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Double Bass Wasn't RED a GREAT Player?

#61
I got to hear you play prolly right before you left New York. At Zinno's, and since my memory gets a little vague with events that happened prior to breakfast this morning, with either Tal Farlow or with Jimmy Raney and Jack Wilkins. We may have gotten introduced in passing cause I was hanging out with a drummer from Louisville, Jim Abrams, who was living up here.

welcome to the board, hope to see you around often. You sound good.
 
#62
chop_1992 said:
Chuck H.O.P. -- very good, Ed. I guess I should sign in with my real name (John Goldsby)...the chop_1992 name has a long and boring history.
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Hey John, good to see you aboard! I'd love to hear the boring history of chop_1992 sometime...I could use a little boredom in my life right now.
 
#63
chop_1992 said:
Chuck H.O.P. -- very good, Ed. I guess I should sign in with my real name (John Goldsby)...the chop_1992 name has a long and boring history.

Anyway, the post was not about me -- it was about Red. And how he is one of my all-time favorites -- apparently one of the all-times favs of a lot of talkbassers.
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Okay, if I wasn't nervous about posting here before, I am now :eek:

I love the arco jazz book, John. Very nicely done.
 
#64
Chris, the chop_1992 story might just be too boring.

Even for you.

(Tongue in cheek, since Chris Fitzgerald saved my ass big time last year in Louisville, plus he is one of the few bass players who can sit at the piano and explain exactly what the hell he is doing and why -- sorta like Red could). But, the chop_1992 explanation needs too much time.

Ed, that was Jimmy Raney and Jack Wilkins and I playing at Zinnos way back when. I used to play a lot with Jim Abrams, too -- I heard that he is a lawyer now. Great cat -- please say hi if you see him.

Back to Red Mitchell: I went to Zinno's to hear Michael Moore, who I was studying with in about 1985. Michael let me sit in and Red was in the audience. LeeAnn Ledgerwood was playing piano. Red thought that I sounded like him -- and that was when he decided to hire my to play bass for his piano gig.

I don't know how much I really sounded like Red, but I had transcribed all of his solos from the All Night Sessions records and I was going just about every night to Bradley's to hear him with one of the great piano players -- Hank Jones, Kenny Barron, Roger Kellaway.

Now back to Michael Moore -- I just heard him a few weeks ago here in Cologne, Germany with Dave Brubeck. The band sounded great! Dave was really on (83 years old - think about it), and Michael sounded as good as ever. A pleasure to hear.
 
#65
Hey John, welcome....great to have you on board.
One thing we do share is that Reds wife Diane thought I sounded like Red. I'm sure you took the fact that you sounded like Red to Red as a huge compliment as I did.
I bore the hell out of all my friends here @TBDB by talking about Red, his life, his basses and of course his music.
I'd love to hear about the CHOP too!!
By the way, the very first jazz record I ever heard was That old Contemporary label Hampton Hawes Trio Volume 1 with Red and Chuck Thomson. I think I have ALL of them! From the gut string days to steel Lycons, to the five stringers up to the fifth tuning....See? There I go again!
So good to have you here!
 
#66
I'm SO HAPPY I started this thread back (whenever) on the greatness of Red! and in turn to have the likes of John on board to share his stories....Welcome and ....
PS :- A personal thank you from a nobody D/Ber "Down Under" who has gained a truck load of knowledge from a certain CHOP who happened to write a certain "Jazz Bass Book" THANKYOU :hyper:
 
#67
chops_outthewazoo said:
Chris, the chop_1992 story might just be too boring.

Even for you.

(Tongue in cheek, since Chris Fitzgerald saved my ass big time last year in Louisville...
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Ha ha, now there's a funny story! I won't tell it, though since I'm not sure if it's cool. Still, that was both funny and fun at the same time, and my pleasure. If I'm not mistaken, you still owe me a lesson for that one. :)

, plus he is one of the few bass players who can sit at the piano and explain exactly what the hell he is doing and why -- sorta like Red could).
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You are far too kind. What I can do is sit down at the piano and tell you exactly what I meant to do before it came out sideways on the bass, but that's another story, and probably every bit as boring as the screen name story.

I never thought about the Red connection in your playing - I'll have to go back and listen for that. But I hear the Michael Moore connection as plain the nose on my face (and that's pretty damn plain, folks!). I'd strongly recommend all TBers who haven't heard it to go check out John's "Tale of the Fingers" CD...there's some amazing playing on that disc (both arco and pizz) and some damn fine writing, too. I've got that on my iPod these days, and I bust it out from time to time whenever I start to wonder if tall skinny white guys from Louisville ever have a chance of making it as bassplayers out there in the real world. Works like a charm every time, and I always walk away smiling. Great stuff. When's the next disc due?
 
