ONOFFON

[onoffon]

Thanks Mina! I think your vocals are what sets your music apart from others in your genre....On the documentary front -I was just contacted by a few distiguished individuals - a Professor Emeritus and Dean of Music at USC. He is an alum of North Texas State University, now University of North Texas, and attended a few years after my father went there and he talked of what a revered musician my father was, along with his pals, Jimmy Giuffre and Herb Ellis, who were all in the same class. And, then I spoke with the current head of Jazz Studies at UNT, who told me he would help me any way he could. UNT is famous for its jazz reputation and has a strong alumni that supports jazz. Harry and his buddies helped along the school's reputation for producing talented jazz musicians.Geographic areas support their own - the 'hometown boy' so to speak. When Harry was in the movie, A Song Is Born, in 1947, even though he didn't have one spoken word in the movie, the marquee at the theater in his home town of Vernon, TX, read, "A Song Is Born - starring Harry Babasin". I'm told that my grandmother dressed in a formal dress and stood at the door passing out the tickets. How cool is that...

[sgs4u]

Imagine what it must be like for your father & mother, to be able to meld with each other's souls again. My wife's father died a month ago. She put together an awesome video tribute to her father. It really helped ease my wife's pain, and kept her in touch with her feelings, instead of trying to hide them or sweep them under the carpet. Sue cried a little bit every day for 3 weeks while working on that video. It really helped her get past the toughest part of losing her Dad. And then the video got played at his service, and it helped everyone else. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cSDca0SlYoVon, your Mom will always be with you. You already know how much your Dad is still here. and I love you too, my brother.steveMay 15, 2008, 6:04am, onoffon wrote:My mother, Barbara Jean Babasin, passed away at 4 AM this morning, six days short of my father's passing 20 years ago. She would have turned 79 on May 25th...No more suffering - she's at peace now...Thanks again for all your support...

[onoffon]

Today is the 20th anniversary of Harry Babasin's passing. What a flood of emotions!I spent yesterday afternoon listening to Jimmy Wyble perform at a little tea room in Pasadena. It really was wonderful. He had a few friends join him. One was a western guitarist named Jerry Case. Of all things, he happened to have a CD (homemade) in his car of a live performance, recorded in 1978, with Jimmy and my father playing in Studio City with a band they called the Love Brothers. Other players were Bill Hood, Jack Coan, David Wheat, Newcomb Rath, and Roy Harte. What a treat! A one-of-a-kind recording and he freely handed it to me to take home and burn some copies for myself and Jimmy. Not only that but Jerry's wife, Deanna, is the president of the Arts Council at Cal State Northridge, where my father completed his Master's degree when it was called San Fernando Valley State College. He taught the jazz band at the university for two years in '61 and '62. She was fascinated by Harry's story and wants to put me in touch with the jazz studies department at CSUN. They are ground breaking for a new, state-of-the-art Performing Arts Center that will open in 2010. I thought it would be an excellent home for the Jazz In Hollywood Museum... who knows.... I also got to meet Dr. William Thomson, the retired Dean of Music at USC who knew and revered my father from their alma mater, North Texas State University. He was very excited to meet Jimmy Wyble also. He wants to help me make this film in any way he can.My network of supporters keeps growing larger and more prestigious every day...What an amazing life mission I am on...

[onoffon]

Sunday, I attended a birthday party for Rex Harte, the son of my father's dear friend, business partner and drummer, Roy Harte. Rex plays drums too and he had quite a few excellent musicians in attendance. The party was hosted by a wonderful lady who lives on a beautiful estate in the hills of Santa Barbara. She is a Patron of the Arts and loves everything about the documentary film I'm producing. For me, the coolest part of the party was a gift I had given Rex. I had found an album a while back that was a recording of a live radio broadcast of the Billie Rogers Orchestra from New York in 1944. It marked the first band that Harry Babasin and Roy Harte had played together, beginning an association that would continue for more than four decades. I was fortunate to find multiple copies for sale on eBay, so I picked one up for Rex. What made this record even more special was what it meant to his mother. Ruth Harte, now in her 80's, was also at the party and she recalled her first meeting Roy. It was in 1944 when she saw him play with the Billie Rogers Orchestra!!!! Now, she couldn't remember where it was but it most certainly was the very same year, the same band, and it was in New York! Everyone at the party was blown away by the significance of this musical event in the personal Harte family history... There are no coincidences...

