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Page last updated 15 Jan 2012

News.

15th. January 2012.
New entry to the discography.
74-1200    Warne Marsh Quartet at "The Times", Studio City, CA. December 1974.
Thanks to Bob Brode for this.  He attended that night and recorded these tracks.

19th. December 2011.
My good friend Joop van der Leij has produced an index showing all the musicians who played on the recordings documented in the Warne Marsh Discography.  The dates of the recordings are shown against the musician's name.  To see this, click on the "Index of musicians" link.

16th. November 2011.
75-1220 -   WARNE MARSH QUARTET.  Warren Bulkeley Hotel, Stockport, Cheshire, England, December 20, 1975.
Track times added to this concert recording in discography.  Thanks to Joop van der Leij.

26th. October 2011.
Four additional photos added to the Photo Gallery page, courtesy of Mark Weber.

27th. June 2011.
Gary Foster, a great friend and playing colleague of Warne Marsh, has very generously sent me copies of the manuscripts for the five saxophone Supersax arrangement of Charlie Parker's "Now's The Time".  This arrangement was written by Warne Marsh and each manuscript is in Warne's hand.  Click on this link to view   -   Manuscripts for Supersax

Newly released Warne Marsh CD.
WARNE MARSH – TED BROWN Live in Hollywood 1957.
Marshmallow Export – Historical Series – MMEX-148-CD. 

The second half of 1956 was a fertile time for the ex-Tristano students based in the Los Angeles area of California.  Warne Marsh, Ted Brown, Ronnie Ball and Jeff Morton had arrived individually over a relatively short period and together with Ben Tucker on bass, had formed a group which recorded several times during this period.   “Jazz of Two Cities”, “The Way It Was”, and “Free Wheeling” are studio recordings showing the cohesive swing this group had developed and all these titles have been issued and reissued over the years. 

This latest release, however, was recorded live in February 1957 at Bill Whisling’s Modern Jazz Room on Sunset Boulevard.  Ronnie Ball took along a small, but heavy, Webco tape deck and fastened the mike for the recorder to the single house mike.  The reels of tape used were small and had to be constantly changed and the single mike didn’t make for a balanced recording.  But the music shows the enthusiasm and drive of the group which, at this stage Warne Marsh thought “ was sounding the way we want it to.”  Despite the lack of balance, there is sufficient quality present to show this quite amazing group in full flight.   

This is the only live recording that exists of the group, and Marshmallow Records is to be congratulated in making this rare recording available.  The CD is available from Eastwind in Los Angeles and Cat Fish in Fukuoka, Japan both of whom accept payment by PayPal.  Other distributors are being sought. 

It is worth mentioning that Ted Brown is still actively playing in the New York area and Ben Tucker still plays around his home town of Savannah, Georgia.

4th. June 2011
Two additional photos (Sittingbourne concert programme) added to the Photo Gallery page.

12 February 2011.
I have recently learned that trumpet player Don Ferrara died on 18th. January 2011.  He was 82 and had lived near San Diego, California.  Don was in the U.S. army at the same base as Warne Marsh in 1946 and was at that time a student of Lennie Tristano.  He introduced Warne to Tristano and Warne commenced studies with Lennie shortly afterwards.

28th. January 2011.
Ted Brown, a name well known to most visitors to this site, was invited by Marshmallow Records owner Mitsuo Johfu to visit Japan in late 2009 to play as a featured guest with the Yoichi Hirai Group and the Gene DiNovi Trio at concerts in Tokyo and Yokohama. 

Ted arrived on October 24^th. and almost immediately began rehearsals with the Hirai Group which consists of alto, tenor, piano, two basses and drums and led by guitarist Yoichi Hirai.  This is a group which has diligently transcribed many of the compositions of Lennie Tristano, Lee Konitz, Warne Marsh and Ted himself and has achieved a sound and style very much akin to the classic Tristano Sextet.  Ted and this group played a concert at the Pit Inn, Tokyo on October 27^th. and Mitsuo Johfu was there to record it.  This recording has now been issued on Marshmallow Records “Ted Brown – Live at Pit Inn, Tokyo with Yoichi Hirai Group” MMEX-137-CD.  Ted plays well and is ably supported by the Hirai Group.  The track titles are well known lines such as Bird’s “Big Foot” and “Yardbird Suite” and Ted’s own “Dig It” and “Jazz Of Two Cities”.  Ted must have enjoyed playing with this quite remarkable group as the CD is very satisfying to listen to.

