My Tribute to Lew Soloff
by CHRIS ROGERS
March 10, 2015 NYC
Hello, this is Chris Rogers. I love Lew Soloff. I have so much to say about my dear friend. I became a jazz trumpet soloist because of Lew. I am now 53 and I knew Lew for all of my 53 years! Lew is much more a part of me than I ever fully realized – until this moment. Lew made everyone feel like they were among his very best friends. I knew Lew on so many levels - I am trying hard to process this loss of someone who was like a brother, a father, a friend, a peer, a role model, my father's best friend, one of my true trumpet heroes, and so much more - all in one. I have strangely resisted creating a Facebook account for all these years - until this very moment. It is Lew's fearless spirit of giving, sharing, communicating, pranking, loving, laughing, performing and teaching, that he expressed with the many people he interacted with, that I myself am inspired to finally join the social media community so I can post this tribute. Lew - still bringing people together.
Lewis Michael Soloff was a primary influence in my life literally since the day I was born in 1961. He met my father - the trombonist Barry Rogers - while gigging in the Catskills in 1959, and soon introduced him to my mother, composer Louise Rogers - whom he had also befriended. When I became a music student at age 9 - it was Lew who gave me my very first trumpet - and it was an excellent Benge, not just some horn he had laying around that was a "dud". Well, every Saturday morning for the next seven years I trucked on over to the Manhattan School of Music for my ear-training and theory classes (thanks Mom!), and at around the age of twelve I met another trumpet student named "Ron Jr.". I can't make this stuff up. I say - "LEW SOLOFF gave me my trumpet!" He says - "MILES DAVIS gave me MY trumpet!" I say - "My father is Barry Rogers!" He says - "My father is RON CARTER!" Then I come back with - "MY father plays trombone on YOUR father's record ("Anything Goes") and that is how Ron Carter Jr. and I became buddies! During our free time, Ron and I searched the record collection in the MSM listening library and together we discovered "Spinning Wheel" and Lew's incredible solo. I just HAD to learn exactly what Soloff was playing - because his trumpet sound was unlike anything I had ever heard or imagined could be possible. It soon became the first solo I ever transcribed - by ear and then on paper - and it launched my further explorations as an improvising trumpeter.
During my early high school years I began earning money as a music copyist. I started attempting fancy calligraphy and needed some interesting and complicated music to test out my new "pen", so I wrote out several pages of 'mock' trumpet etudes in the French style of Theo Charlier, including "French" titles that were actually gibberish. The etudes appeared (at first glance) to be legitimate - but they were actually intended to be virtually unplayable - at least by human trumpeters. One day I pranked Lew by secretly planting these impressively hand-copied "etudes" in his trumpet case at a recording session when he left the room for a brief moment. This was during the mid to late 1970s - studio work was plentiful and my Dad sometimes brought me to observe those epic horn-section dates which usually featured players such as Lew, Randy Brecker, Jon Faddis, Marvin Stamm, Alan Rubin, Mike Lawrence, Joe Sheply, Barry Rogers, Dave Taylor, Tom Malone, Jim Pugh, Wayne Andre, Sam Burtis, Mike Brecker, Lou Marini, George Young, Ronnie Cuber, David Sanborn (my apologies to anyone I have left out). Anyway, I am sure he did not see the "etudes" until much later when he packed up, or perhaps when he got home. Lew must have wondered just WHO among that crazy cast of characters had put those fake etudes into his trumpet case - but he figured it out because the next day he called my house daring ME to play them! Back in those days I once embellished my mom's answering machine with a triple tonguing fanfare played by three trumpets - in which I had recorded all the parts. One day Lew called looking for my Mom, and I still recall his voice message..... "Was that CHRIS? That was CHRIS? Excellent, excellent!"
Lew had an amazing duplex apartment in midtown on the east side of Manhattan and I remember the walls being stacked up to the ceiling with trumpet cases. I think Lew was the first cat I ever knew who had a "home VCR" and I remember spending an afternoon as a kid - in his bedroom watching a movie he hand-picked for me from his table - not a Disney thing but it was "Arabesque" with Sophia Loren and Gregory Peck!!! His formidable collection of BETAMAX movies was only surpassed by his nearby collection of trumpet mouthpieces. Once when visiting him, his pet bird perched itself on my shoulder and proceeded to eat the collar button off of my brand new shirt...
One of the first live gigs I ever heard of ANY kind of music - was Lew with Gil Evans in the early 1970s- wow! I started to realize that these were some special musicians that just also HAPPENED to be my parents’ friends – like Howard Johnson, John Clark and Lew. It was incredibly inspiring and exciting. I had my first professional gigs as a trumpet player when I was around 15, and pretty soon Lew began helping me - he was excited for me. Encouraging me, inspiring me, talking trumpet, etc. I only took an actual lesson from him ONE TIME but I learned just from being with him, hearing him, and playing together. He helped me in so many ways - like having me sub for him at Radio City Music Hall when I was still a teenager and at many, many rehearsals. He never ever had a critical thing to say, rather always taught me by being supportive and excited about my playing. (Well actually one critical thing - he said "Chris you gotta stay away from those wedding gigs - they will really mess you up...)
