Bassist Scott LaFaro of Geneva had already achieved acclaim when he died in a car accident at the age of 25. Bassist Scott LaFaro would die in a car accident just ten days after this album's recording, at the age of 25. He quoted Evans, who said, Im hoping the trio will grow in the direction of simultaneous improvisationIf the bass player, for example, hears an idea that he wants to answer, why should he just keep playing a background?, Scotty, of course, heard and answered plenty of ideas. Though hed previously appeared onGolden Trombonewith Buddy Morrow,The Arrival of Victor Feldmanwas essentially the first LP that showcased his singular gifts. Helene says that she and Scotty were taken to hear Tony Bennett, the Mills Brothers, Dizzy Gillespie and numerous others. The 25-year-old Scott LaFaro's death in a car accident shortly after was a major shock to the jazz world." Scott Yanow. Expansive range was a totem of the LaFaro sound, the idea that the bass was so much a bass that it was also not a bass and more than a bass. The Scott La Faro book was wonderful. Evans stopped performing for several months. Performers: Chet Baker, tp; Phil Urso, ts; Francy Boland, p; Larance Marable, d; Scott LaFaro, b. Dave Green joins Alyn Shipton to pick the essential recordings of fellow bassist Scott LaFaro's brief but brilliant career, including work with Bill Evans. 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. He was playing mandolin and violin publicly by age 7. Scotty sat in. He took up bass because he was required to play a stringed instrument at Ithaca College. LaFaro also played opposite bassist Charlie Haden in alto saxophonist Ornette Coleman's experimental double quartet on Free Jazz. It is LaFaros bass that makes this thing go, such as it does go. LaFaro-Fernandez: When Scotty was in sixth grade we took our first piano lessons. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. LaFaro-Fernandez, Helen; Ralston, Chuck; Campbell, Jeffrey R.; Palombi, Phil (2009). LaFaro is heard soloing while George Duvivierplays the bass riff that Percy Heath had introduced on the first recordings of "Django" by the Modern Jazz Quartet. At that years Monterey Jazz Festival, LaFaro performed with both the Coleman Quartet and Gunther Schuller. Pianist Pat Moran, who led a trio that Scott toured and recorded with in 1958, says he was was very aware of his genius and used to love to go into clubs and intimidate bass playersHe was quite a character, lots of fun. Moran is little known today as Patti Moran McCoy, butin 1960 LaFaro was quoted ina profile written by Martin Williams forJazz Review, I dont even like any of my records except maybe the first one I did with Pat Moran., https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HAbUcKTdcI. Q: Did you and your brother spend time at the Smith Opera House (which was Schines Geneva Theatre back then)? The album included five tracks recorded in New York City during 1961 with pianist Don Friedman and drummer Pete LaRoca.[13]. I was 19 and working. Brother man, I can all but hear Ornette saying, we are going to blow some minds tomorrow.. Lafaro's innovative bass playing, which combined virtuoso technique with a counter-melodic conception, was captured in all its glory at the Vanguard on June 25, 1961. 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. 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 . The action you just performed triggered the security solution. This year The Smith is excited to have National Endowment of the Arts Jazz Masters, Kenny Barron (piano) and Dave Holland (bass), together on stage on Saturday, April 6. 1950s - 1960s. He proved to be a natural for the instrument, which obsessed him, and early in his sophomore year he went on the road with Buddy Morrows orchestra. A professor encouraged him to audition for an open spot in the Buddy Morrow Orchestra. The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has We calculated our top 40 new releases of 2022 We calculated our top 10 historical/reissue You never quite knew what Chicago bassist Kelly Sill was going to play (or what he was going to say). He played in a trio or quartet at Belhurst from the time he got back until he died. Little was as star-crossed as LaFaro, and hes usually talked about in conjunction with altoist Eric Dolphy as often as LaFaro is with Evans. When did your brother start getting interested in music? A master of the upright bass, he recorded with Bill Evans and Ornette Coleman before he died in a car crash at age 25. Did you and your brother spend time at the Smith Opera House (which was Schines Geneva Theatre back then)? All that listening to the trio had another effect on me. It is well remembered as the final performance by the Evans trio of the time, which included bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian. This Third Stream affair has jazz as a major tributary vein, and it has LaFaro to thank for it. 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. Death. We think of LaFaro as a jazz bassist with leanings toward classical music; its the lan, I think. In the mid 1950s, at the Los Angeles music scene, he became known as one of. Q: What were Scotts childhood and teen years like here in Geneva? Paul Motian was on drums, Nobby Totah on bass. 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. He heard what I was doing at the piano, and I heard what he was doing. Includes Obituary, Biography, Discography, Photo, and Links. Fraternal guidance, in that this endeavor allowed fellow band members to do what they best did. There is a grave mistake a prospective listener can make with LaFaro, and when I say what that is, I may come off as somewhat risible, but one must do what is right: loving the Village Vanguard recordings so much that you sleep on the rest of what he achieved as a certain kind of jazz genius. It will be observed on his birthday anniversary, April 3. Performers: Victor Feldman, p, vib; Scott LaFaro, b; Stan Levey, d. 22 Jan 1958. He began working in jazz radio in 1977 at WCUW, a community-licensed radio station in Worcester, Massachusetts. LaFaro achieved fame in the Bill Evans Trio, which he joined in 1959 and which featured Paul Motian on drums. Then wed go home and have dinner and ice cream. Genres. He remembered that Scotty was dressed up for the Newport appearance. That show typically includes stories about LaFaro, who forever changed the jazz worlds concept of what bass playing could accomplish with his counter-melodic style. Born . ai! It remains what is likely Evans' most well-known song,[citation needed] one that he would play throughout his career. Born in Newark, New Jersey, he was an influential jazz bassist best known for his work with the Bill Evans Trio. 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. 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. On date night, people would end up at The Smith. Sometimes its defined by contrasting stylistic paths that amalgamate into a career, as with Miles Davis. We would explore all around our neighborhood on West Street our house was where the elementary school is. Little must have loved LaFaros contributions, because he himself was one of those players between spheres: neither a bopper nor a hard-bopper nor an out-and-out New Thing guy. Mom needed the money. Scott LaFaro was born 64 years ago today. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. 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. LaFaro was killed in a car accident near his hometown of Geneva, N.Y., at age 25. Scott LaFaro was an American jazz musician whose technique on the double bass left an indelible impression on future artists even though he died in a car accident in 1961 when he was just 25 years.. 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 Composer: Hawes Toggle filters. In the latter case, Getz fired LaRoca and hired Roy Haynes, but Kenton wasn't about to be second-guessed. Composer: Gillespie The tendency is to associate him with classical predilections, but here he is at one of the zeitgeist-shaking avant-garde sessions, and boy, does he drive the sound. [14] On April 4, 2014 a ceremony to rename a downtown street Scott LaFaro Drive took place. LaFaro continued to play this bass until his death. The last day was recorded for two albums, Sunday at the Village Vanguard and Waltz for Debby.[8]. The trio attracted attention for its style. Smith Opera House is owned and operated by the Smith Center for the Arts, a private not-for-profit 501(c)(3) corporation. He would have played twenty-four hours a day if he couldHe was learning a mile a minute., Morrows outfit had a big hit with Night Train. The bandleader told Helene, We were a band which was dedicated at the time to mainly rhythm and blues. Composers. 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