[mrpeebee]

Hi all,

I just found a nice interview of Swiss jazz researcher Otto Flückiger with tenor saxophonist Arnett Cobb (1918-1989), recorded in the spring of 1980 in Cobb's hometown, Houston Texas.

On that occasion Otto interviewed Cobb about his career, playing with Frank Davis, going to Chicago with Milton Larkin to play at the Rhumboogie, joining Lionel Hampton, forming his own band and the auto accident that dramatically changed Cobb's life. There are about 40 minutes from this interview on a C90 cassette tape, which can be heard as soundlip on below site. The part about Cobb's accident (in 1959) is (IMO) the most interesting, it is about half way the interview.

Here is the link, for other "idiot's" (like me) who are interested in hearing this kind of stuff (probably nobody :mrgreen:
http://crownpropeller.wordpress.com/2013/01/12/unpublished-interview-with-arnett-cobb-1980/

For those who don't know Arnett Cobb: he was forced to walk on crutches from 1956 onwards (because of the car accident), but had one of the strongest sounds on tenor ever. Check for example this clip from 1982:

or

Enjoy .

 

[Saxophonic79]

Hi all,

I just found a nice interview of Swiss jazz researcher Otto Flückiger with tenor saxophonist Arnett Cobb (1918-1989), recorded in the spring of 1980 in Cobb's hometown, Houston Texas.

On that occasion Otto interviewed Cobb about his career, playing with Frank Davis, going to Chicago with Milton Larkin to play at the Rhumboogie, joining Lionel Hampton, forming his own band and the auto accident that dramatically changed Cobb's life. There are about 40 minutes from this interview on a C90 cassette tape, which can be heard as soundlip on below site. The part about Cobb's accident (in 1959) is (IMO) the most interesting, it is about half way the interview.

Here is the link, for other "idiot's" (like me) who are interested in hearing this kind of stuff (probably nobody :mrgreen:
http://crownpropeller.wordpress.com/2013/01/12/unpublished-interview-with-arnett-cobb-1980/

For those who don't know Arnett Cobb: he was forced to walk on crutches from 1956 onwards (because of the car accident), but had one of the strongest sounds on tenor ever. Check for example this clip from 1982:

or

Enjoy .

THANK YOU SO MUCH mrpeebee, you don't know how much this means to me. I don't mind being another "idiot", with you. As someone who has interviewed many jazz greats and an admirer of Arnett's, this is wonderful. I think that Arnett is one of the true greats of the tenor, his phrasing and ideas and tone are magnificent - by way of example, he positively SHINES on the brilliant Very Saxy, alongside Coleman Hawkins, Eddie Lockjaw Davis and Buddy Tate - all geniuses in my opinion. So thank you again for sharing something as wonderful and rare as this.

 

[guido]

Thank you! What a great find! Truly wonderful stuff...

 

[mrpeebee]

Thanks for also enjoying this stuff gents .

Saxophonic79, indeed the whole gang on the 'Very Saxy' recording is great, it's one of my favourite recordings. I would have loved to do that interview myself, because I think it could have delivered much more then what came out now (probably due to the language barrier of the interviewer and too much attention on dates and names). Would have loved to hear Cobb talking about his musical approach, his favourites (I know from other sources that tenor player Joe Thomas was his most important influence) and especially details on his setup. Anyhow, it's still great that this interview has been preserved for us .

You will probably also love this e-booklet about Arnett (posted before): http://issuu.com/nicquemont/docs/arnettcobb_booklet_web

The user-interface of this e-book is a bit strange, but the info is great. It can also be downloaded as PDF, which reads much easier.

 

[Saxophonic79]

Thank you!

Have you seen this great tribute site to the great Lockjaw? It's a great site and it introduced me to a few slightly more obscure recordings I was unaware of (there I was thinking I had most of his (at least official) recorded output)...http://www.eddielockjawdavis.com/

 

[Isle of Jazz]

Ah, the great "Texas Wildman" — the way those explosive phrases jump out you always wonder how much he's holding in reserve! Thanks, PB for this little gem!

 

[mrpeebee]

Thank you!

Have you seen this great tribute site to the great Lockjaw? It's a great site and it introduced me to a few slightly more obscure recordings I was unaware of (there I was thinking I had most of his (at least official) recorded output)...http://www.eddielockjawdavis.com/

Thanks for the Lockjaw link, he is one of my hero's too.

I feel very lucky to have seen Arnett Cobb, Eddie Lockjaw Davis and Johnny Griffin playing together in The Netherlands back in 1984. One of the best concerts I've ever seen in my life . Did post two soundclips from a radio broadcast (1984, Laren, NL) on YouTube.

Here are the links, in case you didn't see them before:

or

or

 

[mrpeebee]

Also like to add this link with some good information (in line with above interview) on Arnett Cobb:

http://home.earthlink.net/~v1tiger/arnettcobb.html