We played together, recorded together and hung out over the years. Lew got me the gig - to replace him - with Mongo Santamaria, and later on to replace him with Hilton Ruiz. (I am pretty sure he was also the mystery person who recommended me for Buddy Rich's band when they needed a new soloist on short notice and the band happened to be in New York City.) We both recorded on an album called "MONGO MAGIC" in 1983 on Roulette Records, which has somehow eluded a CD reissue. I played all the trumpet solos on half of the album and LEW on the other half. On "Bonita" - one of the tracks that Lew was playing on, it was in the traditional call-and-response format in which the soloist trades with the 'coro', over a montuno. In real time, I witnessed Lew effectively "trading with himself" by alternating piccolo trumpet and regular trumpet, alternating each set of 8 bars with the vocalists - without missing a step. But what I am most proud of from that recording is that one of the "Chris Rogers" tracks ("Pirana" by Marty Sheller) got pretty hot and was often played on the radio (New York had a real jazz station back in 1983 - WRVR). I must have played my ass off because many people commented to me that upon hearing the trumpet solo they assumed it was Lew - until the DJ announced it was me. That has to be one of the best compliments I could ever receive.
I happened to perform at Birdland immediately after the news that Lew passed, and many wonderful stories were being shared amongst several trumpeters who had congregated. It reminded me of one especially memorable time I had shared the Birdland stage with Lew. He was playing the lead trumpet chair as a sub for Mike Ponella with the Toshiko Akiyoshi/Lew Tabackin big band, and I was to be seated right next to him. I arrived at the club a little later than I hoped and so the band was already set up - I had to carefully maneuver my way though the trumpet section with my bulky cases and attempted to sit down next to Lew without knocking anything over. Lew almost always had at least two Bb trumpets, a flugelhorn and perhaps a piccolo with him, and tonight was no exception. As I took my place next to Lew and greeted him, I immediately knocked over his prized smaller-bore New York BACH trumpet - which was his trademark solo horn. This vintage instrument incurred a serious dent in the bell because of me and I just felt so awful. Most trumpet players would have been very upset at this and gotten into a bad mood - or worse! Even when cosmetic damage of this sort is repaired, it ruins the way the horn vibrates. Lew did not get upset or even distracted by this and he actually called me the next day saying "Chris, don't worry - the horn plays even better now". This was his special way of making sure I did not feel horrible - because I now realize that it could not have possibly played "even better". This was Lew.
That same night was another hilarious memory of Lew. Anyone who has worked with Toshiko Akiyoshi remembers that she likes to appear in rigid control of her soloists at all times and I couldn't wait to see what would go down when Lew played his solo - which was just on a blues. Everyone who knows Lew's playing style will understand when I say this. Lew always had so much to give to any particular solo, and would start slowly so that he could build, build, build and just when you think he couldn't go further he would. So here we all are with Toshiko and feeling her usual "vibe" and Lew starts blowing his solo - building slowly, continuing to build, using lots of space and soon she signals the backgrounds to come in. Now I know this is premature because Soloff is not even CLOSE to the peak of his solo. So after the backgrounds are finished and Toshiko thinks its over - Lew keeps on going! I am watching her as she pretends (to the audience) that she is in total control, but the clenched- jaw expression on her face was priceless! She again signals the band to move on – but Lew is still blowing, still making his musical statement and it would not be denied! I loved that little moment and his unwillingness to be intimidated into compromising his musical values. He accomplished this without ego - it was about the music ONLY.
One of my favorite Lew Soloff trumpet solos - appears on a track called "MACHO", from a Machito big- band album called "Fireworks". He plays a STUNNING piccolo trumpet solo over a very fiery, highly intense big band montuno with all the horns playing and syncopated timbales and cowbells going like crazy - simply wall to wall sound. All this stuff going on and then that little pic playing above it all....I would bet a piccolo trumpet had NEVER EVER made an appearance in such a context....(Bobby Porcelli, one of Lew's close friends plays a great alto solo on it as well). My dad also plays with Lew, & Victor Paz on the album and has an amazing trombone solo on "Mi Ritmo Llego". When the CD was reissued (It should be currently available and I urge anyone reading this to check it out) I called Lew. He did not recall it and did not own the original LP. "Chris please tell me how to get a copy!" (This was prior to iTunes). That was unique - I was sharing this amazing Lew Soloff solo - with LEW SOLOFF!
Lew was a tremendous trumpet player. How could he not be a great soloist with a name like that - the first four letters spell S-O-L-O....He could play screaming exciting lead with the best of them – Sinatra, Streisand, Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra! It is difficult to improvise jazz solos and play demanding lead on the same gig - because it requires a different way of blowing & thinking, and usually different mouthpieces and gear. Lew was one of the very few players who could do both at any time. As a soloist he employed a personal sound and amazing trumpet technique - but what I find really special is that he would improvise with a fearless risk-taking quality, building excitement and taking chances. That is exceedingly rare among most jazz trumpet players, who tend to play it safe.
Oh yeah - he could play classical music too. I remember one time I told my trumpet teacher at the MSM Preparatory Division (Bill Rohdin - an incredible classical player and hero of mine) that Lew Soloff was scheduled to perform Stravinsky's "Histoire du Soldat" - a chamber piece very popular among trumpet players, notable for it's tricky articulation on the quintuplet passages in the main movement, etc. My teacher's response to me was like "What's he gonna do - play it up an octave?!" Now for some players this could be a derogatory comment meant to diminish one's talent for actually playing classical music - but in the case of Lew Soloff I am sure Bill Rohdin's comment was made with adulation and awe. (I've recently learned that my "other" trumpet teacher - the great Vince Penzarella - befriended Lew while working together at Radio City and was soon urging Lew to consider joining him in the New York Philharmonic!)
