CATACLYSMS OF BIBLICAL PROPORTIONS ROCK HAWAII’S SOCKS

you all know the Hawaiian picture post cards: sunny climes, sandy beaches, the blue-green Pacific waters lapping them, the wave curls of the Bonsai Pipeline, the surfers, Diamond Head always looming in the distance, other defunct volcanoes strung together forming mountain ranges, the Pearl Harbor Memorials, the rainbows, sometimes double, triple and even quadruple helixes. one can almost hear the string sounds of steel guitars and ukuleles wafting as you look at them, “having a great time; wish you could hear.” [sound of stylus running across record right here!]

during early March coinciding with our vacation in this Paradise the worst storms in their history –perhaps in anyone’s, certainly ours– jazzed up the Islands. to wit: tornadoes –one by land, one a water spout, think Moses– heavy rain –three feet, yes i said feet, in two days in Kauai; winds up to 60 mpg like to take the panels and roofs off houses; hail, first marble-size, then golf ball, finally tennis ball. folks were collecting the stuff in baggies, marking them and freezing for posterity. thunder storms with three kinds of lightning, a light show which lasted some 20 minutes: ball, ground and horizontal. all the while we were hearing of sunny temps in the Apple higher than ours.

after an 11-hour flight from Newark a ten-minute trip to Fran’s uncle’s house on Oahu where we were staying took 1 1/2 hours due to a downed power line. (N.B.: Fran is vocalist Fran McIntyre, Ms, Smith. more on her later.)

was this Yahweh’s new set of plagues? it rained steadily for the first four days and intermittently for the rest of our ten-day stay. while the surging surf eroded those legendary beaches, both sandy and lava, it made for some exciting moments as water noisily and scarily gushed through the famous Blow Hole and lapped the roads we were told to avoid due to flash-flooding. everything shut down; for this tourist dominated destination that in itself spelled disaster. Pearl, the Polynesian Center, the Dole Plantation, Waikiki all mostly dark. all you could do was shop!

while water didn’t become wine, the sea did turn brown from the runoff.

UNCLE RUDY TO THE RESCUE

Fran’s Uncle Rudy McIntyre –a trumpet-playing Shriner– and his girlfriend Harriet saved the day. he piled us into his little hybrid –gas is beaucoup expensivo– and took us on a tour of the foreboding North Shore where we ate at one of those famous roadside shrimp trucks, dessert at the mountainside “Crouching Lion,” where this photo of some of the devastation was shot, stopping off at the gift shop at Dole and a chocolatier called “Donkey Balls” –the dark chocolate-covered macs which give the place its name were to die from– as well at some beach overlooks and the Blow Hole.  getting down to other beaches was not an option due to wind and rain.

storm damage Oahu North Coast photo arnold jay smith

Rudy McIintyre is a member of a group of mostly retired musicians –some still play club dates– who gather at the new Shriners Childrens Hospital weekly to rehearse stock jazz charts which they concert later at the hospital’s charity functions. the band is called “Pote’s Band” short for Potentates. Fran sat-in for a couple, “Kansas City” and “Amazing Grace,” she left ‘em pleading for more.

PEARL HARBOR MEMORIALS

whenever i’m in Oahu ;>) i always make the trek to Pearl. the Missouri is permanently berthed there now. my father, who was Chief Electrical mate at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, worked on the Bg Mo and other ships. consequently, i have been aboard her many times but never as an adult. for me it was a teary tour, indeed. Fran made it all the way topside, cane and all. it was she who coined the phrase which became part of the title of this blog after hearing FDR in the film accompanying the trip to the Arizona Memorial, and experiencing the weather.

HULA HARRIET

Rudy’s lady friend, Harriet, widow of a retired Navel Chief, hosted a Purim Party at the historic synagogue at Pearl. she is a studied hula dancer which she demonstrated for us at dinner. her hands actually spoke to us.

later in the week on the Lanai at the Halekulani Hotel in Waikiki bathed in a Pacific sunset –it rained later that night– she danced again, more formally this time. as it was St. Patrick’s day we gave her the sobriquet “Lovely Houlihan.” the leader of the classic Hawaiian string trio playing that night called it her stage name. perhaps it will stick.

sunset over the Pacific photo Fran McIntyre

THE TRIP HOME: TRUE INFAMY

just as we relaxed our guard we returned the rental car, a Dodge Caliber soon to be mercifully EX-Caliber as they are discontinuing it, and got to the Honolulu United Airlines terminal 2 1/2 hours ahead of our scheduled departure. (United and Continental had merged at the outset of our trip creating havoc across the board.)

the line snaked from the undermanned check-in kiosks clear out the door. there were no Caps nor curbside check-in. no supervisory personnel to be found. Fran managed to get us a manager by quietly telling someone we are handicapped and need our wheelchairs. i wouldn’t have been as quiet.

it was a super jumbo Triple 7 filled to capacity. THEY RAN OUT OF FOOD. FOR PURCHASE! i’m a diabetic so i persisted, loudly. Fran scored a banana from one of the hostesses, which posed the question, if Hawaii does not allow produce in or out and my Granny Smith apple, which does not grow there, was confiscated, how did that banana, which does, slip aboard?

our luggage, for which we paid extra –remember the shopping– went with the equipment to DC, thence back to Long Island, finally to us the next afternoon.

suggestions: do not fly United. buy food at the airport prior to departure.

conclusion: there is no Paradise, at least not on earth.

