LaFaro is one of those players who register to the ears like more than one man, generating a huge amount of sound with ostensibly little effort, and that sound resonating as direct, controlled, economical; this is part of the reason why. Also included is "Porgy", originally omitted for lack of space.[]" Like Evans, Kuhn, whod arrived on the New York scene in 1959 as a 21-year-old Harvard grad, was being managed by Helen Keane. ", https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIzbINNrqcQ. Bill Evans. Helene notes that the gig was tremendously exciting for him, since to play with Kenton had been one of his dreams as a kid in Geneva. In the liner notes toThe Stan Kenton Orchestra in Concert, saxophonist Lennie Niehaus lauded LaFaros wild sound, but Kenton bandmate Steven Harris understood that a big band was hardly the ideal for him. That is what so many families Sunday ritual were like. Fraternal guidance, in that this endeavor allowed fellow band members to do what they best did. But its a moment were meant to be a part of, that both surrounds us and is for us. LaFaro took the opportunity, and he was the trios helmsman. And there truly couldn't be a better way to . In his liner notes, producer Orrin Keepnews focused on the phenomenon of Bill Evans thepianist, but the lone paragraph devoted to the other members of the trio noted that they werent limited toconventional rhythmic backing, and cited Autumn Leaves, as a harbinger of things to come. [1] For a time, Haden and LaFaro shared an apartment. At that years Monterey Jazz Festival, LaFaro performed with both the Coleman Quartet and Gunther Schuller. Security video shows a crash in the Reseda neighborhood of Los Angeles which left a driver dead. Three of the tunes from their setBaubles, Bangles and Beads; Where Do You Go; and Airegin were released on CD in 1994. Everyone heard him. Scotty sort of led the way on the bass becoming a solo instrument in its own right. New England Public Media | Despite his short career, he remains one of the most influential jazz bassists, and was ranked number 16 on Bass Player magazine's top 100 bass players of all time.[2]. As he put it, being out with a leader who was a junkie put him at risk of being strandedThe tensions ebbed and flowed [that] afternoon, but strangely enough we were accomplishing what we had set out to doThe lesson to be learned here is probably something about the value of professionalism., While LaFaro was cautious about touring with Evans and eschewed drug use (Kuhn says he was healthy as a pigdidnt smoke, drink, use drugs, but he liked to drive fast), he was intrigued by Bills interest in Zen meditation, which he practiced and discussed with Helene when he stayed with her during a Getz engagement in L.A. Kuhn remembers hearing that it was a St. Christopher medal that LaFaro always wore that helped to identify his badly burned body. So help yourself to his more, if you will. The CD reissue of the album contains several outtakes. Mangione remembersLaFaro calling Baker an American tragedy, and says, Over the years, [Scotts] using the term an American tragedy still strikes me as incredibly ironic and portentous [given what happened] that night., At about 1:45 on the morning of July 6, LaFaro apparently fell asleep at the wheel and veered off Route 5-20, hitting a tree and killing himself and Ottley instantly. Styles. Composer: Gillespie May 23, 2021. 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. 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 legendary performance at the Village Vanguard. 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. Dad (Joe LaFaro) never forced us to play music. 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. 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. 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. He waited until we got interested, and then he was totally supportive. ~ Charles A. Ralston, A Site About Dead Musicians and how they got that way. 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. Celebrating the life of Genevas legendary jazz bass hero Scott LaFaro has become an annual event at the Smith Opera House, ever since the City of Geneva declared April 3, his birthday, as Scott LaFaro Day in 2014. My day consists of such a singular preoccupationthe physicology of music. The group attended the funeral in Geneva, which Kuhn adds was closed casket., LaFaro's death was devastating to Bill Evans. He was excited. Labels. What happened to your brother after Ithaca College? He died near Geneva in an auto accident in 1961. Today would be the 78th birthday of the great Scott LaFaro, who died in a car accident in 1961. He waited until we got interested, and then he was totally supportive. Postings here are the last known photographs or videos of a person. He became a professional musician in New York City during the Roaring 20s. The young bassist was friends to other artists and art during his all-too brief sojourn upon the mortal coil. 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 was killed in a car accident ten days after the recording. LaFaro joined the Bill Evans Trio in 1959 and, although he would record with Ornette Coleman (including Free Jazz) and gig with Stan Getz, the bassist is best remembered for his association with Evans, particularly their Village Vanguard recordings of 1961. Expansive range was a totem of the LaFaro sound, the idea that the bass was so much a bass that it was also not a bass and more than a bass. DSD 128 fs (2) DSD 64 fs (2) . Jan. 30, 2021 1:47 PM PT. How did that happen? July 6, 1961 in Seneca, NY. 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. Bassist Scott LaFaro would die in a car accident just ten days after this album's recording, at the age of 25. Performers: Thad Jones, tp; Herb Geller, as; Billy Taylor, p; Scott LaFaro, b; Elvin Jones, d. June 1959. During World War II the club scene changed and he came back to Geneva where he could find work. He proved to be a natural for the instrument, which obsessed him, and early in his sophomore year he went on the road with Buddy Morrows orchestra. He was visiting some friends west of Geneva and was driving home late when he crashed. 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. I quit very fast, but he was a natural. Performers: Bill Evans, p; Scott LaFaro, b; Paul Motian, d. 28 Dec 1958. All rights reserved. In May 1960, the Bill Evans Trio joined in a program at Circle in the Square that was devoted to Gunther Schullers jazz compositions. At age 12 he was recommended for the Ithaca Conservatory of Music, where he was classically trained in violin. Tales are told of how much John Coltrane practiced, but you could say the same about the bassist from Newark. There was great rapport. It was then he fell in love with the tenor saxophone. 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. 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. On date night, people would end up at The Smith. There is a creek that ran through the park, it would go up past Shuron Optical where they used this rouge chemical to make glass lenses, so the creek was always red. Evans stopped performing for several months. These two albums, recorded less than two weeks prior: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZ_rZZusz90 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbTEgBEaEM4. It wasnt until he left for Ithaca College, where music majors were required to play a stringed instrument, that he first played bass. She had lost her husband, then four years later lost her son, and she still had young kids to raise. 1998 Kevin Crosby. Little, another ill-fated star of the period who died at 23 in October 1961, described LaFaro in the liner notes as distant, but closea paradox that resolves only for those who were simpatico. He also recognized Scottys distinctiveness as an innovator who was much more of a conversationalist behind you than any other bassist I know[Hes] technicallyabout the greatest bassist we have. Remarking on the solo LaFaro plays on Bee Tees Minor Plea, the trumpeter said, The bass is a crude and rude instrument, but Scott makes it into something else. Helene says Scotty would have loved being described as something else, since I could remember how excited [he] was when he brought around to play for me the first record of Ornettes he owned,Something Else.. Click to reveal When Evans returned to the trio format later in 1962, it was with Motian and bassist Chuck Israels.[2]. [17], When I was in L.A., Scotty LaFaro and I roomed together. We were the kind that played a fraction, a millimeter behind. Sometimes its defined by contrasting stylistic paths that amalgamate into a career, as with Miles Davis. & # x27 ; t be a part of, that both surrounds us and is us. Professional musician in New York City during the Roaring 20s this kind Kuhn! Lafaro, b ; Paul Motian, d. 28 Dec 1958 of the great Scott LaFaro, b ; Motian. Than two weeks prior: https: //www.youtube.com/watch? v=gZ_rZZusz90 https: //www.youtube.com/watch? v=RbTEgBEaEM4 Scott LaFaro, who in... Stan stopped playing and yelled, MF, Ive got the melody to music... 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