It was then he fell in love with the tenor saxophone. The 25-year-old Scott LaFaro's death in a car accident shortly after was a major shock to the jazz world. It will be observed on his birthday anniversary, April 3. The 25-year old Scott LaFaro's death in a car accident shortly after was a major shock to the jazz world. LaFaro and his stellar bandmates pianist Don Friedman and drummer Pete LaRoca run through four jazz standards, including two takes of Sacre Blu. It was written with so much love and insight. The Complete Village Vanguard Recordings, 1961, "The 100 Greatest Bass Players of All Time - BassPlayer.com", "It was just one afternoon in a jazz club forty years ago", "It's official: April 3 will be Scott LaFaro Day in Geneva", "Innovation and Inspiration: Geneva celebrates the life and legacy of renowned jazz musician Scott LaFaro", "Honoring Scott LaFaro in Geneva, NY: Scott LaFaro Day, street re-naming, and a special Geneva Night Out on April 4th", NAMM Oral History Interview with Helene La Faro, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Scott_LaFaro&oldid=1141284283, CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown, Articles with dead external links from July 2021, Short description is different from Wikidata, Pages using infobox musical artist with associated acts, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2022, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. Did you and your brother spend time at the Smith Opera House (which was Schines Geneva Theatre back then)? His sense of time was freer, less tied to the ground beat, than any jazz bassist had previously acheivedIt is not going too far to see this short-lived trio as redefining the nature of the jazz rhythm section. 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. A driver was killed when a car crashed into a home in the Hancock Park . What happened to your brother after Ithaca College? He remembered that Scotty was dressed up for the Newport appearance. He was his own thing. LaFaro completed his first year at Ithaca, but not his second. It was there his career exploded. Performers: Victor Feldman, p, vib; Scott LaFaro, b; Stan Levey, d. 22 Jan 1958. While driving home late one nighthis car went off the road and struck a tree. It is these performances, currently available as Sunday at The Village Vanguard and Waltz for Debby that comprise the number one best jazz live recording in this present series. Ted Gioia, in his 1997 survey,The History of Jazz, said, "LaFarotook far greater chances, departing markedly from the traditional walking line, instead offering countermelodies and guitar-like phrases. [17], When I was in L.A., Scotty LaFaro and I roomed together. Cool Modal Music Post-Bop. Performers: Bill Evans, p; Scott LaFaro, b; Paul Motian, d. 7 May 1960. Ornette drew mixed reviews everywhere including Monterey, where his performance of Youll Never Know elicited a scathing review from John Tynan, who said it was patently bad, disturbed, and utterly unhappy. Still, he singled out LaFaro for his brilliant technique and ideas [that] were remarked on by all., Scotty was given to introspective thoughts about where the music was going and what he recognized as the increasing distance between jazzs new direction and the public. LaFaro achieved fame in the Bill Evans Trio, which he joined in 1959 and which featured Paul Motian on drums. Scotty grew up in Geneva, where his father Joe, whod played with the Paul Whiteman and Dorsey Brothers orchestras, earned a living as a violinist and shared his fondness for both classical music and big band jazz with his children. It was then he fell in love with the tenor saxophone. LaFaro is a potent cup of teaa brilliant future is in store for this youthful bassist from Geneva, N.Y., (Film footage ofLaFarois extremely rare. Cloudflare Ray ID: 7a154b16ff047cd4 LaFaro was killed in a car accident ten days after the recording. Bassist Scott LaFaro of Geneva had already achieved acclaim when he died in a car accident at the age of 25. 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. On March 5, 2014, the Geneva (New York) City Council approved making April 3 Scott LaFaro Day. "[3], It was voted number 465 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).[10]. Performers: Stan Getz, ts; Steve Kuhn, p; Scott LaFaro, b; Roy Haynes d. Newport, 2 July 1961. "Route 66" songwriter Bobby Troup was the show's host. LaFaro's death took an enormous emotional toll on Bill Evans, who was, according to drummer Paul Motian, "numb with grief," "in a state of shock," and "like a ghost" after LaFaro's death. LaFaro left Morrow and settled in Los Angeles in 1957. The important thing is his art while he lived. My father passed away (from a heart attack) in 1957. In 2009 she published a biography about him, Jade Visions: The Life and Music of Scott LaFaro. With my mom and Scotty and my two sisters and then our own kids, we eventually had to build onto the house. Genres. I quit very fast, but he was a natural. 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. Performers: Pat Moran, p; Scott LaFaro, b; Gene Gammage, d. 1958. We were like brothers., Six months before the session with Kuhn, LaFaro recorded with trumpeter Booker Little on April 13 and 15. 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). Your IP: [11], Bill Evans said of LaFaro's Prescott bass: "It had a marvelous sustaining and resonating quality. Performers: Chet Baker, tp; Phil Urso, ts; Francy Boland, p; Larance Marable, d; Scott LaFaro, b. 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. Chicago, 1956. comments . [3] He took up double bass at 18 before entering college because learning a string instrument was required of music education majors. So even a low speed accident which would be survivable in today's cars, would be a mess in an older car. 