[Dixielandjazz] Mundell Lowe R. I. P.

Mon Dec 4 14:18:38 EST 2017

To:  DJML and Musicians and Jazzfans list

From:  Norman Vickers, Jazz Pensacola

Here's a piece I wrote in memory of guitarist Mundell Lowe.  Wonderful
musician, wonderful man.  He'll be missed. I've included links in case you
wish to read more definitively.  Your thought and comments are welcomed.

Norman

REMEMBERING GUITARIST MUNDELL LOWE

By

F. Norman Vickers, Jazz Pensacola

December 4, 2017

Guitarist and fellow-Mississippian Mundell Lowe has died at age 95.  I have
included three links for those interested.  The first is  Doug Ramsey's
Rifftides blog from Arts Journal.  The second is Marc Myers' JazzWax blog.
Marc interviewed him some time ago and there are great quotes and photos.
The third link is the recent obituary from San Diego Union Tribune.

My encounters with Mundell were brief but meaningful and I'd like to put
these on record.  Mundell, born in 1922, is nine years my senior.  We grew
up about 25 miles from each other but didn't cross paths until much later.
I saw him at a jazz festival in Mobile in the mid-80s-not the one shown in
the link below but another one.  Since Mundell had Mississippi and South
Alabama relatives, he would visit the area when he had opportunity.

The Jazz Society of Pensacola invited him one summer evening when he was in
the area. He had played the W. C. Handy festival in Florence, Alabama.
Pensacola's guitarist Lloyd Ellis had just retired from 14 years with New
Orleans clarinetist Pete Fountain.  We had duo-guitars of Mundell Lowe and
Lloyd Ellis with accompaniment by our  own Pensacola bassist Tim Jackson.
It was a delightful and exciting evening watching and listening to these two
masters of the guitar.

A year or so later, I had occasion to call Mundell at his home in San Diego
for advice regarding do's and don'ts regarding  jazz festivals.  He was
polite and gracious, as always. I got the information I needed and he added
a gratuitous anecdote.  The advice was: always read the musician contract
carefully and strike out any riders which were in appropriate.  He gave the
example that pianist Oscar Peterson had added a rider which said that he
would not have to play if the schedule ran fifteen or more minutes behind
schedule.  And, additionally, he was have a Cadillac automobile and driver
available to him at all times during the festival. Since the contract was
approved with the rider intact, this was a VERY EXPENSIVE drain on the
festival.

At a later point, I picked up a book by Betty Bennett, Mundell's longtime
wife, entitled Ladies Who Sing With The Band. Mundy, Betty and I had
opportunity to talk about this by phone.  It was remarkable that Betty had a
brief marriage to Andre Previn.  Parting was amicable and there were no
children. Also, later Mundell,  pianist-composer Previn and  bassist Ray
Brown made a number of recordings together.  There was also a TV segment
where the group taught opera singer Kiri Te Kanawa  to sing jazz-more or
less.

More recently,  Jazz Pensacola had opportunity to have jazz guitarist Gene
Bertoncini in for an artist-in-residence program.  Gene told us that his
major jazz mentors had been Mundell Lowe, Johnny Smith and Chuck Wayne.
What an inspiring trio!

Good wishes, Mundy.  I suspect the celestial choir could use a great
guitarist.

Here's link to  Doug Ramsey's blog on Arts Journal website:

https://www.artsjournal.com/rifftides/2017/12/mundell-lowe-1922-2017.html#ut
m_source=rss
<https://www.artsjournal.com/rifftides/2017/12/mundell-lowe-1922-2017.html#u
tm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss> &utm_medium=rss

Here's link to Marc Myers' JazzWax:

http://www.jazzwax.com/2017/12/mundell-lowe-1922-2017.html

Link to recent Mundell Lowe obituary in San Diego Union Tribune:

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/entertainment/music/sd-me-obit-lowe-2017
1202-story.html

--End--

F.Norman Vickers

5429 Dynasty Drive

Pensacola, FL 32504-8583

Home 850-484-9183; cell 850-324-5022

Jazz Society of Pensacola 850-433-8382

www.jazzpensacola.com <http://www.jazzpensacola.com/> 

nvickers1 at cox.net

http://jazzpensacola.com/vickers/

Member Jazz Journalists Association

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