Once again I threaten to re- invigorate my blog. I have threatened to write a book which would be a history of The last Chance Saloon in Poughkeepsie NY but I believe that my short form essays and articles will reflect that topic and others. I have spent a lot of time on Facebook sharing stories that are better served in this format.
I set up this blog over a decade ago, yet I remain as much novice in the format as I was then. Thank you for reading and responding.
The following is an essay that I wrote about my dinner and interview with Charles Mingus in 1976 written 40 years later in 2016.
MINGUS and The Joyous Lake in Woodstock NY
March 2016
Charles Mingus At The Joyous Lake in Woodstock 1976.….
In the story of 20th
century American jazz . even Ken Burns would agree that Mingus’ name stands just below Miles, Trane,
Duke, and Satchmo. I had the pleasure of seeing him perform at Carnegie Hall and
he was incredible. I had the even greater pleasure of having dinner with him
and interviewing him on the radio..
Mingus was a
brilliant bassist,composer and arranger. He could make a quintet sound like an
orchestra. His charts were demanding .His windows for solos always challenged
his players to direct the journey.
I met Mingus
through Ron Merians. Ron was the owner of The Joyous Lake in Woodstock during
the 70’s . The Lake was ( like the Chance) a room that featured a combination
of world famous.. and soon to be world famous.. as well as locals posing as
world famous..or maybe it was world famous posing as locals..so many folks were
living in Woodstock and would just drop by and sit in....The Band , Paul
Butterfield, Taj Mahal, Stuff ( Paul Simon’s Band), Carly Simon, Orleans,
Talking Heads, Richie Havens, John Sebastian, NRBQ, Eric Andersen, Happy and
Artie Traum The Fabulous Rhinestones and countless others all graced the stage
of this tiny club…and yes the Rolling Stones held a birthday party for
Charlie and Woody there when they were
mixing Some Girls in Woodstock..and I was in attendance..but that’s another
story..
I was the advertising sales manager at WPDH 101.5 Poughkeepsie . In those days it was a free form/ anything goes format under the tutelage of program director Roy Rutanen and the patient ownership of Rob Dyson . Radio Woodstock was still four years into the future .
I was in advertising because I had spent a couple of years on Madison Avenue buying TV time for Tide and Ivory Soap... but my heart was in the music... all kinds of music... Ron Merians befriended me... No fool Ron... a 50,000 watt radio station like WPDH could be a powerful ally to a small nightclub like the Joyous Lake with a limited advertising budget. Ron asked me to personally interview Ming on WPDH ...Roy agreed ...and it was a snowy night in Dec. 76 when Ron Merians and Charles Mingus arrived at WPDH for my taped interview. I was pacing the lobby before their arrival...nervous as a cat... When I opened the locked lobby door there stood the giant Mingus with snow in his beard ... Before Ron could introduce us , Mingus walked to a large plant in the lobby and took a small handful of dirt.. sifted out the small rocks and ate it.... I looked at Ron Merians... as if to say : " I hope he doesn't expect me to make him eat dirt..." Ron gave me the "Don't worry...it's just what he does..." look.... I had already read his autobiography .. he was notorious for physically hitting his sidemen if they accused him of shorting their pay...
Ming was a very imposing figure... even as his health was failing..... In 1976 Mingus was in the early stages of Lou Gehrig’s disease. This physical giant of a bass player ,..with massive hands…had to play the upright bass while sitting on a stool.. His presence was still imposing. I did a 3 hour radio interview with Mingus … I asked him about the electric bass ..He said that the Fender company had sent him a few in the early 50’s ..but that he would rip the strings off of them. I would have thought this hyperbole..but I had already shaken the hands of this ailing giant.
I was the advertising sales manager at WPDH 101.5 Poughkeepsie . In those days it was a free form/ anything goes format under the tutelage of program director Roy Rutanen and the patient ownership of Rob Dyson . Radio Woodstock was still four years into the future .
I was in advertising because I had spent a couple of years on Madison Avenue buying TV time for Tide and Ivory Soap... but my heart was in the music... all kinds of music... Ron Merians befriended me... No fool Ron... a 50,000 watt radio station like WPDH could be a powerful ally to a small nightclub like the Joyous Lake with a limited advertising budget. Ron asked me to personally interview Ming on WPDH ...Roy agreed ...and it was a snowy night in Dec. 76 when Ron Merians and Charles Mingus arrived at WPDH for my taped interview. I was pacing the lobby before their arrival...nervous as a cat... When I opened the locked lobby door there stood the giant Mingus with snow in his beard ... Before Ron could introduce us , Mingus walked to a large plant in the lobby and took a small handful of dirt.. sifted out the small rocks and ate it.... I looked at Ron Merians... as if to say : " I hope he doesn't expect me to make him eat dirt..." Ron gave me the "Don't worry...it's just what he does..." look.... I had already read his autobiography .. he was notorious for physically hitting his sidemen if they accused him of shorting their pay...
