Ed Bickert

[sgcim]

Matches Lorne Lofsky's description of of him, said he was a hard man with whom to have a conversation, he'd give a one sentence reply to every remark. At first he thought perhaps he was only that way with him but realized later he was just as reserved with everyone.

At least he'd say something. I just finished a book on Nick Drake recently, and he went from being like Ed Bickert, to showing up at your house, coming in, and saying nothing for hours. Then he'd leave, without saying a word.
They tried to get him help, but he'd either refuse it, or it wouldn't help him[; a sad story about a very underrated guitarist.

[Mick-7]

This is a very informative series of talks with Lorne Lofsky (6 parts altogether). He has a lot to say about Ed Bickert since Ed was a big influence on him.

Part 1:

Lorne: "Do you give lessons?"
Ed: "No"

End of conversation.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

At least he'd say something. I just finished a book on Nick Drake recently, and he went from being like Ed Bickert, to showing up at your house, coming in, and saying nothing for hours. Then he'd leave, without saying a word.
They tried to get him help, but he'd either refuse it, or it wouldn't help him[; a sad story about a very underrated guitarist.

Sounds like Monk! When I was in college, Monk played one of our big annual concerts. He never took off his coat and hat, and he didn't say a word the entire night. For one of his solos, he stood up slowly and walked around the piano again and again. When the changes got back to the 1, he sat down and comp'ed for the next solo.

[Doug B]

Here's another one I just found: Ruby Braff-The Canadian Sessions on Sackville Records.
Don Thompson, Ed Bickert, Gene DiNovi, Ruby Braff, Terry Clarke

[Cunamara]

Matches Lorne Lofsky's description of of him, said he was a hard man with whom to have a conversation, he'd give a one sentence reply to every remark. At first he thought perhaps he was only that way with him but realized later he was just as reserved with everyone.

Apparently he could be very funny, in a dry pay-attention-or-you'll-miss-it way.

[KirkP]

Jim Hall’s tribute to Ed Bickert.

”Don’t rub it in!”

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[tomv713]

I’m pretty quiet in real life and am still bad at jazz guitar

[Jazz4Four]

There's a few live discs of that band out there, definitely worth hearing.
Ed was woefully underrecorded, but if you can find "Out of the Past," "At the Garden Party" or "Mutual Street" (with Rob McConnell you are in for a real treat.

I'm streaming "Out of the Past" right now and... HOLY CRAP. Wow... Excellent playing by this trio. And, not least, Bickert's tone is just so warm and sweet.

[44lombard]

If you want to hear a few choice odds and ends that feature Ed Bickert, from compilation albums, sideman gigs, and so forth, this youtube channel has several:
Jim Dixon - YouTube

In particular, the live trio performances of "Too Late Now" (1987) and "Crazy She Calls Me" (1990) are both gorgeous, and both are features on Concord Records "All Stars" live compilations that you might not stumble onto right away.

The 1996 "September Song" on that youtube channel, from a various-artists tribute to Wes Montgomery, is also great. There's a funny story about Ed in the studio recording "September Song" in this post: Ed Bickert article in November 1984 issue of Downbeat

If you want to go a little deeper and read some interviews with Ed (from Downbeat, Guitar Player, and other publications), there's a link to a .pdf (file name "Bickert.pdf") here that has lots of good information:
Ed Bickert article in November 1984 issue of Downbeat

One LP from his great late-1970s/early 1980s era that hasn't been recommended yet (I think?) is Buddy Tate's "The Ballad Artistry". It's got Terry Clarke and Don Thompson, who always sound great with Ed. As much as I like his trio playing, I really love sessions where he gets to comp for a good horn player and has a great drummer behind him. All the Desmond stuff, the Ruby Braff and Buddy Tate albums, his own "I Wished on The Moon" (even though Rick Wilkins isn't my favorite kind of tenor player), these are all so good.

The Frank Rosolino live album with Ed's trio would be up there, except Frank solos about three times as longer than I need on every tune (but the flip side is Ed is comping away beautifully behind him). I only have so much patience for trombone solos. Oh, and Ed's 9 duets with Rosemary Clooney from her mid-80s run of Concord records. Just beautiful playing by Ed, very intimate stuff. He mentions in one interview (I think in retirement, talking to his son) that he was proud of his ability in that era to back up singers all by himself, off the cuff. Almost like he was talking about another person, looking back on his days as a bulletproof studio ace.

[va3ux]

[va3ux]

[sgcim]

It's gotten to the point where I have so much Ed, I can't tell if I've got duplicates, but the ones 44lombard posted are from the Canadian Library of sound, so I know I don't have them.
As Don Thompson said, "Everybody else plays the guitar, Ed plays the music".

[va3ux]

I'm streaming "Out of the Past" right now and... HOLY CRAP. Wow... Excellent playing by this trio. And, not least, Bickert's tone is just so warm and sweet.

I heard 2 cuts from that album played on Jazz Fm 91.1 in Toronto one night back in the late 2000's, and ordered it and every other Ed Bickert CD I could find the very next day. Those are my most treasured CDs to this day.

It bugs me that I never went to see him play. I clearly recall his dates being announced on the Toronto radio stations all through the 70's and 80's but I didn't know much about him I so never went.

[P.J.]

I also enjoy Days Gone By with Sonny Greenwich:

That is a great cd. They compliment each other really well, which is not something I would have thought.

[FRRGC_]

I was looking through my local record store's clearance section last week and found Ruby Braff with the Ed Bickert trio for $3, which I am now the happy owner of. I had never heard it before I bought it but I really enjoyed listening to it for the first time.

[ooglybong]

One of my favorite Ed Bickert albums... and paired up with Lorne Lofsky!
On Concord, likely out-of-print, but there are used copies out there if you look hard enough.