So if you were all living in California, how was it that your brother was near Geneva when he died? Pianist Walter Norris described him as a "wild fire," and said "he never used any stimulants to enhance life, but his every moment was seriously lived to the fullest." Such is the legacy of bassist Scott LaFaro, though I would suggest that what was was more than we often think. In spring 1960, he featured on a half-dozen tracks that trumpeter Booker Little cut for his second session as leader. All is possible, and then all is no more. We never got to enjoy it as a concert venue in our day, unfortunately. In the mid 1950s, at the Los Angeles music scene, he became known as one of. Bassist Dave Green joins Alyn Shipton to pick the highlights of these, and to trace the other significant records in LaFaro's brief but brilliant career. Right there on stage, Stan stopped playing and yelled, MF, Ive got the melody! Notwithstanding flair-ups of this kind, Kuhn says that Getz held LaFaro in the highest regard. Once he got the gig, his college days were over. LaFaro spent most of his days practicing his instrument. 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. Other times, its distilled into a moment that seems to transcend itself, and thus it went for Paul Gonsalves, hero of a Newport afternoon. Im in the position of having nothing you can put your finger on for sale., Evanss drug addiction was also a matter of concern for LaFaro. Pictures of people only please! When Evans returned to the trio format later in 1962, it was with Motian and bassist Chuck Israels.[2]. With my mom and Scotty and my two sisters and then our own kids, we eventually had to build onto the house. LaFaro continued to divide his time between Getz, Ornette, and Evans in 1961. 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. Q: So if you were all living in California, how was it that your brother was near Geneva when he died? 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. The great bassist is best known for his work with the Bill Evans Trio between 1959 and '61, and for the tragic car accident that claimed his life on July 6, 1961, two weeks after the trio's . Upon returning to L.A., LaFaro phoned his friend Herb Geller, who was then playing alto with Benny Goodman in New York. You may additional context in comments. LaFaro continued to play this bass until his death. LaFaro and his stellar bandmates pianist Don Friedman and drummer Pete LaRoca run through four jazz standards, including two takes of Sacre Blu. I remember one time Scotty came home with an LP under his arm. Death. They needed a bass clarinetist, and he promised Scotty that he would be allowed to play clarinet and eventually the tenor sax if he took that position. [1] With Evans and drummer Paul Motian he developed the counter-melodic style that would come to characterize his playing. Bassist Scott LaFaro would die in a car accident just ten days after this album's recording, at the age of 25. Scotty was on the road at the time, in California. On date night, people would end up at The Smith. Showing all 2 results. My dad loved the director, so we had to go and have that experience as well. In Jade Visionshe says, Scott wasnt what one would consider a big band bass player. Not long after he arrived on campus, he gave his clarinet away to a classmate. His records with Bill Evans are among the finest jazz trio discs . Composer: Porter: Scottys death was hard on my Mom. This was Scottys home, and he would practice bass facing the corner in the living room because he could better hear the sound quality. For the 1964 album with Monica Zetterlund, see, The Complete Village Vanguard Recordings, 1961, "Bill Evans Trio: Sunday At The Village Vanguard & Waltz For Debby", Plays the Theme from The V.I.P.s and Other Great Songs, Turn Out the Stars: The Final Village Vanguard Recordings, Consecration: The Final Recordings Part 2, On Broadway Vol. 1926). AMAGANSETT, N.Y. - Acclaimed tenor saxophonist Robert Berg was killed Thursday when a cement truck skidded across a snow-slicked road and rammed into his sport utility vehicle, East Hampton police said. He lives in Boston and has contributed toJazzTimessince 2006. LaFaro-Fernandez: Scotty and I were born in New Jersey but we moved back to Geneva in 1942. Genres. Elsewhere, a legacy is a reflection on what might have been, based on a limited amount of what was. The 25-year old Scott LaFaro's death in a car accident shortly after was a major shock to the jazz world. The trio attracted attention for its style. A jazz musicians legacy can be a multifarious slope. You can read our interview with Holland. Bud Powell. MTV, EMA and all related titles, logos and characters are trademarks of Viacom International Inc. 