Herbie Mann - R.I.P.

[Other Steve]

Jazz Flutist Herbie Mann Dies at 73
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 1:04 p.m. ET

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) -- Herbie Mann, the versatile jazz flutist who combined a variety of musical styles and deeply influenced trends such as world music and fusion, has died. He was 73.

Mann, who had battled prostate cancer since 1997, died late Tuesday, according to a friend, Sy Johnson. A funeral home in Santa Fe said it was making arrangements with Mann's family.

Mann had moved to Santa Fe in the late 1980s after spending most of his life in his native New York City.

Mann was known for performing different musical styles and creatively combining them. Always seeking out new rhythms and harmonies, he toured the world, spending time in Africa, Brazil and Japan.

Family of Mann, formed in 1973, played world music before it was called that. Mann's best-selling "Memphis Underground" was a founding recording of fusion.

He continued to work diligently on his music at a time most people consider retirement.

"I'm playing better than I've ever played," Mann said in a 1995 Associated Press interview. "I'm practicing. I always thought I could get by just with my natural instincts. As far as I'm concerned, almost everything I've done in the past has been on the surface or just a hair below. Now I'm getting serious."

When he left Atlantic Records in 1979 he started producing his own records, and later he launched his own label, Kokopelli. In all, he made more than 100 albums as leader.

Touring, he said, was "a killer, the hours and food. I always thought if you made good records your records could do the traveling for you."

Album titles reflect Mann's versatility: "At the Village Gate" (1962); "African Suite" (1959); "Brasil, Bossa Nova & Blues" (1962); "Latin Mann" 1965; "Memphis Two Step" (1971); and "Eastern European Roots" (2000).

"As much as I love music, I never really thought it was my life. I thought it was the vehicle I used to express my life," he said.

Born Herbert Solomon in Brooklyn in 1930, he started his career when he was 15, playing in groups at Catskill Mountain summer resorts. He studied saxophone but preferred flute. In the 1950s, after three years in the Army playing with the Army Band in Trieste, Italy, Mann toured France and Scandinavia.

He credited visits to Africa and Brazil in the early 1960s with changing his musical outlook.

"When I came back (from Africa), I hired (Babatunde) Olatunji, a Nigerian drummer living here, and we started doing music based on African motifs," he told the AP.

As for the Brazil tour, he said, "Revelation doesn't touch it. Up to that point, the ethnic music I had heard had 14 drums playing different parts but the melodies were very simple. Then I saw the 'Black Orpheus' movie and heard multiple rhythm parts along with the most beautiful melodies in the world.

He returned and recorded with Brazilian musicians, including Antonio Carlos Jobim and a 19-year-old Sergio Mendes.

He was 70 when he put out "Eastern European Roots."

"I've played Cuban music, but I'm not Cuban," he told the Rocky Mountain News. "I've played Brazilian music, but I'm not Brazilian. I've played jazz, but I'm not African-American. What I am is an Eastern European Jew. I love all the music I've played, but I wanted something that is mine."

[Lois Gilbert]

I'm so sad to see this obit. We all knew how sick he was and you'll find some tribute in the Archives. I had the pleasure of spending time with him 2 summers ago when he played with a Brazilian band and full orchestra up in the Catskills. Here are few pictures from that date.

[Lois Gilbert]

[Lois Gilbert]

He told me he was feeling great and was approaching his health mostly holistically. He sounded (as to my ears as he always) beautiful, rhythmic, with a real sense of humor in his playing as well as his personality.

[hornplayer]

That is sad news. I last saw him live in a band at the Manchester Craftsmens Guild's Gala in 01. He looked and sounded good.

Another member for that Big Band in the Sky. It's getting far too large, I think....

[Ron Thorne]

Another sad day for the music world. Herbie was, by all accounts, a very gentle man, unassuming and generous. He was ahead of his time in many respects, though many listeners took his various "fusions" for granted, I think. He made it all seem so simple and natural, as do most good musicians.

His website is handsome, and loaded with wonderful information on his career.

Thanks for sharing those recent photos, Lois.

You will be greatly missed, (Herbert Jay Solomon) Herbie Mann.

[VIBEr]

I always like his stuff, and admired that he always appeared to stand up to the criticism of commerciality and never backed down. I play his records all the time, and wish him the best in the next leg of his journey.

[Chris D]

Coming Home, Baby. Rest well, Herbie.

