Update: Roy Eldridge / Clyde Hart

Roy Eldridge. Source: The Portal to Texas History.

In Barry Ulanov's 1952 book 'A History of Jazz In America', Roy Eldridge recounts that he and Clyde Hart made a free improvisation record. "We decided in front that there'd be no regular chords, we'd announce no keys, stick to no progressions. Only once I fell into a minor key; the rest was free, just flowing. And, man, it felt good." (Ulanov 1952, 239)

At first, I hypothesized that Eldridge and Hart had gone to a studio, and recorded a free improvisation. So I checked Eldridge’s and Hart’s names in Lord’s Discography. They first appeared together on November 10, 1938 as a part of Chu Berry’s “Little Jazz” band. After this, Hart played as part of Eldridge’s stint at the Arcadia Ballroom (August 5 thru September 9, 1939). On February 14, 1940 they played together in Fred Rich’s band. There were no duo recordings listed.

Some of the Arcadia Ballroom recordings

were released by Jazz Archives Recordings.

The latest recording listed by Lord is a stint that Eldridge did in Paul Baron’s CBS Radio Orchestra in 1944, with singer Mildred Bailey. However, Lord credits Hart as an arranger for the Orchestra; Teddy Wilson was on piano! So Hart may not have been present for those dates at all. Clyde Hart (born Feb 24, 1910) died March 19, 1945.

Death notice for Clyde Hart,

printed on the front page of downbeat April 1 1945 (Vol 12 - No. 7)

Then a few years ago, jazzjournal.co.uk republished a 1960 “Blindfold Test”-style interview with Eldridge (and Sinclair Traill). Although it was posted in 2020, I came upon it fairly recently. It doesn't solve the mystery, but it provides further context. After hearing Ken Colyer’s rendition of ‘Cheek To Cheek’, Eldridge riffs about flugelhorns and pocket trumpets, and the subject turns to Don Cherry.

“Yes, something like the one Don Cherry plays now with Ornette Coleman. Yes, I heard that group, and I know one thing – they’re the bravest people I ever seen! I went three nights in a row, sober at that, and never got the message. You have to hear them in person and then you really can’t understand it. I went with some young, modern musicians, took Paul Cham­bers with me. ‘You explain to me what’s happening’, I said. But he said ‘Man, I don’t understand it either.’

The group start out with something, play a riff on the first chorus, then they leave everything and just blow. No amount of bars, nothing conventional, just blowing in their horns – no melody, no kinda’ way. You can’t say it’s the blues, nor How High The Moon – or nothin’.”

Eldridge continues:

“You remember years ago I used to play with Clyde Hart, the pianist? Clyde and I were at the Paramount Theatre one time and I had a little recording machine in my bag. So we decided to play without telling one another beforehand what we were going to play. We played and it came out all right; there was a sort of melody going along there, but this stuff Ornette Coleman plays there ain’t even nothing like that to it. ’Course, everybody back home is afraid to say anything about it, because it’s new and it might be good y’know. After all, there’s all kinds of music, Dixieland, modern and all that, and there’s got to be something new sometime.”

There are two significant clues here: 1) Eldridge and Hart did not record at a studio, but used equipment to record themselves, and 2) the recording was likely made at the Paramount Theatre. It’s certainly possible that there was a home record cutter in a dressing room or rehearsal space at the Paramount Theatre. It’s also possible that they recorded themselves performing a duo improvisation for an audience.

In any case, the phrase “little recording machine” gives me pause. Tape technology was experimental and not widespread in the US until after WWII. (The whole story of Jack Mullin is quite fascinating.) Since Clyde Hart died before the end of the war, that rules out any sort of tape recording. And anyway, it would be a few years before that technology would have been small enough to fit “in [your] bag”! Eldridge and Hart’s recording would likely have been cut on a home record cutter, or maybe a wire recorded, which were themselves quite bulky. 

Perhaps a more accurate picture will emerge from further research into the Paramount Theatre, and when Eldridge played there. After all, discographies only provide information on recordings, many of which are commercial in nature. There may be advertisements, press releases, blurbs and so on, which could tell us more.

Whenever (and wherever) it happened, what matters most is whether or not it has survived the passage of time. Given the available evidence, it seems at least possible that this recording preceded the 1944 Rosenkrantz recordings of Erroll Garner, Stuff Smith and Robert Crum, perhaps by a few years. I would pay good money to have access to a photograph of the disc, and even better money to hear a recording of it!

Hank Jones remembered Clyde Hart in 1989: “...Clyde Hart was very well known for his harmonic ideas. By the way … Lucky Thompson, was a great admirer of Clyde Hart. We once were together in New York. We went to the Savoy Ballroom. Clyde Hart was playing there. He marveled at Clyde's harmonic ideas and the way that he voiced his chords. That is what a lot of people remember about Clyde. I didn't know him personally, I just saw him. He had discrete harmonic sense. I think a lot of pianists learned from Clyde Hart, including Teddy [Wilson]. Maybe even Art [Tatum] and, maybe also some arrangers, as well.”

