1950s - 1960s. Is that a jazz thing? Performers: Stan Getz, ts; Steve Kuhn, p; Scott LaFaro, b; Roy Haynes d. Newport, 2 July 1961. And there truly couldn't be a better way to . jazz bass Another link(Born: April 3, 1936 in Newark, NJ, Died: July 6, 1961 in Geneva, NY)During his tragically short life, Scott LaFaro quickly developed into one of the most advanced bassists around, competing with Charlie Haden and Charles Mingus. She proposed the demo as something to shop around to record labels; alas, nothing came of it. Having followed him out to Los Angeles in the late 1950s along with the rest of the LaFaro family, LaFaro-Fernandez still lives in California and continues to answer daily inquiries about her brother, conduct interviews, and ensure his legacy will inform musicians and fans for generations to come. LaFaro was honored in 2012 in Geneva, where a street was renamed Scott LaFaro Drive and an annual Scott LaFaroDay was inaugurated. He practiced from sheet music for the higher-pitched clarinet to improve his facility the upper register for bass. Shortly after, their collaboration began. 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. A Dead Musician Directory Celebrity Page. Youre freeboomto lock in on LaFaro, and I do that quite a bit. 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. We never got to enjoy it as a concert venue in our day, unfortunately. 2023 Smith Center for the Arts, All rights reserved. [10] It was there his career exploded. Composer: Porter Haynes shared with Scotty a fastidiousness about clothing, and hed just been named toEsquiresBest-Dressed list. My dad took Scotty to see anyone who came there, or to Syracuse or Rochester. Stan was playing a melody, and Scott began doubling it. Pictures of people only please! He told Helene that Scott lived for the bassHe was looking all the time to play. 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. In 2009, Resonance Records reissued five tracks from Memories for Scotty on Pieces of Jade, together with twenty-two minutes of LaFaro and Bill Evans practising "My Foolish Heart" during a rehearsal in 1960. I remember one time Scotty came home with an LP under his arm. He was playing mandolin and violin publicly by age 7. But he was best known for his collaborations and recordings with the Bill Evans Trio. Performers: Bill Evans, p; Scott LaFaro, b; Paul Motian, d. 28 Dec 1958. Performers: Chet Baker, tp; Phil Urso, ts; Francy Boland, p; Larance Marable, d; Scott LaFaro, b. Three of the tunes from their setBaubles, Bangles and Beads; Where Do You Go; and Airegin were released on CD in 1994. The 25-year-old Scott LaFaro's death in a car accident shortly after was a major shock to the jazz world. LaFaro-Fernandez: 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. It will be observed on his birthday anniversary, April 3. Tom holds a BA from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where he majored in English and African American Studies. After that touch of piano, he really started to enjoy music and develop a keen awareness of what it was all about. More on his story here. Elsewhere, a legacy is a reflection on what might have been, based on a limited amount of what was. (, This page was last edited on 15 February 2023, at 23:36. 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. Today would be the 78th birthday of the great Scott LaFaro, who died in a car accident in 1961. Later we moved to Elmwood Place, and during the summer we would spend many of our days at the Brook Street Playground. [14] On April 4, 2014 a ceremony to rename a downtown street Scott LaFaro Drive took place. Having followed him out to Los Angeles in the late 1950s along with the rest of the LaFaro family, LaFaro-Fernandez still lives in California and continues to answer daily inquiries about her brother, conduct interviews, and ensure his legacy will inform musicians and fans for generations to come. After three months at Ithaca College, he concentrated on bass. Member Of . Mr. Berg, whose career encompassed free jazz, soul jazz, jazz rock, and straight-ahead playing, was driving east on Route 27 with his wife when The last day was recorded for two albums, Sunday at the Village Vanguard and Waltz for Debby.[8]. Labels. 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. [1] With Evans and drummer Paul Motian he developed the counter-melodic style that would come to characterize his playing. By. But you always knew that Read More Kelly Sill, Several years ago, one of Danilo Prezs students was suffering from tendinitis. On date night, people would end up at The Smith. Other times, its distilled into a moment that seems to transcend itself, and thus it went for Paul Gonsalves, hero of a Newport afternoon. Composer: Urso Born in Irvington, New Jersey, the son of a big band musician, Rocco Scott LaFaro (April 3, 1936 - July 6, 1961) was five when his family moved to Geneva, New York. The loss of LaFaro hit Evans hard, and he went into a brief seclusion. Cool Modal Music Post-Bop. The Scott La Faro book was wonderful. LaFaro died in an automobile accident in the summer of 1961 in Flint, New York on U.S. 20 between Geneva and Canandaigua, two days after accompanying Stan Getz at the Newport Jazz Festival. He would practice for hours: he had all these Sonny Rollins solos he had written out in bass clef! Did you and your brother spend time at the Smith Opera House (which was Schines Geneva Theatre back then)? Such is the legacy of bassist Scott LaFaro, though I would suggest that what was was more than we often think. It was an idyllic childhood. He wanted the conversation back and forth between each of the players, and he wanted to play melody. Bill Evans Trio. Geller said Goodman was unhappy with his current bassist, and offered to recommend Scotty but cautioned, Bennys very conservative, dont do any of those fast things you can do. He took up bass because he was required to play a stringed instrument at Ithaca College. Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. For much of 1958, LaFaro was with pianist/vibraphonist Victor Feldman's band. It is still so wild to me that he was so influential. In May 1960, the Bill Evans Trio joined in a program at Circle in the Square that was devoted to Gunther Schullers jazz compositions. This page was last edited on 24 February 2023, at 08:03. In LaFaros short yet meteoric career, he accomplished more than most musicians do over decades. Does anyone have pictures of this bass, or have you seen it in person? Oscar Peterson Trio . LaFaro was killed in a car accident near his hometown of Geneva, N.Y., at age 25. The loss of LaFaro hit Evans hard, and he went into a brief seclusion. While driving home late one night his car went off the road and struck a tree. Tracks. Is that a bass thing? 