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.Here, acclaimed journalist and JazzTimes columnist Nat Hentoff helps Woodsreflect on a lifetime spent performing, teaching and learning Woods s owndevelopment came from all angles: as a pupil of the unsung innovator LennieTristano, as a clarinet student in the classical program at Juilliard, as a disciple ofCharlie Parker recordings and via bandleaders like Dizzy Gillespie.Nat Hentoff: I want to start with a story about Norman Granz because itreminded me of you.He was going on a tour of Japan with Oscar Peterson, RoyEldridge and others, and a reporter asked him a question: Can you name the oneperson who really exemplifies what jazz is all about? Oscar was saying, Tatum,Tatum, Tatum. Then Norman says, No, Roy Eldridge because he always playslike it s his last solo. [That] reminds me of you.Or am I wrong?Phil Woods: Thank you, Nat.I remember that great article you did on me, andit was very touching, called The Irrepressible Spirit. I think when the fire keepsburning you ve gotta use it, and so far it s still ignited.NH: You did an interview with Eric Nemeyer, and you said, I m all for jazzeducation, but I don t see it paying off on the street. PW: We need somebody who can say, It s over there, guys. It s like when Dizzywas around and Louis was around.Yeah, we had people to follow.I think jazz is a street music, and I ve also said,as an exaggeration, Let s get jazz out of the schools and put it back on the streetswhere it belongs. You know what I mean? There are no more buses; there areno more places to refine your craft.I m all for the jazz education, but most ofthe teachers teaching wanted to be players, and there s just not enough gigs.Sonow they re teaching other kids that there aren t enough gigs, and that s not theirfault.A university should reflect the needs of society.Too many lawyers is a drag,but they always get a gig, but too many tenor players is uncontainable.I mean,there re 3,000 tenor players a year for three gigs, and two of them are playing forthe door at a Ramada Inn playing Britney Spears medleys.NH: In that same interview you said, however, Even without the next Louis orthe next Phil Woods there are some very good players around, and they re notgetting the attention that they deserve. Can you name some?PW: Jon Gordon.Bill Charlap, who is getting some attention.Grace Kelly, a littlefourteen-year-old.Francesco Cafiso, out of [Italy].I do believe something that soverlooked in what the kids are not getting when they re getting educated is thatjazz is not a business.It started out as entertainment in the first place.It walked aprecarious line between art and entertainment and I think still does to a certainextent.Because it s a group effort it s not a solo with a backup, but it doesn t 68 The Jazz Life On and Off the Roadrequire megabucks and it doesn t require that every record sells a million, youknow? I don t have a record contract, and I haven t had one for years.But it s sucha strong, vital art form.It s already changed the planet.Thank God, my work ismostly done in Europe and Japan.I couldn t keep a band together for thirty yearson what I make in the States.NH: One of my favorite stories Jon Faddis tells was when Louis Armstrong wasbooked as an ambassador, they sent him to the Belgian Congo, and there was thisreally fierce civil war going on at the time, as there often is.Both sides suspendedthe war.They wanted to hear Louis.PW: When I was with Dizzy, Iran was their first port of call and then we went toEast and West Pakistan.We went to Beirut, we went to Greece, we went to Syria,we went to Turkey.I think they should have sent Dizzy a few more times.I thinkit s better to send cats with instruments than send cats with AK-47s.NH: You once said that when you were with Dizzy you were never out of school.PW: Always! He would love to share.Dizzy and Art Blakey kidnapped me onetime.True story.I was in Birdland, and it was kind of a down period.I wasdrinking too much, I wasn t doing any gigs, I was doing the studio scene and Iwas, you know, ugggghhh.Dizzy and Art Blakey threw me in the cab and tookme out to Dizzy s house.Now this was early 1960s, and Dizzy said, Well what syour problem? And I said, I m not getting any gigs, I m playing for strippers, Ihaven t seen a woman from the front for the past three years. And he said, Yeah,but you re working.You could be somebody if you clean up your act. And I said, Yeah, but you know Dizzy.I m a white guy. And he said, Whoa, hold it, timeout, baby.You know Charlie Parker did not play this music for only black people,he played it for the world, he played it for everybody and if you can hear it, youcan have it.But remember, you can t steal a gift. And I never forgot that.I toldGene Lees that story, and he used it as the title of his book.But Dizzy and ArtBlakey and those cats never played that game.If you can swing, you re cool.Justdo the gig and do right by the music.God bless him for that.NH: I always have trouble figuring out whom, if anybody, to vote for president.One year I wrote in Dizzy Gillespie and I was serious cause I knew the guy, Iknew his bio and faith.He would have been a hell of a president.About learn-ing, you said in another interview that you had one teacher, Harvey LaRose, whomade the big difference in your life.Why was that?PW: You never know what kind of fortune is going to come your way, and it alldepends on the teacher, which I always tell kids when I m doing master classes.Idiscovered my uncle s saxophone when I was twelve years old and I was involvedin melting lead and making toy soldiers.When I opened up the sax I saw thatit was all gold and shiny and I thought, Man, I could melt this sucker down Man, I m So Lucky to Be a Jazz Musician 69and make a golden hoard of warriors.And somebody mistook my nefariousintent for an interest in music [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.Here, acclaimed journalist and JazzTimes columnist Nat Hentoff helps Woodsreflect on a lifetime spent performing, teaching and learning Woods s owndevelopment came from all angles: as a pupil of the unsung innovator LennieTristano, as a clarinet student in the classical program at Juilliard, as a disciple ofCharlie Parker recordings and via bandleaders like Dizzy Gillespie.Nat Hentoff: I want to start with a story about Norman Granz because itreminded me of you.He was going on a tour of Japan with Oscar Peterson, RoyEldridge and others, and a reporter asked him a question: Can you name the oneperson who really exemplifies what jazz is all about? Oscar was saying, Tatum,Tatum, Tatum. Then Norman says, No, Roy Eldridge because he always playslike it s his last solo. [That] reminds me of you.Or am I wrong?Phil Woods: Thank you, Nat.I remember that great article you did on me, andit was very touching, called The Irrepressible Spirit. I think when the fire keepsburning you ve gotta use it, and so far it s still ignited.NH: You did an interview with Eric Nemeyer, and you said, I m all for jazzeducation, but I don t see it paying off on the street. PW: We need somebody who can say, It s over there, guys. It s like when Dizzywas around and Louis was around.Yeah, we had people to follow.I think jazz is a street music, and I ve also said,as an exaggeration, Let s get jazz out of the schools and put it back on the streetswhere it belongs. You know what I mean? There are no more buses; there areno more places to refine your craft.I m all for the jazz education, but most ofthe teachers teaching wanted to be players, and there s just not enough gigs.Sonow they re teaching other kids that there aren t enough gigs, and that s not theirfault.A university should reflect the needs of society.Too many lawyers is a drag,but they always get a gig, but too many tenor players is uncontainable.I mean,there re 3,000 tenor players a year for three gigs, and two of them are playing forthe door at a Ramada Inn playing Britney Spears medleys.NH: In that same interview you said, however, Even without the next Louis orthe next Phil Woods there are some very good players around, and they re notgetting the attention that they deserve. Can you name some?PW: Jon Gordon.Bill Charlap, who is getting some attention.Grace Kelly, a littlefourteen-year-old.Francesco Cafiso, out of [Italy].I do believe something that soverlooked in what the kids are not getting when they re getting educated is thatjazz is not a business.It started out as entertainment in the first place.It walked aprecarious line between art and entertainment and I think still does to a certainextent.Because it s a group effort it s not a solo with a backup, but it doesn t 68 The Jazz Life On and Off the Roadrequire megabucks and it doesn t require that every record sells a million, youknow? I don t have a record contract, and I haven t had one for years.But it s sucha strong, vital art form.It s already changed the planet.Thank God, my work ismostly done in Europe and Japan.I couldn t keep a band together for thirty yearson what I make in the States.NH: One of my favorite stories Jon Faddis tells was when Louis Armstrong wasbooked as an ambassador, they sent him to the Belgian Congo, and there was thisreally fierce civil war going on at the time, as there often is.Both sides suspendedthe war.They wanted to hear Louis.PW: When I was with Dizzy, Iran was their first port of call and then we went toEast and West Pakistan.We went to Beirut, we went to Greece, we went to Syria,we went to Turkey.I think they should have sent Dizzy a few more times.I thinkit s better to send cats with instruments than send cats with AK-47s.NH: You once said that when you were with Dizzy you were never out of school.PW: Always! He would love to share.Dizzy and Art Blakey kidnapped me onetime.True story.I was in Birdland, and it was kind of a down period.I wasdrinking too much, I wasn t doing any gigs, I was doing the studio scene and Iwas, you know, ugggghhh.Dizzy and Art Blakey threw me in the cab and tookme out to Dizzy s house.Now this was early 1960s, and Dizzy said, Well what syour problem? And I said, I m not getting any gigs, I m playing for strippers, Ihaven t seen a woman from the front for the past three years. And he said, Yeah,but you re working.You could be somebody if you clean up your act. And I said, Yeah, but you know Dizzy.I m a white guy. And he said, Whoa, hold it, timeout, baby.You know Charlie Parker did not play this music for only black people,he played it for the world, he played it for everybody and if you can hear it, youcan have it.But remember, you can t steal a gift. And I never forgot that.I toldGene Lees that story, and he used it as the title of his book.But Dizzy and ArtBlakey and those cats never played that game.If you can swing, you re cool.Justdo the gig and do right by the music.God bless him for that.NH: I always have trouble figuring out whom, if anybody, to vote for president.One year I wrote in Dizzy Gillespie and I was serious cause I knew the guy, Iknew his bio and faith.He would have been a hell of a president.About learn-ing, you said in another interview that you had one teacher, Harvey LaRose, whomade the big difference in your life.Why was that?PW: You never know what kind of fortune is going to come your way, and it alldepends on the teacher, which I always tell kids when I m doing master classes.Idiscovered my uncle s saxophone when I was twelve years old and I was involvedin melting lead and making toy soldiers.When I opened up the sax I saw thatit was all gold and shiny and I thought, Man, I could melt this sucker down Man, I m So Lucky to Be a Jazz Musician 69and make a golden hoard of warriors.And somebody mistook my nefariousintent for an interest in music [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]