Update, 12/29/25

In the New York Daily News (October 17th, 1942), I found an instance of Roy Eldridge playing at the Paramount Theatre. I have no evidence that Clyde Hart was there, or that this was the date of the lost recording. This is just evidence that Eldridge did, in fact, perform there during the relevant time period. -ME

Jimmy Giuffre's "Silent Years" - 1962 thru 1972

After 1962's groundbreaking Free Fall, Jimmy Giuffre didn't release another record until 1972's Music for People, Birds, Butterflies & Mosquitoes. This period of Giuffre's life always interested me, so I decided to do a deep dive. I lay out some of Giuffre's early career, and then give some highlights from his "silent period".

 For some information relating to Giuffre's earlier and later periods, check out Jazz Profiles' two excellent posts: Jimmy Giuffre - The Quiet Man (2008) and The Quiet Man Revisited (2014).

Jon De Lucia also has some interesting bits over at his site.

"The two most important figures in the early days of avant-garde jazz were both composers and reed players: Ornette Coleman and Jimmy Giuffre." - Paul Bley


James Peter Giuffre was born in 26 April 1921 in Dallas, TX. He went to the North Texas Teachers College in 1939. In 1942 he graduated and joined an Army band. After the war, he worked as a writer and woodwind player for the big bands of Jimmy Dorsey, Stan Kenton, Buddy Rich, and Boyd Raeburn. In 1947 his composition "Four Brothers" was recorded by Woody Herman's band. He also recorded with Maynard Ferguson's band in 1952.

In or around 1952, Giuffre moved to Los Angeles. He began studying composition with Wesley LaViolette, known by some in the West Coast school as the "'Father' of West Coast jazz groups." ["Bach and Jazz Are Much Alike", Arizona Republic, 22 May 1959, p. 9] LaViolette, born in 1894, was an accomplished composer as well as a public intellectual. LaViolette had also taught Stan Kenton, Andre Previn, Bill Holman, Martin Denny, and Nelson Riddle ["Why Jazz Happened", p. 63].

Giuffre began to record in small groups as part of the emerging West Coast post-bop scene. He recorded several times with bassist Howard Rumsey in 1952 and 1953, sessions which were released by Contemporary Records across two 10" LP's (Lighthouse All-Stars vols. 1 and 2). He also cut records as a sideman for Shorty Rogers, Shelly Manne, and Red Norvo.

Many of these records include at least one composition by Giuffre. For example, in 1953 he recorded a session with vibraphonist Teddy Charles, which included Giuffre's tune "Evolution":

In 1954 and 1955 Giuffre led his first sessions as a leader for Capitol records, which were released on a self-titled 33 1/3rpm EP (T-549), and also as a 45rpm single (F3-549). These records also include some brief and curious moments of collective counterpoint (i.e. the intro for "All For You").

Billboard (20 Nov 1954) published a favorable review of the record, describing it as "an exciting collection of sides" that "has a chance to turn into a strong-selling jazz effort for the winter season." And sure enough, the following month, Giuffre's self-titled Capitol record was listed as a "Best Selling Popular Album", alongside the likes of Frank Sinatra and Duke Ellington. (Billboard, 4 Dec 1954).

In September 1954, Shelly Manne recorded Abstract No. 1 with Giuffre and Shorty Rogers:

Abstract No. 1 was credited to "The Three", meaning that it was collectively "composed" by Manne, Giuffre and Rogers. The piece opens with Manne at a brisk 290, followed shortly by Giuffre on tenor and Rogers on trumpet. Harmonically, Giuffre hovers around a Eb minor tonality, while Rogers plays more chromatically, settling into Bb minor occasionally. Around 1:30, Giuffre switches to clarinet, and Manne switches from sticks to brushes. After a brief clarinet solo, Manne returns to take the piece out. Giuffre switches to baritone sax for the final 30 seconds.

The lack of discernible form or changes, and its collective composition credits, lead me to conclude that this piece is essentially a free improvisation. Some minor "traffic rules" may have been discussed, but much was clearly left to the spur of the moment.

Throughout the 1950's, Giuffre received several invitations to write for other artists. A work of his was included on Milt Bernhart's RCA/Victor release Modern Brass [1955], as well as on Columbia's Music for Brass [1957]. The latter also included writers as diverse as John Lewis, Bill Russo, and Milton Babbitt.

Shortly before Christmas 1955, Giuffre was signed to Atlantic Records by the label's vice-president Nesuhi Ertegun (Billboard, 24 Dec 1955). Earlier in 1955 Ertegun had joined his brother (and label-founder) Ahmet, and was also responsible for signing such figures of modern jazz as John Lewis, Charles Mingus, Lennie Tristano, Lee Konitz, Teddy Charles, and in 1959, Ornette Coleman (New Grove Dictionary of Jazz 1994, Atlantic).

In December 1956 we see the first recording session of his trio with guitarist Jim Hall and a rotating cast of bass players, including Ralph Pena, Jim Atlas, Red Mitchell, Buddy Clark, and Ray Brown. On occasion, Giuffre excluded bass altogether, opting for valve trombonist Bob Brookmeyer. Here's a clip from Newport 1958:

The Lenox School of Jazz / Meeting Ornette Coleman & Don Cherry

In the summers of 1957, '58 and '59, Giuffre was a faculty member at the Lenox School of Jazz's summer camps. Ornette Coleman and his colleague Don Cherry attended the School in 1959 on a scholarship recommended by John Lewis. A concert program from 1959 lists Coleman and Cherry as members of an ensemble co-led by Max Roach and John Lewis. The group performed four tunes, three of which were written by Coleman. The summer of 1959 was a pivotal time in Coleman's career: shortly after recording The Shape Of Jazz To Come (rec'd May 1959) but before its release (Oct 1959). This was also mere months before his controversial stint at the Five Spot Cafe (which ran from in Nov 1959 to Jan 1960).

