To top it off, the old cars didn't have self-sealing gas tanks and as in the case of LaFaro's accident, if they ruptured, frequently resulted in fire. Q: What were Scotts childhood and teen years like here in Geneva? You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. Jade Visions: The Life and Music of Scott LaFarorecounts how three days after his appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival with the Stan Getz Quartet, hed driven to Geneva, NY to take care of some business related to his mothers home there. Dad (Joe LaFaro) never forced us to play music. He felt such a strong passion for the bass that he became obsessed with practicing, spending countless hours in the rehearsal rooms at Ithaca College. LaFaro went on to perform with Victor Feldman, Chet Baker, Benny Goodman, Stan Kenton, Stan Getz and Ornette Coleman. He began working in jazz radio in 1977 at WCUW, a community-licensed radio station in Worcester, Massachusetts. Then wed go home and have dinner and ice cream. Active. You can read our interview with Holland. The CD reissue of the album contains several outtakes. Hes just so damn elegant. Evans also went on hiatus after LaFaro's death for a period of several months. Mom needed the money. The car, tree and garage all caught fire. comments . So even a low speed accident which would be survivable in today's cars, would be a mess in an older car. Stan said fine. Kuhn and drummer Pete LaRoca were Scottys choices, but in the midst of a two-week engagement at the Sutherland Hotel on Chicagos Southside, LaFaro had got tired of LaRocas playing. Other birthdays Monday: Jimmy McGriff, 64; Harold Vick, 19361987; and Eric Kloss, 51. I was 19 and working. 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. The title track, a musical portrait of Evans' niece, became a staple of his live repertoire in later years. His most recent books are an entry in the 33 1/3series on Sam CookesLive at the Harlem Square Club, 1963, a volume about the 1951 film Scrooge as the ultimate work of cinematic terror, and the story collection, If You [ ]: Fabula, Fantasy, F**kery, Hope. 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. He was visiting some friends west of Geneva and was driving home late when he crashed. He started playing piano in elementary school, bass clarinet in middle school, and tenor saxophone when he entered high school. It was then he fell in love with the tenor saxophone. He took up bass because he was required to play a stringed instrument at Ithaca College. For Evans, Misery offered a glimpse of a relationship to come., Two months later, on December 28, 1959, the Bill Evans Trio made its premiere recording for Riverside,Portrait in Jazz. For much of 1958, LaFaro was with pianist/vibraphonist Victor Feldman's band. This album is widely considered to be one of the best in the Evans canon, and the type of emotive interplay between the musicians that at some points seemed almost deconstructed has served as a model for piano trio play. He's seen here playing "Cherry" and "Chart of My Heart" with saxophonist Richie Kamuca's Quintet on a Stars of Jazz television broadcast on April 7, 1958. He would be playing in the hotel room and hit a quadruple stop that was a harmonious sound, and then set the bass on its side and it seemed the sound just rang and rang for so long. 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. The Jazz la Mode Blog has plenty to stimulate your interest and curiosity in American music. What happened to your brother after Ithaca College? LaFaro died in an automobile accident on July 6, 1961, in Seneca, New York,[5] on U.S. Route 20 between Geneva and Canandaigua,[9] four days after accompanying Stan Getz at the Newport Jazz Festival. Later in high school, kids would go to the movies with their friends, or boyfriends, or girlfriends. RE: Person I Knew is a tribute to bass legend Scott LaFaro, who died tragically in a car accident 50 years ago this year at the age of 25.Phil Palombi plays the EXACT bass that made Scotty a legend on the Bill Evans Trio, Live at the Village Vanguard Sessions!. We would explore all around our neighborhood on West Street our house was where the elementary school is. Youll have to adjust your ears, but theyll fall into line quickly. Tom was honored by the Jazz Journalists Association with the Willis Conover-Marian McPartland Award for Career Excellence in Broadcasting in 2019. He lives in Boston and has contributed toJazzTimessince 2006. Jan. 30, 2021 1:47 PM PT. Man, woman decapitated after car slams into big rig on 5 Freeway in San Fernando Valley. 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. Helene says that she and Scotty were taken to hear Tony Bennett, the Mills Brothers, Dizzy Gillespie and numerous others. 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. The texture, however, is the back of the handthats the form of caress, rather than the rough-skinned palm. The Getz Quartet, with either Henry Grimes or Jimmy Garrison spelling LaFaro (Kuhn cant recall for certain), was playing that week at Saranac Lake in the Adirondacks. Both Nat Hentoff and Ralph J. Gleason took note. I remained close friends with Scotty in New York, and would go over there to see and admire them, and Scotty and Paul would come over to the Five Spot, too. Just about any jazz fan knows that on June 25, the 25-year-old had been in NYC as part of Bill Evans trio at the Village Vanguard, cutting the Sunday live date that will be reissued and repackaged so long as the earth continues to spin. Those six numbers with LaFaro making up what became the Booker Little album are a masterclass in postbop bass. At that years Monterey Jazz Festival, LaFaro performed with both the Coleman Quartet and Gunther Schuller. Brockton-born alto player and clarinetist Dick Johnson was also on the band. We had to have a strong rhythm section and he was definitely of that caliberHe was a dedicated personintolerant of anyone who wasnt giving his best., https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ngs04EXtDwk. 