[JPL] dick twardzik biography

[Tom Reney]

Hi Carolyn,

It's great to hear from you on the JPL!  And thanks indeed to your late 
husband Russ Freeman for urging Richard Bock of Pacific Jazz to make the 
trio session on Dick Twardzik, which Russ also produced.  When Russ first 
heard Twardzik playing intermission piano at Storyville in Boston, he phoned 
Bock immediately to tell him of this pianist's "really original concept." 
Because of his efforts, we have the one and only session that Twardzik made 
as a leader, one that included three of his five magnificent compositions, 
"A Crutch for the Crab," "Albuquerque Social Swim," and "Yellow Tango." 
Twardzik's "The Fable of Mabel" was recorded by Serge Chaloff for Storyville 
and later reissued on Mosaic; Chet Baker recorded his "Girl From Greenland" 
for Barclay in Paris.  The Pacific Jazz session by Twardzik, as well as trio 
dates for that label by Russ Freeman, Jimmy Rowles, and Clare Fischer, were 
reissued by Mosaic Select a couple of years ago.  Mario Pavone recorded "A 
Crutch for the Crab" for Playscape Records a few years ago.  The pianist on 
Pavone's date, Peter Madsen, recorded "Girl From Greenland" on his own date 
for Playscape.

Tom Reney




----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Freeman and Resch" <peacockentertainment at earthlink.net>
To: <jazzproglist at jazzweek.com>
Sent: Monday, June 01, 2009 1:06 PM
Subject: Re: [JPL] dick twardzik biography


>
>
> -----Original Message-----
>>From: Eric Jackson <eric-jackson at comcast.net>
>>Sent: Jun 1, 2009 4:40 AM
>>To: jazzproglist at jazzweek.com
>>Subject: Re: [JPL] dick twardzik biography
>>
>>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
>
> I am new to this Jazzpro list but am sending this out there and hope it 
> lands somewhere.  My late husband, Russ Freeman, shared a recording with 
> Twardzik in 1956 on Pacific Jazz called "Trio".  Russ had such admiration 
> for Dick and often spoke of him.
> It was recorded at Rudy Gelder's studio in New Jersey.
> Carolyn Freeman, Peacockentertainment at earthlink.net
> >
>>
>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ----- 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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>>
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