Date |
Place |
Event |
1956 (aet. 20) |
||
| Various dates | Various places | On the road with the Buddy Morrow
Orchestra (BMO). Some of the other
Geneva-area musicians that worked with this band included Ray DeSio, trombonist; Joe
Kloess, pianist; and Suzanne Stewart, vocalist. Occasionally, Morrow would let
his band members do a 'jazz' set during intermissions. Morrow, who treated LaFaro like a
son, often had to remind him to play what was written for the band. The
BMO traveled the same circuit as the Modern Jazz Quartet (MJQ)
for part of this year. During a visit to Detroit, while LaFaro was practicing in his room
at the Wolverine Hotel, MJQ bassist, Percy Heath heard him practicing and knocked
on his door to introduce himself. The two became friends and later on Heath jokingly
remarked to LaFaro, "If you are going to go to all that trouble, Man, why not play
guitar?" To which LaFaro responded, "Because bass is my instrument."
(Letter, 1 November 1996, Suzanne Stewart-Knight.) |
| Date? | New York? | Recording:
Golden Trombone. Buddy Morrow and his Orchestra. Featuring Buddy Morrow. Especially arranged by
Walt Stewart [with] alto solos by Dick Johnson. Chicago, IL: Mercury
Record Corp., 1956?] Mercury MG 20221. |
| Date? | New York? | Recording:
Let's Have A Dance Party! Buddy
Morrow and His Orchestra. [New York?] RCA Camden [1956?] CAL 381 |
|
Tuesday 03 April |
LaFaro's 20th birthday anniversary |
|
| Sat 09 Jun | Geneva, NY | Scott's sister, Lisa LaFaro, born |
| Summer? | Geneva, NY |
|
|
Tue 26 Jun |
Clifford Brown (born 30 October 1930) died in
automobile accident, aet. 26, along with pianist Richie Powell,
brother of pianist Earl 'Bud' Powell |
|
| September | Los Angeles | "We toured all over the country until I left the band
in Los Angeles in September 1956. I didn't hear any jazz or improve at all during that
whole time." (Williams, quoting LaFaro, "Introducing" p. 16.) |
|
Sun 09 Sep |
Bill Evans, New Jazz Conceptions
recorded |
|
| Fall | Los Angeles | A few weeks after having left the
BMO, LaFaro joined a Chet
Baker group that included Bobby Timmons, piano; and Lawrence Marable,
drums. "I found out so much from Lawrence, a lot of it just from playing with
him." (Williams, quoting LaFaro, "Introducing", p. 16) |
| Fall | Midwest (NB-SD-IA?) |
Chet Baker
Quintet (?B. Timmons, pno; LaFaro, dbs; ?L. Marable, dms; P. Urso, tnr; C.
Baker, tpt) on the road in the Midwest, fall 1956 |
| Fall | Los Angeles | Recording:
2 Trumpet Geniuses of the
50s: Brownie and Chet. [CD] Italy?: Philology Records, no date. Philology 214w13. |
1957 (aet. 21) |
||
|
Fri 15 Feb |
New York |
Gig: Carnegie Hall --
with the Chet Baker Quintet. The Annual Birdland Tour [i.e., The Birdland Stars of '57 or Birdland All-Stars Revue] opened Friday 15 February at Carnegie Hall, New York and closed 17 March in Washington, DC. Cast included Sarah Vaughn, Billy Eckstein, Jeri Southern, Count Basie band with Joe Williams, Bud Powell, Phineas Newborn, Lester Young, Chet Baker, Zoot Sims, Seldon Powell, the Terry Gibbs quartet with Terry Pollard, and Rolf Kuhn. -- Down Beat 24.03 (February 6, 1957), p. 9. LaFaro was playing with Chet Baker at this time. "Chet
Baker's group popped out for a pair of originals by Manny Albam and Bob
Brookmeyer. Baker had a front line of tenors Seldon Powell, Zoot Sims, and
Phil Urso, with German clarinetist Rolf Kuhn. Both numbers [i.e.,
compositions] were highlighted by Sims' easy, swinging tenor and the punchy,
single-note style of Powell. On both numbers there was apparently some
confusion in getting back to the head after the final rhythm break." --
Down Beat 24:06 (March 21, 1957), p. 12. |
| Spring | New York | "Vic Feldman first heard Scott in New York in the
spring of 1957 with Chet Baker. He was instantly impressed. That July, when Vic
came to Los Angeles, he had a chance to play with Scott. They later worked a few dates
together for Buddy DeFranco." (Program notes, Arrival of Victor Feldman.) |
|
Wednesday 03 April |
LaFaro's 21st birthday anniversary |
|
| March -- April | New York
Philadelphia |
From
"strictly ad lib" [column] Down Beat 24:07 (April 4, 1957), p. 8:
[LaFaro may have left Baker's group as a result of this incident.]