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.. Evans stopped performing for several months. 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. You can read our interview with Holland here. He died near Geneva in an auto accident in 1961. During World War II the club scene changed and he came back to Geneva where he could find work. LaFaro-Fernandez: 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. Geller recalls that at the end of Scottys first night with the clarinetist, the two went around to hear Bill Evans. Scott LaFaro was born 64 years ago . [1] He played in groups at the College Spa and Joe's Restaurant[4] on State Street in downtown Ithaca. This was Scottys home, and he would practice bass facing the corner in the living room because he could better hear the sound quality. His records with Bill Evans are among the finest jazz trio discs . The album included five tracks recorded in New York City during 1961 with pianist Don Friedman and drummer Pete LaRoca.[13]. Paul Motian was on drums, Nobby Totah on bass. We also spent time at the First Presbyterian Church choir. My dad loved the director, so we had to go and have that experience as well. 1950s - 1960s. Stan Levey. April 3, 1936 in Newark, NJ. Scott Yanow, All-Music GuideScott LaFaros life and career were cut short in July of 1961. Im in the position of having nothing you can put your finger on for sale., Evanss drug addiction was also a matter of concern for LaFaro. I quit very fast, but he was a natural. She recalls that Zoot Sims so impressed her brother that he was impatient for the intermission to end, and that bassist Leroy Vinnegar hummed all the while he was playing, a habit Scotty later developed as well. Helene says he talked about seeing Duke Ellington for weeks, shaking his head in disbelief of howthey could fool with the melody and make it so much more. As for religion, she says that whenever shes asked, I always answer, We went wherever the music was best. That was Dads criterion, be it a mass at a Roman Catholic church or Friday evening Shabbat dinner at the cantors home., Scottys first instruments were piano, clarinet, and tenor saxophone. We never got to enjoy it as a concert venue in our day, unfortunately. It originally appeared as a solo piano piece on Evans' debut album, New Jazz Conceptions. LaFaro left Morrow and settled in Los Angeles in 1957. And there truly couldn't be a better way to . AllMusic Quiz. After Scotty played at the Newport Jazz Festival with Stan Getz (July 1961), he went to Geneva to try to convince the people who had been renting our house to buy it. 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. 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 . For many, that Evans association, with drummer Paul Motian, is the LaFaro legacy. We would explore all around our neighborhood on West Street our house was where the elementary school is. Evans and Dolphy dont feature on a couple tunes, while LaFaro is the constant. He played a lot of top, cymbals, and Scotty wanted more drums, says Kuhn. 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. 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. Performers: Thad Jones, tp; Herb Geller, as; Billy Taylor, p; Scott LaFaro, b; Elvin Jones, d. June 1959. The BMW then struck a fourth car which was traveling south on Corbin Avenue. The group attended the funeral in Geneva, which Kuhn adds was closed casket., LaFaro's death was devastating to Bill Evans. It has rolled corners on the bottom and very sloped shoulders on the top, making it easier to get in and out of thumb position. He replaced Charlie Haden as Ornette Coleman's bassist in January 1961. 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. He would practice for hours: he had all these Sonny Rollins solos he had written out in bass clef! Scott LaFaro - Death. Jim Hall. Also included is "Porgy", originally omitted for lack of space.[]" Click to reveal Everything. 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. LaFaro and his stellar bandmates pianist Don Friedman and drummer Pete LaRoca run through four jazz standards, including two takes of Sacre Blu. Composer: Gillespie She proposed the demo as something to shop around to record labels; alas, nothing came of it. Tom holds a BA from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where he majored in English and African American Studies. Not long after he arrived on campus, he gave his clarinet away to a classmate. Labels. As such, the album is a sort of memorial record for him; all of the tracks featured were either written by him, or feature a bass solo performed by him as the centerpiece of the track. 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. 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. Postings here are the last known photographs or videos of a person. Tragically, LaFaros chance to see how far his talent would take him was cut short when he died in a car crash near Geneva in July 1961 at the age of 25. LaFaro-Fernandez: Dad (Joe LaFaro) never forced us to play music. LaFaro-Fernandez: My father passed away (from a heart attack) in 1957. Once he got the gig, his college days were over. Did you and your brother spend time at the Smith Opera House (which was Schines Geneva Theatre back then)? 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. Advice and guidance to those interested in building a library of jazz recordings. Bill Evans. On Sundays our family would go to church, then go to the movies in the afternoon. 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. MTV, EMA and all related titles, logos and characters are trademarks of Viacom International Inc. 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