Jeremy Yudkin (The Lenox School of Jazz, Farshaw 2006) suggests that although he was attending as a student, Coleman "was not really a student any more. He had been playing professionally for over 10 years, had recorded three albums already, and had founded the quartet [with Cherry, Higgins and Haden] that would revolutionize jazz." (p. 89) George Russell added that Coleman & Cherry's status as students was "a kind of gross error" (Pettinger, 2002 p. 88). Indeed, Yudkin writes that "it was the teachers who learned from Coleman that summer."

Giuffre described Coleman's playing as "wonderful ... when somebody gets to this point where he can be this free and this sure in his statement..." (Yudkin, p. 89) Perry Robinson, who was a student of Giuffre's at the School that summer, recounted an incident that demonstrates the dramatic impact that Coleman's music had upon his teacher:

"[Coleman] blew [Giuffre's] mind. One time there was a jam session going on with George Russell and Ornette, and I was watching through the window. Jimmy was standing there listening, and after Ornette took his solo Jimmy fell on the floor and started kicking his feet. He had such an amazing reaction to the music, it was like a musical orgasm." (Quoted in Jeremy Yudkin, 2006 pp. 150-151.)

Paul Bley and Steve Swallow

Irrevocably changed by Ornette Coleman's music and ideas, Giuffre began to experiment with new groups. In October 1960, Giuffre performed at New York's Village Vanguard, with a quartet that featured bassist Bill Takas, drummer Ronnie Bedford, and pianist Paul Bley. The quartet opened for a 25-year old Aretha Franklin, who was debuting in New York City. Billboard's Jack Maher was in the audience, and he wrote a very favorable review of the show. While focusing on Franklin, he dedicated a paragraph to Giuffre's set, writing that "the music has much in common with Japanese prints in that it is low-keyed and full of gentle subtleties and delicate touches. [Bley, Bedford and Takas] all acquitted themselves with distinction, especially in the passages that called for interweaving improvisation. Most notable ... were: 'Two,' 'Laura,' 'Stella By Starlight,' and 'Easy Way Out.'" (Billboard, 17 Oct 1960, p. 44) This quartet did not record, and I am unable to locate any other gigs that they had.

By March 1961, Giuffre had returned to the drumless trio format, keeping Bley and hiring the young bassist Steve Swallow. Although short-lived, the group recorded two albums for Verve, (Thesis and Fusion) and what one of the most bizarre records in Columbia Records' catalog, Free Fall (1962).

For its part, Columbia has reissued Free Fall. ECM and hatART have also contributed to make sure that Giuffre's most esoteric work does not languish in analog obscurity in a digital world.

Giuffre's "Silent Years"

After the release of Free Fall, Giuffre did not record as a leader until 1972. He had a couple sessions as a sideman: 6 May 1963, he recorded 3 tracks for a Teddy Charles project entitled Russia Goes Jazz (United Artists, UAL 3365). In 1964 he and Hal McKusick played background woodwinds on a track for vocalist Helen Merrill.

In February 1965 Giuffre gave a trio performance in Paris with pianist Don Friedman and bassist Barre Phillips. The recording was first released in 1999. In 2014, Elemental Records released two previously unissued Giuffre recordings: a "live studio" recording at Columbia University's Wollman Auditorium (May 19, 1965) and a live concert recording from Greenwich Village's Judson Hall (September 3, 1965). The double-disc is nicely packaged and comes with a 28-page booklet of photographs and liner notes, including testimonies from Steve Swallow, Paul Bley and Jim Hall.

The music is fascinating. Giuffre, typically heard during this period on clarinet only, also plays tenor saxophone. Both sessions featured Joe Chambers on drums. Phillips and Friedman played at the Wollman session, and Richard Davis played bass on the Judson Hall concert.

In1967, Giuffre performed with Red Mitchell, Jimmy Rowles, and Ed Thigpen (Donald Bailey was advertised as the drummer in prior articles). A concert review, written by Leonard Feather, describes Giuffre as playing clarinet, tenor saxophone, and even alto saxophone, "an instrument he has rarely if ever used in public." The quartet played "Come On In", "The Note" and "Rhythm Speak", as well as "Green Dolphin Street" and a 12-bar blues. Feather notes that stylistically, Giuffre had "at last come full circle" (8 Aug 1967, LA Times)

Film Scores

Giuffre is known to have recorded two film scores during this period. In 1964, Giuffre and Phillips recorded the soundtrack to an independent film called Smiles.  The film was directed by Hugh Mooney, who was assisted by a young Martin Scorcese:

A still from the opening credits for Mooney's Smile (1964)

A music copyright catalog from 1967 lists two entries for Jimmy Giuffre:

From the 1967 Catalog of Copyright Entries, Music (3rd series, vol. 21, part 5, no. 1, section 1, p. 1139)

The first work listed in that year, "Pharaoh", was originally recorded nearly 10 years prior.

