Gordon Goodwin CD Open Auditions!

About a year or so ago I had a subscriber who was attempting to put together a "virtual" big band by having people submit their part via mp3, then he would mix them together and voila - a big band made up of players from around the world. Tough thing to do, and I think it really never got off the ground because it was technically just too challenging. But.... here is something along those same lines that I think is terrific.  Your chance to record on Gordon Goodwin's next CD project.

You know, no matter how good you think you are, there is always someone, somewhere in the world who can play better it seems.  But oftentimes these great players toil away and never get heard.  The idea of using the internet to further the jazz cause is a great one, and this idea is not only brilliant marketing on Gordon's part, but it brings jazz players together and lets them be heard.  50 years ago, it was the jam session that was the social and playing outlet for jazz players. Could this be the start of a trend toward "virtual" jazz jam sessions? 

From a marketing standpoint, I think this idea will help sell alot of CDs simply because it gets people involved, (and who is not going to want to get the CD to hear who won? ) Ingenious.  Its kind of a jazz version of American Idol.  Ok, here is Gordon in his own words explaining the program.  Visit the bigphatjam website here and submit your solo or vote for your favorite soloist. Take it away Gordon!

Tommy Newsom Dies at 78

As I was watching CNN tonight I noticed a quick blurb about Tommy Newsom. My hunch was right that if CNN mentioned a jazz musician, it was probably obituary related.  Sure enough, sadly, Tommy Newsom has died of cancer at age 78.

 

Many people reading this blog probably don't even know who Tommy Newsom was, but if you are old enough to remember the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, you'll know exactly who Tommy was. 

You see, there was at one time a national late night show that actually employed an entire big band as the house band.  Yep, amazingly enough, NBC executives actually were willing pay 17 guys to provide music for the show.   Doc Severinson was the leader for most of the tenure of the band, but when he was not around (which was frequent) Tommy Newsom, lead alto for the band, would take over as the front man. He was known for his dry humor banter with Johnny, always unassuming and acted like he really didn't want to deal with having to be on camera.

 

I actually got to meet Tommy on a recording session that my father did in LA in 1982.  He (my father) was working for the cherry industry at the time and the session was for a jingle to promote cherries.  He managed to get a 2 for 1 ticket to LA for me so I tagged along.  It wasn't until I was on the plane that I got the list of musicians that were on the session.  The list read like a who's who of jazz!  Bill Watrous, Conti Condoli, Tommy Newsom, Ray Brown, Jack Nimitz, Shelly Manne, and others. 

 

The session went well and I was impressed with the down to earth attitudes of all the musicians.  I had heard that the studio scene was cut throat and I was prepared for a tense atmosphere.  It was the exact opposite.  All of the guys were relaxed and it was a great experience. Most of them, including Bill Watrous, hung around after the session to talk and share some advice of the business.  In fact,  I have 8 X 10 photo I signed by everyone in the band) of the session hanging on a wall in my office.   It was a terrific experience, especially for an aspiring college age jazz musician.

Tommy Newsom was friendly, unassuming and as nice a guy as you would expect.  Hearing of his death was sad.  It reminded me that the end of an era is quickly approaching, if not already here.  I hope I'm not the only one that misses hearing a big band on national TV every night.   Thanks for the memories Tommy!