Ruth Price's blog

Variety - August 23, 2010

'Peanuts' and all that jazz

New documentary looks at composer Vince Guaraldi

By JON BURLINGAME

A docu on Vince Guaraldi, who wrote the music for the 'Peanuts' franchise, examines the era in which he worked.

Vince Guaraldi, the Grammy-winning jazz pianist who accidentally found fame via his music for the animated "Peanuts" TV specials, is the subject of a new documentary making the rounds on the festival circuit.

"The Anatomy of Vince Guaraldi" has won best-doc honors at fests in Colorado and Utah and will be screened at the Temecula Film Festival in September. Its Aug. 1 premiere in Los Angeles doubled as a benefit for the Jazz Bakery, a longtime L.A. jazz haunt that's searching for a new location.

Writer-director Andrew Thomas, who's worked on A&E's "Biography" and History Channel's "Modern Marvels" documentary series, is a self-described "cultural anthropologist" who's created a somewhat unconventional take on Guaraldi, who died at age 47 in 1976.

"To really understand who he is," Thomas says, "you've got to take a more existential approach, looking at the environment in which he lived and worked, and the people with whom he associated." So musicians like Jon Hendricks, Dave Brubeck and George Winston, and comedians including Dick Gregory and Paul Mazursky (who recall working with Guaraldi at San Francisco's legendary hungry i nightclub) talk not just about the composer but about the atmosphere and social issues of the 1950s and '60s.

Thomas was friends with Toby Gleason, son of Rolling Stone founding editor Ralph Gleason, having worked on the DVD releases of the elder Gleason's 1960s series "Jazz Casual." The discovery of a 16mm print of the original Guaraldi film launched Thomas and Toby on a crusade to interview as many of the musician's surviving friends and supporters as possible. About 25 minutes of the original are featured in the new film, Thomas says.

Producer Lee Mendelson's then-radical decision to use a jazz-piano score for his "Peanuts" specials, including the ever-popular "A Charlie Brown Christmas," were "pure serendipity," Thomas notes. "That's worthy of celebration, because it says that the cosmos works. It's a Zen message, which is so true to the Beat sensibility of Vince's time.

CULVER CITY NEWS website:

Excerpts from: Music to be heard and seen

By Jonathan Weiss | Thu, Jul 29 2010 01:18 PM

One of the enduring qualities of the Peanuts animated franchise is the music of jazz pianist and composer Vince Guaraldi, with his light and airy touch at the piano and compositional gift for memorable and emotive melodies, continues to delight music lovers of all ages.  Even before the success of the Peanuts, Guaraldi recorded a B-side in 1963 called Cast Your Fate to the Wind, which became a minor chart success in the days when less-formatted Top 40 radio stations could play a jazz tune next to a pop song next to a soul track.

That same year, Guaraldi and jazz critic/co-founder of Rolling Stone magazine, Ralph J. Gleason collaborated on a film that offered a unique perspective on Cast Your Fate to the Wind, which crossed over from the jazz world to the pop charts and influenced the next generation of American music. Unavailable for 40 years, this rare footage has been restored in high-definition and fully expanded to continue Guaraldi’s story through the 1960s and 70s, and will premier in Los Angeles this Sunday, Aug 1.

The film, presented by jazz impresario Ruth Price and her Jazz Bakery Movable Feast series, will take place at the historic Silent Movie Theater in the Fairfax District.  The film will be shown at 3:30 p.m., with a Q & A conducted by noted film critic and historian, Leonard Maltin. Tickets are $20, which includes a wine reception beginning at 3 p.m.

Excerpts from: BILLY CHILDS: Timbres In Motion
By Kirk Silsbee (DownBeat, September 2010)

The Chamber Jazz Ensemble is a stellar mix of Los Angeles and New York players. The Ying String Quartet, bassist Scott Colley and drummer Brian Blade traveled west; saxophonist Bob Sheppard, guitarist Larry Koonse and harpist Carol Robbins are locals, like Childs. A warmup of four nights at the Jazz Bakery preceded the recording sessions last spring....

The gig at Ruth Price’s Jazz Bakery was a chance for the band to break in the new material.  “It was very hard,” Koonse said, “and there were changes being made between sets and right on the bandstand. But there was something magical that happened. It just seemed to come together in a beautiful way. I mean, the Ying Quartet are some of the finest classical players in the world. To see how challenged and engaged they were was very inspiring”....