"Sighet, Sighet Theme" refers to the soundtrack to a Harold Becker film which Giuffre composed and performed. The film follows the story of Nazi concentration camp survivor and author Elie Wiesel (1928-2016), as he visits his home town Sighet in 1967. Giuffre's soundtrack consists of solo clarinet and woodwind melodies, at times barely audible beneath Wiesel's narration, and it's difficult to imagine a more appropriate backdrop to such a dark tale. (Sighet, Sighet is available on DVD from Alden Films.)

Composite image of the closing credits to Becker's Sighet, Sighet (1967).

Interdisciplinary Improvisation

As early as 1963, Giuffre collaborated with dancers. A performance of Giuffre's trio (likely Bley and Swallow, but not confirmed) and John Butler & others was televised in Connecticut in February 1963. (Anyone have access to a video of this? -ME)

A few years later, a concert was held at UCLA's Royce Hall (Fri 11 Aug 1967) and starred Jean Erdman. The concert was reviewed in the LA Times (14 Aug 1967). The first work, "Encounter in the Grove" featured a recorded soundtrack by composer and cellist Ezra Laderman. Giuffre accompanied her on the second work, entitled "The Castle":

"Except for some taped electronic rumbles and noises, the music was entirely in the hands of Jimmy Giuffre, a jazz clarinetist-saxophonist-composer. He functioned as a participant musician - not in the pit or backstage, but right on stage, according to Erdman-devised patterns of limited action.

"The rest was up to him: to provide improvised music expressive of such preset moods as "Joy", "Nostalgia", "Nervousness", "Sleepiness", "Machine-made" and "Jazz", to mention only those in the first portion of the two-part theater piece.

"Miss Erdman responded to Giuffre's playing with improvisations of her own. She, too, had the required sense of timing, the imagination and technique it takes to do something on the spur of the moment." (credit: Walter Arlen, Times Staff Writer) 

Teaching/Education

Also during this period, Giuffre continued his work as a teacher. In 1969, Giuffre's textbook Jazz Phrasing and Interpretation was published by Associated Music Publishers, Inc. This book, which was sold for $1.50, was available in separate volumes for C, Bb and Eb instruments. There were also volumes for bass clef and percussion instruments. It is presently in use at the University of Michigan, where Dr. Stephen Rush has used it for his improvisation class.

In 1970, he was hired by the New York University School of Education's Division of Music Education. Giuffre, along with Clark Terry, Ed Shaughnessy, Ahmed Abdul-Malik, and Alan Raph, were hired to teach a four-year program entitled "Music from the Contemporary American Perspective". An article (2 May 1970, author unknown) quotes division chair Dr. Jerrold Ross who said the program provided, in part, "intensive study of the roots of what is uniquely an American musical expression arising from the thoughts and feelings of millions of Americans; [and] the dual - no less important - need to use such knowledge as a means of heightening the self-esteem of these peoples."

Epilogue

1972 saw Giuffre's return to the recording business. He played background horns on David Clayton Thomas' self-titled Columbia record. In 1972, he played alongside Joe Henderson and Sam Rivers in an orchestra led by George Russell. The group played on a Bill Evans album from 1972 called Living Time (listen to Tony Williams throw down in the left channel):

In this same year, Giuffre returned to record as a leader for the first time since Free Fall. The record, entitled Music for People, Birds, Butterflies & Mosquitos, was the first release from Choice Records, which would go on to release records by Roland Hanna, Buddy DeFranco, Joanne Brackeen and many others. This same trio also made River Chant (1975).

The music is a return to the woodwind/bass/drum format, but his choice of sidemen is very curious. Bassist Kiyoshi Takunaga had in the past recorded on a one-shot free jazz record by a saxophonist named Ed Curran. The record, Elysa, was produced by Bill Dixon, and released by Savoy Jazz. The drummer was Randy Kaye, who had previously recorded with vibraphonist and pianist Bobby Naughton.

Giuffre's dedication to free improvisation was pretty significant, considering his thorough background in mainstream jazz. Along with Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane, he was one of the earliest adoptees of Ornette Coleman's ideas. And his contributions to the development of free jazz are becoming more and more widely recognized, as they should be. I'm hoping that this post provided a little more context for his turn to free jazz, and shined some light on what he was up to during those mysterious years from 1962-1972.

𝄇

The New Music Ensemble, Part 4 - Documented Performances and Misc.

The final installment of this series is sort of an info dump. I have compiled all of the known performances by the NME, with and without Larry Austin, from its inception in summer 1963 to its dissolution in 1967. This probably doesn't contain every performance. Concert programs, program notes, personal accounts, etc. would likely reveal more. In the mean time, this is a lot more than we had before, and we can see in greater detail than ever:

1. who played in the ensemble over the years,
2. that the group improvised alongside its performances of contemporary repertoire,
3. that often these contemporary compositions were themselves infused with improvisational ideas, and
4. what newspaper reviewers thought about the NME's activities.

I use the following format:

Year

• Month, Date - Day, time, location. Here I'll usually offer a short synopsis, followed by

Program included

Any compositions performed.

Performers

Any named performers.

"Anything contained in quotation marks is a direct quote from one of the media resources linked to in the entry."