My father Barry loved Lew too. Barry Rogers – like Lew - was a fixture on the New York studio scene - a founding member of that 'other' horn band besides BS&T & Chicago - DREAMS, and known for his incredible work with Eddie Palmieri (and very beloved by many of the same people who love Lew). Much like Lew but at a far younger age - Barry passed away suddenly, shockingly, unexpectedly, in 1991. Soon after that I started listening to tapes that my dad had made of various gigs by Hal Galper's great band, and of Woody Shaw, etc. I found a cassette labeled "Jon Faddis at Mikell's" which was a mainstay jazz club on the Upper West Side and I heard Barry and Lew making playful and sarcastic commentary in the background and that’s when I realized they were hang-out buddies – going together to listen to their friends’ gigs. Moreover, In 1999 I presented "Barry Rogers - A Son's Tribute" as a concert at the New York Brass Conference. Many people played. Lew was upset that he could not attend because he was in Europe. He phoned me and asked me to record his words and speak them aloud to the audience. He explained how my father was one of his first friends in New York and how much he helped Lew get on the scene, meet Palmieri, and find his first apartment. Obviously Lew did not need Barry's help but it just reinforces the fact that Lew Soloff has been part of my own family history for all of the past 55 years. How can I process such a loss? It occurs to me now that Lew was indeed one of the few father figures in my life and I should have, could have spent so much more time with him. I am not alone in my grief at this time. It hurts like hell.
Lew also had a terrific friendship with my mom (also "Lou") and I sometimes dined with the two of them. Mom recalls one incident with Lew – who was so popular in all the best restaurants in town - especially during his initial fame with BS&T. Lew would arrive in these various establishments - much to the delight of the maître d....who would then proclaim a long, drawn out "LEWWWWWW", etc. So the story goes that one night, Lew was celebrating and when asked just what exactly he was celebrating, he responded that he was no longer with Blood Sweat & Tears! All good things must come to an end - BS&T was certainly that for Lew - but now he was emancipated - free to pursue his jazz - and much to the bewilderment and distress of the restaurant staff....for you see, they were concerned that he might not be coming around as often - for those extravagant and EXPENSIVE meals!
Once I played a recording session with Lew and I told him that this particular Bach trumpet I had at the time, really sucked. He said - "Chris that's not possible, no Bach Strad could be that bad - let me try it"...a moment or two later "Chris your horn SUCKS!!!!!!" Then he said Chris, come with me to my car - I want to play you something from my new album - we just finished mixing. "Sure Lew, great", I eagerly replied. Lew and I went to the car, and it was a small car with an incredibly loud sound system, perhaps the loudest I have ever heard. He proceeded to put on the incredibly funky and LENGTHY title track from "Rainbow Mountain". Now it is one of my fav tracks, but back then it was unexpected and seemed to go on forever - this prolonged and triumphant vamp - with all the layered instruments and no distinct form that I could discern. Lew played it so loud that I couldn't even talk or make little comments at any point. We just sat there and I felt like I was trapped! How foolish of me - I would give anything now to relive that moment and Lew's way of sharing with me. On the other hand I have been bugging him for years - without success - to find me a copy of his Hanalei Bay CD, which I love and can't find. I also loved his quartet album “Yesterdays” with the immortal Elvin Jones & Mike Stern - for me this is a great representation of Lew's improvising spirit.
Hal Galper's brilliant acoustic quintet of the late seventies produced three amazing albums, which featured the front line of Michael and Randy Brecker. My dad used to bring me to hear this band at Sweet Basil often. I was 15, 16 years old - I thought that this was how everyone played - I didn't understand until later on that this was strictly a New York energy and it was coming on the heels of the fusion of jazz and rock and bebop and modal jazz and cutting edge stuff from Woody Shaw and McCoy and Trane and Chick and Freddie all put into one. Randy’s trumpet playing – like Lew’s - was and is still always incredible, and Mike Brecker's playing was indescribable. Well one night Randy sent Lew in to sub for him, on the first set. I have this on tape - as my Dad was there with his trusty recorder. I believe Lew was sight-reading, and playing so much.....but the best part is when Randy came back for the second set and Lew stayed on stage. The three horn players - with Lew on pic - played a gospel type of song featuring numerous horn-breaks throughout the solo. This enabled Lew, Mike and Randy, to show off their R&B phrasing – deftly deployed grace notes and short, punctuated bursts and flurries - which were created in the jazz-rock period primarily by Soloff with BS&T and by the Breckers & Barry Rogers with DREAMS. This style was also perfect for commercial and pop music and continued to resonate through the studios on hundreds of albums. (David Sanborn was also a HUGE innovative factor in all of this.) I still treasure the tape of this one special gig. Lew's part in this style of playing - which I consider to be a "New York" jazz style, is as important an element of his influence on music, as are his other skill-sets which come from Dizzy Gillespie, Clark Terry, Roy Eldridge, Miles Davis, etc. It is the reason that I continue to play, to compose, and to try and extend that style of trumpet lineage - it is in my blood. For that reason I can say that Lew was just as important to the way I play, as were Miles, Clifford Brown, Woody Shaw, Freddie, or any of the trumpet masters.