|
|
R[occo]. Joseph LaFaro's
Local 570, American Federation of Musicians
union "dues" card, signed by C[harles] F[rancis] Ralston, Secretary for the Local, my father. Image
provided by Helene-LaFaro Fernandez, September 2005. |
||
| Mon 20 May | Geneva | Rocco Joseph LaFaro (born 20 October 1905),
Scott's father, died, aet. 51.
After his father's burial, while at his parent's home in Geneva, NY, Scott said
to his sister Helene, while both were admiring their late father's instruments, especially
the different sizes of their respective bridges: "Dad's violin compared to my bass is the greater of the two instruments. The lesser will follow in the footsteps of the greater. That's it. I know I will not live much longer. I'll be dead by the time I'm twenty-five." Helene believed at the time that Scott's cryptic remark was a premonition of his own untimely death four years later. (Conversation with Helene LaFaro-Fernandez, 25 May 1999 and Helene's e-mail, 14 May 2001) |
| June -- October | Los Angeles | Resided at the home of Herb Geller and Lorraine Geller,
where he practiced his instrument and listened to the Geller's recorded
music collection. "For some five
months, Scott spent most of his time practicing in semi-seclusion. 'I couldn't find enough
work, and besides, I definitely needed the practice.'" (Hentoff, quoting LaFaro, Arrival
of Victor Feldman.) |
|
Thu 18 Jul |
Charles Mingus (22 Apr 22 --
05 Jan 79), Tijuana Moods
recorded. |
|
| Tue 30 Jul | Geneva | Scott's sister, Leslie LaFaro, born. |
| December | Chicago | "En decembre 1957, il file vers Chicago afin de jouer
quelques semaines avec Ira Sullivan et Pat Moran. C'est le temps de son
premier disque, avec [Mlle.] Pat Moran, pour Audio Fidelity." (Binchet, p. 20). "I [LaFaro] don't like to look back, because the whole point in jazz is
doing it now. I don't even like any of my records except maybe the first one I did with
[Miss] Pat Moran on Audio Fidelity." (Williams, "Introducing Scott
LaFaro" Jazz Review 3 (August 1960) p. 16.) |
| December? | Chicago? | Recording:
This Is Pat Moran. The Pat Moran
Trio. New York, NY: Audio Fidelity, [c1958] AFLP 1875. 1 sound disc : analog, 33 1/3 rpm,
mono ; 12 in. With [Miss] Pat Moran, piano; Johnny Whited, drums [sic, in
recté Gene Gammage] ; John Doling, bass [sic, in recté Scott
LaFaro] |
| December? | Chicago? | Recording:
Beverly Kelly Sings with the Pat Moran Trio.
New York, NY: Audio Fidelity [c1958] AFLP 1874. 1 sound disc : analog, 33 1/3 rpm,
monophonic ; 12 in. With [Miss] Pat Moran, piano; Beverly Kelly, vocals; [Gene Gammage,
drums] and [Scott LaFaro, bass] (Ms. Patti Moran McCoy, email, 5 Feb 98). |