 On October 30^th. Ted moved on to Yokohama to play with the Gene DiNovi Trio (Gene on piano, Neil Swainson, bass and Ernesto Cervini, drums) at the Sugita Theatre.  The concert was also recorded and the resulting CD - which is a limited edition of 999 copies - is a joy.  Ted is instantly recognisable from his very personal tone and copious free flowing ideas, no clichés, no licks.  The details :  “Ted Brown + Gene DiNovi - Live in Yokohama”  Marshmallow Records MMEX-145-CD.

5th. November 2010.
Some track times added to discography.
71-0111 Warne Marsh Quartet at the Ice House, Pasadena, January 11th. 1971.

Alteration to discography.
71-0809 altered to 71-0123.  Warne Marsh Quintet at the Ice House, Pasadena.
Corrected date from August 9th. 1971 to January 23rd. 1971.

Many thanks to Claude Alexander for this addition and correction.

13 October 2010.
Four photographs added to the Photo Gallery page.

4 October 2010. 

A PREVIOUSLY UNISSUED RECORDING BY WARNE MARSH.

Warne Marsh Trio.  “New York City Live” – Riverworks Records.
Reviewed by Jack Goodwin. 

This 2CD set brings together two old friends.  Keith “Red” Mitchell and Warne Marsh first met when both were in the army in 1946, with Red playing piano at that time.  They first recorded together in September 1957 in Los Angeles and this was released as “Music for Prancing” on the Mode label.  However in 1980 they played and toured together both in New York and Europe.  Firstly, they played a concert at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, NYC sponsored by the Lennie Tristano Foundation, then moved on to Norway where they recorded with Karin Krog, and made a radio broadcast the following day.  Next stop was Stockholm where they played and broadcast several times.  Concerts at the Fasching Club, Stockholm were recorded and subsequently tracks were released by Storyville Records under the title “The Big Two” - Volumes 1 & 2.  Returning to New York, they played a week at Sweet Basil on Seventh Avenue, and tracks recorded at this venue have been released on Fresh Sound Records.

This set of two CD’s recorded live in New York, have a total of fifteen tracks and give a playing time of about ninety minutes.  They capture both Warne and Red at their peak.  Warne is instantly recognisable and plays some gloriously inventive solos.  Red’s sonorous and always perfectly pitched sound blends perfectly with Warne and it is as though they are communicating telepathically, they integrate so well.  Drummer Pete Scattaretico studied with Lennie Tristano and played regularly with Warne Marsh from 1979.  He plays with drive and perfect taste and the Trio members are obviously listening to each other and appreciating the result.  This music is pure jazz improvisation of the highest quality and I cannot recommend this CD issue enough. 

Pete Scattaretico has put in a lot of work in producing these CD’s and is to be congratulated in putting together an excellent package.  The sound quality is excellent, and the liner notes and graphics compliment the whole thing. These CD’s will soon be available from the usual sources at around $22.00 but you can enquire about their availability from Pete at www.peterscattaretico.com  

19 April 2010.
75-0312 WARNE MARSH QUARTET.  'The Times', Studio City, CA. March 12, 1975.
Incorrect information in this entry removed and Charles Coffman credited for this recording.

22nd. March 2010.
Yoichi Suzuki of the website Chasin' the Bird - for Charlie Parker fans - has sent me the full itinerary for the Supersax tour of Japan in January 1975.  The band included Warne Marsh in its personnel and this itinerary corrects the date of January 15th. 1975 given for the Hindsight HSCD-618 issue.  This should now read January  18th. 1975.  I show the whole itinerary in the Warne Marsh discography on this site under the January 1975 date.
Yoichi also gave a "Record Concert" on March 13th. 2010 at the "Cafe Eagle", Yotsuya City, Tokyo playing seventeen tracks from various Warne Marsh recordings.  He tells me the concert was very well attended by fans of Warne Marsh.