From her home in Beverly Hills, Price fondly recalled the ensemble at the Bakery, and the audience of active listeners who came out. “Billy really pulled it together because he’s fluent in both languages,” she said. “Billy’s band is something I’m proud of as a testament to what we did at the Bakery. We worked hard to re-engineer the space so that the strings could be heard. That wouldn’t have worked in a nightclub.”

Hi Ruth,

Hope you find a new place soon, the Jazz Scene in LA hasn't been the same since the Jazz Bakery closed, this was the only place where you could hear the best musicians in the world 7 days a week. Looking forward to when you find a new home.

Good Luck,
Dean

By George W. Harris (Reprinted from jazzweekly.com)

As part of the Jazz Bakery’s "moveable feast," or as Nathan Detroit used to call “longest established permanent floating crap game in LA” Ruth Price has now started using Disney’s acoustically perfect Redcat Theatre to host her musical presentations. This evening, she sponsored LA’s own Billy Childs, who has put together a uniquely successful chamber jazz ensemble that mixes the best of classical and modern sounds.

The core sextet of Childs leading the impressive congregants Larry Koonse/g, “Smitty” Smith/dr, Bob Sheppard/reeds, Hamilton Price/b and Carol Robbins/harp delivered music from Childs latest flowing and panoramic album Autumn: In Moving Pictures. The band graced “Waltz For Debby,” by emphasizing colors and dynamics that brought intriguing insights to this chestnut. The duo of Childs with the gentle and romantic guitar of Koonse delivered an exquisitely impressionistic “Red Wheel Barrow” that felt like a conversation between long term friends.

The Eclipse String Quartet joined the stage for the remainder of the set, adding a touch of Late Beethoven and early Bartok to to tunes like the panoramic and pulsating “The Man Chasing The Horizon” and the funky and flowing “The Path Among The Trees.” The former had the trio of Childs, Smith and Price weave in and out of the ferocious string quartet, with Sheppard’s soprano adding penetrating light through the forest of sound. The latter had Smith’s impeccably nimble drumming bring the band up and down like a collection of crashing waves, splashing as they’d hit the Malibu shore, with Childs’ boogie boarding piano riding the crest like a Hawaiian vet. The thrilling mix of ensemble energy and virtuosic soloing made the whole audience wish for more, and wish even more for Ms. Price to find a permanent home for her music and its fans.

These are Ruth's dogs: Alfy, Possom and Porkchop. They are very bored, and miss welcoming you from their customary perch on the Jazz Bakery ticket counter.

Read the photographer's blog: Three Dog Morning

TO VIEW LARGER, CLICK ON THE IMAGE.

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MetalJazz
Words About Music by Greg Burk and Friends

Antonio Sanchez Quartet at Musicians Institute, March 27

Ruth Price continues to take smart chances with the Jazz Bakery's "Movable Feast" series while she looks for a new permanent home for the Bakery.

For this gig, the Jazz Bakery was trying out the Muscians Institute's 500-seat concert room, not known to the general public as a regular destination. Result: The Hollywood location, though on a side street (quite close to Catalina's), is findable; there's medium-priced parking nearby; the modern, semicircle-seated venue has good sight lines, augmented by big video screens on each side of the stage; the sound is crisp....  No food or drinks, but plenty of restaurants in walking range; we went to the airy Café des Artistes.

The Jazz Bakery was inaugurating the theater as a "Movable Feast" venue with the quartet of Antonio Sanchez, whose instrument (drums) and musical direction (acoustic jazz) would gain little automatic linkage with the more fusion- and metal-oriented Musicians Institute, founded in 1977 as the Guitar Institute of Technology. It worked out fine.

The quartet struck a nice balance of heart and intellect. The handsome Sanchez made for a smoldering presence, relaxed behind his kit but whisking his sticks around the drums in a continuous roll, not so much keeping time as breezing the music forward. The method was similar to Elvin Jones', but with more of a Latin influence; if Sanchez had racked up a few timbales and cowbells instead of toms and cymbals, he would have sounded like a salsero.

Bass baldie Scott Colley, too, staked out nontraditional territory with decisively placed low thumps and high flurries, often emphasizing the off-beat. No walking from this dude.

