The mutual relations between director Marshall Brown and the members of the band were completely fouled up .........
Hans Koert
In the spring of 1958 band leader Marshall Brown and producer George Wein visited Europe to select the members for their 1958 Newport International Youth Band. Seventeen young talented European musicians made the trip to the States to check in at the New York Beverly Hotel, where the rehearsals started. These rehearsals were remembered in a previous blog. The musicians learned that Marshall Brown was a rather nervous and chaotic leader.
All Newport '58 International Youth Band contributions, as remembered by Dutch bass player Ruud Jacobs at my link site.
Bernt Rosengren, who was a tenor saxophone player of the band, remembered the way Brown threaded the musicians: Han behandlade oss på ett vidrigt överlägset sätt, precis som smågrabbar, och ändå var det inte precis direkta yngligar i orkestern. Flera ava medlemmarna var ju över 30 år .... (= He treated us in a very sniffy way, just like kids, although there were no young kids in the orchestra, several members had passed 30 years of age ...._) Another point of critics was the fact that, although their trip, board and lodging were included, they only received US $ 10 pocket money a day … even in those days in New York a laugh. The band members protested strongly against this and Marhall Brown was forced to raise their pocket money up to US$ 25 a day – still a laugh as the boys loved to visit the New York jazz clubs if they were allowed to.
Ruud Jacobs (roght) with Max Roach (Ruud Jacobs archive)
Ruud remembered that they visited several clubs, like the Village Vanguard. Here the Miles Davis Sextet played, which had moved from the Cafe Bohemia in the spring of 1958 because ….. as Miles said: ..... Max (Gordon), the owner, gave me more money than the Bohemia. The sextet featured Miles on trumpet, Julian Cannonball Adderley on alto saxophone, John Coltrane on tenor saxophone, Bill Evans at the piano and Paul Chambers and Jimmy Cobb in the rhythm section. Ruud also remembers a meeting with Max Roach and concerts featuring the Gerry Mulligan – Art Farmer Quartet.
Paul Duynhouwer ( source: Paul Duynhouwer archive)
Paul Duynhouwer, a Dutch trombonist, who was in New York due to the fact that John Lewis had invited him for a jazz course, a work scholarship, at the Lenox School of Jazz, remembers the International Youth Band very well. I heard from Rob Pronk ( a Dutch jazz musician), Paul Duynhouwer told me, about the auditions scheduled spring 1958 in Amsterdam by Marshall Brown and George Wein. … Er kwamen heel wat Amsterdamse jochies op af, die geen noot muziek konden lezen. Als grap draaiden ze gewoon het muziekblad ondersteboven (= A lot of Amsterdam lads came to the audition, although they couldn’t read the music. They joked by turning the sheet music upside down). Ik heb de band niet horen spelen op Newport, Paul told me, omdat ik een baantje had als kelner in de Potting Shed in Lenox, waar ik ook in een bandje speelde met Tupper Saussy (= I haven’t heard the band playing at Newport, Paul told me, because I had to work as a waiter at the Potting Shed in Lenox, where I also played in a group with Tupper Saussy.) Ik geloof dat het in juli was dat ik op een vrije dag naar New York ging om vrienden te bezoeken en toen ben ik naar Birdland gegaan, waar ik heel toevallig Ruud tegenkwam. ( = I guess to remember that it was in July. I had a day off and visited some friends in New York City. We visited Birdland where I had a chance meeting with Ruud Jacobs. ) Dag Ruud, dag Paul en dat was eigenlijk alles ( = Hi Ruud, hi Paul – that’s all I remember). Ik had Ruud en Pim natuurlijk in Nederland goed gekend. (= I knew Ruud and Pim (Jacobs, Ruud’s brother who was a band leader and pianist) well from The Netherlands of course). After 55 years Ruud doesn’t remember to have met Paul …..