12th. January 2010.
Storyville Records has released a  boxed set four CD's (Cat No: 1088606) covering the period in December 1975 when Warne Marsh and Lee Konitz played at the Club Montmartre, Copenhagen and Warne Marsh recorded at the Rosenberg Studios.  All forty eight tracks have been previously released by Storyville Records, but it's good to have them available again, especially having them collected together as a set.
Thanks to Mike Keefe for telling me about this release.

2nd. December 2009.
Addition to the discography.  81-1117+h Warne Marsh-Sal Mosca Quartet, 'Village Vanguard', NYC, November 17-22, 1981.
From Sal Mosca's personnel archive courtesy of the Mosca Family.

18 November 2009.
The wonderful two CD's issued some years ago by Storyville Records under the title "Red Mitchell/Warne Marsh - The Big Two" Vols. 1 & 2 have just been reissued as a double CD set with the same title, on Storyville 1038406.  If anyone asks me which Warne Marsh records I'd recommend, these two CD's are always among the first to come to mind.  Red and Warne knew each other from their early days playing in the Los Angeles area and they link together here in  an amazingly telepathic way.  I couldn't recommend this issue more highly.

4th. September 2009.
Guitarist John Klopotowski, who studied and played with Warne Marsh in the 1980’s, has recently completed work on a book detailing his studies with Warne and has published it on the scribd website.
The book is in two parts:   Part 1 is the story and Part 2 is the musical material that was covered in Warne’s teaching. There are many audio examples and a couple of video files, linked throughout.
If anyone would like an invitation and link, to read the book, please send John an email at: jklopotowski@gmail.com and he’ll get back to you. 
Having read the book, I believe it to be the most personal document on Warne Marsh, both in terms of the man and his music and the methods he used to teach his students.

12th. August 2009.
I've recently added a photograph of Warne Marsh with Tal Farlow to the Photo Gallery on this site.  It was taken at the Silver Screen Room of the Hyatt Hotel, on Sunset Boulevard, West Hollywood, California on September 15th, 1984 by the photographer Joel Mark - http://www.joelmark.com - to illustrate an article written for the L.A. Reader, a weekly paper for the Los Angeles area.  Many thanks to Joel.

22nd. March 2009.
There's an interesting piece on Warne Marsh in the blog written by David Valdez here 

http://davidvaldez.blogspot.com/2007/05/warne-marsh-plays-abersold.html          

The tracks David refers to were recorded by Warne himself as he improvised to the pre-recorded accompaniment of the Jamey Aebersold play-along LP "All Bird".  Gary Foster can remember playing with Warne and this recording around late 1977. 

30th. January 2009.
An additional track (April) added to the Half Note sessions recording 58-0700.  Thanks to Seth Kaplan for this one.

19th. October 2008.
I've had several enquiries from musicians interested in the music of Warne Marsh asking if any transcriptions of his recorded solos are available.
I'm pleased to tell everyone that Bill Bauer, the son of the guitarist Billy Bauer, has set up a new web site where transcriptions of solos by
Warne Marsh, Lennie Tristano, Billy Bauer, Lee Konitz and Connie Crothers are available for purchase direct.  Go to Billy Bauer's Music Home Page

6th. October 2008.
Shown below is an excerpt from Down Beat magazine for March 21. 1957 reviewing the Warne Marsh-Ted Brown Quintet playing at Bill Whisling's
Club on Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood.

29th. September 2008.
Additions to discography. 79-0708 - 79-0718 - 79-0725 & additional titles added to 79-0808.  All by Warne Marsh & Sal Mosca Duo at Sal's Mount Vernon Studio, NY. and all from Sal Mosca's personal archive courtesy of the Mosca Family.

27th. August 2008.
Additions to discography. 1.    Three additional titles (12-14) added to 81-1115. Warne Marsh-Sal Mosca Quartet at the Mount Vernon studio.
                                        2.    82-0630 Warne Marsh - Sal Mosca Quartet. Mount Vernon Studio - rehearsal for North Sea Jazz Festival, Netherlands.
                                                  All from Sal Mosca's personal archive courtesy of the Mosca Family.

