Newport '58: The rhythm section of the Babel's Band

 Introducing the members of the rhythm section of the 1958 International Youth Band. 
George Gruntz, who recently passed away, was Brown's second choice .....  
Hans Koert

One of the most important part of a big band is the rhythm section – Normally they are located at the back of the band stand hidden behind the brass section …. When Marshall Brown and George Wein dreamt about founding a big band, especially for the 1958 Newport Festival, featuring young European talents, they organized for a trip to Europe, early 1958, dozens of auditions for young jazz musicians. 

All Newport '58 International Youth Band contributions, as remembered by Dutch bass player Ruud Jacobs at my link site.

In  some previous blog I wrote about the auditions and what musicians were invited for the brass- and reed sections. Today I love to introduce you to the rhythm section.  

The rhythm section ( The International Youth Band - Newport 1958) ( Columbia CS 8073)

• Seventeen musicians received an invitation:
  • The trumpet section: Palle Bolvig from Denmark, Roger Guerin from France, Dusko Gojkovic from Yugoslavia and José Manuel Magelhaes from Portugal.
  • The trombone section: Christian Kellens (Belgium), Kurt Jarnberg (Sweden), Erich Kleinschuster (Austria) and Albert Mangelsdorff (Germany). 
  • The reed section: Bernt Rosengren (Sweden), Jan Wroblewski (Poland), Hans Salomon (Austria), Wladimiro Bas Zabache (Spain) and Ronnie Ross (England).
  • The rhythm section: Gabor Szabo ( Hungary), George Gruntz (Switzerland), Rudolph (= Ruud) Jacobs (The Netherlands) and Gilberto Cuppini (Italy.).

Tete Montoliu.(1933-1997)

During the auditions, the delegation, featuring George Wein, producer and organizer of the Newport festival and Marshall Brown and his wife, must have heard hundreds young musician, that loved to join this so-called  Tower of Babel’s Band.

 Brown told the journalists, who were anxious to learn, what musician were selected, that he had heard a lot of  young promising talents ….. I only wish it could be possible to bring over more of the fine musicians we heard …. If we were able to take everyone who impressed us, we’d have 13 trumpets, 9 trombones … that kind of band. It happened that they heard a musician, which they loved to have in the band's selection …. One of those young talented musicians was Tete Montoliu, mentioned in a previous blog. He has a wonderful ear. But we just couldn’t fit him into the band, Brown explained. Tete Montoliu, born in Barcelona (Spain), March 1933, born blind, raised in a musical family and learned to read music in Braille. He was fascinated to the music collection of his mother and became inspired by the early Armstrong recordings and the music of Duke Ellington. 

At his 13th year he started a classical piano study at the Conservatori Superior de Música de Barcelona, but also played with Don Byas, the US tenor saxophone player, who had come to Europe with the Don Redman band and found here a new home ( in France, Denmark and The Netherlands, where he passed away in August 1972). When Marshall Brown heard this young piano player, he was allready active recording and touring with Lionel Hampton since the mid fifties, who labeled him as ... the best piano player of Europe …., and would release his first album in 1958 with his own band: Tete Montoliu y su Conjunto. The fact that he was on tour with Lionel Hampton and was invited to play with the Doug Watkins and Art Taylor in Cannes ( July 1958), made it impossible to join the International Youth Band of Newport.   George Gruntz, a Swiss piano player, was selected as piano player … Brown's second choice.

 George Gruntz (right) (1932-2013)

• George Gruntz  (born: Basel (Switzerland) ( June 1932) – Died: Basel ( Switserland) January 2013.)  A few weeks George Gruntz, selected by Marshall Brown to be part of the Babel’s Band rhythm section, passed away after a long illness. He studied at Basel and Zurich conservatories and became known at several Swiss amateur jazz festivals. From that period several tunes are reissued at Swiss compilation albums, like 30 Jahre Jazz Made in Switserland and Amateur Jazz Festival Zurich ( Best of 1954-1968).  In the period Marshall Brown invited him to be the bands piano player, George freelanced as an accompanist in Switserland and Scandinavia. Although he had to make a living as an car salesman, the Newport adventure brought him international recognition and he would develope into one of the leading Swiss Jazz musicians

 Gabor Szabo (1936-1982) 

We will never know if Marshall Brown had heard (about) the Hungarian guitar player Gabor Szabo before he left for Europe, but a fact is that he didn’t select a guitar player while at his tour through Europe to find some excellent musicians for his dreamed band.

