Fulbright riffs, 1991 — day 6, Tuesday, June 4

Purchased my rail season ticket for my daily commute, Maplewood to Newark — $46.

My first journey using it was delayed as the train broke down, but it gave me the chance to start reading Jan Morris Manhattan 45. At work I read the transcript of the oral history interview with swing era arranger Eddie Sauter.

Vincent and Ed Berger take me out to lunch, ostensibly to learn more about the reason for my visit but we mostly spend the time talking about the London jazz scene. Ed enquires, sarcastically (I hope): “So, is Humph still at the cutting edge of British jazz?” They are aware of some of the players post 1950 and I tell them about the generation of young musicians who have been pushing the resurgence of jazz in the UK since the mid 1980s, deriving their inspiration as much from West Indian and South African roots as from the American classics. Courtney Pine they know about as he’s recently toured, recorded and charted in America, but not so much about Django Bates, Iain Ballamy and Loose Tubes, nor about Andy Sheppard. We talk about the increased involvement of women as instrumentalists — Annie Whitehead and Gail Thompson in the UK, Geri Allen, Jane Ira Bloom and Michele Rosewoman over here. I save the free improvisers I’ve been following and recording (Evan Parker, et al) for another day, and as we stroll back to work I detect the beginning of friendship and genuine interest.

As we arrive back at Bradley Hall Ed says, “Hell, we still don’t know what you’re doing here, Chris!”. So I make him a copy of the plan I gave to Dan yesterday, to which the immediate response was, “Anything you need”, as he disappeared into the record store.

Ed took a good look at my plan and said, “Interesting: anything you need, just ask.”

In the evening I caught the last day of the Bang On A Can Festival at the CSC Theater on East 13th, a performance of Van Gogh a video opera by Michael Gordon and Elliot Caplan based on the artist’s letters to his brother Theo. The video element takes the place of scenery (obviously) and the role of Van Gogh is played by three singers (Dana Hanchard, David Shapero and Evan Ziporyn), each representing different aspects of his personality. I found it very moving, especially the final hospital scene and the evocation of Provence through shots of sunflowers (what else?) and solitary labourers.

I got home just after 10:30 and made a tuna sauce to go with some pasta.