I would like to echo the great Wynton Marsalis who recently said that "Lew Soloff probably loved the trumpet more than any person on Earth". What a comment but so true - Wynton usually gets right to the core of things and this is no exception. Lew was playful and adventurous and never ever lost that. His enthusiasm for great trumpet playing was always evident because, as Wynton also said, Lew would call everyone up with "Have you heard so and so?” Lew of course said those things to me when Wynton came to town - but also on the occasion of a rare New York recital by a young classical soloist - the now world famous Ole Edvard Antonsen. At that time I was just so grateful that I was among the countless trumpeters that Lew must have called that day - he needed to be sure that everyone HE cared about - would get to hear this amazing player too.
The last time I played with Lew was on one of my gigs a little over two years ago. I was turning 50 and was playing at the 55Bar with my own band. Naturally for that milestone I invited Lew to come and sit in. He showed up for the second set, and of course proceeded to give the "I have not warmed up yet" disclaimer, and then proceeded into a harmonically daring, stratospheric, cleverly veiled slow-motion version of "Happy Birthday' - stretched out over two full choruses of Woody Shaw's "Blues for Wood"!!! I realize now that Lew probably did this for everyone! It was especially memorable though, because Lew was not on his "A-game" that night and was cracking and fracking notes all over the place. Unlike me when I am less than I aspire to be - Lew didn't care about the notes that weren't coming out right - because it was all about the outpouring of love - not the worry of having an off-night. That is a lesson we should all take with us. But how crazy - the last time I play with Lew he is serenading ME?????.....
After more than 30 years as a professional trumpeter I finally learned how to play those elusive higher register notes - the crazy ones. I was so excited that I started making little iPhone videos and sending them to a few of my friends - ESPECIALLY LEW SOLOFF. He would text back - "Yeah Maynard!" and "you are a nut Chris and I love you ". The last time I texted with Lew was just about a month ago in early February. I had finally played with the Mingus Big Band again after a few years had elapsed, and I excitedly told Lew about it. I heard Lew had just recorded the band's new album so I thought maybe we would run into each other soon. He texted back "Chris, that's great news". He knew that I was coming out of a difficult divorce and my intention was to start hanging with him again as I try to build myself back up. I did not expect this to happen and now I am devastated.
Several years ago I went to meet a potential therapist but I just I didn’t feel comfortable with him at first. He asked me why I played the trumpet and soon I mentioned Spinning Wheel – the shrink said “I KNOW THAT SOLO” and proceeded to hum it...he became my therapist. When I left his office I just knew I HAD to immediately call Lew...we shared a good laugh on that one!
To the trumpet community, the music community, the world, and Lew's friends & family - we have lost such a special man and my heart goes out to Laura and Lena, and the grandchildren. I know that they will be greeted by Lew's friends and admirers forever - in all parts of the world - when they least expect it. This I know for certain, as I have experienced it myself during the past 25 years since I lost my own father. In fact, even at Lew's funeral I was running into people giving me love about Barry Rogers. It’s crazy - like the gift that keeps on giving! For example, I had only met the master percussionist Sammy Figueroa once when I was a kid - but yesterday upon learning that my father was Barry Rogers I was immediately embraced with hugs and stories and pure excitement by Sammy. When the grief of this moment gradually transitions into the incredibly funny stories, new friendships, and the many moments that will be spent listening to his magnificent trumpet “voice” on the recordings - it will be the same for Lew’s daughters.
Sometimes when my chops feel really strong and my solos are inspired and free flying, I would tell Lew that I played great on a particular gig or had a great solo on a record - sort of like a "poor man's Lew Soloff" (especially if I had some good high notes sprinkled in). You know, it is quite ironic because if I could put as much time, love and care into my own trumpet practicing as I have just put into writing about Lew Soloff, I might be playing almost as well as Lew Soloff. Maybe I will have to do just that...
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I want to put a special shout out to the all-time trumpet greats that he came up with – like Randy Brecker, Jon Faddis, Marvin Stamm, Tom Harrell and Bobby Shew; other incredible New York players from Lew's generation like John D'Earth, Bob Millikan, Joe Shepley, Victor Paz, Earl Gardner, Glenn Drewes, John Eckert and Vince Penzarella; departed greats such as Mike Lawrence, Laurie Frink and Alan Rubin (whom Lew once described in DOWNBEAT as being the greatest trumpet player he knew); and finally to those among my peers in New York who were well-loved and respected by Lew. I'm speaking of consummate pros like Seneca Black, Andy Gravish, Alex Norris, Kenny Rampton, Bud Burrage, Jim O’Connor, Tony Kadlek, Tatum Greenblatt, Greg Gisbert, Joe Magnerelli, Irv Grossman, Michael Mossman, Scott Wendholt, Craig Johnson, Ray Vega, Dave Zalud, Alex Sipiagin, Steve Jankowski, John Bailey, Dave Smith, John Walsh, Barry Danielian, Tim Hagens, Ingrid Jenson, Mike Rodriguez, Ravi Best, Jon Owens, Steven Bernstein, Dominic Derasse, Brian Lynch, Miles Evans, Wynton Marsalis and so many more- a seemingly endless parade of crazy brass-playing nuts following Lew around like a real-life pied piper for all these years; learning from him, amazed at his playing and antics, laughing and sharing the gift of creating music. I count myself in that list too. I know that Lew is wildly rooting for each of us to keep on going, keep on growing - and to do our very best.