• Gabor Szabo ( born Budapest (Hungary) March 1936 – Budapest (Hungary) February 1982).  He learned to play the guitar as a teenager, mostly self-educated, thanks to the radio programs of The Voice of America. In Budapest he made his debut on record in a group that accompanied the Hungarian vocalist Myrna Bell ( = aka Irma Hoso). He was in those pre-Newport days a sought after musician, and worked for films and radio. He also taped for The Voice of America, and left Hungaria, the story says, at the evening this tape was broadcasted. ( November 1956).  In the US, being a political refugee, he became a student at the Berklee School of Music. He can be heard at a 1958 Berklee production, directed by Herb Pomeroy, featuring Charlie Mariano, Nick Brignola, and the Austrian born Joe Zawinul. Marshall Brown invited Gabor for his band, while returned from Europe …

Pim (1934-1996) and Ruud Jacobs (1938) lost in thought .... ( source: Rhythme)

• Ruud Jacobs ( born: Hilversum (The Netherland) (May 1938) was invited to become the bass player of the band. Although he started on clarinet and piano he took the bass to play in his brothers Pim trio. Ruud Jacobs, is still the accompanist for Rita Reys, European leading jazz vocalist for more then 50 years, the widow of his late brother Pim.  He told me some of his recollections about his trip to Newport July- August 1958.  In a previous blog you can find more about his early career.

 Gil Cuppini ( 1924-1996)

• Gilberto (Gil) Cuppini ( born: Milan (Italy) June 1924)(died: Milan, June 1996). He learned to play the piano when he was a schoolkid and before the war he studied to become a surgeon at the Milan University. After the war, inspired by the music of the Benny Goodman Quartet he became a professional drummer.  He started in the band of Hazy Osterwald and recorded under his own as the Sestetto Jazz Gilberto Cuppini June 1947 which was the start for a lot of recordings and when he was selected in 1958 he had already built an impressive discography. He was active at the Italian radio and tv as a musician and must have been one of the senior musicians ( aged in his mid 30s) of the band.

In the next blog the selection gatheres at Brussels Airport to cross the ocean - the start of their Newport adventures .....

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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Marshall Brown and George Wein joined, spring 1958, within a few weeks span, dozens of auditions .. "they hopscotched Europe conducting auditions on a back-braking schedule."  They heard a hundred young talented musicians. "If we were able to take everyone who impressed us, we’d have 13 trumpets, 9 trombones … that kind of band ..." Marshall Brown told the journalists at the airport when they returned from their search for members of their band. It was a pity that a young talented Spanish piano player was not available - the Swiss piano player George Gruntz, who passed away a couple of weeks ago, was invited. The guitar player was found in the States - a political refugee, a talent on his instrument. Dutch bass player Ruud Jacobs represented The Netherlands.

 Retrospect
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Newport '58: De Slag om Newport

Audities vinden plaats in Theater Bellevue (Amsterdam)
Rudi Jacobs bassist in wereld-jazzorkest (bron: Utrechts Nieuwsblad - maart 1958)
Hans Koert

 Een paar maanden geleden kwam ik de Columbia lp tegen, waarvan de kleurrijke hoes en de titel me aansprak:  Newport 58: The International Youth Band, directed by Marshall Brown - Recorded at the Newport Jazz Festival. Op de achterkant vond ik bij de bezetting een indrukwekkende lijst met namen, die meespeelden in dit internationale jeugdorkest, namen van jazzmusici uit heel Europa, die de afgelopen decennia hun sporen verdiend hebben, zoals Albert Mangelsdorf (1928-2005), Roger Guerin (1926-2010), George Gruntz (geb. 1932) en Dusko Gojkovic (geb. 1931).  De naam van de bassist deed me besluiten de plaat mee te nemen: Rudolph (sic) Jacobs from Holland, stond er vermeld - dat moest Ruud Jacobs (geb. 1938) zijn! 

