I remember one time Scotty came home with an LP under his arm. I adored him, and I was thrilled to be able to work with him. Later in high school, kids would go to the movies with their friends, or boyfriends, or girlfriends. You know how some people (and you may be one of them) like to go on YouTube and listen to isolated Beach Boys backing vocals and John Bonham drum parts? His death came just ten days after recording two live albums with the Bill Evans Trio, Sunday at the Village Vanguard and Waltz . All is possible, and then all is no more. In his playing you can hear how happy Evans is to have this helmsman at the back of the boatI think it helped him see better at the front. "Route 66" songwriter Bobby Troup was the show's host. When Scotty was in sixth grade we took our first piano lessons. Providing entertainment, education, and the energizing force that pulls us all together in celebration of great work. Scott LaFaro - Death. His death came just ten days after recording two live albums with the Bill Evans Trio, Sunday at the Village Vanguard and Waltz for Debby, albums considered among the finest live jazz recordings. Scott died instantly and the world lost a talented andinnovative musical voice. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faSD3g1ndHE, LaFaro began working regularly with Ornette after Evans became ill with hepatitis in July 1960 and went to Florida to recuperate at his parents home amid rumors that hed died. 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. Scotty also befriended the pianist-composer Victor Feldman, and recorded with him and drummer Stan Levey in January 1958. Shortly after, their collaboration began. The top of the instrument is a three-piece plate of slab-cut fir; the back is a two-piece plate of moderately flamed maple with an ebony inlay at the center joint; the sides are made of matching maple. ~ Scott Yanow. Cloudflare Ray ID: 7a154b16ff047cd4 We spoke with LaFaro-Fernandez by phone to give us a glimpse on her brothers formative years in Geneva. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNqSL3xGW70, The Evans Trios appearance at the Village Vanguard opposite Lambert, Hendricks & Ross in June 1961 culminated with the legendary recordings made on the last day of the two-week engagement, Sunday, June 25. 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. 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. 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. 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. Bassist Scott LaFaro would die in a car accident just ten days after this album's recording, at the age of 25. LaFaro began by practicing his fingers off. It was then he fell in love with the tenor saxophone. We would explore all around our neighborhood on West Street our house was where the elementary school is. Helene makes no secret of LaFaros exacting standards and competitive personality, and she quotes many who testify to the same. She had lost her husband, then four years later lost her son, and she still had young kids to raise. In May 1960, the Bill Evans Trio joined in a program at Circle in the Square that was devoted to Gunther Schullers jazz compositions. Brockton-born alto player and clarinetist Dick Johnson was also on the band. LaFaro was honored in 2012 in Geneva, where a street was renamed Scott LaFaro Drive and an annual Scott LaFaroDay was inaugurated. Scotty sort of led the way on the bass becoming a solo instrument in its own right. Published since 1970, JazzTimesAmericas Jazz Magazineprovides comprehensive and in-depth coverage of the jazz scene. The CD reissue of the album contains several outtakes. Includes Obituary, Biography, Discography, Photo, and Links. 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. Motian operated the same way; if anything, he was even more of a painter than the leader. They spent so much time discussing music, listening to records, at the piano, they were inseparable. Musician. It was an idyllic childhood. He became a professional musician in New York City during the Roaring 20s. One of the most substantial biographies Ive read in recent years is the 2009 publication that Helene LaFaro-Fernandez devoted to her brother Scott. Bill had first heard Scotty with Chet Baker three years earlierNot long after we were back off the Goodman tour, there was a call waiting for Scottythat Bill wanted him to work with him., The first meeting of what became known as the trio took place at a Tony Scott recording date on October 28 and 29, 1959. In 2009 she published a biography about him, Jade Visions: The Life and Music of Scott LaFaro. I suppose technically, yes, though its also far more, and thats a LaFaro thing. The Jazz la Mode Blog has plenty to stimulate your interest and curiosity in American music. I quit very fast, but he was a natural. Nearly six decades later, Helene LaFaro-Fernandez continues to keep her older brothers flame alive. Composer: LaFaro More on his story here. He was in his second year at college to study music when he joined Buddy Morrow's band and went on a cross country tour. Jan. 30, 2021 1:47 PM PT. 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 2007, 46 years later, Roy introduced Helene to the great bassist Christian McBride. LaFaro took the opportunity, and he was the trios helmsman. I get 10 to 12 emails a day asking about Scotty. I return to the idea of the helmsman, because LaFaro always plays as if hes en route to some vital destination, and hes helping to take other musicians there, and, of course, those of us who are listening in. The three not duplicated here were played only once that day. Later in high school, kids would go to the movies with their friends, or boyfriends, or girlfriends. 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. Also, the last picture taken by a person just before their death is acceptable. [10] ~ Charles A. Ralston, A Site About Dead Musicians and how they got that way. That huge sound and strength of attack is finger-sprung alone. Gleason commented, It is, however, as a vehicle for bassist Scott LaFaro that the LP really impresses. Later in the year, he toured and recorded with the Cal Tjader-Stan Getz Sextet. Performers: Ornette Coleman, as; Don Cherry, c; Scott Lafaro, b; Ed Blackwell, d. New York City, 31 Jan 1961. We would explore all around our neighborhood on West Street our house was where the elementary school is. 