend many of our days at the Brook Street Playground. That show typically includes stories about LaFaro, who forever changed the jazz worlds concept of what bass playing could accomplish with his counter-melodic style. There was great rapport. Security video shows a crash in the Reseda neighborhood of Los Angeles which left a driver dead. Evans was an articulate interweaver of a pianist, a melodic speaker, a filigree lord rather than a rhythm king. Other times, its distilled into a moment that seems to transcend itself, and thus it went for Paul Gonsalves, hero of a Newport afternoon. We all knew something important was going to happen with this guy., https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lN4CrJ9lyzE, Jade Visionsis suffused with the perspective of an admiring, yet candid sister who overcame the grief of her beloved brothers sudden death and drew inspiration from friends and fans who urged her to write this richly evocative and musically illuminating volume. We think of LaFaro as a jazz bassist with leanings toward classical music; its the lan, I think. LaFaro burned like a meteorite, rising to the top rank of bassists in a few short years and working with a Whos Who ofjazzgreats in the compressed time frame preceding his death at age 25. It wasnt until he left for Ithaca College, where music majors were required to play a stringed instrument, that he first played bass. Our Dad was from here. His death came just ten days after recording two live albums with the Bill Evans Trio, Sunday at the Village Vanguard and Waltz for Debby, albums considered among the finest live jazz recordings. Nov 13, 2008 #2 Mark Carlsen Oct 4, 2004 The last day was recorded for two albums, Sunday at the Village Vanguard and Waltz for Debby.[8]. Mr. Berg, whose career encompassed free jazz, soul jazz, jazz rock, and straight-ahead playing, was driving east on Route 27 with his wife when Q: Your family ended up following Scotty out to California. comments . LaFaro is heard soloing while George Duvivierplays the bass riff that Percy Heath had introduced on the first recordings of "Django" by the Modern Jazz Quartet. He used a Zen epigram in the closing of his letter to Gloria: Im trying to remember a bit of Zen I like so well: If you seek the fruits ofgood actionso shall they escape you. I try to smile everyday with that., https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uugimR8honE, When I asked Kuhn if Scotty had similar anxieties about touring with Getz, he said no, but he recalled a bandstand incident between the bassist and the tenor player whom Kuhn called extraordinarily paranoid. One night at the Blackhawk in San Francisco, he said, they clashed. Also included is "Porgy", originally omitted for lack of space.[]" Read More Joe Williams: Beyond the Blues, As a JazzTimes writer, I can talk about the powers of a dynamic drummer until Im blue in the face: the weight of each tom-toms Read More Chops: What Bassists Listen for in Drummers, America's jazz resource, delivered to your inbox. I still have people from all over the world knocking at my doorstep, wanting to see where Scotty played. . Each year during the first week of April, The Smith hosts the Scott LaFaro Day Celebration concert that features a contemporary bass player. Helene makes no secret of LaFaros exacting standards and competitive personality, and she quotes many who testify to the same. Performers: Pat Moran, p; Scott LaFaro, b; Gene Gammage, d. 1958. Chuck and Gap Mangione were among the locals hanging out that night, andJade Visionsincludes Gaps recollection of listening to Chet Bakers recording of Grey December with Scotty. In a December 29, 1960 letter addressed to his lover Gloria Gabriel, the dancer to whom he dedicated Glorias Step, he wrote, One important thing is that I realize day by day the true artist and musician is becoming more and more meaningless in terms of public comprehension. The top of the instrument is a three-piece plate of slab-cut fir; the back is a two-piece plate of moderately flamed maple with an ebony inlay at the center joint; the sides are made of matching maple. My mom was still pregnant with my last sister. On date night, people would end up at The Smith. I never knew how Scotty felt about my playing until Paul told me later that the first time Paul heard me it was because Scotty had dragged him out in a snowstorm, "You've got to hear this great bass player with Ornette!"[18]. Composer: Porter Evans stopped performing for several months. Paul Motian was on drums, Nobby Totah on bass. At age 12 he was recommended for the Ithaca Conservatory of Music, where he was classically trained in violin. Chicago, 1956. LaFaro completed his first year at Ithaca, but not his second. Bassist Scott LaFaro of Geneva had already achieved acclaim when he died in a car accident at the age of 25. But LaFaro had a pronounced Dolphy streak too, in that both musicians were playmakers, facilitators, helping others to raise their games by playing theirs at the highest level. Evans also went on hiatus after LaFaro's death for a period of several months. We had to have a strong rhythm section and he was definitely of that caliberHe was a dedicated personintolerant of anyone who wasnt giving his best., https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ngs04EXtDwk. LaFaro spent most of his days practicing his instrument. Scott LaFaro was born 64 years ago . When Scotty came east to play with Goodman, he shared a cold-water flat in the East 70s with Freidman that went for $18 a month. He played a lot of top, cymbals, and Scotty wanted more drums, says Kuhn. Motian operated the same way; if anything, he was even more of a painter than the leader. He was in his second year at college to study music when he joined Buddy Morrow's band and went on a cross country tour. Joe LaBarbera, who drummed in the trio with Evans and Johnson, says, Bill said regarding Scott and the music, that Scott hated it when it remained the same. After Scotty joined the Buddy Morrow Orchestra, he traveled with them all over the country until they reached California, as he really wanted to be where the West Coast jazz scene was happening. LaFaro began by practicing his fingers off. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. In 1959, after working with trumpeter Chet Baker, bandleader Stan Kenton, vibraphonist Cal Tjader,[6] and clarinetist Benny Goodman, LaFaro returned east and joined Bill Evans, who had recently left the Miles Davis Sextet. Man, woman decapitated after car slams into big rig on 5 Freeway in San Fernando Valley. A post-bass bass player, maybe. While driving home late one nighthis car went off the road and struck a tree. Joining Palombi on this date are Don Friedman and Eliot Zigmund. For much of 1958, LaFaro was with pianist/vibraphonist Victor Feldman's band. Pianist Pat Moran, who led a trio that Scott toured and recorded with in 1958, says he was was very aware of his genius and used to love to go into clubs and intimidate bass playersHe was quite a character, lots of fun. Moran is little known today as Patti Moran McCoy, butin 1960 LaFaro was quoted ina profile written by Martin Williams forJazz Review, I dont even like any of my records except maybe the first one I did with Pat Moran., https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HAbUcKTdcI. LaFaro-Fernandez: Dad (Joe LaFaro) never forced us to play music. Geller recalls that at the end of Scottys first night with the clarinetist, the two went around to hear Bill Evans. That is what so many families Sunday ritual were like. She proposed the demo as something to shop around to record labels; alas, nothing came of it. LaFaro was taken from this world 60 years ago, on July 6, 1961, in Flint, New York, where he was involved in an auto accident a few days after playing with Stan Getz at Newport. 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