[NewMusic] RIP Jimmy Giuffre

[David Slusser]

Definitely a hero who should not be overlooked.

I've been collecting his recordings for years, back to
1947.  He was a consummate big band bebop arranger
and Prez inspired tenor swingster who kept expanding
and exploring into the forefront of improvised music,
with a rich folk-form period along the way.  The trio
concert he did in SF with Konitz and Bley knocked me
out, and I got to be introduced to him and his wife,
Jaunita.  (She was a modern painter - and the beautiful
woman you see on one of George Russell's albums -
to whom she had been married before Giuffre.)  He's
inspiring in so many ways - check him out.

On Apr 25, 2008, at 10:09 AM, Jacob Lindsay wrote:

> This guy is huge, if only for those trio records w/
> bley and swallow.  "Free Fall" (which is half trio and
> half solo Bb clarinet) is one of the, and possible
> THE, best Bb clarinet record(s) of all time.  He had
> such a great unique tone, talk about warm, relaxed,
> full but still edgy, angular and full of grit and
> fire.  On Free Fall he pulls out all the stops.  Why
> didn't he make more records like that?  Who knows.
> But it's really enough.
>
>
>
> --- Phillip Greenlief <pgsaxo at pacbell.net> wrote:
>
>> 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