In de eerste bijdrage vertelde ik hoe het idee achter dit jeugdorkest ontstaan was en werden Ruud Jacobs en zijn broer Pim (1934-1996) gevolgd tijdens de eerste jaren van hun carriere ( Newport '58: De geboorte van Babel's Band).  Vandaag belichten we de audities, die gehouden werden in Theater Bellevue in Amsterdam, maart 1958.

Alle bijdragen m.b.t. Ruud Jacobs' debuut op Newport 1958 met The International Youth Band vind je op mijn linken site.

In 1957 speelde Richard Brown ( 1920-1983 ), een Amerikaanse dirigent, die zich voornamelijk richtte op schoolorkesten, met zijn dansorkest The Dalers ( uit  Farmingdale - NJ ) op het Newport Festival en dit concert trok de aandacht van de organisatoren.  Hij werd uitgenodigd door George Wein om een internationaal jeugdorkest  samen te stellen met jonge talentvolle Europese musici, die op moesten treden op het Newport Festival van 1958. Rhythme, het Nederlandse maandblad voor jazz-, dans- en amusementsmuziek, zoals het voluit heette, bericht in maart 1958 over  het …….. orkest, dat zal bestaan uit ca. 20 jonge jazzmusici  uit zoveel mogelijk Europese landen.  De leeftijd van de orkestleden zal tussen de 16 en 25 jaar liggen.

  Nederlandse jazzmusicus naar Newport Festival ( Nieuwsblad van het Noorden, 7 maart 1958)

 George T. Wein en Richard Brown, onder collega’s en vrienden beter bekend als Marshall Brown, zochten contact met impresario’s in Europa, met het verzoek audities te organiseren en hop scotched Europe conducting auditions on a back-breaking schedule, meldt de hoes van de lp.

Paul Acket wordt benaderd - hij is in die tijd een bekende organisator van jazzconcerten - om een auditie te organiseren. Hij noemde die avond De Slag om Newport, waarbij hij natuurlijk een knipoog gaf naar onze kennis van de Vaderlandsche Geschiedenis ... Wie had in de jaren vijftig niet die vervelende rijtjes jaartallen moeten leren? 1600: Slag bij Nieuwpoort. Wie daar toen op dat Belgische strand vochten wist niemand, maar deze slag zou in ons nationaal geheugen gegrift worden. De audities stonden voor elke Nederlandse jazzmusicus open, zowel beroeps als amateur.  De auditie werd georganiseerd op 10 maart 1958 in het Amsterdamse theater Bellevue.

 Rob Pronk ( 1928-2012) - pianist. (Bron: Rhythme)

George T. Wein en Marshall Brown beluisterden de jonge talenten, waarbij George T. Wein,  die behalve clubeigenaar (Storyville - Mahogany Hall)  en groot organisator (Newport Festival), ook zanger en pianist was ( Hij speelde met Wild Bill Davison en Bobby Hackett), begeleidde indien nodig, maar er was ook gezorgd voor een ritmesectie.  Brown maakte vooral aantekeningen.   Ruud Jacobs herinnert dat zowat elke getalenteerde Nederlandse jazzmuzikant aanwezig was. Rhythme meldt Ruud's oudere broer Pim (1934-1996) en Frans Elsen (1934-2011), beide pianisten; slagwerker Cees See (1934-1985), trompettist Han Tromp (1940-1970), de gebroeders Pronk ( pianist Rob (1928-2012) en slagwerker Ruud "Broer" Pronk (geb. 1931). Rob Pronk is onlangs overleden. Ruud Jacobs herinnert zich nog de namen van de trompettisten Ack (geb. 1930) en Jerry van Rooijen (1928-2009), maar Ack vertelde me dat hij en zijn broer niet bij de audities aanwezig waren; gezien hun leeftijd in 1958 (28-30 jaar) ligt dat ook niet zo voor de hand.  De enige, die in het lijstje erbij geweest moet zijn, Ruud Pronk, leidt aan oudersdomkwalen en kan nu helaas niet meer geraadpleegd worden.  