Ming was a very imposing figure... even as his health was failing..... In 1976 Mingus was in the early stages of Lou Gehrig’s disease. This physical giant of a bass player ,..with massive hands…had to play the upright bass while sitting on a stool.. His presence was still imposing. I did a 3 hour radio interview with Mingus … I asked him about the electric bass ..He said that the Fender company had sent him a few in the early 50’s ..but that he would rip the strings off of them. I would have thought this hyperbole..but I had already shaken the hands of this ailing giant.
I asked what he
thought of rock and roll.of what was
then called fusion.. of electric
instruments in general.. Mingus felt that electricity stole the natural power of “ voicing” from the instrument and from the musicians…too easy.. too
many electronic tricks..no soul… but .. he did refer to one particular electric
guitarist..Tal Farlow… who had unadorned “feel “ for a moderately
amplified guitar. At that time Tal had retired and was painting houses in New
Jersey. He would later return to the jazz world to a respected position through
out the 80s…
That evening in the studio with Mingus I asked if he had ever heard Jeff Beck’s version of the famous Mingus blues “Goodbye Porkpie Hat “…The challenge with jazz is that its one of those…you’d recognize it if you heard it tune’s ….. The Porkpie Hat was worn by Lester “Prez” Young ,..tenor saxophonist with Billie Holiday for many years. Mingus’ beautiful piece was an homage to “ Prez”. It is one of my favorite blues. Mingus had never heard Jeff Beck’s version. I remember him sitting there stone silent with headphones on digest every single nuance. Jeff Beck’s version uses the electric guitar to the max. Overtones and voicings that threatened to change Ming’s opinion of electric guitar. When it was over there was silence..I said ..”wadaya think?”…..he just quietly went“hmmm….that’s really interesting.” That was a rave review in my eyes . Mingus would then record his next to last album.titled : 3 or 4 Shades of Blue.. This album would ironically feature 3 guitarists re-recording a number of his classics . Playing acoustic and ELECTRIC guitars..Larry Coryell ( Murali’s dad) Phillip Catherine and John Scofield. And there was a version of Porkpie with Larry Coryell. I like to believe that I may have had some influence in making Ming listen to the voicing of the electric guitar in jeff Beck's hands.
When Ming played the Lake , Ron invited me to have dinner with him at the club before the show..... Truly an honor.... I would be sitting with the headliner before the show in a house full of the Woodstock cognoscenti . As dinner progressed Ming was served what he deemed to be a cold baked potato and he bellowed into the kitchen : RON ! ..AM I REALLY EXPECTED TO EAT A COLD BAKED POTATO......WHAT KIND OF JIVE RESTAURANT IS THIS !!!.... Ron hollered back from the kitchen... "Making you a new one right now Charles " ...I looked at Ming... I looked over my shoulder at Ron ... and I did the only thing I could...I choked a laugh ....
That evening in the studio with Mingus I asked if he had ever heard Jeff Beck’s version of the famous Mingus blues “Goodbye Porkpie Hat “…The challenge with jazz is that its one of those…you’d recognize it if you heard it tune’s ….. The Porkpie Hat was worn by Lester “Prez” Young ,..tenor saxophonist with Billie Holiday for many years. Mingus’ beautiful piece was an homage to “ Prez”. It is one of my favorite blues. Mingus had never heard Jeff Beck’s version. I remember him sitting there stone silent with headphones on digest every single nuance. Jeff Beck’s version uses the electric guitar to the max. Overtones and voicings that threatened to change Ming’s opinion of electric guitar. When it was over there was silence..I said ..”wadaya think?”…..he just quietly went“hmmm….that’s really interesting.” That was a rave review in my eyes . Mingus would then record his next to last album.titled : 3 or 4 Shades of Blue.. This album would ironically feature 3 guitarists re-recording a number of his classics . Playing acoustic and ELECTRIC guitars..Larry Coryell ( Murali’s dad) Phillip Catherine and John Scofield. And there was a version of Porkpie with Larry Coryell. I like to believe that I may have had some influence in making Ming listen to the voicing of the electric guitar in jeff Beck's hands.