Paul Duynhouwer, a Dutch trombonist, who was in New York due to the fact that John Lewis had invited him for a jazz course, a work scholarship, at the Lenox School of Jazz, remembers the International Youth Band very well. I heard from Rob Pronk ( a Dutch jazz musician), Paul Duynhouwer told me, about the auditions scheduled spring 1958 in Amsterdam by Marshall Brown and George Wein. … Er kwamen heel wat Amsterdamse jochies op af, die geen noot muziek konden lezen. Als grap draaiden ze gewoon het muziekblad ondersteboven (= A lot of Amsterdam lads came to the audition, although they couldn’t read the music. They joked by turning the sheet music upside down). Ik heb de band niet horen spelen op Newport, Paul told me, omdat ik een baantje had als kelner in de Potting Shed in Lenox, waar ik ook in een bandje speelde met Tupper Saussy (= I haven’t heard the band playing at Newport, Paul told me, because I had to work as a waiter at the Potting Shed in Lenox, where I also played in a group with Tupper Saussy.) Ik geloof dat het in juli was dat ik op een vrije dag naar New York ging om vrienden te bezoeken en toen ben ik naar Birdland gegaan, waar ik heel toevallig Ruud tegenkwam. ( = I guess to remember that it was in July. I had a day off and visited some friends in New York City. We visited Birdland where I had a chance meeting with Ruud Jacobs. ) Dag Ruud, dag Paul en dat was eigenlijk alles ( = Hi Ruud, hi Paul – that’s all I remember). Ik had Ruud en Pim natuurlijk in Nederland goed gekend. (= I knew Ruud and Pim (Jacobs, Ruud’s brother who was a band leader and pianist) well from The Netherlands of course). After 55 years Ruud doesn’t remember to have met Paul …..
Christian Kellens (centre) with Jorge Lopez Ruz (left) and Gustavo Bergalli (right) ( 1960s) (photo archive Christian Kellens)
Paul Duynhouwer knew some of the trombonists of the orchestra very well. He had met Christian Kellens, the Belgian trombonist, while playing in one of the American officers clubs at a concert in Bitburg (Germany) the year before. Christian’s fiancée, Sarah Kellens, was the vocalist of the New Jazz Group Hannover, the name of our band. Toen ik hem in Bitburg ontmoette heeft hij even op mijn instrument gespeeld en wist ik het meteen - dit is een prima trombonist (= When I met him in Bitburg, he loved to play my instrument and I learned that he was a great trombonist …). Paul had met Albert Mangelsdorff at a J. J. Johnson concert in a club in Frankfurt. Jay Jay was natuurlijk mijn held, mijn grote voorbeeld (= Jay Jay was my hero of course), Paul told me. Ik was daar met Piet(je) Kuiters de me voorstelde aan Mangelsdorff. (= I was with Pietje (Piet) Kuiters who introduced me to Mangelsdorff.). We zaten aan een tafeltje en na het eerste nummer stond Alfred op en zei: Ich hab er schon gehört! (= We sat at a table and after the first tune, Alfred got to his feet and said: Ich hab es schon gehört!. ). Ik vond hem nog al een opschepper, maar later begreep ik dat de erg traditioneel spelende Jay Jay hem als avant-garde speler niet erg kon boeien. ( = In my opinion I found that Albert had a an air of superiority, but later I understood that Jay Jay’s rather traditional style was not Albert’s piece of cake, as he was a more avant-garde player.)
Paul Duynhouwer knew some of the trombonists of the orchestra very well. He had met Christian Kellens, the Belgian trombonist, while playing in one of the American officers clubs at a concert in Bitburg (Germany) the year before. Christian’s fiancée, Sarah Kellens, was the vocalist of the New Jazz Group Hannover, the name of our band. Toen ik hem in Bitburg ontmoette heeft hij even op mijn instrument gespeeld en wist ik het meteen - dit is een prima trombonist (= When I met him in Bitburg, he loved to play my instrument and I learned that he was a great trombonist …). Paul had met Albert Mangelsdorff at a J. J. Johnson concert in a club in Frankfurt. Jay Jay was natuurlijk mijn held, mijn grote voorbeeld (= Jay Jay was my hero of course), Paul told me. Ik was daar met Piet(je) Kuiters de me voorstelde aan Mangelsdorff. (= I was with Pietje (Piet) Kuiters who introduced me to Mangelsdorff.). We zaten aan een tafeltje en na het eerste nummer stond Alfred op en zei: Ich hab er schon gehört! (= We sat at a table and after the first tune, Alfred got to his feet and said: Ich hab es schon gehört!. ). Ik vond hem nog al een opschepper, maar later begreep ik dat de erg traditioneel spelende Jay Jay hem als avant-garde speler niet erg kon boeien. ( = In my opinion I found that Albert had a an air of superiority, but later I understood that Jay Jay’s rather traditional style was not Albert’s piece of cake, as he was a more avant-garde player.)
Kurt Jarnberg ( 1958) (photo: Paul Duynhouwer archive)
The third trombonist of the International Youth band Paul knew well was Kurt Jarnberg from Sweden. He met Kurt after the Newport 1958 concert September 1958. Hij zowel als ik, hadden een kleine studiebeurs gekregen voor de Berklee School of Music in Boston, die in September van dat jaar begon (= Both Kurt and I were invited for a course at the September course at the Berklee School of Music.) Ik hielp Kurt door Engels in het Zweeds te vertalen, want hij sprak bijna geen woord (= I helped Kurt translating English in Swedish, as he didn’t understand the language.). Kurt and Paul had founded a quintet, featuring two trombones, which played some gigs in Boston in the fall of 1958.