- © arnold jay smith

March 2012

BIG BAND, ORCHESTRA, DYNASTY, HIGH SCHOOL COMPETITION

under the aegis of the indefatigable Sue Mingus, widow of Charles, the above emphatic if repetitively self-titled bassist’s album sprang to life during the 2012 Presidents Day weekend. there were a Mingus Big Band weekend at Jazz Standard (8 sets); the Mingus Orchestra at St. Bart’s Church (Sat.) and at the Standard (Mon, 2 sets), the Mingus Dynasty Ensemble at Manhattan School of Music, all wrapped around the otherwise enveloping Mingus High School Competition at MSM (both Sun.).

it was tough-sledding for one aging jazzster for an only-in-New York-happening- crowded wonderment of a weekend. in addition to the Minguses there was the Jazz at Lincoln Center Band fete for Stan Kenton’s Centenary (Fri. & Sat.) (next post) and a tribute to Four Black Immortals at Avery Fisher Hall (Sat). if planned carefully one could dance on every tune, work every room and not fall out from exhaustion, even catch some z’s. i could have nailed it if i had gotten the info on the Immortals in a more timely manner.

I. THE MINGUS BIG BAND

this aggregation was never an option for Charles when he was alive. expensive and expansive in the extreme, in Charles’ life it would be too unwieldy. there was that now-legendary Mingus Workshop Ensemble Town Hall concert where arranger Sy Johnson was passing around charts from the wings  as they were being written.

mixing metaphors, Sue took the baton and ran with it. she hired Johnson and together formed a powerhouse band which began its performing life –fittingly for Charles– underground at a place called Fez in lower Manhattan, NYC. they packed them in (literally) every Mon. night for years. they recorded for Dreyfus Jazz, for which i was publicist, so when, with some trepidation –and our encouragement– Sue decided to expand to a weekend the gauntlet was thrown. after getting all our PR ducks in a row i split for part of that weekend. upon my return i was greeted by “you are wonderful” telephone message from Sue which was high praise from her usually taciturn façade. they had sold out the joint for all three nights.

“EPITAPH” LEGACY

Sue uncovered snippets of not-always-music-manuscript and with the help of Johnson  and Gunther Schuller pieced together the monumental multi-movement “Epitaph” at Alice Tully Hall for 35 musicians. to my mind both the Big Band and Orchestra owes their genesis and continued permanence to those “Epitaph” movements, which are still in the book.

one such, “Children’s Hour of Dreams,” was performed at Jazz Standard on Friday night’s brooch of five Mingus originals during the first set.

the writing for the ensemble is brilliant. in the case of Mingus/Schuller that is understatement as anything they’ve done together has been nothing short of such. Mingus the colorist combines with Schuller the classicist to produce multi-hues and moods. (for the uninitiated award-winning author/educator Schuller is a french-hornist who has played on Miles Davis’ “Birth of the Cool” band. he has also conducted Scott Joplin’s “Red Back Book” with the New England Conservatory Brass Ensemble. and, with John Lewis, coined the term “Third Stream.)

the set opened with the band’s usual high volume energy “Nostalgia In Times Square.” baritone saxist Ronnie Cuber took the lead with Philip Harper’s trumpet and Conrad Herwig’s ‘bone following. Herwig’s approach to his soli is unique in that he starts soto voce then builds to bravura.

in years past when a newby asked to sit-in the leader usually called something like “Cherokee” up. MBB’s version of that is “Slippers,” a rarely played Mingus tune. the band was sight-reading and it quickly became a workshop event. some members had never laid eyes on it let alone played it. trumpeter Jack Walrath who played with past Mingus Workshops knew it cold. his solo stood out as did the (arrived) late pianist Dave Kikoski.

it was Kikoski who backed Seamus Blake’s sax on the plaintive “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat,” Mingus’ paean dedication to Lester Young’s headgear of choice.