In closing I just want to say that whenever I would go to see Lew on some of his recent smaller gigs - he would usually be eating pasta and/or hanging out with his buddy Paul Shaffer - while his reading glasses rested nearby on an immaculately set tablecloth.... Lew would often get a slightly panicked look upon realizing I came to hear him - and he would say "Chris don't judge me by tonight, don't judge me by tonight"!!!! I loved him so much. I am missing him so much already and just wish I could call him now. I regret not going to see him play a few weeks ago at the Zinc Bar - because I just figured there would be so many more chances. I really hope there’s an afterlife because I don't want to say goodbye - just "until we meet again". So, "until we meet again Lew" - I will be thinking of you and practicing my ass off to honor everything you have meant to me.
- with love from CHRIS ROGERS
Lewis Michael Soloff was a primary influence in my life literally since the day I was born in 1961. He met my father - the trombonist Barry Rogers - while gigging in the Catskills in 1959, and soon introduced him to my mother, composer Louise Rogers - whom he had also befriended. When I became a music student at age 9 - it was Lew who gave me my very first trumpet - and it was an excellent Benge, not just some horn he had laying around that was a "dud". Well, every Saturday morning for the next seven years I trucked on over to the Manhattan School of Music for my ear-training and theory classes (thanks Mom!), and at around the age of twelve I met another trumpet student named "Ron Jr.". I can't make this stuff up. I say - "LEW SOLOFF gave me my trumpet!" He says - "MILES DAVIS gave me MY trumpet!" I say - "My father is Barry Rogers!" He says - "My father is RON CARTER!" Then I come back with - "MY father plays trombone on YOUR father's record ("Anything Goes") and that is how Ron Carter Jr. and I became buddies! During our free time, Ron and I searched the record collection in the MSM listening library and together we discovered "Spinning Wheel" and Lew's incredible solo. I just HAD to learn exactly what Soloff was playing - because his trumpet sound was unlike anything I had ever heard or imagined could be possible. It soon became the first solo I ever transcribed - by ear and then on paper - and it launched my further explorations as an improvising trumpeter.
During my early high school years I began earning money as a music copyist. I started attempting fancy calligraphy and needed some interesting and complicated music to test out my new "pen", so I wrote out several pages of 'mock' trumpet etudes in the French style of Theo Charlier, including "French" titles that were actually gibberish. The etudes appeared (at first glance) to be legitimate - but they were actually intended to be virtually unplayable - at least by human trumpeters. One day I pranked Lew by secretly planting these impressively hand-copied "etudes" in his trumpet case at a recording session when he left the room for a brief moment. This was during the mid to late 1970s - studio work was plentiful and my Dad sometimes brought me to observe those epic horn-section dates which usually featured players such as Lew, Randy Brecker, Jon Faddis, Marvin Stamm, Alan Rubin, Mike Lawrence, Joe Sheply, Barry Rogers, Dave Taylor, Tom Malone, Jim Pugh, Wayne Andre, Sam Burtis, Mike Brecker, Lou Marini, George Young, Ronnie Cuber, David Sanborn (my apologies to anyone I have left out). Anyway, I am sure he did not see the "etudes" until much later when he packed up, or perhaps when he got home. Lew must have wondered just WHO among that crazy cast of characters had put those fake etudes into his trumpet case - but he figured it out because the next day he called my house daring ME to play them! Back in those days I once embellished my mom's answering machine with a triple tonguing fanfare played by three trumpets - in which I had recorded all the parts. One day Lew called looking for my Mom, and I still recall his voice message..... "Was that CHRIS? That was CHRIS? Excellent, excellent!"
Lew had an amazing duplex apartment in midtown on the east side of Manhattan and I remember the walls being stacked up to the ceiling with trumpet cases. I think Lew was the first cat I ever knew who had a "home VCR" and I remember spending an afternoon as a kid - in his bedroom watching a movie he hand-picked for me from his table - not a Disney thing but it was "Arabesque" with Sophia Loren and Gregory Peck!!! His formidable collection of BETAMAX movies was only surpassed by his nearby collection of trumpet mouthpieces. Once when visiting him, his pet bird perched itself on my shoulder and proceeded to eat the collar button off of my brand new shirt...
One of the first live gigs I ever heard of ANY kind of music - was Lew with Gil Evans in the early 1970s- wow! I started to realize that these were some special musicians that just also HAPPENED to be my parents’ friends – like Howard Johnson, John Clark and Lew. It was incredibly inspiring and exciting. I had my first professional gigs as a trumpet player when I was around 15, and pretty soon Lew began helping me - he was excited for me. Encouraging me, inspiring me, talking trumpet, etc. I only took an actual lesson from him ONE TIME but I learned just from being with him, hearing him, and playing together. He helped me in so many ways - like having me sub for him at Radio City Music Hall when I was still a teenager and at many, many rehearsals. He never ever had a critical thing to say, rather always taught me by being supportive and excited about my playing. (Well actually one critical thing - he said "Chris you gotta stay away from those wedding gigs - they will really mess you up...)
We played together, recorded together and hung out over the years. Lew got me the gig - to replace him - with Mongo Santamaria, and later on to replace him with Hilton Ruiz. (I am pretty sure he was also the mystery person who recommended me for Buddy Rich's band when they needed a new soloist on short notice and the band happened to be in New York City.) We both recorded on an album called "MONGO MAGIC" in 1983 on Roulette Records, which has somehow eluded a CD reissue. I played all the trumpet solos on half of the album and LEW on the other half. On "Bonita" - one of the tracks that Lew was playing on, it was in the traditional call-and-response format in which the soloist trades with the 'coro', over a montuno. In real time, I witnessed Lew effectively "trading with himself" by alternating piccolo trumpet and regular trumpet, alternating each set of 8 bars with the vocalists - without missing a step. But what I am most proud of from that recording is that one of the "Chris Rogers" tracks ("Pirana" by Marty Sheller) got pretty hot and was often played on the radio (New York had a real jazz station back in 1983 - WRVR). I must have played my ass off because many people commented to me that upon hearing the trumpet solo they assumed it was Lew - until the DJ announced it was me. That has to be one of the best compliments I could ever receive.
