JAM: August/September 2005 Issue: Hampton's Hot Licks

Love Letters to JAM
Our correspondence section is the place where we hear from you, the reader about how good or bad we are doing. And you inform us of many jazzy tidbits that add to the value of JAM. We love your feedback and really do pay attention to it.

When my mother passed away, my brothers and I had an unbelievable amount of her papers to go through. Her passion for great articles got the best of her and we found a truck load of them. She would be laughing with us now if she saw one that I found tucked away in one of those boxes. It was titled, “How to Manage Clutter.” I decided that I would keep my kids from having to make the kind of the “pitch or save” decisions that we went through.

In working on my promise to myself and the kids, I recently started going through many boxes of jazz papers I have accumulated over the years. I was trying to pitch as much as possible. But there were some real treasure in those boxes. Most of these boxes were filled with pre-Internet items. There were beautiful letters to the editor (which was me at the time) from every continent except Antarctica. (How did they find us way back then - 10-12 years ago, without the Internet?)

A few of the best . . .

A guy from the Soviet Union wrote us about his inability to get good American jazz recordings. I turned that letter over to member, Stu Phillips who proceeded to solve this guy's problem. We mailed him several boxes of used recordings (LPs & tapes). It was not long before we received a five page letter from the man telling us a lot about jazz in Siberia and his lifestyle. This was July 1991. He explained to us that he would like to send us some of his music but couldn't. “... big problems with cassette tapes. I can buy it on black market only.” He commented about the political scene, “It's a very best political period because tomorrow Russian people will choose theyself president. For me he is Boris (could not read the last name). All others is not good variants.” He ended with, “Many warm, even hot (now we have +30 C! [86 F]) greetings to you & your Ambassador friends and special greetings to Jay McShann from me & all jazz scene of Norvisbrisk.”
In an autographed copy of Bill Gottlieb's “The Golden Age of Jazz” book, I had stored a postcard that Bill sent me one December. On the front was his most famous photo of Billy Holiday. On the address side of the card, he had written, Hello Dean, Happy Holidays!” At the time, Bill and I served together on the Board of Directors of the American Federation of Jazz Societies. That has to be one of the best holiday season cards I have ever received.
A great letter from Carl & Jean Bowman, parents of bassist, Bob Bowman, June 24, 1991. I had just written a feature story on Bob for the June ‘91 issue of JAM. Carl said, “You wrote the best article about Bob we've ever seen & your magazine is outstanding.” The included a check for a KCJA membership.
We received a letter from the African Heritage Research Library of Nigeria requesting back issues of JAM. We sent several and put them on distribution for a year.
Among the treasures are many letters from musicians for promoting and supporting them. One of the best was actually presented to the JAM team in person by Lisa Henry. It was a framed and autographed photo of her with Bill Cosby. The photo was taken while they waited to take the stage at a Playboy Jazz Festival. This one in now where it should be, hanging on the wall in front of me.

Women in Jazz
Still cleaning out the boxes, I found a four page list of quotes regarding women in music/jazz. I do not have room for all of them here so I will present these to you over several issues.

“Imagine with yourself what an unsightly matter it were to see a women play upon a tabour or drum, or blow in a flute or trumpet, or any like instrument; and this is because the boisterousness of them doth both cover and take away that sweet mildness which setteth so forth every deed that a woman doth.” — Baldassare Castiglione, author, diplomat, philosopher - 1598.

“Let our young ladies address themselves to the violin, the flute, the oboe, the harp, the clarinet, the bassoon, the kettledrum. It is more than possible upon some of these instruments the superior daintiness of the female tissue might finally make the woman a successful player.” – Sidney Lanier, poet, lecturer - 1898.

“Only God can make a tree, and only men can play good jazz.” – George Simon, jazz critic, author of several jazz books - year unknown.

“Jazz is a peculiarly male music for which most women lack the physical equipment, to say nothing of the poise.” – Whitney Balliet, jazz critic - New Yorker magazine -1977.

“I don't think women should be in an orchestra.”
– Zubin Mehtam, conductor - 1977

“A women's jazz festival” Isn't that sexist, discriminatory, and grossly restrictive? Not really, when one considers the bad time women jazz artists historically have had. One of the worn-out cliches of American music is that ‘women can't play jazz.' The Women's Jazz Festival has a place in what still can be regarded as pioneering days. – Kansas City Star editorial, November 22, 1977.

To be continued . . .

CD: “Take One” by the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra with Harold Jones and Lisa Henry
What a wonderful CD by Jim Mair and the KCJO with guests! This is just a quick heads up that the recording is currently only available at Streetside Record. These twelve super tunes are worthy of a spot in your big band collection. We will be reviewing the CD in the next issue but there is no need to linger. Get it now at Streetside OR, it will be available by mid August on the KCJO web site at www.kcjazzorchestra.org.