Ruud (rechts) met broer Pim (Bron: Rhythme)

Down Beat informeert ons hoe Marshall Brown zijn toekomstige bandleden selecteerde. Het schrijft, dat hij een formulier had, waarop de belangrijkste eigenschappen van een muzikant gescoord konden worden op een zespunts schaal: reading, improvisation, tone,  phrasing, and technique. De audities bestonden uit twee delen. Eerst een instrumentaal deel, waarin de muzikant een aantal eigen gekozen stukken mocht laten horen, waarbij hij begeleid werd door een ritmesectie – daarna kregen ze een aantal stukken voor de neus, geschreven door John LaPorta, Bill Russo of Brown zelf, die ze hadden meegebracht, om te horen “wat voor vlees ze in de kuip hadden” of, zoals  Brown het omschreef: to see what they could do with it. (Bron: Down Beat)

Slagwerker Cees See (januari 1959) ( Bron: Rhythme)

Every musician who auditioned came away a slightly better jazzman, vertelt Marshall Brown aan Down Beat: What we did was give each one a lesson. De muzikanten werden ook gevraagd, welke platen ze zo al gehoord hadden en Brown concludeerde dat de muzikanten voornamelijk geïnspireerd waren door grote Amerikaanse namen als Lee Konitz, Miles Davis, J. J. Johnson, Sonny Rollins en Horace Silver ….. and that they found it hard “to throw a note away” It never occurred to me until we got into the auditions, that such subtletics are typically American.

Euro-jazzorkest luistert Newport-festival op! by Bix-jr. ( Nieuwsblad van het Noorden 31st of May, 1958)

Een journalist van het Nieuwsblad van het Noorden, met de mysterieuze naam Bix-jr., kende het artikel in Down Beat blijkbaar ook, toen hij op 31 mei 1958 het artikel Euro-jazzorkest luistert Newport-festival op! over de audities schreef. Hij schreef het bijna letterlijk over; slechts weinigen zullen het gemerkt hebben in een tijd met meer beperkte communicatie, zonder internet en wrijftelefoons. Uiteraard kon Bix jr., eind mei 1958, melden wie de Nederlandse uitverkorene was: De jonge bassist Rudi Jacobs, broer van pianist Pim, en bekend van radio- en televisieuitzendingen, is de eer waardig gekeurd om de Nederlandse vanen hoog te houden. ( bron: Nieuwsblad van het Noorden).

Gábor Szabó ( 1936-1982) - een Hongaarse gitarist, die in 1956 om politieke redenen naar de VS gevlucht was. 

Down Beat ( 1 mei 1958)  meldt in haar rubriek Music News ( News Highlights) de geboorte van de band: Babel Band’s Birth. Hierin wordt uitgebreid aandacht besteedt aan de trip naar Europa van George T. Wein en het echtpaar Brown. Down Beat dateert de tocht  als mid-Winter, zodat je zou mogen concluderen dat de audities in Nederland één van de laatste waren in de rij …. After a whirlwind tour of 15 countries and some 500 gruelling auditions, …. waren er vier trompettisten, drie trombones, vijf rietblazers en drie man in de ritmesectie geselecteerd, die mochten optreden in het samen te stellen Newport International Youth Band op het Newport festival in juli.
 De naam van de gitarist was bij het ter perse gaan van Down Beat nog niet bekend. Brown zou hem begin april selecteren uit twee kandidaten, beide student aan de Berklee School of Music in Boston. We weten nu dat de keuze zou vallen op Gábor Szabó ( 1936-1982), een Hongaarse gitarist, die in 1956 uit Hongarije gevlucht was en nu studeerde aan het Berklee conservatorium.  