Review (if extant)

1963

• February 12 - Not an NME performance, since the name is not used. Larry Austin's "Improvisations for Orchestra and Jazz Soloists" was performed here. Also on the program were "Improvisations", performed by Austin, Woodbury, Lunetta, and John Mosher, a bassist.

• July 31 - Wednesday, 8:15pm, Freeborn Hall, UC Davis. This was the NME's debut performance.

Austin: "The idea is to perform significant, contemporary, chamber music; whatever is instrumental; to explore new composing and performing techniques; and to develop a concept of group improvisation."

"In frequent rehearsals over the past two months the ensemble has been primarily concerned with developing various approaches to group improvisation, particularly since all the works on this debut concert involve improvisatory and/or chance techniques in varying degrees. To begin with, all the players are fluent improvisers, either as creative performers, as composers, or both. The problem for the group was to perfect a sort of creative rapport which would enable us to improvise freely as a group and create aesthetically successful musical moments."

Program included:

Elegy for solo percussion (Jerome Rosen)

Extrados for solo clarinet (Garrett Bowles)

Collage (Austin) ["which makes use of considerable free improvisation"]

Domains II for solo percussion (Richard Swift)

Refrain for piano, celeste and vibraphone (Stockhausen)

Densities for clarinet, vibraphone, harp and bass (Schuller)

Scherzo (Over The Pavement) (Ives)

Of Collages, Austin said:

"This work is an agglomeration of nine musical fragments. The present order of the fragments is arbitrary. In fact, in the future I will no doubt add more fragments or perhaps discard some, depending on the music situation. In two fragments, the instrumentation is indeterminant [sic], Square being for any combination of from two to four instruments and Uncommon Canon for any combination of any number of instruments. The remaining fragments, including the improvised interludes, are for specific instrumentations.

"I have used improvisation and chance as compositional resources. Varying degrees of compositional control are exerted, from freely improvised fragments with only the time span indicated to through-composed compositions with only a few free [elements].

Austin also describes the other five fragments, which include homages to the Modern Jazz Quartet and Ornette Coleman.

Performers:

Larry Austin, trumpet

Jerome Rosen, 

Richard Swift, piano

Donald Brewer, trombone

Adrienne Castelian, piano

Sylvia Hoffman, harp

Jon Gibson, saxophone

Barbara Johnson, piccolo

Wayne Johnson, reeds, vibraphone

Jerry Lopes, bass

Arthur Woodbury, reeds

From a different article: "Several of the members play more than one instrument during the concert. There is even one new instrument - a pianoform - derived from an old upright piano."

Review by William C. Glackin

• September 27 - 8:15pm, Freeborn Hall. "...a program of contemporary works..."

Program included:

A Broken Consort (Larry Austin, MJQ Music)

Serenade No. 2 (Morton Subotnick)

Domains I (Richard Swift)

Concert for piano and orchestra (John Cage)

"A Broken Consort ... In six movements, it applies the tone row technique of serial composition to certain elements of traditional jazz, including the 12 bar blues. The players are given room to improvise."

Performers:

Larry Austin, trumpet

Richard Swift, piano

Arthur Woodbury, winds

Stanley Lunetta, percussion

Donald Brewer, trombone

Alexander Chambers, tenor

Barbara Johnson, flute

Sally Kell, cello

Mura Kievman, percussion

Paul Marsh, tuba

William Michael, horn

John Mosher, string bass

Noami Sparrow, piano

Marvin Tartak, piano

• October 13 - 3:00pm, E. B. Crocker Art Gallery.

"...the ensemble will perform some free group improvisations. These will be of varying lengths and for various groups within the ensemble."

Oct 13th, 1963

Larry Austin

Jon Gibson

Wayne Johnson

Stanley Lunetta

Jerome Rosen

Richard Swift

Arthur Woodbury

Billie Alexander

Program included:

Apparitions (Jon Gibson)

Octet '61 (Cornelius Cardew)

Uncoverings (Stanley Lunetta)

Cuttings (Richard Swift)

• October 17 - 8:15pm, "Improvisation '63" lecture/demonstration by Austin / Swift. Home Economics Auditorium, UC Davis.

"The group will illustrate the discussion with explorations of free improvisation using the common languages of 20th century music."

Performers:

Larry Austin

Richard Swift

Jerome Rosen

Jon Gibson

Wayne Johnson

Stanley Lunetta

Arthur Woodbury

[Billie Alexander apparently sat this one out. -ME]

• December 15 - 2:00pm, Belmonte Gallery. 2975 35th Street, Sacramento, CA

"...an improvisation concert."

Larry Austin

Wayne Johnson

Richard Swift

Stanley Lunetta

Arthur Woodbury

Jon Gibson

Pat Woodbury
Jerome Rosen

In one blurb, Pat Woodbury / Billie Alexander is mistakenly [??] referred to as Dixie Alexander!

1964

• January 20 - 12:30pm, luncheon for Sacramento Symphony Center

"Larry Austin and his seven piece New Music Ensemble will be the featured entertainment."

No program or personnel info listed. 

• April 3 - 8:15pm, Freeborn Hall, 101 Horticulture Building

"In addition to a number of free improvisations, the group will perform..."

