ONOFFON

[onoffon]

I received a wonderful telephone call this afternoon - Mr. Herb Alpert called me at home.No - he didn't want to sign ONOFFON - or fund the documentary... But, we did talk at length about the significance of my father's contributions to jazz history. He was familiar with the Charlie Parker/Chet Baker recordings and I talked about the bossa nova sessions, the pioneer cello recordings, and the Oscar Pettiford duet cello sessions. He was very gracious and supportive - respectful of my project to honor Harry and west coast jazz and he expressed sorrow at Harry's all too early passing at the age of 67.It was a wonderful conversation and he said he would keep in touch...

[davewalton]

Quote:I've been given permission to post this article on my own website so now you can read or download it directly from this link -http://www.onoffon.com/JazzArticle.pdfThanks again to the fine people at The Armenian Reporter for caring about this culturally important piece of music history...Cool article and what a snazzy dresser that Von character is.

[onoffon]

Quote:Cool article and what a snazzy dresser that Von character is. Nice of you say that, Dave, but as you can see in my dad's photos, he's the snazzy dresser...

[onoffon]

What a great meeting I had with Mark Cantor... This guy is definitely connected in the jazz and film world. Turns out that he was the archival consultant for "A Great Day in Harlem", a documentary film based on Art Kane's August 1958 photograph of 57 jazz musicians on a Harlem street, produced and directed by Jean Bach and 1995 Academy Award Nominee for Best Documentary.Also turns out that he knew and worked with my father in the sixties. He had nothing but wonderful things to say about Harry and has offered to be a consultant on my film.There's more in the works but they will have to wait for future posts...

[drew]

I really enjoy reading your thread, Von, it makes me feel like I have a life

[onoffon]

Hahahahaha... Drew, you crack me up...I had another great weekend of wild rock 'n roll! Brought down the house... and, for the first time, we're playing back-to-back weekends. The owner is throwing a Halloween party this Saturday and wants his best band performing... On the documentary front, I received tow more foundation rejections. One from the Peter Norton Foundation and the second, from American Express Philanthropy.The American Express letter said, "our limited resources make it impossible to assist all the worthwhile requests for funding that we receive".I'll bet my entire movie budget is lower than it costs them to produce just one of their commercials... que sera sera...Onward...

[onoffon]

I had an unusually nice compliment this weekend that I wanted to share with y'all...After the second set on Saturday, a bar patron made his way through the crowd, (and I mean crowd - the place was PACKED!), and came up to shake my hand. The usual pleasantries were expressed and then he said, "You guys are f**king awesome. No... you don't understand... it's not like coming to a bar to see a cover band. Seeing you guys play is like going to a concert. Really."Well... I thought that was so cool... like going to a concert... hehehehe...

[onoffon]

Just another Friday night in Studio City -At 7:30 last night, my old special effects buddy, Dave Kelsey, (effects coordinator for CSI:NY), calls me on the phone and says that Gary Sinise and his Lt. Dan Band are going to play a party on New York Street on the CBS lot at 9:00 and if I want to come over, he'll leave my name at the front gate.So, the wife and I threw on some clothes and went partyin'. It was the third year they've done this - I've attended two. It was a wild time - they had just returned from a world USO tour that included Germany, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Last year, Jim Belushi jumped on stage and played harmonica with the group on "Sweet Home, Chicago", but no such luck this year. Instead, Jon Voigt was in the crowd and we danced in a conga line with him to, what else, "Conga"... it was such a crack up...I can't wait til next year...

[onoffon]

Through the graciousness of Nomi Yah, I was able to attend yesterday's festivities at the Road Rally. I have to say that it was the single greatest day of my Road Rally experiences. Not that I will be signing a record contract tomorrow or compose an underscore next week, it was just the coolest time I have ever had at a Road Rally. I'll let others tell you the details who were more instrumental in making it happen. Special thanks go out to Vikki Flawith for all of her hard work and determination to make this the most unique and memorable Road Rally ever.When I got home that night, I received an email from a music library that had requested our music for inclusion in their archives, with a contract and word that they will have immediate placement for some of the first album.And they still haven't listened to the next two... Pretty good day...

[onoffon]

I know you all will be reading this more than a dozen times from everyone who was there but it was REALLY cool to meet all the TAXI community members that came to the Road Rally and shared their hearts and experiences so openly. Not just putting a face to the names - but voices and smiles and personalities and laughter and backgrounds... it was awe inspiring. Those that I was fortunate enough to meet were, in no particular order -Nomi Yah, Steve Soucy (steve à gilbert), Liam Kelly, Dave Walton, John Mazzei (mazz), Matt Hirt (matto), Martin (gitarrero), Brian Steckler (stick), Vikki Flawith (hummingbird), Kelly Green (kg), Casey Hurowitz, Chuck (crs7string), Anne House, Ted Fox, Aub DelaneThese are my new family members - I hope that we get to make this an annual event - when we all met it was like we were old friends catching up rather than new friends first meeting. Of course, I have had the privilege of knowing matto for a few years now - and reconnecting with people like Derek Sivers from CD Baby, Joanne Ledesma from Ledesma Music, and Jimi Yamagishi from SongNet is always a pleasurable experience.So nice of Michael to throw this little shindig for us all... What an awesome time had by all...Oh - BTW - I'm now preparing to attend a West Coast Jazz Conference over the next three days hosted by The Getty Museum in the hills of Pacific Palisades. High points for me will be meeting Ted Gioia, author of a book called, "West Coast Jazz"; reconnecting with amazing flautist, Buddy Collette, who recorded on my father's first Jazzpicker album as well as an album my dad produced and played on for Liberty Records in 1955 called, Shades Of Things To Come, with the Jack Millman Sextet; and attending a film presentation hosted by film archivist, Mark Cantor, who will be working with me on my father's documentary...Feet don't fail me now...