Tete Montolliu ( 1933-1997) ( foto: Nils Winther) ( bron: SteepleChase album Tete Montoliu - Words of Love)

 Brown vertelde de verslaggever van Down Beat dat hij heel wat talenten in Europa had gehoord … I only wish it could be possible to bring over more of the fine musicians we heard …. If we were able to take everyone who impressed us, we’d have 13 trumpets, 9 trombones … that kind of band.  Brown noemt als voorbeeld de blinde Spaanse pianist uit Barcelona Tete Massana, die veel indruk maakte. He has a wonderful ear. But we just couldn’t fit him into the band. Sommigen zullen in de naam wellicht de later beroemd geworden Tete Montoliu  (1933-1997) vermoeden, die geïnspireerd was door de muziek van Art Tatum.  Dat klopt, want Tete’s volledige naam was Vicenç Montoliu i Massana, waarbij Massana de achternaam van zijn moeder was ……..Tete speelde toen al bij Lionel Hampton , waarmee hij door Spanje en Frankrijk toerde – wellicht was dit contract een belemmering om hem naar Newport te halen – uiteindelijk zou George Gruntz de pianostoel bezetten, ook geen slechte keus. 

George Gruntz (rechts) (bron: Jazz Forum )

Op 25 maart 1958 werden er vanuit de VS telegrammen verstuurd naar “de winnaars”, en werden de uitverkorenen nader geïnformeerd.

Ruud herinnert zich het moment dat de brief uit Amerika kwam met de uitnodiging. We waren er van overtuigd dat Pim uitgenodigd was, maar tot onze verbazing was ik het.  Rhythme publiceert in april 1958, dat Ruud Jacobs uitgekozen was om mee te spelen met Tower Of Babel Band - De Toren van Babel-band zoals die al snel genoemd werd. Ook werd de volledige lijst gepubliceerd met daarop de andere geselecteerden - hierover meer in de volgende publicatie De voorbereidingen.  Ook de kranten publiceerden het heuglijke nieuws: Het Utrechts Nieuwsblad ( 28 maart 1958) maakte er in haar artikel meteen maar een wereld-jazzorkest van en liet niet na te melden dat Ruud op 15 juni  ... per speciaal vliegtuig .. naar de Verenigde Staten zou oversteken - vliegen naar de VS was in 1958 nog niet zo vanzelfsprekend ....   
(wordt vervolgd)

Alle bijdragen m.b.t. Ruud Jacobs' debuut op Newport 1958 met The International Youth Band vind je op mijn linken site.

Hans Koert
keepswinging@live.nl
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 Het Nederlands Jazz Archief maakt zware tijden door. De bezuinigingen door de regering leiden er toe dat het Nederlands Jazzarchief gesloten zal gaan worden en dat mag natuurlijk niet gebeuren. De Keep (it) Swinging blog is van mening dat het archief ( en het informatieve kwartaalblad het Jazz Bulletin) bewaard en toegankelijk moet blijven om het verhaal van de Nederlandse jazz te kunnen blijven vertellen aan de generaties na ons. Keep (it) Swinging heeft zich aangemeld als Vriend van het Nederlands Jazz Archief. Het zou mooi zijn als u het voorbeeld volgde en ook het Nederlands Jazzarchief steunde. .........

Als George T. Wein en het echtpaar Brown in het vroege voorjaar van 1958 naar Europa vertrekken om in 16 landen de leden voor hun band te recruteren, hebben ze nog geen enkel idee hoe die er uit zal komen te zien -  they carried with them only a dream of such a band. Als ze eind maart terugkeren naar de VS is het allemaal werkelijkheid geworden, maar hebben ze, volgens Marshall Brown die de missie leidde, zoveel Europees talent gezien en gehoord dat hun band wel dertien trompettisten, acht trombones ..... zou kunnen bevatten. De Nederlandse auditie vond plaats in maart 1958 in Theater Bellevue in Amsterdam en werd met gevoel voor humor door Paul Acket omschreven als De Slag om Newport. De jonge bassist Rudi Jacobs, broer van pianist Pim, en bekend van radio- en televisieuitzendingen, is de eer waardig gekeurd om de Nederlandse vanen hoog te houden, kan het Nieuwsblad van het Noorden later trots melden.  

  

Retrospect
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Newport '58: The Battle of Newport

The 1958 Dutch auditions at Bellevue Theatre  - Amsterdam
Every musician who auditioned came away a slightly better jazzman (quote: Marshall Brown)
Hans Koert
 A few months ago I found a Columbia lp entitled The International Youth Band - Newport 1958, directed by Marshall Brown - Recorded at the Newport Jazz Festival ( Columbia CS 8073).

