Creed Taylor Produced

Another in an infrequent series “Jazz Is Dead.” While looking through old newspapers for details about George Benson’s appearance at the Jazz Workshop in 1973, I came across a few interesting articles; this was one of the better ones. The theme of “Jazz Is Dead” goes back to at least the early 1930s and possibly as far back as 1919 if you count the suppression of dancing to Jazz.

This article, given my research was in 1973, comes from the (New York) Daily News, February 11th.

The article was written by Peter Levison. Levison is described at the end of the article as “a fervent observer of the jazz scene and has a public relations firm that handles several important jazz figures.” Levison argues for youth, but then towards the end falls back on including old guard figures such as Al Cohn, Zoot Sims, Joe Newman, Buddy Pizzarelli, Dr. Lyn Christie, and Bobby Rosengarden.

Peter Levison Communications put this half-page advert in Billboard magazine, July 15th, 1972 – Page-16

Frank Alkyer, the DownBeat publisher, wrote a full-page tribute about Peter Levinson that appeared in the January 2009 – Volume 76, #1 issue. Alkyer described Levinson as “the dean, the godfather, the mack daddy of jazz publicists.” The article listed Frank Sinatra, Woody Herman, Artie Shaw, the Modern Jazz Quartet, and Dr. Billy Taylor, Chuck Mangione, Hubert Laws, and Rosemary Clooney among his clients.

Other articles, primarily written for DownBeat by Chuck Berg, would profile or interview musicians, and somewhere in the opening few paragraphs, it would include something to the effect, “Our conversation was recorded at the offices of Peter Levinson, who is handling xxx promotion for yyy Records.” Among those interviews for DownBeat was Hubert Laws, then at Columbia; Albert King (1976), et al.

Peter Levison passed away in 2008 at the age of 74 due to a fall and head injury. He had been living with ALS for two years at the time of his death ^[1]https://malibutimes.com/article_a9599da8-424e-5cba-a6c6-d37acffdf437.

The article is reproduced in full and as accurately as I could. It may contain transcription or punctuation errors not found in the original. No other changes or corrections have been made. I have noted any errors that are found in the original, if any. An image of the original article is included at the end.

Is Jazz Comeback Really On?

By Peter Levison

Last summer critic Albert Goldman called jazz “The art of the city, especially New York City, where more jazzmen have lived and suffered and blown their souls that in all the other cities in the world combined.” And it was last July that the New York public supported George Wein’s first annual “Newport Jazz Festival in New York” to such an extent that since then there has been continuous dialogue about a so called “jazz resurgence.” The festival’s success, the diversity of its audiences and their age range provided vivid testimony of the strength of the trend.

I first became aware of the renewed interest in jazz while publicizing a concert tour of major artists through midwestern cities for CTI, a record company whose foundation is built upon recording and selling jazz with bite, taste and commercial know how. It is headed by Creed Taylor, a resoundly successful producer of jazz recordings since the mid-1950s. Sellout houses in Chicago, Detroit, Cincinnati and Cleveland, with a predominance of youth on hand proved that the music was making its mark again, that people could come out and support contemporary artists like Freddie Hubbard, Grover Washington Jr., George Benson and others of similar stature.

Big Names Help

Through the success of this concert tour and the fact that jazz personalities such as Herbie Mann, Miles Davis, Quincy Jones, Le McCann, Eddie Harris, and even Stan Kenton started showing up on the recording industry’s trade magazines charts of best selling albums proved that the trend had decided substance.

It soon became common to hear talk of truly widespread acceptance for jazz, paralleling the high level of interest the music evoked in the 1950s, Some even ventured the possibility that the curren resurgence might top in intensity the Swing Era, the period extending from 1935-1945 when the jazz oriented big bands held sway and names like Goodman, Shaw, Miller, Basie, Krupa. James were familiar to most Americans.

It would seem George Wein’s Newport in New York, where he presented such luminaries as Ellington, Getz, Adderley, Peterson, Brubeck, Mulligan, Desmond, Evans, Rollins, etc., was in fact the trigger mechanism and prelude to that which has taken place since. The tasteful presentation of a wide spectrum of jazz — in the right settings—and most of all, the receptivity of the audience and press gave heart to those who would venture into jazz once again.

Like The Old Days

Since the Newport Festival’s success, jazz clubs and jazz concerts have been flourishing in a manner reminiscent of the late 1950s. Even the venerable Half Note Club, that survived the ’60s when jazz took such a tumultuous dive into disfavor, decided to move its headquarters uptown to provide a haven for the major names of the idiom to perform. But is there in reality a “jazz resurgence” taking place? Or rather is this new interest due to more of a recognition within the arts of the significant achievements of the past, a condition that has pervaded the arts ever since the Recession began and has been labeled under the general title of “nostalgia?”

In the 1950s Dave Brubeck. Gerry Mulligan, Paul Desmond. Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, et al. were in their late twenties or early thirties. They have stood the test of time and continue to be important draws in personal appearances. However, if the jazz idiom is to grow and embrace the youth market that it did 20 years ago, new and startling musicians of the likes of Chick Corea, Larry Coryell, Pharaoh Sanders, Gary Burton, Tony Williams, John McLaughlin and Herbie Hancock must form a hard nucleus to bring forth a new youth cult that truly understands and appreciates America’s only true musical art form.

In the past decade youth fervently supported rock music heavily saturated with electronic instruments. This music sounded the anthem of a new and different generation who questioned society’s longheld beliefs on war, sex, drugs, and the moral and social responsibilities of youth. There are many who feel that if Henry Kissinger’s peace attempts bring real fruition there will be a decided change in pop music that will enhance the importance of jazz. Certainly it is true that rock music ^[2]The original article appears to have musc or muse has undergone change toward more quiet and diversified sounds since the acid rock that emerged from San Francisco in 1967 which led to an overly violent kind of rock.

Aiding The Cause

Locally, the success of Billy Taylor’s “Jazzmobile” program in high schools and grammar schools of the New York area including workshop on weekends to indoctrinate young people into jazz; and nationally, Woody Herman with his high school and college seminars and George Wein with his recent affiliation with the National Tea Council for the sponsorship of groups from around the country who will audition to appear at next summer’s Newport Jazz Festival, are other significant developments leading to the furthering of the idiom.

Then there is Jack Kleinsinger’s new series, “Jazz at the De Lys,” tried last week at the Theater De Lys, the off-Broadway legit house on Christopher St. Kleinsinger is preparing a succession of oldstyle jam sessions the first of which included such heavyweights as Al Cohn and Zoot Sims, Joe Newman. Buddy Pizzerelli, Dr. Lyn Christie and Bobby Rosengarden.

For only through a perpetuation of the idiom, going in new directions with new time signatures, new instruments, and new types of sounds will jazz reach full flavor again. Right now jazz has its greatest opportunity for advancement and association with young people. I would relish many young people echoing the statement of one young person who observed to me recently, “Rock is the music of my generation. But I never for the slightest moment thought that rock music and its musicians had any of the sophistication associated with jazz.”