[JPL] dick twardzik biography

[Eric Jackson]

Tom Reney wrote:
> 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


Tom unfortunately this is a very sad story that has been repeated far 
too many times in the history of this music (and in life too!)

Eric Jackson
Monday - Thursday 8 pm - mid.
WGBH 89.7
www.wgbh.org/jazz



> 
> 
> ----- 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
>>
> 
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