[NewMusic] RIP Jimmy Giuffre

[Phillip Greenlief]

dear bListers,
   
  More sad news.
   
  Jimmy Giuffre passed away today. I am sending a blurb from a jazz radio list...I'm sure there will be obits floating around in the coming days. 
   
  Fuck, I was just getting the idea of Toyoji's passing through my head and now this. I doubt if his influence on my playing is obvious, but I really admired Giuffre's work and put a good deal of study into it. Trio Putanesca worked on serveral of his tunes. He had a really unique place in jazz and a big influence on post jazz, bridging textures and sonorities from classical music into free improvisation. In addition to whatever historical importance he might have had, which can always be argued from a variety of perspectives, he always played so beautifully - with a lot of heart and passion.
   
  Signing off,
  PG
   
  ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I'm sorry to report that I just heard from Juanita Giuffre that Jimmy
died of pneumonia and Parkinson's today (April 24) two days before what
would have been his 87th birthday.  I met them (via email) because they
listened regularly to my show and we discovered that Jimmy and I shared
our birthday, April 26.  We usually exchanged cards this time of year.

He was most famous for "Four Brothers" with Woody, or with Shorty
Rogers "Martians Go Home" or the Lighthouse All Stars, but fewer are
aware of the beautiful very personal music he made in the 70's, 80's
and 90s, much of it very free but in a thoughtful, non-aggressive kind
of way.  He was very important as a teacher as well, notably at the New
England Conservatory.   I'm spending the evening listening to some of
Jimmy's great trio music... right now the trio with Paul Bley and Steve
Swallow "Fly Away Little Bird".   I just read a beautiful article on
Jimmy written about 5 years ago by Rex Butters on allaboutjazz.com .

Jim Wilke

I was going to play a few things by Jimmy on my show tonight to
 celebrate
his birthday.
Now I will also play, "Jimmy Giuffre, A Jazz Portrait" a half hour
 radio
documentary I Produced about 10 years ago. It's Jimmy telling his own
 story,
in his own voice, complemented by the music he heard and made
 throughout his
long career.
He was still teaching at NE Conservatory at the time, coming in to
 Boston
from West Stockbridge, MA a few days a week. I also visited Jimmy and
Juanita at their beautiful stone mill house in Western Massachusetts to
complete the interview when Jimmy got too ill to travel into Boston.
 I'll
air this program tonight at 9pm, Eastern Time.

Rest in Peace, Jimmy

Steve Schwartz
Jazz from Studio Four
Friday, 8p-midnight
WGBH, 89.7FM, Boston
ww/wgbh/org/jazz
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