The doors flung open and there was Helen … ‘Paul, could you go and talk to your friend Lee because he’s got his little girlfriend here and I feel very uncomfortable with her being here … Lee turns around and bam!’ ibid.
Lee Morgan Killed in N.Y. Club; Was 33: Trumpeter Lee Morgan, 33, was shot and killed at Slugs’, the New York nightclub where his quintet was performing … ibid. newspaper report
‘I felt that the Creator said, You know, you will play the saxophone.’ Sound of Redemption: The Frank Morgan Story, Sky Arts 2020
The LA musicians used to dedicate the late-night jazz shows to the greatest living alto saxophone player in the world – Frank Morgan. But if you want to hear him, you gotta go listen to the warden’s band in San Quinton. ibid.
‘Frank’s dad, Stanley Morgan, was a guitarist who played with the Ink Spots. ibid. Gary Giddins, jazz critic
He was in the band that backed Billie Holiday. ibid.
‘Then one day he met up with a notorious villain posing as a good friend: heroin.’ ibid. Delfeayo Marsalis, trombone, prison concert
‘Frank was a bank robber.’ ibid. fan
‘When he came to New York, there was a lot of anticipation.’ ibid.
‘10 albums’ … ‘On top of the world’ … ‘Topping it off with the NBC show: Sing Sing prison New York 1989’. ibid.
This is one of jazz’s greatest singers in her prime; but within ten years of this performance she was dead, her body wrecked with drink and drugs. Reputations: Billie Holiday: Sensational Lady, BBC 2001
When she was 11 Billie was raped by a neighbour. ibid.
She decided to go on tour with the Count Basie Band. ibid.
In 1942 she married Jimmy Monroe, a small time wheeler-dealer who introduced Billie to opium. ibid.
Billie was charged with possession of heroin. ibid.
You’re talking about an artistic genius and a spiritual giant. Chasing Trane, fan, Netflix 2016
Trane had a sound that was heavenly. ibid.
In 1957 John Contrane is part of one of the groundbreaking groups of the day – the Miles Davis quintet. Miles Davis is looked upon as the harbinger of everything new. ibid.
I moved to be with my mother in Philadelphia. This was 1943. I worked for a year in a signal depot. We had a war, you know. Then I decided to study music again. My mother made many sacrifices to enable me to study music: then I was able to take lessons from a private saxophone instructor. ibid. Trane
Diz was hearing something in Coltrane’s playing as being promising, as being filled with possibilities, and that this guy needed nurturing. ibid. fan
He was a compulsive practiser. ibid.
John Coltrane’s drug habit is getting in the way of music. ibid.
When he cleaned up, things began to unfold. ibid.
After working with Thelonious Monk, Coltrane is fully on his feet. ibid.
I’ve got to keep experimenting. I feel that I’m just beginning. ibid. Trane
‘I sensed I was witnessing magic. ibid. Doors’ drummer
May we never forget that in the sunshine of our lives, through the storm and after the rain – it is all with God – in all ways and forever. ALL PRAISE TO GOD. ibid. John Coltrane, A Love Supreme album dedication
He is now going to try new music ideas. ibid. fan
He was the first black artist who had his own television show and it was flawless. And every week it was a wonderful thing to watch. Nat King Cole: Afraid of the Dark, Tony Bennett, Netflix 2014
He only had two lessons but he picked everything up … He was an absolute genius. ibid. wife
A gentleman. He was a class act. ibid. Ivan Mogull, music publisher
Such a fantastic piano player. And a wonderful jazz piano. ibid. Bruce Forsyth
He was loved by everybody. It was something magical about him. ibid. fellow artist
They [neighbours] all had his records in their houses [Los Angeles]. But they signed a petition to get him out. ibid. George Benson
A mesmerising quality to his vocals. ibid. fan
The greatest singer in the world. ibid. Harry Belafonte
‘The singer Amy Winehouse has been found dead in her north London flat just 27 years old … The singer has had well-documented problems with drink and drugs …’ The Death of Amy Winehouse: 13 Reasons Why aka 13 Moments that Killed Amy Winehouse, Sky News, Channel 5 2019
This is the story of a towering but troubled talent. ibid.
The parents were to split when she was only nine years old. ibid.
‘ … that basically is bulimia.’ ibid. mother
It’s thought that Amy may have been suffering from an underlying mental health issue called Borderline Personality Disorder. ibid.
Amy signed to Island records in 2002 … So she moved to a flat in the music capital of London – Camden Town. ibid.
Amy meets the wrong man … and Amy has a lost summer. ibid. captions
Bulimia or drugs or both … her health had started to decline … Boyfriend Blake walked out on her. ibid.
Back to Black: But it was impossible to imagine the scale of the album’s success and the colossal impact it would have on Amy’s life. ibid.
Amy herself was becoming the story. ibid.
Her relationship with Blake grew ever more insular, co-dependant and drug-reliant. ibid.
Dazzling, talented, carefree, the Roaring Twenties are a magical moment in history. In Paris a whole new era is bursting into flower. After four long years of a terrible war, young French people have just one thing on their minds: to forget about all the tragedy. There’s only one thing for it: to party in the wild hope of inventing a whole new world. A world without war, a world of laughter and fun. And end to old pre-war values, the emancipation of women, an explosion of the avant-garde. These so-called Roaring Years are in fact a true cultural revolution. Paris: The Golden Twenties, Sky Arts 2020
A hiatus of liberties between two World Wars. ibid.
The automobile had taken over the city … There’s a wind of folly blowing through the city. ibid.
In Monmartre, glory means a gold medal in the Boozy Olympics marathon. ibid.
The Roaring Twenties will make Paris the most cosmopolitan city in the world. ibid.
Montparnasse: what Henry Miller described as the Bellybutton of the World. ibid.
The bob is much more than a fashion, it’s a symbol of the Roaring Twenties. ibid.
The jazzmen are black; many of them soldiers who have played in the military bands. ibid.
She’s a black American, and she’s an exceptional artists: her name is Josephine Baker … she’s the darling of the avant garde … She’s the first black star in history. ibid.
Americans soon become the largest ex-pat community in the Paris of the Twenties. ibid.
It was the freedom I was looking for coming out of The Jam. Long Hot Summers: The Story of the Style Council ***** Paul, Sky Arts 2020
One of the best combinations of music and look in a pop group ever. ibid. Martin Freeman
He had the chops to do it, and the vision to do it. ibid. Billy Bragg
Long Hot Summer: The one that really made me prick my ears up. ibid. Boy George
A pop band with substance. ibid. critic
At the same time they said er, Prince Charles & Diana are turning up and you can meet them, and we just went, we’ll just do the sound check, shall we? ibid. Mick Talbot of Live Aid
‘There’s just so much history here in Ronnie Scott’s. You can feel the spirit of the greats who’ve came in and out. This is one of London’s absolute essentials.’ Ronnie’s: Ronnie Scott and His World-Famous Jazz Club, BBC 2021
‘To run Ronnie Scott’s you really have to understand the legacy. Why it all started, what the ethos was of the founders of the club. It is a national institution.’ ibid.
Jazz625 broadcast weekly between 1964 and 1966 featuring performances from the greatest names in Jazz from both sides of the Atlantic. Jazz625: For One Night Only, BBC 2021