I happened to perform at Birdland immediately after the news that Lew passed, and many wonderful stories were being shared amongst several trumpeters who had congregated. It reminded me of one especially memorable time I had shared the Birdland stage with Lew. He was playing the lead trumpet chair as a sub for Mike Ponella with the Toshiko Akiyoshi/Lew Tabackin big band, and I was to be seated right next to him. I arrived at the club a little later than I hoped and so the band was already set up - I had to carefully maneuver my way though the trumpet section with my bulky cases and attempted to sit down next to Lew without knocking anything over. Lew almost always had at least two Bb trumpets, a flugelhorn and perhaps a piccolo with him, and tonight was no exception. As I took my place next to Lew and greeted him, I immediately knocked over his prized smaller-bore New York BACH trumpet - which was his trademark solo horn. This vintage instrument incurred a serious dent in the bell because of me and I just felt so awful. Most trumpet players would have been very upset at this and gotten into a bad mood - or worse! Even when cosmetic damage of this sort is repaired, it ruins the way the horn vibrates. Lew did not get upset or even distracted by this and he actually called me the next day saying "Chris, don't worry - the horn plays even better now". This was his special way of making sure I did not feel horrible - because I now realize that it could not have possibly played "even better". This was Lew.
That same night was another hilarious memory of Lew. Anyone who has worked with Toshiko Akiyoshi remembers that she likes to appear in rigid control of her soloists at all times and I couldn't wait to see what would go down when Lew played his solo - which was just on a blues. Everyone who knows Lew's playing style will understand when I say this. Lew always had so much to give to any particular solo, and would start slowly so that he could build, build, build and just when you think he couldn't go further he would. So here we all are with Toshiko and feeling her usual "vibe" and Lew starts blowing his solo - building slowly, continuing to build, using lots of space and soon she signals the backgrounds to come in. Now I know this is premature because Soloff is not even CLOSE to the peak of his solo. So after the backgrounds are finished and Toshiko thinks its over - Lew keeps on going! I am watching her as she pretends (to the audience) that she is in total control, but the clenched- jaw expression on her face was priceless! She again signals the band to move on – but Lew is still blowing, still making his musical statement and it would not be denied! I loved that little moment and his unwillingness to be intimidated into compromising his musical values. He accomplished this without ego - it was about the music ONLY.
One of my favorite Lew Soloff trumpet solos - appears on a track called "MACHO", from a Machito big- band album called "Fireworks". He plays a STUNNING piccolo trumpet solo over a very fiery, highly intense big band montuno with all the horns playing and syncopated timbales and cowbells going like crazy - simply wall to wall sound. All this stuff going on and then that little pic playing above it all....I would bet a piccolo trumpet had NEVER EVER made an appearance in such a context....(Bobby Porcelli, one of Lew's close friends plays a great alto solo on it as well). My dad also plays with Lew, & Victor Paz on the album and has an amazing trombone solo on "Mi Ritmo Llego". When the CD was reissued (It should be currently available and I urge anyone reading this to check it out) I called Lew. He did not recall it and did not own the original LP. "Chris please tell me how to get a copy!" (This was prior to iTunes). That was unique - I was sharing this amazing Lew Soloff solo - with LEW SOLOFF!
Lew was a tremendous trumpet player. How could he not be a great soloist with a name like that - the first four letters spell S-O-L-O....He could play screaming exciting lead with the best of them – Sinatra, Streisand, Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra! It is difficult to improvise jazz solos and play demanding lead on the same gig - because it requires a different way of blowing & thinking, and usually different mouthpieces and gear. Lew was one of the very few players who could do both at any time. As a soloist he employed a personal sound and amazing trumpet technique - but what I find really special is that he would improvise with a fearless risk-taking quality, building excitement and taking chances. That is exceedingly rare among most jazz trumpet players, who tend to play it safe.
Oh yeah - he could play classical music too. I remember one time I told my trumpet teacher at the MSM Preparatory Division (Bill Rohdin - an incredible classical player and hero of mine) that Lew Soloff was scheduled to perform Stravinsky's "Histoire du Soldat" - a chamber piece very popular among trumpet players, notable for it's tricky articulation on the quintuplet passages in the main movement, etc. My teacher's response to me was like "What's he gonna do - play it up an octave?!" Now for some players this could be a derogatory comment meant to diminish one's talent for actually playing classical music - but in the case of Lew Soloff I am sure Bill Rohdin's comment was made with adulation and awe. (I've recently learned that my "other" trumpet teacher - the great Vince Penzarella - befriended Lew while working together at Radio City and was soon urging Lew to consider joining him in the New York Philharmonic!)
