Paul "Doc" Tenney

Here are some of the horns which belonged to Paul "Doc" Tenney.

The horns are sitting on the stage at the Hearst Center for the Fine Arts in Cedar Falls.  They are there because Doc died June 9.

When a jazz musician dies, jazz musicians come together.  They come together to celebrate a life.  They do that by celebrating the art they shared.  Some of the musicians who participated: Eddie Piccard, Bob Dunn, Rich Martin, Bob Crumley, Tim Crumley, Bob Washut, Chris Merz, Al Naylor, Dick Kriz, Craig Dove, Nick George, Gail Williams, Paul Rider, Stuart Wood.

Doc Tenney frequently sat in with the Eddie Piccard group when I first started playing with them. His solos were always melodic, inventive, fitting to the song, thoroughly musical.
  His friends remember that he didn't like to waste or mince words.  He was meticulous in his speech, in all of his work.  Doc thought that calling something "good enough" meant that it wasn't. 

  
                                                   








But Doc was always very kind to me, very supportive.  He helped me believe that I could learn something about playing this music, about taking part in sessions like the one held in his honor and pictured here.

 

These are wonderful occasions because they bring to life the old paradox of jazz.  There is joy to be found in sadness.  Playing the blues can make you happy.

 

I miss Doc and the sound of his sax, but, as his wife Jan said, we don't have to speak of this man in the past tense.  He is present while our memories are present.

 

"The past is never dead.  It's not even past."

 

So said Faulkner.  He was talking about the South, about history, but he could have been talking about music, about jazz.  We remember.  When we played "In a Mellow Tone," we  played a riff I first heard from Doc Tenney.

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

Jazz and Chocolate

Yes.  Some time has passed since I was last heard from. My computer went the way of all flesh and mechanical thing. Down. Crash. And a lot of stuff got lost. And I was forced to utter some appropriate invective.

Now let's move on to the good side of life.

Mount Vernon's Chocolate Stroll has once again come around. In the past we have played in the Gazebo in the park, but this year we moved inside--into the Community Center. Rick and Trude Elliott and community volunteers have made the old middle school auditorium into a great performance venue. Sound was great. And no rain, no bugs.

Jon Wilson had to be out of town so Nick George took over on drums.

This was an absolutely wonderful day. We saw some old friends and made some new ones. Among the old friends, I especially noticed Wes and Riella Rich, former owners of the Fireside Grill, sitting in the front row. Among the new friends: our neighbors from right across the street who brought their baby to catch the act. 

We played songs from our regular book and some  numbers we are adding. One of my favorites of the afternoon was Eddie's version of  the jazz standard "Where or When."

Special treat: Eddie's son E.P. and his partner Martha came from Chicago for the occasion.

What you see in these pictures is four musicians having a very good time.

Songs of Autumn

Ah, autumn, the fall. I like all of the seasons. There is joy enough to go around. But I confess it is the autumn which most touches me.

In my teaching life, in the early years, there was Hopkins "Spring and Fall" and Keats’s "Ode to Autumn." Later, I taught a course in American Nature Writers. I was profound in the classroom, of course, but it was really the woods that provoked reverie in members of the class.

When I was a kid, it was still legal to burn leaves–and roast marshmallows. There is no better smell than that fire, no better taste than those marshmallows.

But there is still a glory in the season.

 

In my present life, though, it is especially the songs which reach me. There are great songs you can play any time at all. Some you can play only at certain times–Winter Wonderland, for example, and many Christmas songs.

But Autumn has some of the greatest. Eddie sings Henry Nemo’s "‘Tis Autumn," first recorded by Nat "King" Cole. And we play the song made famous by Woody Herman and his sax section–"Early Autumn." Beautiful.

Last week-end Scott Barnum couldn't be with the band so Eddie asked Craig Dove to play bass.  We had a good crowd and a great night.

And the band played a tune I have loved all of my life--"September Song."  Only one week-end left for that one.

Visitors from Far Away

Speaking of friends stopping by, there are old friends and new ones.

Blanca and Javier Alejandro Flores have been married for two weeks.  I'm not sure how they happened to be in Cedar Rapids or how they discovered us, but it was great having them in the room.  People who like the music always add to the flavor of what is going on.


And in this case Javier added something more.  He joined us to sing "New York, New York" with Eddie.

Blanca and Javier are from Mexico!  I was going to give them our "Came a Long Way to Hear You" Award--until I remembered the couple who came from Copenhagen.

Near or Far--friends are always welcome. 

When Friends Stop By

It’s probably a reflection of my old life, but among the the fringe treats I love in this new life are all of the pr stuff and having special friends show up for a gig. Students generally come to see professors only when things aren’t going well. Deans want to see professors only when the Dean is perturbed about something (which Deans usually are). People don’t drop into the office just for fun.

So I really enjoy things that call attention to good times. I like seeing the signs on the Longbranch and on First Avenue advertising the Eddie Piccard Quartet, and I loved seeing the article which appeared in Hoopla (Cedar Rapids Gazette).  I like the poster in the lobby at the Longbranch which lets hotel guests know about the band and which brought in a couple of new listeners recently.

A couple of weeks ago I got a special surprise.  My niece Lara drove from Bloomington, Illinois, just to catch the band and brought along her friend Kent as a bonus.

We had a great time. And we always play better when friends are present. I hope they come back and that others will drop in--soon.

Generations and Jazz

Yes, it’s been awhile since I last posted. I got distracted.
　

Yes, that is our house.  And yes, that was our tree.

A tree hitting the house at 11:30 at night is a little like a Max Roach bomb. It’s quick, then it’s over. My wife and I said "that was a close one"--and went back to sleep. 

Now a policeman shouting at you from about fifteen feet outside your bedroom door is more like a Dizzy Gillespie entrance. It gets your attention and holds it, insists on it.

And house repair time is like–well, I don’t know because it is still going on.

Back before the tree asserted itself, I was talking about the sense of community jazz carries with it and offers to all. I just got another taste of that.

A couple of weeks ago Dick Guider sat in with us at the Longbranch. He is a trumpet player from Las Vegas Eddie has known for many years.

It was a treat to have Dick join us because, first, the guy is really good. I especially enjoyed it when we played "St Louis Blues." We have never played that before, but Eddie sang the opening chorus, then Dick took over and the rhythm section locked on. Sometimes something sounds and feels so good that one feels levitated. By the time I got to solo I was already about two feet off the ground.

But my enjoyment didn’t end there. Zach Gignac is a good young friend of the band; he drops in to hear us whenever he gets the chance. He belongs to a group called The Pocket Tones.

I have never heard them, but Eddie has and he has sat in with them.

At the break I saw Zach in conversation with Dick Guider. There are maybe three generations calendar-wise between them. The sight made me remember my own experience, many many years ago, with a trumpet player named Stompey Whitlock.

These moments of contact keep the music rolling.

Sights and Sounds

Some nice shots taken at a private party.  Sounds included.  Come to Longbranch tonight to catch the real thing.