Alarm, Square, Parle (Larry Austin)

May, 1962 (Philip Krumm)

Variations I (John Cage)

Hundreds of Butterflies (Stanley Lunetta)

Cuttings (Swift)

Billie Alexander, soprano

Larry Austin, trumpet, flugelhorn

Jon Gibson, flute, soprano saxophone, clarinet

Wayne Johnson, clarinet, bass clarinet

Stanley Lunetta, percussion

Richard Swift, piano

Arthur Woodbury, flute, alto saxophone, bassoon

Review by Glackin.

"Trying to convey in words what happens in one of these [free improvisation pieces] ... would be like trying to convey Finnegan's Wake in sign language, only harder."

• April 23 - Thursday, 8:15pm, Freeborn Hall. "Research Concert". Not an NME performance, but several members were included.

Performers:

Marvin Tartak, harpsichord

Jean Cunningham, flute

Bruce Haynes, oboe

Helen Stross, cello

Linn Subotnick, viola

Morton Subotnick, clarinet

Stanley Lunetta, percussion

Richard Swift, celesta

Theodore Karp, oboe

Arthur Woodbury, bassoon

Larry Austin, trumpet

"...all on a variety of instruments."

Program included:

Bucolics (Richard Swift)

Sonata (Jerome Rosen)

Continuum (Larry Austin)

Sonata for flute, oboe, cello and harpsichord (Elliott Carter)

"Rosen describes his work as a 'long, rather free and rhapsodic piece; the performer is called upon to improvise on material previously given him and is more than usually responsible for details of phrasing and proportion.'"

Review by Philip C. Freshwater

Freshwater includes this puzzling note: "Although [Continuum] has grown out of his work with the New Music Ensemble, as Austin states in the excellent program notes, the free improvisation of that group has been sharply reduced, leaving only tempo and meter relatively free."

• April 24 - 7:00pm, TV broadcast (Channel 9).

• April 27 - 10:30pm, TV broadcast (Channel 6, KVIE). Re-run of previous concert?

• April 29 - 12:15pm, Hertz Hall "Noon Concert"

The Noon Concerts were a regular series at Hertz Hall for years. The Berkeley Improvisation Ensemble also performed several of these later in the 1960's. I wasn't able to find any more info on this.

• May 10 - 1:00pm, Belmonte Gallery.

"An unusual experiment mixing painting with music, both on an improvisatory basis, will be staged ... next Sunday ... The New Music Ensemble of [UC Davis] will play group improvisations in various combinations of instruments. On the same program four painters from the university will demonstrate the similar experiments which have been going on in the art department, in which several artists, taking turns, work on the same painting."

Performers:

Larry Austin

Richard Swift

Arthur Woodbury

Wayne Johnson

Jon Gibson

Stanley Lunetta

Billie Alexander

• July 7 - 10:00am, SCC Auditorium (Sacramento City College)

Performers:

Richard Swift, piano

Arthur Woodbury, clarinet, saxophone, bassoon

Billie Alexander, soprano

Jon Gibson, clarinet, flute, soprano saxophone

Stanley Lunetta, percussion

Wayne Johnson, bass clarinet

Austin was not mentioned as a performer, likely because he was overseas in Rome.

• August 12 - Wednesday, 8:15pm, East Hall Studio Theater, UC Davis

Program included:

Recitative and Improvisation (Elliott Carter)

Serenade (Jerome Rosen)

    -written for Billie Alexander and Arthur Woodbury

The Trial of Tender O'Shea (Richard Swift)

    "an opera for the New Music Ensemble". Libretto by Dorothy Swift.

"In addition, the New Music Ensemble will perform a group of free improvisations."

Performers:

Billie Alexander, soprano

Jon Gibson, flute, clarinet, soprano saxophone

Wayne Johnson, clarinet, bass clarinet

Stanley Lunetta, percussion

Richard Swift, piano

Arthur Woodbury, flute, alto saxophone, bassoon

Again, no mention of Austin.

Three UCD students, Carolyn Francis, Mary Offerman, Phillip Symonds, are also named. David Freund directed The Trial of Tender O'Shea.

Review by Glackin

• August 13 - Mime Troupe Theater, San Francisco

"[The] New Music Ensemble ...  gave a program of improvisations, preceded by 'musical' compositions of John Cage, Jerome Rosen and Philip Krumm."

Review by Paul Hertelendy.

• August 14 - Mime Troupe Theater, San Francisco

"The ensemble saved the best for the end, playing Richard Swift's short opera The Trial of Tender O'Shea after several short instrumental improvisations."

Review by Hertelendy.

"With the improvising instrumental group in the background, the soprano sings about O'Shea in various roles, and O'Shea himself sings at some length on tape recording (played by Alexander Chambers)."

• October 18 - Sunday, 3:00pm, Belmonte Gallery. 

"Concert Will Feature Musical Monopoly Game"

Program included:

Lincoln Center (Philip Krumm)

Variations I (Cage)

Performers:

Richard Swift, piano

Stanley Lunetta, percussion

Wayne Johnson, woodwinds

Jon Gibson, woodwinds

Arthur Woodbury, woodwinds

Robert Bloch, violin

Billie Alexander, soprano

"The entire concert will be repeated Monday (10/19) in San Francisco in a live broadcast over KPFA."

• November 22 - 3:00pm, Belmonte Gallery, Sacramento. (Recorded for KPFA? Possibly a separate show)

Program included:

Ad for 11/22/64 concert

Concerto For Anything (Philip Krumm)

Concert With Aria (John Cage)

"The group also will include several of its free improvisations, spontaneous and collective."

