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Gary McFarland Documentary

mrmatthewmrmatthew 1,575 Posts
edited November 2014 in Strut Central




http://thisisgarymcfarland.com/Gary-McFarland_film

Anyone seen this yet?
I've always been a big fan and have quite a few of his records...but have never known the full story.

  Comments

  • pinopino 19 Posts
    Sounds interesting. Don't know much about him, but i'm liking this "Simpatico" album he did with Gabor Szabo
  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    Don't know a lot about him, but seems very interesting.
    If I remember right, openly gay in the 60s, one of the first jazz guys not to wear a suit.
    Also he has a country lp.
  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    Great trailer, I hope the film is animated.
  • caicai spacecho 362 Posts
    Thanks for posting, I'm really interested in seeing it. Quite curious about his life and death.
  • funky16cornersfunky16corners 7,175 Posts
    LaserWolf said:
    Don't know a lot about him, but seems very interesting.
    If I remember right, openly gay in the 60s, one of the first jazz guys not to wear a suit.
    Also he has a country lp.

    You're thinking of Gary Burton.

    McFarland was an arranger/vibist and to a certain extent a singer. His Verve stuff is cool and he did a bunch of really interesting LPs for Skye, which he co-founded with Gabor Szabo and Cal Tjader.
  • fishmongerfunkfishmongerfunk 4,154 Posts
    gary was an "adult prodigy". he couldn't rip sick vibes solos but he could arrange and score like a motherfucker. was he murdered, maybe poisoned? what happened...i guess the movie will clear that up.

    my favourtie album he did is the first steve kuhn lp on cobblestone...also, butterscotch rum (which can be found in many a dollar bin) is not really a country record but a bob dorough/mose allison thing that is pretty spotty with the exception of this gem:



    his last album "america the beautiful" is def. work checking, as i recall joe beck plays nice on that one. the early impulse titles, before he teamed with szabo and went beatlesque, are flawless. october suite is the standout.


    b/w

    the sub-title of the film is horrendous...he wasn't a "jazz legend", more of a cult figure and he almost certainly would not have become a "popstar" had he lived, whatever that means. also, why no steve kuhn in this film!?
  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    funky16corners said:
    LaserWolf said:
    Don't know a lot about him, but seems very interesting.
    If I remember right, openly gay in the 60s, one of the first jazz guys not to wear a suit.
    Also he has a country lp.

    You're thinking of Gary Burton.

    McFarland was an arranger/vibist and to a certain extent a singer. His Verve stuff is cool and he did a bunch of really interesting LPs for Skye, which he co-founded with Gabor Szabo and Cal Tjader.

    Hold it! There are 2 different vibeists named Gary?!? How am I supposed to keep that straight? I'm still trying to figure out Lonnie Smith and Joe Jones and John Hammond...
  • Big_StacksBig_Stacks "I don't worry about hittin' power, cause I don't give 'em nuttin' to hit." 4,670 Posts
    Hey,

    I ride for Gary's "Soft Samba Strings" and "America the Beautiful" LPs. I read up on his poisoning death, and it seems that him and his friends drank some writer's methadone bottles that he left at the bar. I don't know if it was true, but nonetheless, the deaths were quite tragic. Gary McFarland was a hell of an arranger. A good example of his skills for composition is Steve Kuhn's "October Suite" LP.

    Peace,

    Big Stacks from Kakalak
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