Ralph J. Gleason

[BFrank]

Here's a very interesting retrospective on the life of Ralph Gleason in today's SF Chronicle - the newspaper he wrote his columns for.

Don't let the tweed jackets, trench coat and pipe fool you
-- Ralph J. Gleason was an apostle of jazz and rock with few peers

[Squaredancecalling Steve]

Great piece, Brooks! I remember him first, I think, from liner notes to Sinatra albums, and later of course from The Chronicle when I moved west. He had his finger on The Pulse.

[BFrank]

Glad you enjoyed it SDCS! It was long, but I found it a 'quick read'.

[kh1958]

I sure appreciate his Jazz Casual series. He's a very erudite host who knows how to elicit interesting information but mostly stays out of the way of the music.

[Rob C]

He was a very good writer--I have his "Celebrating the Duke" and enjoy it.

[Pete C]

His liner notes for Bitches Brew is some of the worst writing ever.

[Pete C]

Originally Posted by kh1958

I sure appreciate his Jazz Casual series. He's a very erudite host who knows how to elicit interesting information but mostly stays out of the way of the music.

You should see his embarrassingly bad interview with Jimmy Witherspoon. In fact, he seemed to be a pretty banal interviewer on many of those programs. And at his worst, he seemed to be fishing for preconceived answers.

[BFrank]

From today's SF Chronicle "Letters to Datebook":

Editor -- Joel Selvin's delightful and thoughtful reminiscence did a wonderful job of re-creating some of the many special qualities of Ralph J. Gleason, and of recalling the creative ferment of the Bay Area music world in the decades after World War II. To so many of us who were involved in creating and/or appreciating in those days, Ralph's rare combination of knowledge, literacy and intelligent enthusiasm was of tremendous value.
I had produced jazz records in San Francisco on several occasions since 1959, but I first became a resident late in 1972, when I was invited to run the rapidly expanding Fantasy Records jazz program. Thus I was briefly fortunate enough to be at that company at the same time as Gleason.

I can quickly think of several reasons for considering this to be my good fortune. To begin with, when I arrived at the office for my first morning, I thought my sports jacket was properly casual California record-company attire, but I quickly realized that Ralph and I were the most formal men in the building. By the next day, Gleason was back to his unique status as the one and only Fantasy jacket wearer.

Second, I had taken the job on very little notice, and the rest of my family was still in New York. But in a warm human gesture that I intend never to forget, Ralph and Jean Gleason insisted that I have Thanksgiving dinner in Berkeley as part of their family in that very friendly sprawling house on Spruce Street.

Third, I quickly developed a pattern of beginning each working day by stopping at Ralph's office for what I described as my daily Ellington fix -- he had an anecdote or recollection or comment for me about Duke or one of his many great musicians, and I swear he never repeated a story.

Less than two years later, Gleason was a major mother-hen throughout my recovery from a heart attack, scolding me for indiscretions like taking the stairs two at a time ("Slow down; you're not in New York anymore"). Then, without warning (other than the fact that he was a diabetic who stubbornly insisted on living in the late-night world of jazz and folk and rock people), he had his own heart attack and was gone.

The jazz world in which I have spent most of my time is known for early deaths, so over a working life of more than 50 years I turn out to have outlasted a great many friends and colleagues. But few if any of them remain so vividly in mind, and perhaps none possessed the enviable quality of somehow being mentor and scholar and -- far from least -- fervent fan, all at the same time. And he was one of the most readable entertainment columnists I have ever encountered. Thanks for all that, Ralph, and much gratitude to Joel Selvin for reminding a great many people in this city of how rewarding it was to read and/or know Ralph Gleason.


- ORRIN KEEPNEWS
San Francisco