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. During World War II the club scene changed and he came back to Geneva where he could find work. Also in 2009, the University of North Texas Press published Jade Visions, a biography of LaFaro by his sister Helene LaFaro-Fernandez, with an extensive discography. Scotty and I were born in New Jersey but we moved back to Geneva in 1942. The entire day's recordings were released in 2005 as The Complete Village Vanguard Recordings, 1961. Well, Michael Cera did play a bassist in Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World. Thats his brand of intimacy: the sensation of the stolen moment. Member Of . She proposed the demo as something to shop around to record labels; alas, nothing came of it. After that touch of piano, he really started to enjoy music and develop a keen awareness of what it was all about. Performance & security by Cloudflare. In 2009 she published a biography about him, Jade Visions: The Life and Music of Scott LaFaro. 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. The last day was recorded for two albums, Sunday at the Village Vanguard and Waltz for Debby.[8]. The 25-year old Scott LaFaro's death in a car accident shortly after was a major shock to the jazz world. It was written with so much love and insight. His records with Bill Evans are among the finest jazz trio discs . The car, tree and garage all caught fire. Born in Newark, New Jersey, he was an influential jazz bassist best known for his work with the Bill Evans Trio. . After Scotty joined the Buddy Morrow Orchestra, he traveled with them all over the country until they reached California, as he really wanted to be where the West Coast jazz scene was happening. July 6, 1961 in Seneca, NY. Sometimes its defined by contrasting stylistic paths that amalgamate into a career, as with Miles Davis. Evans was an articulate interweaver of a pianist, a melodic speaker, a filigree lord rather than a rhythm king. Upon returning to L.A., LaFaro phoned his friend Herb Geller, who was then playing alto with Benny Goodman in New York. At the time it was such a revolutionary idea, and it ushered in a sea change for jazz. Composer: Urso Then wed go home and have dinner and ice cream. Read about our approach to external linking. Q: Did you and your brother spend time at the Smith Opera House (which was Schines Geneva Theatre back then)? 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. We also spent time at the First Presbyterian Church choir. Scott LaFaro at Newport July 2, 1961 - Killed in a Car Wreck 4 days later. LaFaro also played opposite bassist Charlie Haden in alto saxophonist Ornette Coleman's experimental double quartet on Free Jazz. The tendency is to associate him with classical predilections, but here he is at one of the zeitgeist-shaking avant-garde sessions, and boy, does he drive the sound. 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. 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. The 25-year-old Scott LaFaro's death in a car accident shortly after was a major shock to the jazz world. Then wed go home and have dinner and ice cream. The Scott La Faro book was wonderful. Already a member? He heard what I was doing at the piano, and I heard what he was doing. LaFaro started his professional career playing a German-made Mittenwald double bass but it was stolen in the Spring of 1958. That show typically includes stories about LaFaro, who forever changed the jazz worlds concept of what bass playing could accomplish with his counter-melodic style. He played sessions at the Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach, and roomed with fellow bassist Charlie Haden, who recalled the first time LaFaro mentioned Bill Evans. Scottys death was hard on my Mom. LaFaro died in an automobile accident on July 6, 1961 in Flint, New York on U.S. Route 20 between Geneva and Canandaigua, four days after accompanying Stan Getz at the Newport Jazz Festival. Styles. In the mid 1950s, at the Los Angeles music scene, he became known as one of. Performers: Victor Feldman, p, vib; Scott LaFaro, b; Stan Levey, d. 22 Jan 1958. In addition to hosting Jazz la Mode since 1984, Tom writes the jazz blog and produces the Jazz Beat podcast at NEPM. Everything. One of the most substantial biographies I've read in recent years is the 2009 publication that Helene LaFaro-Fernandez devoted to her brother Scott. Jim Hall. By. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZ_rZZusz90, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbTEgBEaEM4. This article is about the 1961 Village Vanguard recordings. Performers: Stan Getz, ts; Steve Kuhn, p; Scott LaFaro, b; Roy Haynes d. Newport, 2 July 1961. My mom was still pregnant with my last sister. It is still so wild to me that he was so influential. When Scotty was killed at age 25 (I was 24), I was devastated I couldn't play for months. Evans and Dolphy dont feature on a couple tunes, while LaFaro is the constant. Steve Kuhn, who felt a brotherly kinship with Scotty and says his sudden death was the first major loss of my life, describes him as very strong-willed. (He also says that LaFaro, who was a fan of Formula One and sports car racing, drove a little too friskily for my taste.) A case in point was LaFaros departure from Kenton, which was precipitated by his displeasure with the bands new drummer, a situation that would repeat itself in 61 when he insisted that Stan Getz replace drummer Pete LaRoca. It originally appeared as a solo piano piece on Evans' debut album, New Jazz Conceptions. A driver was killed when a car crashed into a home in the Hancock Park . Sign in to continue reading, Sixty years after the bass greats untimely death, a look at his musical legacy beyond the Bill Evans Trio. The album was the fourth and final effort from the unitLaFaro died in a car accident just ten days after the live date at the Village Vanguard from which Waltz for Debby and its predecessor, Sunday at the Village Vanguard, were taken. Its the top of the sheet, instead of the coarseness of the winter blanket. comments . He wanted the conversation back and forth between each of the players, and he wanted to play melody. Hes just so damn elegant. 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