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If you want an extended biog this isn't bad.
https://www.dougpayne.com/bio2.htm
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05-24-2024 10:37 AM
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it did not come across as jazz police to me.
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No apologies need Rogue! I was into Gabor back when Silent Way was just out. That was called jazz so I always figured Gabor was too.
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He had a distinct sound and style. Not sure if you want to put a label on it but I find his music quite moving and has great energy.
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The only reason to put a label on something is to assist in the selling of said something. E.g. in the old days, where to find it at a record store, or now using a search engine.
Originally Posted by Bflat
Last edited by jameslovestal; 05-25-2024 at 01:22 PM.
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I have direct experience to say this is basically true. We recorded an album late 70's. We were an eclectic mix of Brazilian, Caribbean, and jazz/funk along the lines of On the Corner, plus some stuff that was more clearly 'jazz'. I wasn't involved in the meetings, but apparently the record companies all said the same thing "Wouldn't know how to market it. Love the music, but It's not in the Jazz section, not in the Ethnic section, nor Soul nor Rock or anything else we have. So, sorry but no." Originally Posted by jameslovestal
We cobbled together enough for a small pressing. It actually did OK in the towns that knew us. Got a bit of airplay too. But without larger scale marketing it didn't get very far.
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The funnies example of this is with David Grisman and the album Dawg Jazz/Dawg Grass. One side of the album had a dog with sunglasses, a man smoking a cig in what looks like a smoky bar, and the title Dawg Jazz. The other side had the same dog, but with a cowboy type hat and bandana, a straw bale, and mandolin, with the title of Dawg Grass. Tower Records would put the album in both the jazz and country\bluegrass sections with the right cover facing forward. NOW that is marketing! Originally Posted by ccroft
PS: the jazz side of that album had some major players in Stephane Grappelli and Martin Taylor. Tony Rice was on both sides and does some vocals on the Grass side (which featured players like Earl Scruggs).Last edited by jameslovestal; 05-25-2024 at 02:27 PM.
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Another example was Eva Cassidy. She couldn't get a label interested in her because they didn't know how to label her. Originally Posted by ccroft
And most of us never heard her music until after she was dead.
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There's a good compilation record of Gabor's that my father had in his collection that features his work with Chico Hamilton, Gary McFarland, and his own band that he had with an acoustic guitarist, Jimmy Stewart, plus rhythm section. He never used a keyboard on any of the cuts, and it sounds like he only used his flat top guitar with a pickup in the round hole, and liked to use the feedback he got from that setup in his solos. He played either his own tunes or pop hits of the 60s.
Downbeat and GP featured him as a jazz player, so I always thought of him as a jazz artist. I copied the things I liked from that compilation album.
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Yea. Originally Posted by Enlightened Rogue
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My first intro to him was his recording titled Conquistadores with Chico Hamilton back in the mid 60s. My understanding is this was an improvised tune, recorded on the fly. It's very groove oriented with a nice Afro Cuban feel.
He has chops and more of an inside player. His appeal is his sense of melody that fits the occasion as evidenced by Conquistadores.
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I saw him once when I was about 16 years old and he was very amazing wow actually got a standing ovation and played several encores
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I became aware of Gabor Szabo via the Guitar Player magazine 20th anniversary issue. They had their writers list 20 albums in various styles that every player should hear. As I recall, Jim Ferguson did the jazz list.
Szabo’s “The Sorcerer” was on that list (others included George Benson’s “Beyond The Blue Horizon”; the first Pat Metheny Group album; and Hank Garland’s “Jazz Winds From A New Direction”, as well as “The Tal Farlow Album” and “Tal”, so Ferguson was recommending high quality stuff).
It took me years to find a copy of “The Sorcerer”, but thanks to the much missed Tower Records in Greenwich Village, I got it. Wonderful record (actually, in my case, CD). It reminds me a bit of another eclectic player who blended styles to create his own, Larry Coryell. And of course, at different times, they both played with Chico Hamilton, who had a knack for grabbing great guitar players from Jim Hall all the way through Cary DeNigris.
Beyond that, Szabo’s work on “The Sorcerer” has a bit of a Lalo Schiffren vibe to me; it’s kind of similar to the soundtrack to “Bullitt” (think of the dinner scene where the group Meridian West unleashes the perfect jazz for that sequence. But I digress…).
Actually, my CD player having given up the ghost, I should download the album.
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