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There is also a street off of Seneca Street, just across from the Smith Opera House, that has been renamed Scott LaFaro Way. Former Major League Baseball pitcher Scott Erickson has been charged in connection with a hit-and-run crash in Westlake Village that killed two . we do worse! But its a moment were meant to be a part of, that both surrounds us and is for us. The 25-year-old Scott LaFaro's death in a car accident shortly after was a major shock to the jazz world." Scott Yanow. Following the Vanguard engagement, LaFaro played with Getz, Steve Kuhn, and Roy Haynes at Newport on July 2. Tom was honored by the Jazz Journalists Association with the Willis Conover-Marian McPartland Award for Career Excellence in Broadcasting in 2019. Having followed him out to Los Angeles in the late 1950s along with the rest of the LaFaro family, LaFaro-Fernandez still lives in California and continues to answer daily inquiries about her brother, conduct interviews, and ensure his legacy will inform musicians and fans for generations to come. She writes, What he said not only had an impact on me, but seemed to sum up much of what I had been hearing as I talked to musicians. ", In 1966, Evans spoke with George Clabinabout what he called his "complexand quick relationship" with Scotty, and said his technique was "built throughintuitive insightand fire, as some kind of a spark in him which took over and he would just grab the bass and he would work and work and work and work and he would just lay it down. His records with Bill Evans are among the finest jazz trio discs ever made. When we were in junior high school, Godfrey Brown, the head of the high school music department, would come there to recruit for positions they needed to fill in the band and orchestra. [10] Obsessively he played "I Loves You Porgy", a song that had become synonymous with him and LaFaro. Little must have loved LaFaros contributions, because he himself was one of those players between spheres: neither a bopper nor a hard-bopper nor an out-and-out New Thing guy. 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. Three of the tunes from their setBaubles, Bangles and Beads; Where Do You Go; and Airegin were released on CD in 1994. 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. I would love to see it. It remains what is likely Evans' most well-known song,[citation needed] one that he would play throughout his career. According to Paul Motian, the death of LaFaro left Bill Evans "numb with grief", "in a state of shock", and "like a ghost". Everything. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. Bassist Scott LaFaro of Geneva had already achieved acclaim when he died in a car accident at the age of 25. Bill had first heard Scotty with Chet Baker three years earlierNot long after we were back off the Goodman tour, there was a call waiting for Scottythat Bill wanted him to work with him., The first meeting of what became known as the trio took place at a Tony Scott recording date on October 28 and 29, 1959. Geller said Goodman was unhappy with his current bassist, and offered to recommend Scotty but cautioned, Bennys very conservative, dont do any of those fast things you can do. The three not duplicated here were played only once that day. Your IP: It is still so wild to me that he was so influential. But you always knew that Read More Kelly Sill, Several years ago, one of Danilo Prezs students was suffering from tendinitis. 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. Is that a bass thing? 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. Also, the last picture taken by a person just before their death is acceptable. [7], In June 1961, the Bill Evans trio began two weeks of performances at the Village Vanguard in New York City. Tom Reneys writings delve into the history and mystery of jazz, blues, and beyond. Nearly six decades later, Helene LaFaro-Fernandez continues to keep her older brothers flame alive. Press J to jump to the feed. You can read our interview with Holland here. Scott was extremely picky and choosy, and he wanted to call the trio. Little was as star-crossed as LaFaro, and hes usually talked about in conjunction with altoist Eric Dolphy as often as LaFaro is with Evans. The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has We calculated our top 40 new releases of 