ONOFFON

[onoffon]

I had a most wonderful meeting yesterday morning. I met with the President, Sylvia Minassian, and the Film Curator, Dr. Zaven Katchaturian, of an organization called AFFMA - the Arpa Foundation for Film, Music, and Art. They host a film festival every year, now in their tenth year, and though they honor all aspects of film, music and art production, they pay particular attention to those of Armenian descent and stories about Armenians and Armenian issues.They were overwhelmed by the story of Harry Babasin. The film project and Harry's life and career are exactly what they look for when considering their foundation's support. They have pledged their support of this documentary and have said they will help me in any way they can to see this film comes to fruition. They showed tremendous respect to my father for his accomplishments and to me for carrying on a legacy of artistic quality and integrity at the highest levels. They also spoke of a possible posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award for my father...It was another awe inspiring moment for me - and more validation that what I'm doing will benefit international artistic and cultural communities...

[nomiyah]

Quote:I had a most wonderful meeting yesterday morning. I met with the President, Sylvia Minassian, and the Film Curator, Dr. Zaven Katchaturian, of an organization called AFFMA - the Arpa Foundation for Film, Music, and Art. They host a film festival every year, now in their tenth year, and though they honor all aspects of film, music and art production, they pay particular attention to those of Armenian descent and stories about Armenians and Armenian issues.They were overwhelmed by the story of Harry Babasin. The film project and Harry's life and career are exactly what they look for when considering their foundation's support. They have pledged their support of this documentary and have said they will help me in any way they can to see this film comes to fruition. They showed tremendous respect to my father for his accomplishments and to me for carrying on a legacy of artistic quality and integrity at the highest levels. They also spoke of a possible posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award for my father...It was another awe inspiring moment for me - and more validation that what I'm doing will benefit international artistic and cultural communities... That's what you call niche marketing!!!! Excellent work, Van. So after the film is released and the museum built, what will you do with all your free time?

[onoffon]

Quote:That's what you call niche marketing!!!! Excellent work, Von. So after the film is released and the museum built, what will you do with all your free time?You're one funny girl, Nomi!!!! Well.... part of the plans for the museum is that it will contain a live performance facility that will be equiped to broadcast jazz concerts over the internet. So, even though the mainstream music industry cares little for innovative musicians, we will create a unique venue that will specifically highlight the continuing evolution of jazz, and other forms of musical creativity, on the west coast.That means ONOFFON will have a place to play for as long as we can still play our instruments... Not only that, after my father's documentary is complete, I intend to continue producing films that feature the musicians from that era that displayed instrumental virtuosity and innovated the artform. While I struggle forward in my quest to finance this film, I have my next film already in its earliest stages of planning...There will be no free time that I can see...

[onoffon]

To help demonstrate the need and significance of what I'm trying to do with my films and my museum, I want to post a musical review. In 1998, Fresh Sound Records in Barcelona, Spain, released a 3-CD box set called "The Complete Nocturne Recordings - Volume 1", that compiled the original releases from my father's Nocturne Record label in 1954-55. It's from the All Music Guide and is written by respected jazz reviewer Scott Yanow -Review: "In 1954, bassist Harry Babasin and drummer Roy Harte founded Nocturne, a label based in Los Angeles that during the next two years would document some of the top local musicians in its "Jazz In Hollywood" series. While Pacific Jazz and Contemporary were the leaders in the field, Nocturne also had something of its own to offer, and its cool jazz-oriented recordings were consistently rewarding. After the label inevitably folded, some of the albums were released by Liberty, while others were bootlegged; in more recent times V.S.O.P. and the Original Jazz Classics series have issued a few of the sessions. This 1998 three-CD set from the Spanish Fresh Sound label is quite definitive. Its thick 84-page booklet tells the story of the label, has the original liner notes, includes latter-day comments from surviving musicians, and even has Downbeat reviews from the 1950s, along with dozens of priceless photos. Most importantly, all of the music from eight complete albums (which were mostly 10-inch LPs) are reissued in full, as well as a couple of previously unreleased numbers from the Jimmy Rowles session. The most exciting performances are on the first disc: a quintet set featuring trombonist Herbie Harper and the talented if short-lived baritonist Bob Gordon, a showcase for Babasin's pioneering jazz cello solos, and altoist Bud Shank's debut as a leader. The latter finds Shank and Shorty Rogers (whose flugelhorn playing on this date was among the first on that instrument in a modern jazz setting) performing six of Shorty's originals, including the memorable "Casa De Luz" and "Lotus Bud." Other sessions are headed by Bob Enevoldsen (who doubles on valve trombone and tenor), trombonist Harper (some of his numbers find Shank on tenor and baritone), obscure baritonist Virgil Gonsalves, and trio outings by pianists Lou Levy and Jimmy Rowles. While West Coast jazz has often been ignored or given superficial treatment in jazz history books and by East Coast critics, the music on this highly recommended set (and the ones to follow) shows just how swinging and rewarding the idiom really was." — Scott Yanow (All Music Guide) That last sentence shows one of the compelling reasons the New York Foundation for the Arts found this project so important and worthy of their sponsorship.The west coast has rarely received its due - it's high time that at least some of its most important definers are given their credits...It's my life's mission...

[onoffon]

This is pretty cool - I just found this in a search engine, looking for Harry Babasin links -WFIU: Night Lights - The Nocturne Records Storyhttp://www.indiana.edu/~wfiu/nl_063007-nocturne.htmIt's an hour long radio broadcast, hosted by David Brent Johnson, produced at Indiana University, that was aired June 30, 2007, and archived here -WFIU: Night Lights - Archiveshttp://www.indiana.edu/~wfiu/nl_archives.htmIt's a streaming RealAudio file. It tells the story of the creation of my father's Nocturne Record label, in partnership with drummer Roy Harte, and the existence of the west coast schools of jazz, quoting my father from articles from various DownBeat Magazine articles.It's always so cool to find something like this that I had nothing to do with, though they took the Nocturne pic from my website, and I would have dearly loved to hear him pronounce my father's name correctly...Still, it's just good to see and hear the history books and archives continuing to be rewritten to include my father's contributions to jazz...

