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'Cliques Are Destroying Jazz: Lennie Tristano By JOHN S. WILSON New York—The efforts of such groups as the Shearing quintet and the Bird-with-strings combo to wean the public to bop by offering it in a commercialized form is producing exactly the opposite effect, according to Lennie Triatano. lennir, one of jazz's most adamant* iconoclasts, says such efforts arr killing off the potential jazz audi­ ence and lousing up the musician* Axel Stordahl To VOL. 17—No. 20 CHICAGO. OCTOBER 6. 1750 involved. (Copyright, I9W, Dowa leaf, lac.)_______________________________________ “If you give watered-down bop to the public,” he says, “they’d Rejoin The Voice rather near that than the real New York—Axel Stordahl, who thing. Has George Shearing helped had been Frank Sinatra’s regular Disc Sales Up jazz by making hi* bop a filling in­ conductor and arranger until about Korean Troops Get Musk side a sandwich of familiar melo­ a year ago, will be back with the dy? Obviously not, because there Voice again this season. Stordahl an fewer places where jazz can be will wave the baton on Sinatra’s Over 49 Mark played today than there wen* when video show and will also work with it. Gecxge and his quintet started out. him again on records. For the last New York—Financial statements year Sinatra has used a number of look at Bird asued in the last month indicate different leaders for hi« backing, that record sales are booming along "Look what happened to Charlie with Skitch Henderson handling at a better rate than they did a Parker He made pime records, fea­ the chore for several months be­ year ago. Music performance trust turing the melody nnd they sold fore he turned disc jockey. fund, which collects contributions and he got to lx* a big thing with Sinatra, who recently .signed an from disc companies on «ach rec­ the general public. So they brought exclusive radio und TV deal with ord made, has no complete figures him into Birdland with strings 'o CBS, is figured to pick up some for the first half of this year yet, play the name things. Ana he $300,000 for his work for the net but it estimates that contribution* played badly. Why? Because the during the coming season. The disc Dsychological strain of playing in are running about 20 percent ahead jockey «how which he will do iw of the same period last year. a vein which didn’t interest him part of these chores, originally wa? too much for him. Things like Samuel R. Rosenbaum, trustee scheduled for Saturday afternoon, for the fund, has announced that that don’t help Bird and they don’t has been shifted to Sundays from help jazz.” the take from platter company con ■ 5 to 6 p.m. to avoid conflict with tributions fo' the last half of 1949 It is for this reason that Lennie CBS’ football broadcasts during was $746,000, a boost of $83,000 has consistently turned a deaf ear the fall. over the first half of that year. to suggestions that he temper his Capitol records ha« reported un esoteric style, that he play more Somewhere in Korea—American troops on their way to the battle­ increase in sales of $350,000 for in a manner that the public can front stop to enjoy im impromptu «how put on by two of their bud the first half of 1950 over the understand in order to build a diea, Pvt, Raymond Williams, left, of Moberly, Md., and Pvt. Bob same period last year. Label ended wider audience for the things he Columbia Signs Clinton, Bismark. N.D. up the period with a nef loss of wants to play. $64,823 after tax*'«, but this is an i “It would be useless for me to Bobby Hackett improvement over the low of $246,­ play something I don’t feel,”.he 717 which they racked up for the ■ays. “I wouldn’t be doing any New York—Bobby Hackett ha^ I WantTo Make Money, same period last year. Capitol thing. If I played something that been -igned by Columbia records wound up last year in the black I’d have to impose on myself, I to slice a series of sides for them despite this first half loss and ex­ Hackett cut his first sides under wouldn’t be playing anything Not Play Jazz: Nat Cole pects to do even better for the en­ good.” the deal at the tieginning of Sep­ tire year of 1950. Natural Result tember, using Charlie Queener, pi­ Decca’s statement for the first ano; Carl KreoS, guitar; Bob Ca­ San Diego “I’m in thef half of 1950 shows net earnings of Because he can make enough to sey, bass, and Don Marino, drums. live on by teaching. Lennie feels music business for one pur* $360,582, u light drop fiom last he can stick to what he wants to do This is the same combo Hackett pose — to make money,” Nat Andre Previn year’s first half earnings of $390,­ used when he played the Grand­ 647. However, company has re­ even though this means he plays Cole waa saying. “I’m not view inn, Columbus. Ohio, this ported that this yea' it had its lit public only ones «very coupli >f playing for other musicians. We’re Goes Into Army summer, his first date outside of months at best. He is not at all trying to reach the guy who works first July in the black in several surprised that there b a very New York in four years Hollywood — Andre Previn, seasons and looks to this as an all day and wants to spend a buck MGM’s 21-year-old music director limited market for his stuff today. at night. We’il keep him happy.” auger for even better sales during This, he thinks, is a natural result and composer-arranger, was the the coming months. of the psychological atmosphere in Cole, who recently completed an first top-ranking studio musician which we are living. engagement at Top's here, denies to be called up for military service. McKinley Vocations; that he has yielded any ;» in­ Previn, who was ordered to report “Everybody in this country is to Camp Cook, Calif., training cen­ NBC Might Build very neurotic now,” he aayi. tegrity for the commercial line. May Not Reorganize ter, Sept, 1, said he believed he “They’re afraid to experience an More Visual let New York—Ray McKinley is would be assigned tc the 40th In­ intense emotion, the kind of intense “I’ll admit we put on a more Own House Ork emotion, for instance, that’ due to return to New York at the fantry Division band New York—Formation of a house end of September from Texas visual oct these days,” he says, brought on by good jazz. There’s “But that’s what you have to do Previn started as an orchestra­ dancr band is being considered by more vitality in jazz than in any where he has been spending a to keep the public interested. Take tor at MGM when he was 17 years the National Broadcasting Co., other art form today. Vitality month resting. Although it had Frankie Laine. Some people think old moved up to become one of the with the idea of building it up in arises from an emotion that is been rumored that he would go out he’s a jazz singer, but he isn’t and studio’s leading music directors. its own field in chi same way the free But the people, being neurotic, a a single after he broke up his never was. He’s a modern Al Jol­ Last two pictures (ap yet unre­ network has built the NBC Sym­ are afraid of being affected by a band thu, Hummer, Ray says he son. He sings and puts on an act leased) on which he handled the phony under Toscanini into a na­ free emotion and that’s why they tional attraction Network would won’t make up his mind definitely at the same time. complete scoring assignments were put down jazz. use the band for radio concerts, about his future plans until he gets “Jazz is pretty dead commercial­ Kim (Errol Flynn) and Cause tor “Since the last war we’ve been back from his vacation. send it on tours, and have it cut ly anyway. We haven’t had a new Alarm (Loretta Young, Barry Sul­ record, for its affiliate, RCA overwhelmed by a feeling of in­ and fresh sound since Shearing security. To try to offset that in­ livan). His biggest filmusical job, Victor. and he hasn’t gone any further. and first an full credit music boss, Plan would also give the net a security, people are reaching back He learned there’s a limited num­ toward happier times and we’re in was the Kalmar-Ruby biografilm, pool of pop iidemen who could be I Fefe Frances I ber of rooms he can play. So now Three Little Words. used for staff work, cutting down an era of nostalgia which is being he tells jokes and puts on a more •nflictcd on the younger people who visual show. It broadens his scope. on the necessity of hiring free lancers. Band would be fronted by have nothing to be nostalgic about. We ha>l the same trouble -ind ex­ “Nostalgia brings on anticipa­ a conductor-arranger who would panded.” pick his own men. tion because you knov.

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