2022 We calculated our top 10 historical/reissue You never quite knew what Chicago bassist Kelly Sill was going to play (or what he was going to say). We are in a fix! LaFaro achieved fame in the Bill Evans Trio, which he joined in 1959 and which featured Paul Motian on drums. Smith Opera House is owned and operated by the Smith Center for the Arts, a private not-for-profit 501(c)(3) corporation. Find him on the web at colinfleminglit.com (where he maintains the unique online journal, the Many Moments Moreblog) and on Twitter @colinfleminglit. Just about any jazz fan knows that on June 25, the 25-year-old had been in NYC as part of Bill Evans trio at the Village Vanguard, cutting the Sunday live date that will be reissued and repackaged so long as the earth continues to spin. What a natural setting for a multi-ecosystem guy like LaFaro, the dream bassist for a project of this nature, which is jazz, classical, painterly, open yet demonstrative. Also, Club 86 was bringing in major stars as well. The 25-year old Scott LaFaros death in a car accident shortly after was a major shock to the jazz world. Waltz for Debby is a live album by jazz pianist and composer Bill Evans and his trio consisting of Evans, bassist Scott LaFaro, and drummer Paul Motian. Q: What happened to your brother after Ithaca College? He began working in jazz radio in 1977 at WCUW, a community-licensed radio station in Worcester, Massachusetts. Postings here are the last known photographs or videos of a person. Tracks. My mom was still pregnant with my last sister. Performers: Pat Moran, p; Scott LaFaro, b; Gene Gammage, d. 1958. Its no knock on Charlie Hadena formidable pioneer himselfto say that if hes a bass player, LaFaro is something else, to use the Coleman argot. July 6, 1961 in Seneca, NY. So they were constantly trying for fresh approaches and fresh improvisationsAnd Bill told me, I remember it exactly, If I played the same lick on a tune two nights in a row, the next time I playe dit Scott would play it with me in harmonyhe would actually harmonize it so that at that point it was time for me to get rid of that lick and move on to something else.Is that what LaFaro was trying to bring to Getzs attention at the Blackhawk? Ornettes group with Don Cherry and Ed Blackwell played the Village Gate for three weeks in August and September followed by engagements in Philadelphia and Detroit. Evans, LaFaro, and Motian were committed to the idea of three equal voices in the trio, working together for a singular musical idea and often without any musician explicitly keeping time. Active. Thats his brand of intimacy: the sensation of the stolen moment. "[12], In 1988, Insights label of RVC Corporation in Japan released Memories for Scotty. Stan said fine. Kuhn and drummer Pete LaRoca were Scottys choices, but in the midst of a two-week engagement at the Sutherland Hotel on Chicagos Southside, LaFaro had got tired of LaRocas playing. Having followed him out to Los Angeles in the late 1950s along with the rest of the LaFaro family, LaFaro-Fernandez still lives in California and continues to answer daily inquiries about her brother, conduct interviews, and ensure his legacy will inform musicians and fans for generations to come. LaFaro-Fernandez: When Scotty was in sixth grade we took our first piano lessons. This brings about the situation of whether I should spend these hours and months developing what I seem to be able to foresee, or should I dump it and get another job as an entertainer again. He was visiting some friends west of Geneva and was driving home late when he crashed. 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. And there truly couldn't be a better way to . Dont get fancy, no double beatsPlay whats written.LaFaro flew east, passed the audition, and signed on for a six-week tour of one-nighters with Goodman. 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. [10] This article is about the 1961 Village Vanguard recordings. Also, the exertion of a formidable musical will to take what was there, in an act of guidance. In 2009, Resonance Records reissued five tracks from Memories for Scotty on Pieces of Jade, together with twenty-two minutes of LaFaro and Bill Evans practising "My Foolish Heart" during a rehearsal in 1960. This year The Smith is excited to have National Endowment of the Arts Jazz Masters Kenny Barron (piano) and Dave Holland (bass) together on stage on Saturday, April 6. Geneva when he died in a car accident at the Los Angeles music scene, he became as! 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