The third trombonist of the International Youth band Paul knew well was Kurt Jarnberg from Sweden. He met Kurt after the Newport 1958 concert September 1958. Hij zowel als ik, hadden een kleine studiebeurs gekregen voor de Berklee School of Music in Boston, die in September van dat jaar begon (= Both Kurt and I were invited for a course at the September course at the Berklee School of Music.) Ik hielp Kurt door Engels in het Zweeds te vertalen, want hij sprak bijna geen woord (= I helped Kurt translating English in Swedish, as he didn’t understand the language.). Kurt and Paul had founded a quintet, featuring two trombones, which played some gigs in Boston in the fall of 1958.
Willis Conover (left) and George Wein
Marshall Brown wasn’t really interested in the musicians and the band would certainly have been broken if there hadn’t been people like Willis Conover, the host of Music USA, known as The Voice of America, who was really interested in the men.
Gerry Mulligan (source: Rhythm 133 (1960)
And the story, Bernt remembers, of Gerry Mulligan, who had written a piece for the band, speaks volumes …. Gerry Mulligan, who had heard about the circumstances the musicians had to work, felt pity and went home and re-arranged the composition Mr. President for the band – a tune he had previous arranged for Elliot Lawrence Band who had recorded it in 1955 for Fantasy. The rehearsals of the tune, with Gerry Mulligan as the guest director, were fun and everybody enjoyed himself and Gerry got hold of the orchestra. I ett hörna satt Marshall Brown och surade, dödsradd för att Mulligan helt skulle ta kommandoet över bandet. ( = Marshall Brown was sitting in a corner with a stony face, afraid that Gerry Mulligan would take over the band). And, in fact, the members would have loved that ……. Gerry Mulligan loved the band and even planned a trip to Belgium, when Newport was over, to play with the band.
And the story, Bernt remembers, of Gerry Mulligan, who had written a piece for the band, speaks volumes …. Gerry Mulligan, who had heard about the circumstances the musicians had to work, felt pity and went home and re-arranged the composition Mr. President for the band – a tune he had previous arranged for Elliot Lawrence Band who had recorded it in 1955 for Fantasy. The rehearsals of the tune, with Gerry Mulligan as the guest director, were fun and everybody enjoyed himself and Gerry got hold of the orchestra. I ett hörna satt Marshall Brown och surade, dödsradd för att Mulligan helt skulle ta kommandoet över bandet. ( = Marshall Brown was sitting in a corner with a stony face, afraid that Gerry Mulligan would take over the band). And, in fact, the members would have loved that ……. Gerry Mulligan loved the band and even planned a trip to Belgium, when Newport was over, to play with the band.
Arthur Godfrey
With less than a week of rehearsals, the liner notes of the Columbia album The International Youth Band - Newport 1958 read, the band made its debut at the Arthur Godfrey TV show. He was a very popular tv-personality during the 1960s. The band was also invited to play at a press conference for critics and jazz writers.
Around the first of July, 1958, the band moved to Newport for its final week of pre-festival rehearsals .. the festival started on Friday the fourth of July.
Thanks to Paul Duynhouwer for his photos and reactions.
All Newport '58 International Youth Band contributions, as remembered by Dutch bass player Ruud Jacobs at my link site.
Hans Koert
keepswinging@live.nl
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Around the first of July, 1958, the band moved to Newport for its final week of pre-festival rehearsals .. the festival started on Friday the fourth of July.
Thanks to Paul Duynhouwer for his photos and reactions.
All Newport '58 International Youth Band contributions, as remembered by Dutch bass player Ruud Jacobs at my link site.
Hans Koert
keepswinging@live.nl
Follow the Keep (it) Swinging blog at Facebook andask for its free newsletter.
Dutch trombonist Paul Duynhouwer was invited by John Lewis in the summer of 1958 for a scholarship at the famous Lenox School of Jazz. He met Ruud Jacobs by accident in a jazz club, Birdland, at a concert. Ruud was selected to be the bass player in the 1958 Newport International Youth Band. He was familiar with some of the trombonists, who were selected for the orchestra: Albert Mangelsdorff, Kurt Jarnberg and Christian Kellens.
The mutual relations between director Marshall Brown and the members of the band were completely fouled up ...
The mutual relations between director Marshall Brown and the members of the band were completely fouled up ...
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