[onoffon]

Hey everyone - I've been gone for a while - a family vacation/research trip. I came back with a couple of gems -The first, is a 1940, first edition printing of a book called "Adventuring with Anatolia College", written by it's President Emeritus (at that time), George E. White. It's a detailed history of Anatolia College, from it's first embodiment in Marsovan, in north central Asia Minor in Turkey, and its relocation to Macedonia, dating from 1886-1936. It speaks of the events leading up to the Armenian genocide and the aftermath. It also lists each year of Anatolia College Alumni, graduating in Marsovan from 1887-1919. Two of my relatives are listed - Class of 1895 - Vahan Simon Babasinian, who in 1904, earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Brown University, and my grandfather in the Class of 1905, Yervant Harutune Babasinian, who escaped in 1915, settling in Texas and becoming a respected dentist in Vernon, outside of Dallas.The second is also a book, a 1971, second edition printing of the American Cinema Editors "Anniversary Book". It honors all the A.C.E. film editors throughout their organization. On page 161, is a great page dedicated to my other grandfather, Russell F. Schoengarth, starting his career in film back in 1926, working for Universal Pictures as an editor for more than 40 years with 130+ films to his credits. Such films as My Man Godfrey, The Glenn Miller Story, Come September, Midnight Lace, The Looters, and The Benny Goodman Story. In later years, he also did the Mr. Lucky and Peter Gunn television series'. Most of the Ma & Pa Kettle's (including The Egg & I), a few Francis the Talking Mule's, and a handful of Abbott & Costello Meets... are among his filmography as well.I also found a couple of original Nocturne LPs that are EXTREMELY difficult to find. Nocturne #4 was a pianist and vocalist, Conley Graves, and #5 was an album by Earl "Fatha" Hines. They are both in near mint condition and really are very important parts of the complete Nocturne Records story...Some other very cool things are in the works...

[onoffon]

About two weeks ago, I met with and was interviewed by a journalist, Ishkhan Jinbashian, who writes for The Armenian Reporter, a prominent Armenian newspaper that has international circulation, from Glendale, CA to Switzerland. He was blown away by the story of my father and the film project and published a story about my father and my struggle to make the documentary. As well as being printed and at many newsstands, there is also an online version that is available in downloadable .PDF files. For those of you interested enough to read it, you have to go to their homepage -http://www.armenianreporteronline.com/ Then, you hit the "ACCESS" button in the lower left hand corner to be taken to the mainpage. You want the August 4, 2007 issue. Hit the PDF link and open 'Section C - Arts & Culture'. Here is the opening paragraph -"Rediscovering the miracle of West Coast JazzThe story of Harry Babasinby Ishkhan JinbashianInventor of coolYears before “The Girl from Ipanema,” Harry Babasin helped create the Bossa Nova soundThe space in Von Babasin’s living room seems rather inadequate for his drive – let alone his towering figure. On a glum Los Angeles morning in July, he picks out an LP record from a neatly organized bookcase row of albums. It’s an extremely rare 10-inch record featuring the music of his late father, Harry Babasin. As Von talks about the album at approximately the pace of a tommy gun, his demeanor is that of a boy permanently let loose in a toy store. There is also veneration in his voice. It comes from a deep, joyous, almost spiritual appreciation for extraordinary music, which ultimately animates his determination to help publicly honor his father’s legacy on the one hand, and that of West Coast Jazz on the other."It was very gracious of Ishkhan and the editors at the Armenian Reporter to take such an interest in my father's story - I can't thank them enough.

[onoffon]

Years ago, when I first started in my mission to get my father recognized by the mainstream music community, I contacted a columnist for Bass Player Magazine named John Goldsby. He was empassioned by my father's story and ended up writing a column about Harry that was published in the April, 1994, issue of Bass Player. It turns out that eight years later, in 2002, Mr. Goldsby published a book called, The Jazz Bass Book: Technique and Tradition. Here's what it says about the book - "More than a player's manual, this book portrays jazz bass as a vital element of 20th-century American music. It profiles history's key jazz bassists and their musical contributions, citing examples from essential recordings...." Apparently, he felt Harry Babasin was important enough to dedicate a short chapter to. Now, thanks to Google Book Search, this book is available to be viewed online. The Jazz Bass Book: Technique and Tradition By John Goldsby http://books.google.com/books?id=rKvAHd ... GBJ6yEEThe link is to Chapter 21 - Harry Babasin. You will have to copy and paste the entire URL into your browser. I chose to break it into two pieces so this would post more easily.I'm getting the existing history books rewritten and new ones to include him from their first printings. I've been at this for almost two decades now - working toward not just claiming my father's rightful place in jazz history but helping to define the entire artform of west coast jazz. The journey continues...

[sgs4u]

Von, What a wonderful mission you're on. There are so few people in this world who have the conviction to devote such a huge part of their time and energy to:Honoring their father's legacy, The craft of learning to play an instrument magically, The sheer ecstasy of playing music with musicians you love and respect.Thank you for sharing what you believe in. Your posts are always inspiring to me and I miss them when you're not around.Do any of your kids play bass yet? Because great musicians run in families the same way great athletes do.steve

[johnnydean1]

Quote:Von, What a wonderful mission you're on. Do any of your kids play bass yet? Because great musicians run in families the same way great athletes do.steveHave you heard James Jamerson's son!!!???