Boris Koslov –who plays Mingus’ bass, but not this night as it was being repaired, Sue told me– arranged “GG Local.” a self-avowed subway and other trains expert Koslov said that Charles wanted his own train like Billy Strayhorn’s “A Train” (an express) for Duke Ellington. he settled on this. (N.B.: the GG local changed to a single G as did all locals in the system. i was a NYC tour guide with a specialty in subways. Boris has promised me a “Jeopardy” challenge round on the subject.)

another infrequently played tune, “GG” quickly devolved into Koslov giving –nay, discussing– the sections from the back of the stage to the rest of the band. there is an  alternative ending, which they did not play, twice. soloists were recent addition Al Norris, trumpet, Alex Foster, alto and Herwig.

set two was a stunner. Sue had invited members of some of the high school competitors to listen as to how Charles’ music was played. she assigned specific pieces to them. none were easy.

we were greeted by “Gunslinging Bird” which has complicated and varying rhythmic patterns: fast 3/4; medium 4/4; then slow 4; “Ecclusiastics” most often a selection from the Orchestra’s book; the always challenging and moody “Love Chant;” then came   “Opus 4,” the piece which broke the band’s resolve. it became yet another workshop affair as these masterful readers buried their noses in the fly shit that was on the manuscript. admonishment to the youths in attendance: don’t try this at home. (read on.)

my exhaustive evening drew to a close –there was a third set– with “E’s Flat, Ah’s Flat Too.” but wait, there’s more! the MBB’s traditional closer, “Better Get Hit In Your Soul” declared a dividend: a tuba coda by Earl McIntyre. the sudden musical silence was deafening drowned out only by the standing o’.

II. THE MINGUS ORCHESTRA

belying the absence of strings the sobriquet,”Orchestra,” was bestowed on this medium-sized ensemble by Sue because, as she said at their opening years ago in another cellar of a downtown NYC restaurant called City Hall, “you will hear instruments usually heard in an Orchestra rather than a jazz band: french, horn, double reeds (oboe, bassoon) and bass clarinet.” there is precedent for these instruments  identifying with Mingus’ music: David Amram played french horn with a Workshop; Eric Dolphy’s bass clarinet was also a feature. Yuseff Lateef played oboe on occasion.

i missed their concert at St. Bart’s Church on Sat. night, but Schuller told me that it was not as good as the preceding year’s. “last year was special; magic happened. it just came together,” he said knitting his fingers.

feeling cheated for having missed this year’s St. Bart’s, i managed to catch Mon. night’s final set at the Standard where “Ecclusiastics” opened (Ku-umba Frank Lacy’s vocal and trombone, Wayne Escoffery, sax). harking to Sue’s “assignments” for the High School competitors we heard “Inquisition” (from “Epitaph”), “Self Portrait in Three Colors” (Ralph Duguay who was working the door, sat in on bass; Mark Gross was on sax); and a ragged-sounding ensemble on “Purple Heart,” a feature for Douglas Yates’ clarinet, who rose above it.

the always popular “Eclipse” featured Michael Rabinowitz’s bassoon, David Gilmore on guitar and Lacy’s vocals. “Tonight At Noon.” the title of Sue’s book on Charles, was all Adam Cruz’s drum kit and John Clark’s french horn. “Noon” segued into their theme “Better Get Hit” as the MO tried to call it a long weekend, but the small-but-mighty patrons were having none of that. the rousing encore, “Devil Woman” with Lacy as preacher closed it emphatically.

III. THE MINGUS DYNASTY ENSEMBLE

the direct descendant of Mingus’ Workshop Ensemble this septet was the finale to the High School Competition at Manhattan School of Music on Sun. it was a brief set of a trio of tunes: “Fables of Faubus,” “Pork Pie” and “Better Get Hit.” what made this a standout was the inclusion of pianist Helen Sung. her soli were dynamic, ranging, soulful and percussive making her Mingus-perfect..

IV. THE HIGH SCHOOL COMPETITION

i had to keep repeating to myself, “remember, these are HIGH SCHOOL students.” the performances ran as high as the underlying talent. the judges –Foster, Herwig and Schuller–  said individually and collectively that this was the hardest competition yet. “It was difficult to choose,” said host co-producer and Associate Dean Justin DiCioccio. “you are all winners,” co-producer Sue “Let My Children Hear Music” Mingus chimed in.

no cliché, that, but i can say that the Lexington (MA) High School Jazz Combo and Large Ensemble and the Jazz House Kids Small Group and Big Band (Montclair, NJ) each swept their categories. kudos go out to directors Ken Gable (Lexington) and Radam Schwartz and Julius Tolentino (Jazz House). there were some familiar named individual winners as well: trumpeters Adam O’Farrill, son of Arturo, and Wallace Roney, Jr.

the bands were an admixture of sex, color and nationality, as well as upper and lower scholastic class-people, which is always good to see.

all the winners are on the MSM website, www.msmnyc.edu. more details www.charlesmingus.org, and Let My Children Hear Music a 501(c)3 not-for-profit education foundation.

- © arnold jay smith

March 2012