• November 23 - 8:30pm, KPFA-FM Studio, 321 Divisadero St., San Francisco

Their press release is quoted in a strange blurb here.

Concerto For Anything (Philip Krumm)

Concert With Aria (John Cage)

• December 11 - 8:30pm, Eaglet Theater, 15th and H Streets, Sacramento, CA.

Program included:

The Trial of Tender O'Shea (Swift)

Concert Piece for solo violin (Seymour Sheffren)

Duo For Two Fluent Improvisers for piano and percussion (unknown composer)

Performers:

Billie Alexander

Robert Bloch

Richard Swift

Jon Gibson

Wayne Johnson

Stanley Lunetta

Arthur Woodbury

1965

At the beginning of 1965, the NME received an invitation from Franco Evangelisti to participate in the 1966 Nuova Consonanza:

Evangelisti: "We are extremely impressed by the creative virtuosity and control displayed by the composer-performers in the NME ... This is particularly significant for European musicians, for such groups of cooperatively creative composer-performers are all but non-existent in Europe. Hence, an appearance by your group would have great - even historic - impact in Europe, we are certain."

• March 21 - Sunday, 8:15pm, Belmonte Gallery

Program included:

[unknown title] (John Cage)

May 1962 (Krumm)

as well as "several of the group improvisations for which the NME is noted..."

Billie Alexander, soprano

Robert Bloch, violin, mandolin

Jon Gibson, soprano saxophone, clarinet, flute

Wayne Johnson, clarinet, bass clarinet

Stanley Lunetta, percussion

Richard Swift, piano

Arthur Woodbury, alto saxophone, bassoon

John Moore, trumpet (guest on the Cage piece)

• April 7 - 8:15pm, Freeborn Hall, UC Davis

"As a result of these [free group] improvisations, which recently have been recorded, [the NME] has been invited to appear at the Venice Festival, Palermo Festival, and the Nuova Consonanza Festival in Rome during the spring of 1966.

Program included:

Atlas Eclipticalis (John Cage)

Winter Music (Cage)

Concerto for violin and chamber ensemble (Richard Swift)

and eight improvisations.

Performers:

Billie Alexander, soprano

Robert Bloch, violin, mandolin

Jon Gibson, soprano saxophone, clarinet, flute

Wayne Johnson, clarinet, bass clarinet

Stanley Lunetta, percussion

Richard Swift, piano

Arthur Woodbury, alto saxophone, bassoon

Review by Glackin

• June 14-15 - Little Theater, Sacramento State College. Recording for New Music Ensemble II.

• July 7 - Wednesday, 8:15pm, Freeborn Hall

Program included:

Concert for piano and orchestra (John Cage)

Aria (Cage)

Projection 4 (Morton Feldman)

Digressions (Robert Moran)

"...in addition to characteristic freely improvised pieces."

Performers:

Billie Alexander, soprano

Robert Bloch, violin, mandolin

Jon Gibson, soprano saxophone, clarinet, flute

Wayne Johnson, clarinet, bass clarinet

Stanley Lunetta, percussion

Richard Swift, piano

Arthur Woodbury, alto saxophone, bassoon

Review by Freshwater.

• November 14 - Monday, 8:15pm, Freeborn Hall

The Applicant (Richard Swift)

Speculum Dianae (Frederic Rzewski)

Inerziali (Roland Kayn)

"The group ... devoted more than half of the evening to what is quite evidently their favorite method of performing, free group improvisation."

Billie Alexander, soprano

Larry Austin, flugelhorn, string bass

Robert Bloch, violin, mandolin

Jon Gibson, soprano saxophone, clarinet, flute

Wayne Johnson, clarinet, bass clarinet

Stanley Lunetta, percussion

Richard Swift, piano

Arthur Woodbury, alto saxophone, bassoon

[Austin returns from Rome. -ME]

Review by Glackin.

• December 6 - Monday, 8:15, Freeborn Hall 

Not an NME show, but some of its members were featured.

Program included:

Meditation (Gunther Schuller)

Galaxis (Roland Kayn)

Ordini (Franco Evangelisti)

Fluxion (Enrique Raxach)

Catharsis (Larry Austin)

also works by Mozart and Wagner

Catharsis is "for a four track tape of electric sounds ... plus a big ensemble and a small ensemble (a quintet last night, made up of members of the New Music Ensemble). The tape was heard from four speakers, two on each side of the hall; the players were onstage. The players have freedom to improvise along lines suggested by the score, which does not indicate any pitches or rhythms..."

Review by Glackin.

1966

• January 9 - Sunday, 8:15pm, Wyatt Pavilion Theater, UC Davis. "Music Theater"

Program included:

The program "will include improvisations, the group's favorite field, and three structured events":

Views (John Heineman)

Roma, A Theater Piece in Open Style for Improvisation Ensemble and Tape (Larry Austin)

Quartet, 1965 (Stanley Lunetta)

"Austin calls Roma an abstract theater piece: Within an explicit context the piece asks for interpretive movement as well as interpretive sound. The attitude of the 'movement improvisation' is suggested by the reaction - before, during and after the event - of the player to the lighting, the stage properties, the movements of other players, the audience and the nature of the hall. The reaction to the tape sounds and/or the group's improvisations determines the attitude of the 'sound improvisation.'"