14th. August 2008.
Addition to discography.  65-0900 Warne Marsh - Sal Mosca Quartet with Bob Sachs.  Studio recording, Westchester County, NY. Autumn 1965.
Thanks to Bob Sachs for this one.

22nd. July 2008.
Lonehill Jazz Records based in Spain, has just issued a CD which combines two Warne Marsh recording sessions - "Warne Marsh" originally on Atlantic and featuring Paul Chambers on bass, and "Music For Prancing" originally on Mode and recently reissued by VSOP Records.  The new CD has the title "Warne Marsh Trio/Quartet - Coast To Coast" and the catalogue number is LHJ 10342.  Thanks to Henrik Lafrenz of Berlin for this notification.

28th. June 2008.
Addition to discography.  81-1115.  Warne Marsh - Sal Mosca Quartet recorded at Sal's Mount Vernon Studio.
From Sal Mosca's personnel archive courtesy of the Mosca Family.

19th. May 2008.
Addition to discography.  74-1000.  Warne Marsh and Lou Levy interviewed by Gerald Wilson for Radio Station KBCA, Los Angeles.
Thanks to Charles Coffman for this one.

14th. April 2008.
Sal Mosca, one of the greatest jazz piano improvisers of all time and a long time associate of Lennie Tristano and Warne Marsh, died July 2007 at the age of 80 years.  We are fortunate that he left us a reasonably large recorded legacy and this legacy has now been enhanced by a newly released CD "You Go To My Head" - Blue Jack Jazz Records BJJR046 - recorded privately at Sal's studio in Mount Vernon, New York, between February and March, 2004.  He is accompanied by musicians with whom he had played regularly for many years - Jimmy Halperin on tenor, Don Messina, bass and Bill Chattin on drums.  The sympathetic thinking between these four musicians is very evident throughout these recordings and I thoroughly recommend this new release.  Visitors to this site can see Sal, Jimmy and Don, playing at Birdland, NYC on New Year's Day, 2007 - one of Sal's final New York appearances - by clicking on this link: http://www.sonnyspianotv.com/gal_students_detail_40.php

7th. April 2008.
Mark Weber has provided more photographs of the Warne Marsh-Harold Land Quintet playing at the Hyatt Hotel, Sunset Boulevard, L.A. April 12th. 1985 and these have been added to the Photo Gallery page.  Many thanks Mark.

22nd. December 2007.
As most visitors to this site will know, tenor saxophonist Ted Brown was a long term student of Lennie Tristano and played and recorded with Warne Marsh during the 1950’s.  Ted is still actively playing in and around New York City, and has toured with Lee Konitz in Europe and played in Holland with Hod O’Brien.  In January 2007 Ted recorded for the Danish record label SteepleChase with guitarist Steve Lamattina and bassist Dennis Irwin and this recording has just been released on SteepleChase SCCD 31628 under the title "Shades Of Brown".  Ted has one of the most instantly recognisable sounds on tenor and the trio play a very relaxed twelve tracks on the CD.  A very professional job well done, and a very enjoyable listening experience.  Recommended.

23 October 2007.
Three years after it was published, my attention has been drawn to an article written by Joe Milazzo for the web site One Final Note.  Mr Milazzo writes a review of the then recently issued Warne Marsh "All Music" Nessa CD and I consider this review to have one of the best descriptions of Warne Marsh's true individuality.
I'd recommend a visit to this site:  http://www.onefinalnote.com/reviews/m/marsh-warne/all-music.asp

22 September 2007
“LEE KONITZ.  Conversations on the Improviser’s Art”
by Andy Hamilton.  Published by The University of Michigan Press.

Reviewed by Jack Goodwin 

This is quite a unique biography.  It is composed of conversations, in question and answer form, that Andy Hamilton has had with Lee Konitz over the past eight years and is published just as Konitz approaches his 80^th. birthday in October.  Lee talks at length about his apprenticeship with Lennie Tristano, his playing with Warne Marsh, Miles Davis, Stan Kenton, etc., and more recently, his continuing tours around the world as featured soloist with other jazz musicians.   