[Dr Dave]

And you may ask, where did I first hear Sonny Sharrock? On "Memphis Underground" is where. As mentioned above, Herbie didn't give a shit whether anybody thought his work was "commercial" or not. He just did his thing. Another strong jazz voice lost.

[Lois Gilbert]

SANTA FE, N.M., July 2—Herbie Mann, who helped bring jazz flute and the bossa nova to prominence, has died after a long bout with inoperable prostate cancer. He was 73.

Mann passed away in his sleep on Tuesday at his cabin in Pecos, New Mexico, near his home in Santa Fe, where he had lived since the 1980s. Mann is survived by his wife, Susan Janeal Arison, two sons and two daughters, his mother, and a sister. Arison and three of his children were at his side.

Herbie was born in Brooklyn, New York, on April 16, 1930, as Herbert Jay Solomon.

His mother encouraged Mann’s musical development by taking him to a Benny Goodman concert at the Paramount when he was nine years old. Mann started playing the clarinet soon after, and later turned to the tenor saxophone, and eventually to the instrument with which he was identified, the flute.

By the time Mann was fourteen, he was playing tenor sax at gigs in the Catskills. In 1948 he entered the US Army where he spent nearly four years in Trieste, Italy, playing with the 98th Army Band.

Mann returned to New York after the army, but found it difficult to stand out as a tenor saxophonist. But when accordionist Mat Matthews told Mann that he was looking for a jazz flute player for the first album by the then unknown Carmen McRae, Mann quickly taught himself the flute and recorded with McRae.

In 1958, legendary jazz DJ Symphony Sid Torin suggested that Mann add a conga player to his group, which quickly boosted Mann’s popularity. Percussionists who played with him in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s included Candido, Ray Barretto, Olatunji, Potato Valdes, and Willie Bobo.

In 1961, Mann joined a tour of American musicians going to Brazil, introducing him to more complex melodies and rhythms. Mann then made an extended visit to Brazil to record his next album for Atlantic Records, during which he met talents such as Sergio Mendes, Antonio Carlos Jobim, and Baden Powell.


AtlanticMann brought the sounds of world music to his recordings before the term was even used, and was a pioneer of fusion, with his 1969 album Memphis Underground, and his 1970’s group “Family of Mann”.

Mann continued to record throughout his career, but his dabbling in pop, rock, reggae, and disco during the 1970’s, and a move away from the sounds that had made him popular, led to the end of his 20-year contract with Atlantic.

In the ensuing years, Mann recorded for several independent labels, including two albums on the Lightyear label from a 1995 celebration of his 65th birthday. Celebration and America Brasil feature many of his longtime friends and musical partners from his past, including David “Fathead” Newman, Dave Valentin, Ron Carter, Billy Taylor, Tito Puente, Randy Brecker, Claudio Roditi, and others.

Mann’s last live performance was May 3 at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.

Mann was Downbeat’s flutist of the year for 13 years straight, beginning in the late 1950’s.

In 1997, Herbie was diagnosed with inoperable prostate cancer. Mann formed a nonprofit foundation called Herbie Mann’s Prostate Cancer Awareness Music Foundation that used performances and recordings to help spread the word about the disease.

Mann will be cremated. The family is planning a private memorial service on Sunday.

[Lois Gilbert]

Herbie Mann Prostate Cancer Awareness Music Foundation

In 1997, Herbie Mann was diagnosed with prostate cancer. The cancer was too pervasive to operate on, but Mann underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

To spread awareness of the disease, Mann created the Herbie Mann Prostate Cancer Awareness Music Foundation, a not-for-profit 501C organization that he said he created “to save men from having to endure such radical treatment and, ultimately, to minimize the number of preventable deaths that result from this insidious killer.”

For more information, or to donate, visit http://www.herbiemannpcamf.com/

[Lois Gilbert]

NPR will feature obituary pieces on Wednesday’s All Things Considered and Thursday’s Morning Edition. Many stations will also air rebroadcasts of Billy Taylor’s Jazz at the Kennedy Center: Tribute to Herbie Mann from July, 2001, and Herbie Mann on Jazz Profiles from April 2000.

[GoodSpeak]

Originally posted by Lois Gilbert
NPR will feature obituary pieces on Wednesday’s All Things Considered and Thursday’s Morning Edition. Many stations will also air rebroadcasts of Billy Taylor’s Jazz at the Kennedy Center: Tribute to Herbie Mann from July, 2001, and Herbie Mann on Jazz Profiles from April 2000.

