[78-L] 78-L Byers & Carisi (was Musical genres)

[JD]

> Date: Mon, 22 Feb 2010 07:28:44 -0500
> From: Jeff Sultanof <jeffsultanof at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [78-L] OT Musical genres^
> To: 78-L Mail List <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
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> <67ea141a1002220428l7ebbc95r7ea86a921daa6b9d at mail.gmail.com>
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>
> Jack,
>
> I agree that Byers and Carisi were one-of-a-kind, fantastic musicians. 
> Byers
> could write a score for 100 musicians while on the toilet,

Better than that, he was famous for writing his scores IN INK!!!

>and Carisi's
> chamber music showed that he could have been a major composer. I studied
> with Carisi for a very brief time, and I'm what hurt him was his attitude.
> He'd been burned a few times and I don't think ever got over it, and he 
> wore
> his frustration daily. When I last saw him, he was playing trumpet in a 
> band
> backing the Barry Sisters at a Bronx beach club.

Arghhh...been there, done that also...which is why I closed my post with "To 
be a musician is a curse"...etc....

>Johnny Mandel, a pretty
> fluent writer himself, told me that Byers saved many asses in New York and
> Hollywood, and also worked frequently in France, where he had a home.


There's a classic LP album cover photo ostensibly arranged by Quincy IIRC. 
The photo is of a music stand in the studio Sshowing the title page of one 
of the charts on the date. Plainly visible is "arranged by Bill Byers." That 
cover had an honored pplace on  the wall of one of NYC's main copyist 
offices for years.

>
> Of course I believe that major and minor is a simplistic explanation as
> described in my e-mail, but it is still effective with young children, who
> are used to music with no melody to speak of, and it does get them 
> listening
> on a different level. Teaching music in an inner city is a fantastic,
> frustrating experience; these kids hear all sorts of garbage, and kids TV
> shows like "Yo Gabba Gabba" have some of the worst music I've ever heard,
> but even the parents like it. So if I can use a simplistic way to get an
> idea across that they actually can get, you bet I'll use it.

>
> Jeff Sultanof

I couldn't agree more. I have a friend, a former student who finally quit 
his music teaching gig in a NYC
school full of unruly students. It was apparently that or a nervous 
breakdown. To make it worse he got NO support from his (inferior) superiors. 
When I was in high school in late forties I was convinced then that
the NYC Board (bored) of Ed. was a travesty. I was no genius to figure that 
out..nothing has changed.
JD