When Ming played the Lake , Ron invited me to have dinner with him at the club before the show..... Truly an honor.... I would be sitting with the headliner before the show in a house full of the Woodstock cognoscenti . As dinner progressed Ming was served what he deemed to be a cold baked potato and he bellowed into the kitchen : RON ! ..AM I REALLY EXPECTED TO EAT A COLD BAKED POTATO......WHAT KIND OF JIVE RESTAURANT IS THIS !!!.... Ron hollered back from the kitchen... "Making you a new one right now Charles " ...I looked at Ming... I looked over my shoulder at Ron ... and I did the only thing I could...I choked a laugh ....
A few months later Mingus
would get involved with Joni Mitchells Mingus Album.. Joni , ever the adventurous , had transitioned from folk singer to pop star to jazz musician with a band that included Pat Metheny , Michael Brecker and Jaco Pastorious ... Mingus was getting some attention from pop and rock musicians ...particularly the song Goodbye Porkpie Hat ... The Mingus album was a very rough project for Joni as Mingus' health was failing and her access to him was limited and he could not play on her project.
Years later Murali Coryell recorded an extraordinary
version with his father and brother Julian. On the album The Coryell’s . It has
become my favorite version of the song…One of the greatest blues EVER
recorded..……at least for me…Murali Coryell is a friend.. It was my pleasure to introduce
him to his idol B.B.King and get him on
the bill with BB..Murali has been on the bill with BB king many times since then.….
I finally got to tell Murali the story of Ming and Jeff Beck… somehow I felt
that I had made a connection that went from Ming and Murali’s dad.. to Murali and his dad…I felt that Murali
was no longer in the shadow of his incredibly talented father..but toe to toe
with him on this project…. and Porkpie is my personal highlight of that project
I am brought
back to the Joyous Lake …to The Charles Mingus Quintet…. And one wild night in
December 1976 when ..during Better Get Hit In Your Soul ..a raucous number..
tenor saxophonist….Hamiett Bluett began to play a solo on one foot with his
left leg tucked behind his right.Therefore the entire solo of rapid fire
sixteenth notes is played as he was losing his balance….not even Jimi setting
his guitar on fire was more exciting…the solo was so strong and over the
top…that when he finally put his leg down to a standing ovation..he got off the
bandstand..still playing ..and walked out the front door of The Joyous Lake…I
think we would have all followed him..if he didn’t walk around the building and
come back in….Ming was just smiling…never missing a beat…. The entire room
was alive with music..and we were all a part of it..
The relationship between the bassist Mingus and his drummer Danny Richmond is an anomaly in the jazz world. They stayed together for over 20 years Richmond . Jazz ensembles have great fluidity and the creative need to work with new people helps them create . The bass and drums are the foundation of any piece of music Danny and Mingus operated as one heart for over two decades.
Ron Merians gave up the Joyous lake at the end of the 70’s while in a very rough split with his then wife Valma. Ron died in the 80’s After he passed there was a candle lighting ceremony at the
club and such luminaries as Michael Lang ( of Woodstock concert fame) and
pianist Warren Bernhardt ( of Simon and Garfunkel and Steely Dan fame) were there.. There was a blues jam session..I
actually sat in and played some harp behind Ameratta Marx ..a wonderful blues
singer who had not only been a waitress at The Lake in the old days ..but was
for a short time a member of The Blues Project..( legendary certainly applies
here)
The Lake came back in
the 90’s….for a short while..it was not the same …everything was turned
around..the stage was in the wrong
place…no more kitchen…no more intimate café tables and booths..It had gone from
one of the finest listening rooms on the planet to just another bar…. last time I was in Woodstock it was a tee shirt store... “they
paved paradise and put up a parking lot”..(there I go quoting Joni again)…
left to right: Howard Johnson baritone sax , Danny Richmond drums , Alan Faleck trumpet Hugh Brodie tenor sax at The Joyous Lake 1976... not a Mingus gig.. just a jam in that era
poster by the late Rosalie Beinstein Jan 1977
I cherish my autographed copy of Charles Mingus' autobiography : Beneath The Underdog
Ron Merians of The Joyous Lake
with Rick Danko of The Band .. spring weekend SUNY New Paltz 77 or 78
with Rick Danko of The Band .. spring weekend SUNY New Paltz 77 or 78
Ron and me...same day
Excellent article. I was fortunate to see Mingus at the Joyous Lake. Extraordinary performance. The pianist was astounding. I think it was Done Pullen but not sure.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your story.