Variety (July 1958)

Wednesday, July 9, 1958 P2fi6i&Ft MUSIC S3 Newport Fete, a Hipsters Clambake, Musicians Union s New Chief Gets By ROBERT TAYLOR Newport, July 8. After four frantic nights and days in which a total of 60,000 jazz buffs bayed at the moon, the staid little high society resort of New¬ port has slipped back into the era Of Henry James, battered but hep- pen . Commercially, - the fifth annual American Jazz Festival, which ; packed three capacity audiences into Freebody Stadium, was a solid success. Artistically it sput¬ tered along. The production of the Festival, however, was better than ever, and despite the vast amount of mate¬ rial crammed into every perform¬ ance, succeeded in lending the . affair pace and polish- The seat¬ ing arrangements of the park were juggled so that the stone bleach¬ ers occupied a side of the stadium rather than a built-in echo cham¬ ber in the back. The sound sys¬ tem was of hi-fi quality. The bat¬ tery of photographers, who formed a bristling barrier of tripods and . lenses before the stage in other .years, was inconspicuously situ¬ ated. But the problem of how to jam It all into four days remained. The Festival kicked off with a roar&g tribute to Duke Ellington on Thursday night < 3). Ellington, who broke it up at Newport; two years ago, provided another satis¬ factory concert, though the audi¬ ence was considerably more sub¬ dued. The reunion of eight El¬ lington alumni ranging from 6uch instrumentalists as cOrnetist Rex Stewart to long-time Ellington ar¬ ranger, Billy Strayhbfn, presented some clear and clean ensemble work; and the Ellington band it¬ self, was a superb instrument, as always, demonstrating a dynamic subtlety and a rhythmic drive that warranted its extensive sold ap¬ pearance in a clutch of numbers from the Duke’s book. Vocalist Lit Greenwood made a particular impression with a gusty rendition (Continued on page 56) Cannes Gets In Jazz Fete Act Paris, July 8. ;• The Cannes Jazz Festival starts today (Tues.) with Yank and for¬ eign instrumentalists and. singers taking the air route from Knokke- La-Zoute in Belgium, where an¬ other jazz fest is just winding. Cannes Fili% Fest; Palace is being utilized, and the jazz jury, to hand, out prizes in. various categories, is headed by Jean Cocteau Who often graced the film fest jury panel. “Jazz at the Philharmonic” play¬ ers ate going down, as well as -French, based U S. jazzsters Such •3 Sidney Bechet, Albert Nicholas, . Tdddy Buckner, Kenny Clark, Bill Coleman and Peahuts Holland. Specialty players like Pete''John- . son, for „ boogie woogie, Sammy. Price for the, blues and Joe Turner for the piano, Will also be on tap. French jazzmen playing will be the Andre Reweliotty Orch, . Claude Lutheir Orch, Aime Bar- elli Orch, Claude Bolling Orch, Yvonne Blanc and others, plus many reps from other countries: Jazz shindig winds next Tuesday (15), Ted Rosenberg Heads Columbia’s LA. Branch Theodore Rosenberg, formerly . with RCA Victor, has joined Co¬ lumbia Records as manager of the company’s branch in Los Angeles. He’ll report directly to Kenneth Claricy, general manager of Co¬ lumbia Records Distributors Inc. With Victor for the past year and. a half -as. Coast field man, Rosenberg formerly was .with the Col organization for 12 years in various distribution posts. 1 Track Record United Artists. Records got a tip on a jockey and signed him. Coming up on the outside . on a UA entry due shortly will be Harlan Dalton, who’s cur¬ rently riding at the Belmont, N. Y-,. horsepark. . . Tunes are “I See A Rain¬ bow” and “Rosebud.” Jazz Purists Razz Berry; At Newport By DAVID B, BITTAN Newport, R.I., July 8. The Newport Jazz Festival, while fir.my establishing itself as a boffo b.bv attractiojn, this year took on the atmosphere of a car¬ nival of music. • 1 The backers of the non-profit annual hash, intentionally or otherwise, played down the art- for-art’s-sake aspect of the festival by booking an out-and-out rock ’n’ roller named Chuck Berry. Some of jazz fans were appalled as B e r r y danced, sang and played his guitar in the Elvis Pres¬ ley tradition at the Saturady eve¬ ning bash. (5). * . A record 15,000 fans, many of them teenagers attracted by the magic of the Berry brand of rock¬ abilly, were jammed into .Free¬ body Park as he went into, his act. The bleacher brigade, singularly quiet during the Thursday (3) and Friday (4) sessions, Went wild as Berry tore into his “Schooldays” and followed it with two other Berry "originals,” "No Money Down” and “Sweet Sixteen.” Youngsters danced in the aisles, fights broke out and the local gen¬ darmes had their hands full com trolling the mob. Several fans, were hauled away to the Newport lockup. As is usual at Newport, hun¬ dreds slept in. their; care or in sleepings bags on the beadies. Such goings on, plus the wierd- ly-attired bearded males and .pony- tailed or short-haired females, could only result in giving the. normally proper New England sea¬ side spot a carnival atmosphere.' John Hammond, jazz critic and festival official -responsible for Sat¬ urday’s “Blues in the Night” book¬ ing of Chuck Berry and other, fringe jazz artists,, justified his ac¬ tion by pointing lout rhythm & blues artists comprise one segment of jazz: It was obvious that, the “names” Were booked for the four -evening concerts, and that most of the cre¬ ative artists were scheduled for the three lightly-attended after¬ noon sessions., -. The jazz aficionadpes, such as the 41 members of Cleveland’s “Jazz Ohio” club who came by bus to Newport, made all the daylight sessions. But the night concerts were packed with youngsters look¬ ing for excitement and caring lit¬ tle about, jazz. ■ Viewing the four days of jazz were some 720 jazz writers and broadcasters.