More on Anderson and Dixon, and Pekar is the third.

AccuJazz proprietor, Lucas Gillan, pays wonderful accolades to the recently passed Bill Dixon, and Fred Anderson. He states the Avant channel will be heavily dominated by Anderson and Dixon recordings. He really nails it for both of these extremely different individuals. I particularly like his personal experience with Fred Anderson described below. Please check out the AccuJazz blog for the full read.

I personally am extremely grateful for Anderson's dedication to running the Velvet: I have frequented the club's longstanding Sunday night jam sessions for years, and my band played our debut gig there in April. Fred presided all night, and even agreed to show up 2 hours early so we could sneak in a last-minute rehearsal before the gig. At the end of the night, after everyone had cleared out, it was just me and Fred left as I was packing up my drums. He told me a story about how Lester Young used to be a drummer, but decided to switch to sax when he got tired of missing opportunities to go home with girls because he was busy tearing down his drums. Clearly, he felt for me. He was always so kind and gracious, and never seemed outwardly phased by the daunting economic realities of running an avant-garde jazz club in a run-down neighborhood.

In a prior post, maybe I shouldn't of said they come in threes. Harvey Pekar passed this prior Monday at the age of 70. My knowledge on Pekar is limited to the Giamatti flick, but I do appreciate his love for jazz music. I found this interview from the Atlantic containing his thoughts on Jazz, and JazzTimes posted some links to his reviews here.

Bill Dixon, 1925 - 2010

I saw sad news on the Bill Dixon Facebook page of his passing. The legendary Jazz empire has lost another great. TRULY, TRULY A GREAT.

From the Bill Dixon Facebook page:

Dear friends,

Bill passed away early this morning at his home. He died peacefully in his sleep with loved ones close by.

The rapidity with which the news of Bill's death has traveled, even before any official announcement, is a testament to how many lives Bill and his work have touched. Take comfort in knowing that he went out in the same manner that he lived his life - working on/thinking about his current work, the recording of our orchestra concert at FIMAV, and planning the materials that will soon accompany the release to market.

Bill spent every waking moment of his life thinking about and creating things of beauty and sharing openly what he knew and loved, through his art and his teaching, with everyone that he came into contact with and everyone anywhere who was paying attention.

We will be sharing stories and images and will bring news regarding his memorial service in the coming days.

-Stephen Haynes