Lighting by Carolyn Tash. Stage director was David Freund, designer was Natalie Dobb.

Performers:

Billie Alexander, soprano

Larry Austin, flugelhorn, string bass

Robert Bloch, violin, mandolin

Jon Gibson, soprano saxophone, clarinet, flute

Wayne Johnson, clarinet, bass clarinet

Stanley Lunetta, percussion

Richard Swift, piano

Arthur Woodbury, alto saxophone, bassoon

Guests:

Roberta Baines

Barbara Johnson

Stephen Wolfe

"A grant from the Music Performance Trust Fund of the Recording Industries supplies performers' fees."

Review by Freshwater.

Review by Philip F. Elwood

• In early 1966, the NME's second record was released.

• March 3rd - Thursday, 8:15pm, Freeborn Hall. "Research Concert".

Not NME, but its members performed.

Program included:

PanJorGin (Stanley Lunetta)

Green and Red (John Mizelle)

The Maze (Larry Austin)

10 Beginnings (Jerome Rosen)

Carmina Archilochi (Richard Swift)

"Members of the New Music Ensemble and guests" including

Larry Austin

Richard Swift

Jerome Rosen

Stanley Lunetta

(Dary) John Mizelle

• May 5 - SSC Little Theater, Sacramento State College. 

Possible performance by the NME? There was a graduate seminar at SSC on American music, described by Philip Freshwater. The NME is mentioned only in passing. No program or personnel notes are included.

• May 22 - Sunday, 8:15pm, Home Economics Theater (Room 176), UC Davis. "Composer's Forum"

"New works by Philip Krumm, Stanley Lunetta, John Mizelle, Julian Woodruff will be performed along with the "First Piano Sonata" by Boulez and improvisations by the New Music Ensemble."

• In August a headline appeared saying "Modern Music Concert Unit is Forming". The article is about the founding of Composer/Performer Edition. Here's another article, mentioning the founding of SOURCE.

• September 7 - 5:00pm, 9:00pm, Freeborn Hall. "Twoconcert".

Program included:

First half, 5pm

Sound Machine (Philip Krumm)

Prelude to Naples (Joel Chadabe)

Obos (Harold Budd)

..."and some group improvisations by the NME."

Second half, 9pm

Music for Prepared Piano (John Cage)

Liaisons (Roman Haubenstock-Ramati)

III (Harold Budd)

..."and more improvisations." Hertelendy mentions five improvisations total.

Performers:

Billie Alexander, soprano

Larry Austin, flugelhorn, string bass

Robert Bloch, violin, mandolin

??Jon Gibson, soprano saxophone, clarinet, flute

Wayne Johnson, clarinet, bass clarinet

Stanley Lunetta, percussion

??Richard Swift, piano

Arthur Woodbury, alto saxophone, bassoon

Guests:

Marvin Tartak, prepared piano

Harold Budd

Thomas Gentry, piano

Barbara Johnson, flute

John Mizelle, trombone

Fred Utter, cello

Review by Glackin

Review by Hertelendy

"It should also be added that if the men in the group really appreciate Miss Alexander's thoughtful vocal contributions they ought to quiet down once in a while so she can be heard."

• October 13 - Thursday, First Unitarian Church, Sacramento. Composer/Performer Edition.

"The C.P.E. turns out to be the N.M.E... under another name, but this prgram [sic] had a good deal less improvising and much more written or at least blueprinted music than most N.M.E. concerts have had."

Some improvisations are mentioned. Lunetta and Bloch are mentioned.

Review by Glackin.

• November 10 - Thursday, 12:00pm, Music Building (Room 115) UC Davis

"The second free concert of the NME's 66-67 season"

Program included:

In Memoriam Esteban Gomez (Robert Ashley)

John Smith (Ashley)

Pfft (Stanley Lunetta)

Thursday Afternoon (Alvin Curran)

"Members of the Ensemble then will perform two free-group improvisations."

Performers:

Billie Alexander

Larry Austin

Wayne Johnson

Stanley Lunetta

John Mizelle

Arthur Woodbury

Guests:

Sherman Amerson

Steve Reuben

Robert Bloch

• December 9 - 7:30pm (TV, Channel 6) "The Mod Sound In Music"

An "unusual program of contemporary music".

• December 27 - 7:00pm (TV, KVIE) "Horizons '67"

A shared program. The NME appeared alongside several other groups.

1967

• January 6 - 8:15pm, First Unitarian Church 2425 Sierra Blvd. [Postponed]
• February 17 - Friday, 8:15pm, Freeborn Hall

Program included:

Kontakte (Karlheinz Stockhausen)

Kontra-Punkte (Stockhausen)

Klavierstuck XI (Stockhausen)

Zyklus (Stockhausen)

Spazio A5 (Franco Evangelisti)

World One (Michael von Biel)

Performers included:

Stanley Lunetta. The NME is mentioned, but no other specific performer names.

Guest:

David Tudor

Review by Glackin

• February 19 - 8:30pm, Hertz Hall, UC Berkeley

Apparently a follow-up performance of the Stockhausen concert from Feb 17.

NME - That New Sound From Davis Is Experimental Music