- They, represented publications ranging from the Na¬ tional. Geographic to Scoot, a mo¬ tor scooter monthly. Jack Paar’s Disk Jack Paar, star of the NBC-TV late-nigtiter under , his name, has joined the RCA Victor : artists stable to cut special material. His first release, was done on the show Thursday (3) via a recitation of "Funny What You Learn # From Women.” Other side of Paar’s first disk for Victor, due out in a couple of weeks, will be “Blue Wiggle.” By WINSTON BODE Austin, July 8. Dee jay-conducted records hops have finally infiltrated to . this somewhat insular, capital city with interesting service dub tie-in and attractive .features (including monetary) for all concerned. Lafe- starting. gimmick well known to more metropolitan areas. began here as a merger of ideas between KTBC-AM-TV chief of announcers Dan Love and Austin Ciyitan Club, chapter of international service organization. Club men patterned their participation on booming Ciyitan-sponsored record hops in Houston, where up to four club 1 sponsored dances run of a Satur¬ day night drawing as many as'2,000 youngsters per hop. . Civitan Clubs across the country, are taking ‘on the hops as youth- building projects. In Austin pro¬ gram; the Civitaners deal exclu¬ sively with KTBC, drawing all dee : jays from KTBC stable. Hops are held in Army Reserve Armory with club providing p.a. system and sta¬ tion providing records and turn¬ table. , Club defrays. such minimal costs aV rent, $15; janitor, $15; two. off-duty policemen, $10.50 per man; insurance, $2:35. After deducting expenses, club splits = take 50-50 with dee jay. 50c a Head ." Tickets, limited to 15-20 age group, 1 go for 50c per person, with dub selling , annual membership tickets at $1. Ticket means. 15c reduction on admission price. With Crowds : averaging 275, deejays pocket; about $40. However, they are garnering freelance . hops on the side as result of the .club projects, journeying to neighbor^ ing towns on occasion. Free lance i functions typically .are sponsored by teenage or mothers’ clubs, but some are commercial promotions, such as they held in New Braun¬ fels’ Landa Park where dee jay works on. guarantee-plus Jbasis,' drawing crowds up to: l,000r ; J . All this is good news to deejays in this U. of Texas student-oriented labor market where talent fees are mere rumor. V .KTBC looks upon the hops as goodwill; getters, but With com-; merciai aspect, too, Station sells first hour, of three-hour dub hops and does remotes. Time is cur- (Continued on; page 62) I Kids, After die Big Beat Brainwash, Rediscovering 88, Reeds, Etc Lombardo Ottawa, July 8. . “The young, dancers ate coming in wherever we play and they re¬ quest waltzes and ballads,” coni-, merited Guy . Lombardo, here with his band on a string of short book¬ ings in ; Canada. He was sure, rock ’n’ roll was on its final pins. “The kids still .like; the rock ’n’ roll beat.” he said, “but they’re. not buying the cacaphony that went with it. They want sweet .music now”.. •: He said he began to notice the; trend a few months ago and. wher¬ ever he played since then—mid¬ west, Canada, east and south—the youngsters had turned up in steady ily-iricreasing numbers; asking for softer, music. “They seem to be rediscovering our; instruments; too. They crowd the stand watching the trombones, . the twin pianos, the, reeds as though they’d never seen them before.” This was definitely the case in the Auditorium at Ottawa where the Loipbardo - band dripped . its honey tunes . on a one-nightef 1 There were plenty “typical” Lom¬ bardo fans—many with grey .hair; But the younger set was there, dancing' every item, milting heavy throughout: An. autumn; booking in Los An¬ geles will delay the band’s return to the Roosevelt hotel stand in New York.' It will be the first time in 10 years the Lombardos, have beep on the Coast, , -'; / Europeans to Desist? . . „ : Zurich, July 8. A -memorandum of agree¬ ment between the Internation¬ al Federation of Musicians and . and the American Federation Of Musicians to put an end to “scabbing” , by international members during strikes, is to be inked here at a special con¬ vention set for Aug. 14 and is: .' One of the key features of the agreement will be to put a stop to all library service recording. In future, AFM inembers will be permitted only to undertake specific re¬ cordings: Bourne on Tunes Another conflict over song rer newal rights was brought infia court last week when Fred: Fisher Music sued Bourne Music in N. Y. Federal Court, seeking to . enjoin the latter from infringing, on eight oldies in which Fisher claims a part interest,. Complaint contends that Harry Richman, the veteran singer who