Bagasoul and Tapscott: Their Lives Were a Kind of Music, Too

Trumpeter Dan Bagasoul, who died of a heart attack in the early hours of Feb. 28 shortly after completing a performance with his quartet, was a hero of the local jazz scene. A familiar figure at 5th Street Dick’s, the World Stage and such community events as the Leimert Park Jazz Festival, Bagasoul’s name rang true with his sound.

“Dan played like you couldn’t believe,” says saxophonist Dale Fielder of Bagasoul’s performances during a tour they made of Korea last summer. “He was one of the few cats of his generation who came out of the Clifford Brown school rather than the Freddie Hubbard school, and there were times [during the tour] he just brought tears to my eyes.”

“Dan was a very honest guy, a person without pretense,” adds guitarist and frequent Bagasoul collaborator Joe Gaeta. “Every time he got on the bandstand, everything went up a notch--the music, the level of professionalism. He was the real thing.”

Born Daniel Wayne Bagasao in Santa Monica on May 6, 1945, to a Philippine father and Norwegian mother (both former vaudeville musicians), the trumpeter surrendered early in his career to the common mispronunciation of his name, adopting Bagasoul as his stage name. He’s heard on several recordings, including Fielder’s “Free Flow,” “Know Thyself” and “Dear Sir: Tribute to Wayne Shorter,” all from Clarion Jazz.

His scheduled performance at Rocco on March 13 became a memorial service, with the members of his regular band--Gaeta, saxophonist John “J.J.” James, drummer Gene Stone and bassist Don Felix--playing. A benefit in Bagasoul’s honor will be held on a yet-to-be-scheduled date in April.

Tribute: Among the luminaries scheduled to play at Catalina Bar & Grill on Monday during a tribute to Horace Tapscott is probably the best-known product of the late pianist’s Pan African People’s Arkestra: New York-based alto saxophonist Arthur Blythe. In a phone call from his mother’s home in San Diego, Blythe, who collaborated with Tapscott for nearly a decade, recalled their first meeting at a quartet rehearsal in 1960.

“I was highly impressed by him right away,” said Blythe. “He was such an accomplished musician, and he helped me immensely, both technically and through the osmosis of playing together. Horace was an extraordinary man, very humanistic, with a big heart and spirit.”

Blythe went on to the New York loft scene of the ‘70s and a record contract with Columbia. Koch Jazz recently reissued a pair of his Columbia recordings, the 1979 date “Lenox Avenue Breakdown” with flutist James Newton, guitarist James “Blood” Ulmer, drummer Jack DeJohnette and others; and the 1980 session “Illusions” with cellist Abdul Wadud, tuba player Bob Stewart and drummer Steve McCall. His latest recording is “Night Song” on the Clarity label.

Blythe is scheduled to appear at the tribute with bassist Art Davis, guitarist Nels Cline and drummer Alex Cline. Also slated are Bobby Bradford and Roberto Miranda, poet Kamau Daaood, Michael Session, Vinny Golia, Gerald Wiggins, Dwight Trible and others. Reservations suggested: (323) 466-2210.

New Label: Violinist Jeff Gauthier has launched Cryptogramophone with attractively packaged releases from L.A.-based artists Jeanette Wrate and Alex Cline due out April 6. The label will concentrate on improvisational artists not easily classified as jazz, New Age or avant-garde.

“Although the music we present is primarily focused on improvisation,” says Gauthier, “most jazz labels wouldn’t take a second look at it because the pieces are often too long and contaminated by too many musical influences. It just seemed that there is a need for another record label like [producer Manfred Eicher’s Germany-based] ECM that honors beauty, integrity, improvisation and musicianship, and doesn’t concern itself with making it fit into a radio format.”

Drummer Cline brings together Gauthier, keyboardist Wayne Peet, bassist Michael Elizondo and vocalist Aina on his ethereal “Sparks Fly Upward,” a collection of Cline compositions dedicated to drummer Tony Williams, bassist Eric Von Essen, pianist Richard Grossman and filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky, among others. Percussionist Wrate’s “Echoes of a Northern Sky” features her Northern Lights Ensemble finding improvisational fodder in Finnish and Norwegian folk music.

Wrate’s ensemble will appear April 23 at the Unitarian Universalist Community Church in Santa Monica; (310) 301-1611. Information on Cryptogramophone releases can be found at https://www.cryptogramophone.com.

Cellists: Here are two rare chances to see the cello function as jazz instrument. On Thursday, Erik Friedlander, a cellist who’s been heard with everyone from jazz maverick John Zorn to Courtney Love and Hole, brings his quartet to Rocco in Bel-Air; (310) 475-9807.

Fred Katz, a student of Pablo Casals’ who introduced cello into Chico Hamilton’s quintet in 1955, celebrates his 80th year at the Jazz Bakery on April 4 by teaming with flutist-saxophonist Paul Horn and pianist Roger Kellaway. Information: (310) 271-9039.

No Show: Seattle-based grunge-jazz band Zony Mash has canceled its performance scheduled for Saturday at McCabe’s in Santa Monica. Band leader and keyboardist Wayne Horovitz is suffering from the flu, according to the group’s manager, and has canceled all West Coast dates.