On the reverse, the names of the members of the orchestra, which listed several well known names in European jazz, like Albert Mangelsdorff (1928-2005), Roger Guerin (1926-2010), George Gruntz (b. 1932), Gabor Szabo (1936-1982) and Dusko Gojkovic (b. 1931) and ..... the name of a Dutch bass player: Rudolph (sic) Jacobs, better known as Ruud Jacobs (b. 1938).
I was anxious to learn more about this orchestra which featured so much young talented European jazz musicians? In the first blog I introduced you to what gave rise to the birth of this youth orchestra and an introduction to the 18 years young Ruud Jacobs - Dutch bass player ( Newport '58: The Birth of Babel's Band).  Today I love to inform you about the audition, as scheduled in Amsterdam the March, 1958 - in an article entitled  The Battle of Newport


All Newport '58 International Youth Band contributions, as remembered by Dutch bass player Ruud Jacobs at my link site.

  Nederlandse jazzmusicus naar Newport Festival ( Nieuwsblad van het Noorden, 7th of March, 1958)

 George Wein en Richard Brown ( Marshall Brown for his friends and colleagues), invited impresarios in several European countries to organize auditions and hop scotched Europe conducting auditions on a back-breaking schedule, the lp album cover reads.

Paul Acket (1922-1992), a well known Dutch impresario was invited to organize such an audition for young Dutch promising jazz musicians and he labels it as De Slag om Newport, referring to a historical battle, the Battle of Nieuwpoort between the Dutch army under prins Maurits (= Maurice of Nassau) and the Spanish army under Albert van Oostenrijk (= Albert of Austria) at the beach near the present-day Belgian city Nieuwpoort. It is said that this battle is the only historical fact that middle-aged Dutchman remember from their education, as its date is so easy to remember: 1600: De slag bij Nieuwpoort 
The auditions were scheduled at the Bellevue Theatre in Amsterdam, the 10th of March, 1958.

 Rob Pronk ( 1928-2012) - Dutch piano player. (Source: Rhythme)

Ruud doesn't remember the exact place of the auditions, but he remembers some the Dutch musicians that were invited. The Rhythme magazine, maandblad voor jazz-, dans- en amusementsmuziek lists piano players like Pim Jacobs (1934-1996) and Frans Elsen (1934-2011), drummer Cees See (1934-1985), trumpet player Han Tromp (1940-1970), the Pronk brothers Rob and Ruud ( piano player Rob (1928-2012) and drummer Ruud "Broer" Pronk (geb. 1931). The eldest one, Rob Pronk, recently passed away. Ruud Jacobs recalled the names of trumpet player Ack (born. 1930) and Jerry Van Rooijen (1928-2009), but Ack told me that he don't remembers to have been present at this audition, neither was his brother Jerry. The only member of this audition, who is still alive, Ruud Pronk, couldn't be referenced due to geriatric complains.

Ruud (right) with his brother Pim (Source: Rhythme)

Down Beat ( vol. 25 no. 9 – 1 mei 1958) informs in its News Highlights about the Babel Band’s birth, as the orchestra was labeled since its start. The article introduces us to the way Brown selected the musicians: Brown has reference sheets for each applicant, with a grading system based on six points of musicianship: reading, improvisation, tone,  phrasing, and technique.  The audition had two parts: At first they were invited to play several selections of his own choosing with an audition rhythm section; then he was asked to play some music by either John LaPorta (1920-2004), Bill Russo (1928-2003) or Marshall Brown, which was brought along "to see what they could do with it." (Source: Down Beat)

Drummer Cees See (January 1959) ( source: Rhythme)

Every musician, Down Beat continuous, who auditioned came away a slightly better jazzman, Brown told the journalists who were very interested in these auditions.  What we did was give each one a lesson. And it was the first time anyone had ever come over and told them about what they had been hearing on records. Brown learned from the auditions, that .....the European musicians copies the more oblivious jazz devices. For instance, it was difficult to find a musician who could throw a note away. It never occurred to me until we got into the auditions, that such subtleties are typically American. The European musicians, Brown explains, had listened very well to American musicians like Lee Konitz, Miles Davis, J.J. Johnson, Sonny Rollins and Horace Silver.