is credited as one of the writers on all eight songs, assigned his renewal rights to Fisher in 1954. On one song, “Blue Bonnet, You Make Me Feel Blue,” Fisher also clains: an assignment from another co-writer, the late Alfred Bryan. Pete Wendling was ; the third writer oh the song. Bourne is claiming that the re¬ newal right? to the eight songs I were obtained at the time the orig¬ inal : contract for the songs was signed. . The plaintiffs, challenge this on two grounds: (1), that Bourne failed to record notice of the renewal at the end of the first copyright term within the pre¬ scribed time and only recorded the renewals in the Copyright Office after Fisher entered its claim; and (2), that the original renewal as¬ signment is invalid. This latter point is being challenged in a long- pending suit against Bourne by songwriter Billy Rose in an action over “That Old Gang of Mine.” . The songs, besides “Blue Bon¬ net,” in which Fisher claims a re¬ newal interest include: “I Think You’re. Wonderful,” by Richman, Little Jack Little and Abner Sil¬ ver; “How Can I Be Happy,” by Richman, Benny Davis and Harry Akst; “My /Baby Knows How.” by Richman, Davis and Akst; “Miss Annabelle Lee,” by Richman, Lew Pollack, and Sidney Clare; “Now That You’re Gone,’* by Richman, Phil Baker and Sid. Silvers; “There’s Danger In Your Eyes, Cheri'e,” by Richman, Wendling and Jack Meskill; “How Long Is It Going To Take To Make You Mine,” by Richman, Ballard Macdonald and Arthur Franklin. . The original copyright terms of the tunes were assigned to the Irving Berlin Music firm, and when the late Saul H. Bourne split with Berlin, he took over, the disputed copyrights. Juliah : T.. Abeles (& Bernstein) filed the complaint fot Fisher; / Maxin Returns io N.Y. Arnold Maxin, MGM Records prexy, returned to the N. Y. home- office last week after a three-week tour of Italy, France, England and Brussels. In his first trek abroad since taking over the dislfery’s top postv Maxin huddled with execs of EMI (Electric & Musical Industries) in Britain, which handles MGM’s dis¬ tribution in England and on the Continent 4- Washington, July 8. Stepped tip fight against foreign- made background music on films for U. S. motion picture theatres and tv was set in motion with a brief visit to Washington by Her¬ man D. Kenin, new president of the American Federation of Musi¬ cians. Immediate result was intro¬ duction of resolutions in both House and Senate aimed at investi¬ gating the- problem. Secretary of Labor Mitchell expressed his con¬ cern, according to Kenin, but made no. promises of specific action. ' Sen. Wayne Morse (D., Ore.) ex¬ pressed alarm because Kenin told him that less than a dozen of some 125 _ television shows now being produced on film use American musicians, with the rest using soundtracks recorded abroad. He said he wants a Congressional in¬ vestigation to find out to what ex¬ tent the immigration statute is now being nullified by the inanimate recorded foreign musicians. : The Oregon Democrat noted that half of the 264,000 AFM member¬ ship is unemployed and termed this tragic. Referring again to his conversation with Kenin, Morse added: “when he tells me that for¬ eign-made music on tape, film and records is being substituted al¬ most wholly for American musi¬ cians in the production of the na¬ tion’s filmed entertainment I am convinced that corrective measures must be taken, and soon.” Morse added, in explaining his resolution for ai ^Congressional in¬ vestigation, that “it is an intoler¬ able condition when American pro¬ ducers of a . widely-labelled Amer¬ ican made entertainment product are permitted to deny jobs to American musicians through the use of inexpensively imported. foreign-made substitutions for our American skills and services. It isn’t fair; it isn’t decent; it isn’t American;” . . A -similar resolution was intro¬ duced in the House by Rep. Frank (Continued on page 56) [ Hollywood, July 8. I Cecil Read, chairman of the re¬ cently formed Musicians Guild of America, was granted permission by the court, to amend his com¬ plaint against the AFM for rein¬ statement of his membership in the union. Read was expelled from the Federation in, 1956. for attack¬ ing the administration’s manner of handling the Performance Trust Fund. In his amended complaint Read is asking for $5,000 in damages charging fraud and maliciousness on the part of the union and an additional $100,000 for “humilia¬ tion and shame.” Ousted Local. 47 v.p. is asking back , salary of $250 per week retroactive to expulsion. Court set trial date of Oct, 14. Jenkins Nantes Krueger As Top LA. Distrib Aide In his first move since taking over the direction of R(?A Victor’s disk distributing activity ini Los Angeles, Harry Jenkins has named Bob Krueger to handle the sales and promotion chores for the new operation. Krueger formerly was Victor’s district manager in the Kansas City area. Krueger will also directly super- vise all personel for the Victor L.A. distributing phase, reporting to Jenkins. Jack Ames’ New Label Jack Ames, who recently sold his interest in Liberty Records, has set up his own label on the Coast, Edison-International. . His first single release is with Billy Bobbs & The Chips.