My father Barry loved Lew too. Barry Rogers – like Lew - was a fixture on the New York studio scene - a founding member of that 'other' horn band besides BS&T & Chicago - DREAMS, and known for his incredible work with Eddie Palmieri (and very beloved by many of the same people who love Lew). Much like Lew but at a far younger age - Barry passed away suddenly, shockingly, unexpectedly, in 1991. Soon after that I started listening to tapes that my dad had made of various gigs by Hal Galper's great band, and of Woody Shaw, etc. I found a cassette labeled "Jon Faddis at Mikell's" which was a mainstay jazz club on the Upper West Side and I heard Barry and Lew making playful and sarcastic commentary in the background and that’s when I realized they were hang-out buddies – going together to listen to their friends’ gigs. Moreover, In 1999 I presented "Barry Rogers - A Son's Tribute" as a concert at the New York Brass Conference. Many people played. Lew was upset that he could not attend because he was in Europe. He phoned me and asked me to record his words and speak them aloud to the audience. He explained how my father was one of his first friends in New York and how much he helped Lew get on the scene, meet Palmieri, and find his first apartment. Obviously Lew did not need Barry's help but it just reinforces the fact that Lew Soloff has been part of my own family history for all of the past 55 years. How can I process such a loss? It occurs to me now that Lew was indeed one of the few father figures in my life and I should have, could have spent so much more time with him. I am not alone in my grief at this time. It hurts like hell.
Lew also had a terrific friendship with my mom (also "Lou") and I sometimes dined with the two of them. Mom recalls one incident with Lew – who was so popular in all the best restaurants in town - especially during his initial fame with BS&T. Lew would arrive in these various establishments - much to the delight of the maître d....who would then proclaim a long, drawn out "LEWWWWWW", etc. So the story goes that one night, Lew was celebrating and when asked just what exactly he was celebrating, he responded that he was no longer with Blood Sweat & Tears! All good things must come to an end - BS&T was certainly that for Lew - but now he was emancipated - free to pursue his jazz - and much to the bewilderment and distress of the restaurant staff....for you see, they were concerned that he might not be coming around as often - for those extravagant and EXPENSIVE meals!
Once I played a recording session with Lew and I told him that this particular Bach trumpet I had at the time, really sucked. He said - "Chris that's not possible, no Bach Strad could be that bad - let me try it"...a moment or two later "Chris your horn SUCKS!!!!!!" Then he said Chris, come with me to my car - I want to play you something from my new album - we just finished mixing. "Sure Lew, great", I eagerly replied. Lew and I went to the car, and it was a small car with an incredibly loud sound system, perhaps the loudest I have ever heard. He proceeded to put on the incredibly funky and LENGTHY title track from "Rainbow Mountain". Now it is one of my fav tracks, but back then it was unexpected and seemed to go on forever - this prolonged and triumphant vamp - with all the layered instruments and no distinct form that I could discern. Lew played it so loud that I couldn't even talk or make little comments at any point. We just sat there and I felt like I was trapped! How foolish of me - I would give anything now to relive that moment and Lew's way of sharing with me. On the other hand I have been bugging him for years - without success - to find me a copy of his Hanalei Bay CD, which I love and can't find. I also loved his quartet album “Yesterdays” with the immortal Elvin Jones & Mike Stern - for me this is a great representation of Lew's improvising spirit.
Hal Galper's brilliant acoustic quintet of the late seventies produced three amazing albums, which featured the front line of Michael and Randy Brecker. My dad used to bring me to hear this band at Sweet Basil often. I was 15, 16 years old - I thought that this was how everyone played - I didn't understand until later on that this was strictly a New York energy and it was coming on the heels of the fusion of jazz and rock and bebop and modal jazz and cutting edge stuff from Woody Shaw and McCoy and Trane and Chick and Freddie all put into one. Randy’s trumpet playing – like Lew’s - was and is still always incredible, and Mike Brecker's playing was indescribable. Well one night Randy sent Lew in to sub for him, on the first set. I have this on tape - as my Dad was there with his trusty recorder. I believe Lew was sight-reading, and playing so much.....but the best part is when Randy came back for the second set and Lew stayed on stage. The three horn players - with Lew on pic - played a gospel type of song featuring numerous horn-breaks throughout the solo. This enabled Lew, Mike and Randy, to show off their R&B phrasing – deftly deployed grace notes and short, punctuated bursts and flurries - which were created in the jazz-rock period primarily by Soloff with BS&T and by the Breckers & Barry Rogers with DREAMS. This style was also perfect for commercial and pop music and continued to resonate through the studios on hundreds of albums. (David Sanborn was also a HUGE innovative factor in all of this.) I still treasure the tape of this one special gig. Lew's part in this style of playing - which I consider to be a "New York" jazz style, is as important an element of his influence on music, as are his other skill-sets which come from Dizzy Gillespie, Clark Terry, Roy Eldridge, Miles Davis, etc. It is the reason that I continue to play, to compose, and to try and extend that style of trumpet lineage - it is in my blood. For that reason I can say that Lew was just as important to the way I play, as were Miles, Clifford Brown, Woody Shaw, Freddie, or any of the trumpet masters.
I would like to echo the great Wynton Marsalis who recently said that "Lew Soloff probably loved the trumpet more than any person on Earth". What a comment but so true - Wynton usually gets right to the core of things and this is no exception. Lew was playful and adventurous and never ever lost that. His enthusiasm for great trumpet playing was always evident because, as Wynton also said, Lew would call everyone up with "Have you heard so and so?” Lew of course said those things to me when Wynton came to town - but also on the occasion of a rare New York recital by a young classical soloist - the now world famous Ole Edvard Antonsen. At that time I was just so grateful that I was among the countless trumpeters that Lew must have called that day - he needed to be sure that everyone HE cared about - would get to hear this amazing player too.
