[JPL] dick twardzik biography

[Tom Reney]

Herb had the highest regard for Twardzik, and said that his Pacific Jazz 
recording of "Bess, You Is My Woman Now" is one of the four or five records 
he'd play for musicians when sharing his favorite music with them.  They 
were very close, and roomed together when they were on Serge Chaloff's 
Sextet and Lionel Hampton's "United Nations Band," the account of which is 
one of the funnier passages in Chambers' book.  Chambers suggests that 
Herb's tune, "No One Will Room With Me," was an oblique reference to 
Twardzik's death.  I knew Herb just enough to feel a special poignance upon 
reading that he visited Twardzik's grave in West Newbury twice a year ever 
after.

According to Chambers, Twardzik had been clean for awhile before embarking 
on the tour of Europe with Chet Baker, but it was apparently drummer and 
fellow junkie Peter Littman whom he began using with again during their 
week-long passage on the Ile de France.  And it was Littman who discovered 
Twardzik's "blue" body in his hotel room in Paris a few weeks later.

Tom Reney


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Eric Jackson" eric-jackson at comcast.net
To: <jazzproglist at jazzweek.com>
Sent: Sunday, May 31, 2009 11:56 PM
Subject: Re: [JPL] dick twardzik biography


> Tom Reney wrote:
>> I want to draw your attention to a new biography of pianist Dick Twardzik 
>> by Jack Chambers entitled Bouncin' With Bartok, The Incomplete Works of 
>> Richard Twardzik. The Danvers, Massachusetts native died of a drug 
>> overdose in 1955 at the age of 24 when he was in Paris playing with Chet 
>> Baker.  He left behind a miniscule discography, including just one date 
>> as a leader for Pacific Jazz, studio sessions with Charlie Mariano, Serge 
>> Chaloff and Baker, and airchecks from Boston nightclub appearances with 
>> Charlie Parker and Allen Eager.  Despite this small output, Twardzik's 
>> legacy was considerably enhanced by the five, highly distinctive 
>> compositions he produced, and his playing which everyone from Baker to 
>> Herb Pomeroy to Cecil Taylor attests was ahead of its time. Chambers has 
>> done an exemplary job of pulling Twardzik's story together.  The book 
>> features a colorful array of relatives, musicians and artists who peopled 
>> the Boston scene in the '30's-'50's, and includes a folio of his father 
>> Henryk's paintings, several of which were portraits of his son. 
>> Secondarily, the book serves as an excellent primer on the Boston jazz 
>> scene during these years.
>>
>> It's published by the Mercury Press in Toronto.  www.themercurypress.ca
>>
>
> Thanks for the tip, Tom. I'll try to track down a copy soon.
>
> I remember recording some comments from Herb Pomeroy about Dick. He 
> commented on how much of a loss it was. He said Twardzik was trying to 
> clean himself up in Boston when he got the offer to travel with Chet to 
> Europe. Baker was a known to be a drug user and Twardzik's friends in 
> Boston urged him not to take the gig, according to Herb.
>
>
> Eric Jackson
> Monday - Thursday 8 pm - mid.
> WGBH 89.7
> www.wgbh.org/jazz
>