keith jarrett forest flower transcription

One of us jazzers would have a house where you could jam all night long and we’d invite the guys over after the gig. There was a club in Champaign called Ruby Gulch that had nationally known bands like Elvin Jones or Charles Mingus on Monday nights when those bands wanted to fill in their schedule on the way to Chicago. I had toyed with the idea for at least a year about coming to New York: it was Mecca, the Emerald City, whatever you wanted to call it. I spent 6 months playing 6 nights a week with a country and western band and learned a lot there, played in R&B bands and so forth and finally got it together to finish my degree in composition. I was playing in the big band there, as well as playing a lot of jam sessions and gigs. I won’t go into all the reasons why, but it was the early 70’s, and things were kinda crazy. It took me 8 years to finish my bachelor’s degree. It seemed like there was nothing left for me to do in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. At the end, the previous McNeely music listening sessions with Darcy James Argue are reposted.Įthan Iverson: What year did you come to New York? Included in the middle is a note from Jim in memory of the late Bob Brookmeyer.

The following interview was taped in May 2011 after performances of Jim’s arrangements of TBP music with the hr-Bigband. Jim was the reason I attended NYU, where he showed me how many notes I got wrong when transcribing Herbie Nichols pieces.

I had met and heard him at Jamey Aebersold camps as a teenager and still remember a trio set with Kelly Sill and Joel Spencer at Pops for Champagne in Chicago (the tunes included “How My Heart Sings” and “Zingaro”) and a duo set with John Goldsby at the camp in Elmhurst (the tunes included “Hi-Fly” and “Bye-ya”). Jim McNeely was an important early teacher and influence.

Keith jarrett forest flower transcription