John Gordon: N.Y.C. Trombone Master

From time to time my friend Otto published little booklets and leaflets on musicians close to his heart. Since he had a strong interest in the not-too-well-known names who nonetheless had something special to offer, these booklets are very interesting documents, as they often contain information that might not have been published elsewhere.

One fine example is “John Gordon: N.Y.C. Trombone Master”, the little book dedicated to the career of trombonist John Gordon (1939–2994) that Otto produced in 1982. I decided to scan the whole booklet and put it up here, as it gives a fascinating insight to the everyday work of your average first -class jazz musician hustling in N.Y.C in the 1970s and 1980s.

But first, so you will know whom this booklet is about, here is a clip showing Lionel Hampton’s orchestra in Nice in summer 1978. Solos are by Lionel Hampton (vib), Jimmy Maxwell, John Gordon, Doc Cheatham, Curtis Fuller, Earl Warren and Hampton again (this time on drums).

And here is the track “No Tricks, No Gimmicks” from Gordon’s 1975 Strata East LP “Step by Step”, which you may want to listen to while skimming through the booklet:

And here is the booklet. Just click on one of the pages, a clickable gallery will pop up. Enjoy!

Lionel Hampton feat. Milt Buckner, Prague 1977

Four years ago I found in Otto Flückiger’s archive a 20 minute clip of the Lionel Hampton Orchestra playing Air Mail Special in Prague 1977 with Milt Buckner featured on the organ. It soon turned out that sound and  picture lost their synchronicity during the upload to youtube. At that time I did not see what I had done wrong, so I decided to not go through the digitizing process again and leave it the way it is.

But now yesterday I found out that even more footage exists from this concert. So I digitized all 43 minutes that are there (it still ends rather abrupt, so there probably is even more footage extant). Besides Hampton and big-mustached Milt Buckner you get to see and hear Cat Anderson on trumpet, Pauel Moen and the legendary Eddie Chamblee on saxophones, guitarist Billy Mackel and drummer Frankie Dunlop.

Enjoy!

Milt Buckner Acetate: Flying Home

Here is another track from the mysterious set of KAKE acetates featuring a 1953 Lionel Hampton concert as well as some solo piano tracks by Milt Buckner. Here you get Milt playing Lionel Hampton’s classic “Flyin’ Home” in a wonderfully agitated solo piano version. If anyone does know anything set about these mysterious acetates, do not hesitate and tell me!

Enjoy!

Cecil Payne – a little portrait

From time to time my friend Otto experimented a little bit with his semi-professional equipment to produce little video clips from footage in his archive. The clips he produced often were charming little  portraits of musicians he liked. Around the late 1980s he made a short portrait of baritone saxophonist Cecil Payne that I thought would be nice to present here.

The clip is based on a (professionally filmed) solo by Payne of which I do not know the original source. The footage of Payne with Lionel Hampton in 1964 is from this clip, filmed by Otto himself, whereas the source for the 1979 footage is unidentified again.

Enjoy!

Memories of a Lionel Hampton concert (1964)

From the late 1950s on – as soon as he could afford the equipment –  my friend Otto carried a camera when he went to a concert. Some of his early clips survive, most of them are silent though. One exception is the footage from a concert concert that Lionel Hampton and his Orchestra gave on July 24, 1964 at the Casino in the small french town of Divonne-les-Bains, 17 kilometers from Geneva on the other side of the swiss-french border.
On this occasion Otto filmed a part of the concert and had a tape machine running at the same time. Someone also took photos to which Otto had access – or maybe he made them himself. The clip I am presenting you here is a version that Otto himself edited sometime in the late 1980s. So fasten your seat belts and start the time machine full throttle. Be spiraled through the – sort of yellowish – mists of time and wake up in a little concert hall, where the Hampton band plays “Broadway”.  And look there: Cecil Payne gets some bars, and so does trumpeter Martin Banks!

Enjoy!

Ruth remembers Milt Buckner

Some days ago I received a very nice email from Ruth Gilson who has – as she says – “been an avid Milt Buckner for years”. Ruth who is now 80 years of age wanted to know if I would like to read about her personal interactions with Milt Buckner when he was booked into her local Holiday Inn Supper Club for a month every year. And of course I wanted to read that! 

Lionel Hampton: artist under pressure

 

 

Here’s another very nice document from the Otto Flückiger collection: Leeds Music Corporation trying to plug All or Nothing At All, which was composed four years earlier by Arthur Altman, the lyrics were by Jack Lawrence. As we know from Milt Buckner’s interviews with Otto Flückiger and Kees Bakker, Hampton was always open to such suggestions.

Lionel Hampton at Strand Theatre 1948

When I was down at the archives last week looking for documents in relation to Don Redman’s 1946 tour, I accidentally found a batch of gorgeous photos of Lionel Hampton’s band in 1948 and 1949 at New York’s Strand Theatre as well as from  the Howard Theatre Washington 1948.

(click to enlarge)

The photograph above was taken at the Strand Theatre in N.Y.C, between January 23 and February 1948. Unfortunately the photographer is not known (to me at least). On the edge of the photo Otto noted down the names of the musicians to be seen. I photoshopped the edge just enough to make his handwriting (very pale pencil) readable again. Too make identification easier, I have cut up the photo into several parts below.

Lionel Hampton, Fort Hayes 1942

This flyer for a 1942 Lionel Hampton concert at Fort Hayes in Columbus Ohio must be among the rarest items on the Otto Flückiger collection. Imagine what it was like to be there!

(Click to enlarge)

To make it easier for your imagination, here’s Hampton and his band playing “In the Bag”, recorded on May 26 1942, nearly two months before the Fort Hayes gig: Lionel Hampton: In The Bag

Milt Buckner Acetate: “Hamp’ s Boogie”

I made a little movie to the music of Milt Buckner playing “Hamp’s Boogie” at an unknown date. The music comes from a mysterious bunch of acetates from the Otto Flückiger collection.