I'll watch for it on my local NPR broadcasts, thanks Lois.

Another terrible loss to Jazz.


RIP, Herbie.

[Harold_Z]

I learned of Herbie's death through hearing the NPR ALL THINGS CONSIDERED broadcast. They did a great job of paying tribute to a fine musician. I imagine you can access it at npr.org.

R.I.P. Herbie.

[Mike Schwartz]

As has been said well by others, a sad day indeed to a cat that brought joy in so many things he did.

As a pre-teen getting my feet wet and 'experimenting' with jazz records,practically wore the grooves off of Mann's "Live At Newport" among my very first ever jazz sides!

All of the above,and more.
My own recollection is Herbie as a member of the group, which included Brownie and the vice prez, backing Sarah on one of her greatest albums.

As hp put it, "Another member for that Big Band in the Sky. It's getting far too large, I think...."

You got that right, horny. The fan base in the sky is going the same way, a matter of some personal interest. ;-)

In any case, RIP, flautist Herbie.

[willfb]

Like many people who have commented here, I feel like I've lost a friend, even though I never met him.

One of my greatest jazz memories is hearing Herbie in Baltimore about 20 years ago and a solo he took on the chestnut "Makin' Whoopee." I felt as if Art Tatum had come back to life as a white flutist, such was the command he had of his instrument.

The respect and affection that so many musicians and listeners felt for him speaks volumes for the kind of person he was.

R.I.P. and thanks for the music and memories, Herbie Mann.

[clinthopson]

Alas, another one leaves us.

At least he left a legacy of very personal music which had a broad appeal.

Besides the groovy "Memphis Underground' or 'Comin' Home," he did a lot of fine straight ahead jazz.

A personal vfavorite of mine is the album he did with the bill Evans trio, gorgeous stuff.

[Canuck Don]

Saw Mr. Mann about 30 plus years ago.Up to seeing him,I was not a flute fan but after seeing his performance changed me .Sounded like Charlie Parker on flute,the sounds that he played and his fingering quickness on the up tempo tunes .I have a bunch of his rec. but my fav. is Heribie Mann at Newport.His playing of Comin' Home Baby is still my fav. of his.

[Jan Leder]

My folks took me to the Village when I was about 13 and bought me Herbie's Live at the Village Gate. I was playing flute for about 2 years. I didn't listen to much jazz, and certainly never heard anything like that. He influenced me deeply, and I know that all my jazz flutist friends feel likewise. He was one of my heroes, a true pioneer, and he will be missed.

[Capt. W./TX.]

Herbie Mann had a career we all should envy...

Sure, he had all those hit albums, including the extremely forgettable disco stuff. But he did more than his share for quality jazz:

- The "Nirvana" album with Bill Evans 2nd Trio.

- As a sideman, he played on the "Legrand Jazz" album with Miles, Ben Webster and John Coltrane, as well as a superb early (1956) Quincy Jones set titled "This Is How I Feel About Jazz".

- As a producer for Atlantic, he produced albums for Chick Corea ("Tones For Joan's Bones"; a smoking set with Woody Shaw and Joe Farrell) and Miroslav Vitous ("Mountain In The Clouds"; Vitous was a former sideman)

- His Kokopelli label produced a good Ellington tribute set by David 'Fathead' (another former sideman), as well as Jimmy Rowles last album, "Lilac Time".

RIP Herbie Mann, the most consistantly successful flautist-bandleader in jazz. He really gave us a lot of good to very good stuff, all the while staying on top of what was happening.

[Bill Barton]

Originally posted by Dr Dave
And you may ask, where did I first hear Sonny Sharrock? On "Memphis Underground" is where. As mentioned above, Herbie didn't give a shit whether anybody thought his work was "commercial" or not. He just did his thing. Another strong jazz voice lost.

Here's a vignette I'd be willing to bet he'd appreciate (also posted over on Ron's "...Jazz Cats..." thread.)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sonny Sharrock speaking of a gig in Oshkosh, Wisconsin with Herbie Mann:

“The promoters were a group of ladies, very nice and obviously very well off, who had rented a hall with the proceeds from the concert going to local charities. I didn’t expect them to enjoy what I was doing, but they didn’t seem to be enjoying Herbie’s flute solos, either, like audiences usually did. After the show, they came backstage and said, 'Well, that was very nice but we wish you had played some of your Tiajuana [sic] numbers.’ They thought Herbie was Herb Alpert!”

(from Bebop and Nothingness by Francis Davis)