[onoffon]

This morning, I wanted share a portion of a letter written on behalf of my documentary project. This comes from the film curator of AFFMA, the Arpa Foundation for Film, Music, and Art, Dr. Zaven Khatchaturian. I met with he and the organization's founder, Sylvia Minassian, about a year ago and they want to feature the film, when it's done, at one of their film festivals, now in their eleventh year.This was the quote I wanted to share with you -"The contribution of Von Babasin to the history of music would be no less important than his father's contribution to music itself. Therefore, Arpa Foundation for Film, Music and Art offers its wholehearted support to Von's project."Pretty darn cool...There have been those on these boards who have expressed the same sentiment toward the project and my journey to bring it to fruition - you know who you are... Thanks as always for your support and thanks to Dr. Khatchaturian for his kind words...

[kg]

That's an amazing thing to have said about you, Von, and well-deserved.

[nomiyah]

Jun 8, 2008, 9:59am, onoffon wrote:This morning, I wanted share a portion of a letter written on behalf of my documentary project. This comes from the film curator of AFFMA, the Arpa Foundation for Film, Music, and Art, Dr. Zaven Khatchaturian. I met with he and the organization's founder, Sylvia Minassian, about a year ago and they want to feature the film, when it's done, at one of their film festivals, now in their eleventh year.This was the quote I wanted to share with you -"The contribution of Von Babasin to the history of music would be no less important than his father's contribution to music itself. Therefore, Arpa Foundation for Film, Music and Art offers its wholehearted support to Von's project."Pretty darn cool...There have been those on these boards who have expressed the same sentiment toward the project and my journey to bring it to fruition - you know who you are... Thanks as always for your support and thanks to Dr. Khatchaturian for his kind words... Great praise. Good to hear after all the work you put in.

[onoffon]

I just received a friend request over on MySpace from a musician I've never met before - he spent time over at Drum City in Hollywood, where my father had his office and housed the recording studio where most of our jazz archives were recorded -"Von -I had the pleasure of meeting your father several times in the mid-eighties at Drum City and the local 47. He actually sold me my copy of Inglewood Jam. I also have an original 78 of Bopmatism on the Dial label and I'm fairly sure that I have an Imperial 45 of the Oscar Pettiford session somewhere in my collection but I wasn't aware that Harry was the other cellist. Your Hollywood Jazz website is Excellent!Roy Harte will always be dear to me in so many ways, and I can only wish I had known more about him when he was here with us so that I could ask him more about things/his career, etc. Best of luck with your doc!"What a great message to receive, out of the blue. It helps to represent how many people I don't even know who were influenced by my father and Roy Harte, in so many different ways...Did I mention that, once I'm done with Harry Babasin's Jazz In Hollywood documentary, I will produce Roy Harte's Drum City? I'm still quite close with Roy's family and we will collaborate on telling his amazing story and of his remarkable drum shop in the heart of Hollywood.Really great musical history...

[onoffon]

I can't reveal the specifics quite yet, but I've received this message in an email from the investors I've been working with -"As you can imagine there is bounds of paperwork and crossing of "T's" and dotting of " i's"... know that the fund is real, happening and in the throws of being finalized."You've all been there with me every step of the way...I can't think of a better group of friends to share this with... CHEERS!!!!!

[davewalton]

Jun 24, 2008, 8:16am, onoffon wrote:I can't reveal the specifics quite yet, but I've received this message in an email from the investors I've been working with -"As you can imagine there is bounds of paperwork and crossing of "T's" and dotting of " i's"... know that the fund is real, happening and in the throws of being finalized."You've all been there with me every step of the way...I can't think of a better group of friends to share this with... CHEERS!!!!! So things are getting close? Might be a good reason for celebration at the Taxi Rally (like we actually NEED a reason) !