The sax pairing at the left made a visual impression: compact Dave Binney on alto interlocking with bespectacled beanpole undergraduate Donny McCaslin on tenor. Both had full, rounded tones and could bend real nice. Binney's solos hit with more bluesiness and rhythmic pugnacity; McCaslin's ran to lengthier, more fluid phrasing. Sometimes they'd play extended fast unisons that you'd hardly believe they could execute so precisely; sometimes they'd peck away at funky harmonies that pushed thrillingly against the rhythmic grain. It was kind of like Gerry Mulligan meets Average White Band, but very Now.

The performance comprised three long tunes. For the middle one, "81st Street" (where Sanchez's girlfriend lives, he said), Sanchez pulled out the fuzzy mallets and slowed things down to the point of microscopy. Spaces opened up; meditation began. It was a great idea and a great challenge.

Overall, the quartet showed originality and staggering skill....

The Jazz Bakery's next Movable Feast is at this very same venue on Wednesday, April 7, 2010 with the fine quintet of Polish trumpeter Tomasz Stanko.

Posted on April 3, 2010 1:22 PM | Permalink

Alfy, Possum, Porkchop

January 17, 2010 11:10:09 AM PST

First time attending a hosted event by The Jazz Bakery--even though I've been on your mailing list for quite a few years. My husband has loved Jazz from his teens----old style jazz which is not easy to understand for someone not musically inclined :(

While searching for an event to take my husband to I ran across the name of Mose Allison - an artist that I knew my husband appreciated-thus came Saturday night which was so enjoyable. Over the years and when he was well we sat through many a set at various places - food, drinking, noise,etc..... I most definitely appreciate reading your comments (now-more so than ever) as to providing an atmosphere where the music is number ONE and not the profit from drinks and such...THANK YOU! The atmosphere that it appears you seek, Ruth compliments those that may be physically challenged or distracted too easily based upon their challenges. My husband had a wonderful evening and I know that the atmosphere you seek was every part of it...see you soon!!

Respectfully,
Berta & Purvis Webber

January 14, 2010 9:17:46 PM PST

Hi Ruth,

Thank you for your reply.  Thanks also for all the joy you have brought to me and so many other jazz fans over the years through your stellar bookings at the Bakery.  My wife and I have spent many wonderful evenings there  enjoying so many superb musicians who all clearly relished the great vibe you created for both musician and audience.  We're looking forward to when you find a new home for the Jazz Bakery, and in the meantime will be looking forward to the Movable Feast shows!

Thanks again for the happiness and memories you have helped create!

Best regards,

Rich Elbaum

Alfy, Possum, Porkchop

Well….  Happy to report the Jazz Bakery "Movable Feasts" are trucking right along.  The four we’ve done have been a testimony to the heart-warming loyalty of the artists and the audiences.

The first two were at the state-of-the-art “Grammy Museum Sound Stage” in LA Live downtown, followed by a great evening at the “Largo/Coronet Theater,” and a collaborative fundraiser with UCLA Friends of Jazz at the "Fowler Museum" (for info on participating artists, please go to Prior "Movable Feasts" on our homepage).

All locations used for our “feast” will be theaters, which allows us to preserve our basic model of music in concert format.  Until we re-open in our new home, this interim approach is exciting, but very demanding, since it requires balancing the availability of venues with the tour dates of artists.  I’m getting the swing of it, and each return engagement is easier (I’m looking forward to being back at the Largo/Coronet Theater, with Mose Allison on January 16 and 17, 2010).

In the near future, we’ll extend our "Movable Feast" travels to include the beautiful Boston Court Theater in Pasadena, the Nate Holden Performing Arts Center, the Actors Gang space in the Ivory Substation in Culver City, the Japanese-American Theater and who knows where else?!  No matter where, the same fine level of artists who define our very core will continue to represent what the name "Jazz Bakery" stands for.

The only downside is that Alfy, Possum & Pork Chop don’t get to greet people on the ticket counter!  But they know they’ll be back on duty as soon as we re-open, and I’ve promised them everything will be the same as before.  We will, of course, continue as a non-profit organization and maintain our 501(c)3 status. Click here to see the many TAX DEDUCTIBLE ways you can help the Jazz Bakery stay alive!

Meanwhile, I’m really grateful for your support during this transition, so let’s all hang in there until the big new incarnation of the Jazz Bakery….

Love,

Ruth, Alfy, Possum & Pork Chop