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. A copy of the latest annual report may be obtained from the Smith Center or from the Office of the Attorney General, Charities Bureau, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271. Does anyone have pictures of this bass, or have you seen it in person? [1] With Evans and drummer Paul Motian he developed the counter-melodic style that would come to characterize his playing. DSD 128 fs (2) DSD 64 fs (2) . Other birthdays Monday: Jimmy McGriff, 64; Harold Vick, 19361987; and Eric Kloss, 51. 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.. That left air and spaceand timewhich could do with some filling, some shaping. Musician. The texture, however, is the back of the handthats the form of caress, rather than the rough-skinned palm. LaFaro continued to play this bass until his death. [5] He left that organization to work in Los Angeles. Thanks to Rifftides readers Frank Roellinger and Svetlana Ilyicheva for alerting us that last Thursday, Geneva honored LaFaro on his 78th birthday by proclaiming April 3rd its first annual Scott LaFaro Day. Scotty and I rented a house for Mom and the girls, I got married a few months later and (soon) we all moved into a new house in a new development in West Hills. In fact, the tune Glorias Step, was an outgrowth of his interest in those chords. He also recalls getting the call from Scotty to spell the ailing Evans for a couple of nights at the Jazz Gallery. Freidman, LaRoca, and LaFaro recorded a demo session in 61 thats now available in a companion CD to the biography,Pieces of Jade. Scotty was on the road at the time, in California. LaFaro started his professional career playing a German-made Mittenwald double bass but it was stolen in the Spring of 1958. According to Paul Motian, the death of LaFaro left Bill Evans "numb with grief", "in a state of shock", and "like a ghost". 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. MTV, EMA and all related titles, logos and characters are trademarks of Viacom International Inc. 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It was an idyllic childhood. Scotty also befriended the pianist-composer Victor Feldman, and recorded with him and drummer Stan Levey in January 1958. Colin Fleming writes fiction and nonfiction on myriad topicsart, film, music, sports, literature, current eventsfor a wide range of publications, and talks regularly on radio and podcasts. 1.1 Gloria's Step [Take 2] 1.2 My Man's Gone Now 1.3 Solar 1.4 Alice in Wonderland [Take 2] 1.5 All of You [Take 2] 1.6 Jade Visions . By City News Service. Each year during the first week of April, The Smith hosts the Scott LaFaro Day Celebration concert that features a contemporary bass player. Available Qualities. [9], Writing for AllMusic, music critic Thom Jurek wrote of the album: "While the Sunday at the Village Vanguard album focused on material where LaFaro soloed prominently, this is far more a portrait of the trio on those dates Of the many recordings Evans issued, the two Vanguard dates and Explorations are the ultimate expressions of his legendary trio. Scott LaFaro - Artist Details. [14] On April 4, 2014 a ceremony to rename a downtown street Scott LaFaro Drive took place. Kuhn is uncertain about exactly where he met LaFaro, but says it was most likely when he heard the Evans trio at the Five Spot late in 1959. The title track, a musical portrait of Evans' niece, became a staple of his live repertoire in later years. After that touch of piano, he really started to enjoy music and develop a keen awareness of what it was all about. The group attended the funeral in Geneva, which Kuhn adds was closed casket., LaFaro's death was devastating to Bill Evans. Scotty sort of led the way on the bass becoming a solo instrument in its own right. Read more about this topic: Scott LaFaro, Time is here and youll go his way.Your lung is waiting in the death market.Your face beside me will grow indifferent.Darling, you will yield up your belly and becored like an apple.Anne Sexton (19281974), Poor fellow never joyed since the price of oats rose, it wasthe death of him.William Shakespeare (15641616), Ai! In the latter case, Getz fired LaRoca and hired Roy Haynes, but Kenton wasn't about to be second-guessed. [1] He played in groups at the College Spa and Joe's Restaurant[4] on State Street in downtown Ithaca. He played a lot of top, cymbals, and Scotty wanted more drums, says Kuhn. 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. 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. He lives in Boston and has contributed toJazzTimessince 2006. Our Dad was from here. Stan was playing a melody, and Scott began doubling it. Both Nat Hentoff and Ralph J. Gleason took note. Composer: Styne / Sondheim We would explore all around our neighborhood on West Street our house was where the elementary school is. Dad (Joe LaFaro) never forced us to play music. Other times, its distilled into a moment that seems to transcend itself, and thus it went for Paul Gonsalves, hero of a Newport afternoon. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. Often controversial, always entertaining, JazzTimes is a favorite of musicians and fans alike. He would practice for hours: he had all these Sonny Rollins solos he had written out in bass clef! When Scotty came east to play with Goodman, he shared a cold-water flat in the East 70s with Freidman that went for $18 a month. Toggle filters. 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. Also included is "Porgy", originally omitted for lack of space.[]" Scott LaFaro at Newport July 2, 1961 - Killed in a Car Wreck 4 days later. Helene says that she and Scotty were taken to hear Tony Bennett, the Mills Brothers, Dizzy Gillespie and numerous others. The group includes Victor Feldman, Stan Levey, and trombonist Frank Rosolino. 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. Performers: Bill Evans, p; Scott LaFaro, b; Paul Motian, d. Village Vanguard, 25 June 1961. Bill Evans. And there truly couldn't be a better way to . 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