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. The 25-year old Scott LaFaros death in a car accident shortly after was a major shock to the jazz world. Taking a tip from Red Mitchell, he trained himself to pluck the strings of his bass with his index and middle finger independently. He was a tremendous talent [who] wanted to go on to greener pastures.Over the next two years, Scotty toured the country with Chet Baker, and worked around L.A. with Hampton Hawes, Harold Land, Buddy DeFranco, Richie Kamuca, Joe Gordon, and Stan Kenton. Brooklyn, NY The other day at school someone mentioned Red Mitchell taking the bass which was in the car crash that killed Scott LaFaro back to Kolstein's in pieces, and Kolstein, fairly recently, restored it. 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. All is possible, and then all is no more. Upon returning to L.A., LaFaro phoned his friend Herb Geller, who was then playing alto with Benny Goodman in New York. In high school Scotty played clarinet and tenor saxophone, in spite of not being happy about a lip injury he got playing basketball at the Y. I was 19 and working. Scott LaFaro at Newport July 2, 1961 - Killed in a Car Wreck 4 days later. Bassist Marc Johnson, who was with Evans between 1978 and his death in 1980, wrote in the liner notes forPieces of Jadethat the Vanguard performance was the highest measure of Scotts musical vision. InJade Visions, he says, I must have listened to those recordingsthousands of timesTo this day, I still dont see how Scott articulated his ideas with such startling clarity and velocity., Johnson also speaks for the continuing hold that the recordings have on listeners touched by their emotional richness. In sum, LaFaro visited Geneva, his home town, spent some time with some local friends, drove one of them to visit a mutual friend, left to return to Geneva, fell asleep at the wheel, hit a tree near Flint, NY, seven miles east of Geneva, and burned to death. It remains what is likely Evans' most well-known song,[citation needed] one that he would play throughout his career. The car, tree and garage all caught fire. LaFaro began by practicing his fingers off. He worked from sheet music for the clarinet, with its much higher pitch, to improve his command of the bass upper register. And youre out, Death letyou out, Death had the Mercy, youre done with your century, done with God, done with the path thru itAllen Ginsberg (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. 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. 1926). My day consists of such a singular preoccupationthe physicology of music. 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. 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. His records with Bill Evans are among the finest jazz trio discs . At age 12 he was recommended for the Ithaca Conservatory of Music, where he was classically trained in violin. Let us be grateful that he didnt rest easy during what would prove to be the last Christmas season of his life, for in December 1960, he was called in for a couple of dates that we must look to every bit as much as the June 1961 Village Vanguard recordings to fully appreciate him. Q: Did you and your brother spend time at the Smith Opera House (which was Schines Geneva Theatre back then)? There is fealty and gratitude in Evans approach to that famed date, and we have our early summer day out with the best of chums, people we feel are our musical friends. Also, the last picture taken by a person just before their death is acceptable. Remembering Geneva's jazz legend Scott LaFaro: An interview with his sister Helene LaFaro-Fernandez - Smith Center for the Arts Smith Center for the Arts CONTACT US 82 Seneca Street Geneva, NY 14456 315-781-5483 BOX OFFICE Tuesday-Friday 10am-4pm ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES by appointment boxoffice@thesmith.org Dad (Joe LaFaro) never forced us to play music. 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. Scotty sat in. The 25-year-old Scott LaFaro's death in a car accident shortly after was a major shock to the jazz world. He was visiting some friends west of Geneva and was driving home late when he crashed. 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. There was great rapport. Sign in to continue reading, Sixty years after the bass greats untimely death, a look at his musical legacy beyond the Bill Evans Trio. It wasnt until he left for Ithaca College, where music majors were required to play a stringed instrument, that he first played bass. Brother man, I can all but hear Ornette saying, we are going to blow some minds tomorrow.. In 2007, 46 years later, Roy introduced Helene to the great bassist Christian McBride. Man, woman decapitated after car slams into big rig on 5 Freeway in San Fernando Valley. 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. [My] early years at the university were thoroughly engaging intellectually but were also a time of deep introspection. [1] For a time, Haden and LaFaro shared an apartment. Well, Michael Cera did play a bassist in Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World. He said, Man, youve gotta hear this. Composer: Rosolino Tonight Show, 14 Feb 1957. 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. But LaFaro had a pronounced Dolphy streak too, in that both musicians were playmakers, facilitators, helping others to raise their games by playing theirs at the highest level. Pianist Walter Norris described him as a "wild fire," and said "he never used any stimulants to enhance life, but his every moment was seriously lived to the fullest." LaFaro-Fernandez: On Sundays our family would go to church, then go to the movies in the afternoon. HOMETOWN Newark, NJ, United States of America BORN April 3, 1936 Similar Artists Paul Motian. A post-bass bass player, maybe. LaFaro-Fernandez: Scotty and I were born in New Jersey but we moved back to Geneva in 1942. AllMusic Quiz. 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. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. Composer: Coleman LaFaro left Morrow and settled in Los Angeles in 1957. 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