#68
Chris Fitzgerald said:
... check out John's "Tale of the Fingers" CD...there's some amazing playing on that disc (both arco and pizz) and some damn fine writing, too. I've got that on my iPod these days, and I bust it out from time to time whenever I start to wonder if tall skinny white guys from Louisville ever have a chance of making it as bassplayers out there in the real world. Works like a charm every time, and I always walk away smiling. Great stuff. When's the next disc due?
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Thanks for the kind words, Chris. I did the Tale of the Fingers CD for Concord just before I left NYC. It's still available on Amazon. In 2001, I did a CD for Nagel-Heyer Records called "Viewpoint." This year, I did a CD with Peter Erskine and Bill Dobbins for Peter's label Fuzzy Music (Invalid Link Removed). That recording is called "Cologne" (what a coincidence since that's where I live...).
 
#69
I have been listening to "Northern Summit" the last little while, and I can't turn it off! It features Oliver Jones, Herb Ellis, and Red Mitchell. It is one of the hardest swinging cd's I have. Red really was a special player. His incredibly melodic solos coupled with his driving walking lines are just amazing. I have started to transcribe his solos, and I think I am finally going to make the jump to 5ths in a few weeks. I have about a month and a half coming up where I don't have any gigs, and I will hopefully be able to fully make the switch before April!
 
#71
Adrian Juras said:
I have been listening to "Northern Summit" the last little while, and I can't turn it off! It features Oliver Jones, Herb Ellis, and Red Mitchell. It is one of the hardest swinging cd's I have. Red really was a special player. His incredibly melodic solos coupled with his driving walking lines are just amazing. I have started to transcribe his solos, and I think I am finally going to make the jump to 5ths in a few weeks. I have about a month and a half coming up where I don't have any gigs, and I will hopefully be able to fully make the switch before April!
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Adrian...we have a new poster, Larry Holloway, who tunes in fifths. Dig around for his latest posts. He can help you.
 
#72
I know I started this thread off some 4 pages ago giving praise to the genius of Red and nothing has changed. I've listened to all the Cd's and Vinyl that I have on Red's ability as a player and picked up a truckload of info through these past 4 pages on Red (Thanks Paul) however, as I have all but worn out the Video of Red performing with Oliver and Herb and the lads, I find I am in need of a further Fix on either Video or DVD. My question is, are there any performances out there on Video or DVD with Red performing? I note in recent months a hugh increase of Jazz on DVD taken from early footage....eg :- Norman Granz Montreux Concerts and a lot of the early Dizzy / Miles footage now on DVD etc.

Would be interested to hear of any concerts / performances that you may have seen or heard does exist.
Waiting in anticipation :)
 
#74
Paul Warburton said:
There's one out there that's actually a Tal Farlow video tape. Somebody copied it for me, so I can't tell you much more about it....an added treat....Tommy Flanagan on piano!!
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That's the one where they go into his life at Seabright and his living as a housepainter correct?

I was getting to know Tal towards the end of his life.It was my intention to interview him and to tell me stories about dad who passed a few years before. Never got to do it. I played at Tal's memorial. That day I ran into Sal Salvador. He told me he had tons of photos, tapes, etc. I was supposed to get together with him and we never got to do it. He died a little while after too. I was able to interview Jim Hall a bit but I didn't complete the interview or publish.

Anyway it's sort of sad when people slip away w/o enough notice.
 
#75
nypiano said:
That's the one where they go into his life at Seabright and his living as a housepainter correct?
I was getting to know Tal towards the end of his life.It was my intention to interview him and to tell me stories about dad who passed a few years before. Never got to do it. I played at Tal's memorial. That day I ran into Sal Salvador. He told me he had tons of photos, tapes, etc. I was supposed to get together with him and we never got to do it. He died a little while after too. I was able to interview Jim Hall a bit but I didn't complete the interview or publish.
Anyway it's sort of sad when people slip away w/o enough notice.
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I'd love to read your Jim Hall interview Jon.
And yeah, the Tal video I have is the same one you mention.
 
#80
nypiano said:
And apparently the discussion of same has no currency in CDN either..
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Oh, I can see how that got read wrong (right?)

I think a discussion of same would be appreciated mightily, both amongst the frozen and the non.

Jim Hall has played with an amazing group of bass players and I adore his playing. What's not to like?
 

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