GONE TOO SOON - Jazz Legends who died young

[Fiftyfifty]

About a year ago, I I had made a presentation on this subject to a few music groups in Pune. The presentation contained music and video clips, anecdotes and trivia about the artistes being discussed. It was a bit dark, considering the nature of the subject, but also entertaining because of the artistry and talent on display. Happily, the presentation got a large section of the 'fringe' audience interested in jazz. I'm hoping that the same will happen here when I post excerpts of the presentation in this thread.
I'm not posting this under a new thread and not in the 'All that Jazz' thread with the hope that this will trigger the interest of those who have not yet fully stepped into the magical and fascinating world of jazz.
Enjoy!

 

[Jayant_S]

Straight into my watch list of threads

 

[Fiftyfifty]

Jazz is magical and uplifting. Characterized by creative talent of the highest order, jazz musicians have brought joy to millions. But were their own lives joyful? Many of jazz’s greatest figures left us too soon. Life on the road took its toll. Their tendency to creatively push the musical envelope had some push their personal lives too. The hard life on the road, peer pressure to take a ‘hit’ and prevalent racial prejudices added to their vulnerability. Others were plain unfortunate, killed in accidents, club fights and murders. The fact that these represent some of the biggest names in jazz today is testimony to their enormous talent. And while fate took these great personalities away from us, it could not take away their music, which lives on. Who were these artistes, what made them so great and why did they leave so soon?

 

[moktan]

I am sure this is mentioned in you presentation so apologies for jumping right in ..
I remember Clifford was written by Benny Golson in memory of Clifford Brown who died at the age of twenty five. The irony was that unlike the jazz men of his times he lead a clean life and it was an accident that took him away.

 

[Fiftyfifty]

Straight into my watch list of threads

Thanks Jayant. This will be so much more interesting if other FMs contribute too!

 

[Fiftyfifty]

I am sure this is mentioned in you presentation so apologies for jumping right in ..
I remember Clifford was written by Benny Golson in memory of Clifford Brown who died at the age of twenty five. The irony was that unlike the jazz men of his times he lead a clean life and it was an accident that took him away.

Yes Moktan, he features very early in the presentation

 

[moktan]

Scott La Farro also age 25 accident ..

 

[Fiftyfifty]

In this thread, I'll try to to look at some great artistes with tremendous creative talent, but also at some troubled lives. Too many great jazz artistes have died young. To a question "Are there any great jazz players alive today?"
Yogi Bera is said to have replied "No. All the great jazz players alive today are dead. Except for the ones that are still alive. But so many of them are dead, that the ones that are still alive are dying to be like the ones that are dead”

Why did so many die young?

• Hard life on the road.
• Great creativity is often accompanied by eccentricities and a desire to experiment.
• The mistaken belief that taking a ‘hit’ would enhance their performance/ peer pressure
• Poverty
• Racial prejudices
• Lack of medical facilities
• Traveling in groups
• Just pure bad luck – accidents and murders

When we look at the music, let us not forget the circumstances in which these artistes grew up, the demands that their profession made on them, and let us not be moralistic and judgemental. These great mean and women deserve our empathy.

 

[rikhav]

Hello sir
You mentioned poverty as of the reasons

So safe to assume those times they did not earn handsomely as musicians?
Comparing to what it's now. Even one single hit makes that person rich enough to lead a decent life.
I don't say they don't work hard but maybe due to social media it's little easy today for people with any kind of talent.

Sorry for not contributing to thread but my knowledge is very limited on this subject.

 

[Fiftyfifty]

Said to possess Perfect pitch

They called him 'Golden voice'

He Smoked because he believed smoking gave his voice better timbre

Died of lung cancer at 45

Listen to 'Embraceable You' a jazz standard. In the coming posts, I will post links to versions of this standard performed by 4 great trumpeters, each with his own unique style. See how they handle this same tune so differently
"Embraceable You" is a popular jazz song, with music by George Gershwin and lyrics by Ira Gershwin. The song was originally written in 1928 for an unpublished operetta named East Is West.

 

[Fiftyfifty]

Hello sir
You mentioned poverty as of the reasons

So safe to assume those times they did not earn handsomely as musicians?
Comparing to what it's now. Even one single hit makes that person rich enough to lead a decent life.
I don't say they don't work hard but maybe due to social media it's little easy today for people with any kind of talent.

Sorry for not contributing to thread but my knowledge is very limited on this subject.

Jazz musicians, except for a handful, even today don't earn 'enough to lead a decent life'. That's the sad part!

 

[Naturelover]

How young is young?

 

[Jayant_S]

Thanks Jayant. This will be so much more interesting if other FMs contribute too!

So many artists were victims of substance abuse but the saddest losses were those who stayed clean and were taken from us. Buddy Holly, Duane Allman, Clifford Brown, Jim Croce, Lee Morgan...the list goes on. But let me not digress from the Jazz theme

 

[moktan]

Philipp Larkin’s assessment of the bebop is frankly quite infuriating. Fixated on Swing he does not have much good things to report about modern Jazz ( for his time ). Two extracts from his Jazz Writings ( jazz essays for The Guardian compiled into a book ) has some very uncharitable things to say about the great Charlie Parker who too died quite young at 34

.

 

[Fiftyfifty]

Now here are 4 trumpet greats performing that same 'Embraceable You'. Run the Nat King Cole version in your mind while listening to these improvisations. That will tell you what jazz is all about
The artistes featured are:

Miles Davis

Freddie Hubbard

Clifford Brown

Wynton Marsalis - I like what he says: People will be playing this song as long as they are falling in love!

Pay particular attention to Clifford Brown, who, as Moktan mentioned, died in a car accident at 25. He will be the next featured artiste, but I'll lie low for a week before posting any further.

Cheers!

 

[Sushant Sharma]

John Coltrane at age 40. His wife Alice Coltrane later adopted a Hindu name and had a lot of Indian instruments in her music. We know of Coltrane"s drug issues and being booted off by Miles from his band. Coltrane himself was influenced by the mystic east and its music. Would I be correct in assuming, had he lived, he would have made some more music with Indian artists or with themes borrowed from Indian music?

 

[Fiftyfifty]

So many artists were victims of substance abuse but the saddest losses were those who stayed clean and were taken from us. Buddy Holly, Duane Allman, Clifford Brown, Jim Croce, Lee Morgan...the list goes on. But let me not digress from the Jazz theme

Lee Morgan clean??? Wait till you read about him in this thread

 

[Jayant_S]

Philipp Larkin’s assessment of the bebop is frankly quite infuriating. Fixated on Swing he does not have much good things to report about modern Jazz ( for his time ). Two extracts from his Jazz Writings ( jazz essays for The Guardian compiled into a book ) has some very uncharitable things to say about the great Charlie Parker who too died quite young at 34.View attachment 45321
View attachment 45320

I stopped reading write-ups by music critics ages ago to keep my BP in check Some critics are nasty deprived souls and jazz critics are the most cynical of the lot. Like Oscar Wilde said " who wants a cynic who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing"

 

[Fiftyfifty]

Philipp Larkin’s assessment of the bebop is frankly quite infuriating. Fixated on Swing he does not have much good things to report about modern Jazz ( for his time ). Two extracts from his Jazz Writings ( jazz essays for The Guardian compiled into a book ) has some very uncharitable things to say about the great Charlie Parker who too died quite young at 34.View attachment 45321
View attachment 45320

Bebop is what drew me to jazz in the first place. I was so fascinated, still am, by Charlie Parker in Bird

 

[Jayant_S]

Lee Morgan clean??? Wait till you read about him in this thread

Agreed but he was shot