	Search our site:		Love Letters to JAM Our correspondence section is the place where we hear from you, the reader about how good or bad we are doing. And you inform us of many jazzy tidbits that add to the value of JAM. We love your feedback and really do pay attention to it. When my mother passed away, my brothers and I had an unbelievable amount of her papers to go through. Her passion for great articles got the best of her and we found a truck load of them. She would be laughing with us now if she saw one that I found tucked away in one of those boxes. It was titled, “How to Manage Clutter.” I decided that I would keep my kids from having to make the kind of the “pitch or save” decisions that we went through. In working on my promise to myself and the kids, I recently started going through many boxes of jazz papers I have accumulated over the years. I was trying to pitch as much as possible. But there were some real treasure in those boxes. Most of these boxes were filled with pre-Internet items. There were beautiful letters to the editor (which was me at the time) from every continent except Antarctica. (How did they find us way back then - 10-12 years ago, without the Internet?) A few of the best . . . A guy from the Soviet Union wrote us about his inability to get good American jazz recordings. I turned that letter over to member, Stu Phillips who proceeded to solve this guy's problem. We mailed him several boxes of used recordings (LPs & tapes). It was not long before we received a five page letter from the man telling us a lot about jazz in Siberia and his lifestyle. This was July 1991. He explained to us that he would like to send us some of his music but couldn't. “... big problems with cassette tapes. I can buy it on black market only.” He commented about the political scene, “It's a very best political period because tomorrow Russian people will choose theyself president. For me he is Boris (could not read the last name). All others is not good variants.” He ended with, “Many warm, even hot (now we have +30 C! [86 F]) greetings to you & your Ambassador friends and special greetings to Jay McShann from me & all jazz scene of Norvisbrisk.” In an autographed copy of Bill Gottlieb's “The Golden Age of Jazz” book, I had stored a postcard that Bill sent me one December. On the front was his most famous photo of Billy Holiday. On the address side of the card, he had written, Hello Dean, Happy Holidays!” At the time, Bill and I served together on the Board of Directors of the American Federation of Jazz Societies. That has to be one of the best holiday season cards I have ever received. A great letter from Carl & Jean Bowman, parents of bassist, Bob Bowman, June 24, 1991. I had just written a feature story on Bob for the June ‘91 issue of JAM. Carl said, “You wrote the best article about Bob we've ever seen & your magazine is outstanding.” The included a check for a KCJA membership. We received a letter from the African Heritage Research Library of Nigeria requesting back issues of JAM. We sent several and put them on distribution for a year. Among the treasures are many letters from musicians for promoting and supporting them. One of the best was actually presented to the JAM team in person by Lisa Henry. It was a framed and autographed photo of her with Bill Cosby. The photo was taken while they waited to take the stage at a Playboy Jazz Festival. This one in now where it should be, hanging on the wall in front of me. Women in Jazz Still cleaning out the boxes, I found a four page list of quotes regarding women in music/jazz. I do not have room for all of them here so I will present these to you over several issues. “Imagine with yourself what an unsightly matter it were to see a women play upon a tabour or drum, or blow in a flute or trumpet, or any like instrument; and this is because the boisterousness of them doth both cover and take away that sweet mildness which setteth so forth every deed that a woman doth.” — Baldassare Castiglione, author, diplomat, philosopher - 1598. “Let our young ladies address themselves to the violin, the flute, the oboe, the harp, the clarinet, the bassoon, the kettledrum. It is more than possible upon some of these instruments the superior daintiness of the female tissue might finally make the woman a successful player.” – Sidney Lanier, poet, lecturer - 1898. “Only God can make a tree, and only men can play good jazz.” – George Simon, jazz critic, author of several jazz books - year unknown. “Jazz is a peculiarly male music for which most women lack the physical equipment, to say nothing of the poise.” – Whitney Balliet, jazz critic - New Yorker magazine -1977. “I don't think women should be in an orchestra.” – Zubin Mehtam, conductor - 1977 “A women's jazz festival” Isn't that sexist, discriminatory, and grossly restrictive? Not really, when one considers the bad time women jazz artists historically have had. One of the worn-out cliches of American music is that ‘women can't play jazz.' The Women's Jazz Festival has a place in what still can be regarded as pioneering days. – Kansas City Star editorial, November 22, 1977. To be continued . . . CD: “Take One” by the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra with Harold Jones and Lisa Henry What a wonderful CD by Jim Mair and the KCJO with guests! This is just a quick heads up that the recording is currently only available at Streetside Record. These twelve super tunes are worthy of a spot in your big band collection. We will be reviewing the CD in the next issue but there is no need to linger. Get it now at Streetside OR, it will be available by mid August on the KCJO web site at www.kcjazzorchestra.org. RETURN TO AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2005 MAIN INDEX © Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors 1996-2004. All rights reserved.