Konitz has the desire, and the ability, to play pure improvised jazz music, without clichés, licks and quotes and throughout the book, his honest approach to music and improvising comes across.  His recorded output is quite vast and despite his uncompromising attitude, he has managed to make a living for over sixty years playing jazz.

Visitors to this site will be interested to read the extensive comments he makes about Warne Marsh.  As an example:  “When I think of Warne Marsh, I think of the definitive creative player, no theatricality, no showboating, just a true musical improviser.  It’s a true unexaggerated voice, that’s what’s so sophisticated about it – without the “bleating” and overblowing that many saxophone players seem obliged to do.” 

Included are many valuable interviews with other musicians commenting on how they feel about Konitz, and also several pages of photographs which span the life of Lee Konitz and which, generally, are previously unseen.

This is an excellent book, and Andy Hamilton is to be congratulated in producing something which probably Lee, himself, would never have contemplated writing, and it is unreservedly recommended.

3rd. September 2007
Photographs taken by Mark Weber of the Warne Marsh-Harold Land Quintet playing at the Hyatt Hotel, Sunset Boulevard, L.A. April 12th. 1985, now appear on the Photo Gallery page.

29th. July 2007
News has just reached me that Sal Mosca died on Saturday, 28th. July.  This means two links to the Tristano era have died in only a week.  Sad news indeed.

23rd. July 2007
I've just received news of the passing, on Saturday 21st. July, of Sonny Dallas, who spent ten years as bassist with Lennie Tristano.  Sonny was injured in a fall some time ago, and had been more recently in hospital with heart problems.

15th. June 2007
Most visitors to this site will have an interest in Lennie Tristano and will be interested to learn that a symposium on the life and impact of Lennie was hosted by Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, Massachusetts, on April 15th. 2007.  You can see video, recorded at the symposium, by going to http://www.jazzhistorydatabase.com/collections/tristano-video.html 

6th. March 2007
Amendment to discography.  86-1203 WARNE MARSH - SUSAN CHEN. New Orleans Bar & Grill, Oakland, CA.  Track times added.
 

19th. February 2007
Addition to discography.  86-1203 WARNE MARSH - SUSAN CHEN. New Orleans Bar & Grill, Oakland, CA.
Amendment to discography.  86-1204 WARNE MARSH - SUSAN CHEN radio interview with KJAZ, San Francisco.  Date added.
Thanks to Mark Sowlakis for this information.
 

12th. November 2006.
Addition to the discography.  80-0610 and 80-0611 - WARNE MARSH - SAL MOSCA QUARTET live at the Village Vanguard, NYC.
Thanks to Tom Marcello for these.  Tom is the Manager of vibraphonist Joe Locke.
 

6th. November 2006.
My co-worker on the Warne Marsh discography, Joop van der Leij, has been involved with the release of a CD in the “Forgotten Tapes” series on the Dutch “Blue Jack” label and I feel sure that fans of Warne Marsh will be interested in this one.  It’s by the Hod O’Brien Quartet and features Ted Brown who, as most of you will know, played and recorded with Warne in the 1950’s.  It was recorded live at a public concert at the “Bimhuis” in Amsterdam, Holland on October 2 1987 and the musicians involved, like the sound and balance, are in excellent form.  The insert, written by Joop, is extremely informative and the recording is well worth having.  The CD is Blue Jack Jazz Records BJJR029.  Go to www.bluejackjazz.com or email the distributor for the UK and Ireland john@cadillacjazz.co.uk for full information.
 

20th. October 2006.
I’ve been asked several times in the recent past if there is a source for any transcriptions of the lines recorded by Warne Marsh.  The late Billy Bauer published several transcriptions of lines by Lennie Tristano, Warne Marsh and Lee Konitz and his son, Bill Bauer, is continuing to make these available.  Anyone interested can email him at billybauer121@yahoo.com
 

12th. October 2006.
Amendment to discography.  77-0423 -WARNE MARSH INTERVIEW.  Time of track added.
Thanks to Jon Easton for this one.