Euro-jazzorkest luistert Newport-festival op! by Bix-jr. ( Nieuwsblad van het Noorden 31st of May, 1958)

The Dutch journalist from the Nieuwsblad van het Noorden, labeled as Bix-jr., which must have been a pseudonym, must have known this Down Beat article when he wrote the article entitled Euro-jazzorkest luistert Newport-festival op!

Gábor Szabó ( 1936-1982) - a Hungarian guitar player who lived as a politcal refugee in the States since 1956.

The Down Beat article, published the first of May, 1958, dates the auditions as mid-winter ( When George Wein and Mr. and Mrs. Marshall Brown took off for Europe in mid-Winter to recruit a band of top young sidemen from 16 countries, they carried with them only a dream of such a band - Down Beat reads) and they returned to the States late March.  After a whirlwind tour of 15 countries and some 500 grueling auditions, four trumpet players, three trombonists, five reed players and three men in the rhythm section were selected to play at the Newport '58 festival with the Newport International Youth Band. The name of the guitar player was not yet selected, when Down Beat published its article. Brown selected Gábor Szabó early April 1958 at the Berklee School of Music - This Hungarian guitarist Gábor Szabó ( 1936-1982) lived in the States since 1956, when he left his country as a political refugee - that's why he fit into the band members profile. 

Tete Montolliu ( 1933-1997) ( photo courtesy: Nils Winther) ( source: SteepleChase album Tete Montoliu - Words of Love)

Brown told the journalist that he had heard a lot of talented young musician .... I only wish it could be possible to bring over more of the fine musicians we heard …. If we were able to take everyone who impressed us, we’d have 13 trumpets, 9 trombones … that kind of band.  Brown mentioned, for example, the blind Spanish piano player from Barcelona Tete Massana, who had impressed him ..... He has a wonderful ear. But we just couldn’t fit him into the band. Some of you might recognize this piano player as Tete Montoliu (1933-1997), a very talented musician, inspired by the music of Art Tatum. Tete's full name was  Vicenç Montoliu i Massana - Massana was his mother's family name. Tete had joined in the summer of 1958 the Lionel Hampton band, touring Spain and France. That might have been the reason that he couldn't join Brown's Babel Band  ........ George Gruntz (b. 1932), a Swiss piano player, was selected - not a bad choice either.

George Gruntz (right) (source:Jazz Forum )

The 25th of March, 1958 cables were sent to the winners and instructions were set to follow.

Ruud remembers the moment the letter was brought in by the post man ..... We dachten dat het voor Pim was, maar het was voor mij (= We believed the invitation was for Pim, but it was for me .... )  Op 25 maart 1958 werden er vanuit de VS telegrammen verstuurd naar “de winnaars”, en werden de uitverkorenen geïnformeerd. Rhythme, published April 1958, that Ruud Jacobs was selected to join the Tower Of Babel Band, De Toren van Babel-band, at the Newport festival - July 1958. The article Ruud Jacob bassist in wereld-jazzorkest was published in the Utrechts Nieuwsblad ( 28th of March, 1958)
(to be continued)

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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 The Dutch Jazz Archive in Amsterdam, up to this year part of the MCN, is sorely tried, due to economy measures by the Dutch governement - It even might be closed if we don't do anything ..... On the pretext of "Keep the Dutch Jazz History Alive", the Dutch Jazz Archive won't let it happen and asks Jazz fans to become a Friend of the  Dutch Jazz Archive. The Keep (it) Swinging blog supports this initiative! ....

When George Wein and Mr. and Mrs. Marshall Brown took off for Europe in mid-winter (1958) to recruit a band of top young sidemen from 16 countries, they carried with them only a dream of such a band. When they returned to the US in late Msrch, they brought back a reality. The Dutch auditions for the Babel's Band, De Toren van Babelband, were scheduled at the Bellevue Theatre in Amsterdam, March 1958: The Battle of Newport

  

Retrospect
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