The last time I played with Lew was on one of my gigs a little over two years ago. I was turning 50 and was playing at the 55Bar with my own band. Naturally for that milestone I invited Lew to come and sit in. He showed up for the second set, and of course proceeded to give the "I have not warmed up yet" disclaimer, and then proceeded into a harmonically daring, stratospheric, cleverly veiled slow-motion version of "Happy Birthday' - stretched out over two full choruses of Woody Shaw's "Blues for Wood"!!! I realize now that Lew probably did this for everyone! It was especially memorable though, because Lew was not on his "A-game" that night and was cracking and fracking notes all over the place. Unlike me when I am less than I aspire to be - Lew didn't care about the notes that weren't coming out right - because it was all about the outpouring of love - not the worry of having an off-night. That is a lesson we should all take with us. But how crazy - the last time I play with Lew he is serenading ME?????.....
After more than 30 years as a professional trumpeter I finally learned how to play those elusive higher register notes - the crazy ones. I was so excited that I started making little iPhone videos and sending them to a few of my friends - ESPECIALLY LEW SOLOFF. He would text back - "Yeah Maynard!" and "you are a nut Chris and I love you ". The last time I texted with Lew was just about a month ago in early February. I had finally played with the Mingus Big Band again after a few years had elapsed, and I excitedly told Lew about it. I heard Lew had just recorded the band's new album so I thought maybe we would run into each other soon. He texted back "Chris, that's great news". He knew that I was coming out of a difficult divorce and my intention was to start hanging with him again as I try to build myself back up. I did not expect this to happen and now I am devastated.
Several years ago I went to meet a potential therapist but I just I didn’t feel comfortable with him at first. He asked me why I played the trumpet and soon I mentioned Spinning Wheel – the shrink said “I KNOW THAT SOLO” and proceeded to hum it...he became my therapist. When I left his office I just knew I HAD to immediately call Lew...we shared a good laugh on that one!
To the trumpet community, the music community, the world, and Lew's friends & family - we have lost such a special man and my heart goes out to Laura and Lena, and the grandchildren. I know that they will be greeted by Lew's friends and admirers forever - in all parts of the world - when they least expect it. This I know for certain, as I have experienced it myself during the past 25 years since I lost my own father. In fact, even at Lew's funeral I was running into people giving me love about Barry Rogers. It’s crazy - like the gift that keeps on giving! For example, I had only met the master percussionist Sammy Figueroa once when I was a kid - but yesterday upon learning that my father was Barry Rogers I was immediately embraced with hugs and stories and pure excitement by Sammy. When the grief of this moment gradually transitions into the incredibly funny stories, new friendships, and the many moments that will be spent listening to his magnificent trumpet “voice” on the recordings - it will be the same for Lew’s daughters.
Sometimes when my chops feel really strong and my solos are inspired and free flying, I would tell Lew that I played great on a particular gig or had a great solo on a record - sort of like a "poor man's Lew Soloff" (especially if I had some good high notes sprinkled in). You know, it is quite ironic because if I could put as much time, love and care into my own trumpet practicing as I have just put into writing about Lew Soloff, I might be playing almost as well as Lew Soloff. Maybe I will have to do just that...
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I want to put a special shout out to the all-time trumpet greats that he came up with – like Randy Brecker, Jon Faddis, Marvin Stamm, Tom Harrell and Bobby Shew; other incredible New York players from Lew's generation like John D'Earth, Bob Millikan, Joe Shepley, Victor Paz, Earl Gardner, Glenn Drewes, John Eckert and Vince Penzarella; departed greats such as Mike Lawrence, Laurie Frink and Alan Rubin (whom Lew once described in DOWNBEAT as being the greatest trumpet player he knew); and finally to those among my peers in New York who were well-loved and respected by Lew. I'm speaking of consummate pros like Seneca Black, Andy Gravish, Alex Norris, Kenny Rampton, Bud Burrage, Jim O’Connor, Tony Kadlek, Tatum Greenblatt, Greg Gisbert, Joe Magnerelli, Irv Grossman, Michael Mossman, Scott Wendholt, Craig Johnson, Ray Vega, Dave Zalud, Alex Sipiagin, Steve Jankowski, John Bailey, Dave Smith, John Walsh, Barry Danielian, Tim Hagens, Ingrid Jenson, Mike Rodriguez, Ravi Best, Jon Owens, Steven Bernstein, Dominic Derasse, Brian Lynch, Miles Evans, Wynton Marsalis and so many more- a seemingly endless parade of crazy brass-playing nuts following Lew around like a real-life pied piper for all these years; learning from him, amazed at his playing and antics, laughing and sharing the gift of creating music. I count myself in that list too. I know that Lew is wildly rooting for each of us to keep on going, keep on growing - and to do our very best.
In closing I just want to say that whenever I would go to see Lew on some of his recent smaller gigs - he would usually be eating pasta and/or hanging out with his buddy Paul Shaffer - while his reading glasses rested nearby on an immaculately set tablecloth.... Lew would often get a slightly panicked look upon realizing I came to hear him - and he would say "Chris don't judge me by tonight, don't judge me by tonight"!!!! I loved him so much. I am missing him so much already and just wish I could call him now. I regret not going to see him play a few weeks ago at the Zinc Bar - because I just figured there would be so many more chances. I really hope there’s an afterlife because I don't want to say goodbye - just "until we meet again". So, "until we meet again Lew" - I will be thinking of you and practicing my ass off to honor everything you have meant to me.
- with love from CHRIS ROGERS
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