Tony's Place

17 / 07

2011-07-19T15:07:00.000+02:00

17 /07

2011-07-19T14:58:00.000+02:00

The Blue Notes in London

2011-06-09T09:30:00.006+02:00

Note: This is the text of a talk I gave at the launch of the Rhodes University/Mellon Jazz Heritage Project in Grahamstown on Tuesday 7 June 2011.

History has a funny way of turning things around, making us look at things in different ways, if we are at all sensitive to our surroundings and the people in our lives.

In 1860 a young minister of the Scottish Presbyterian Church arrived in South Africa at the invitation of the Dutch Reformed Church. The invitation was made partly in terms of the Anglicisation policy followed with some vigour by the former colonial Governor of the Cape Colony, Lord Charles Somerset, whose influence cast a long shadow over the history of colonialism in South Africa.

The young minister was Andrew McGregor, and he soon started to grow roots into the soil of Africa. He married Elizabeth Robertson, herself the daughter of a Scottish dominee in the DRC, and started a large family.

A little more than a century later, Andrew McGregor's great-grandson landed in London, bringing with him a style, a genre, of music deeply influenced by the music of the indigenous people of the Eastern Cape. The colonisation of the colonisers had begun.

This young man, who had the name of his great-grandfather Andrew, was better known by his second name, Christopher, and was generally and familiarly called Chris.

Chris, of course, was not alone. With him were four young men, three of them from the Eastern Cape and one from Langa in the Western Cape. These five were together the Blue Notes, a band of exceptional musicians who had found each other through their own individual explorations of the music of improvisation, the music of freedom, in a South Africa in which the evil of apartheid was going in the opposite direction, forcing people apart and making the meeting of like-minded people more and more difficult. So in that context the way these five came together was already something notable, something that was not to be expected.


Eric Nomvete with Murray McGregor. October 1987. Photo Tony McGregor

Mongezi Feza, dazzling trumpeter, was born in Queenstown in 1945. He played, while still a teenager, with Eric Nomvete's band which in 1962 won the Moroka-Jabavu Jazz Festival honours with that incredible blues and tradition-based number “Pondo Blues.” (This album is downloadable here). As an interesting aside, Eric Nomvete, with whom Chris also played at the old Bamboo Room in East London, had been a student of our father's at Healdtown, and the two had an emotional and joyful reunion in Johannesburg in 1987 when Chris was out here for the Carling Circle of Jazz gig on Greenmarket Square, Cape Town.

The birth date of Johnny Mbizo Dyani, bassist extraordinaire, is something of a mystery, at least three dates being possible, according to Lars Rasmussen, author of Mbizo – a book about Johnny Dyani (Copenhagen, The Booktrader,2003). When Johnny left South Africa with the Blue Notes his birthdate was recorded in his passport as 31 December 1947, though Johnny himself always celebrated his birthday on November 30 and claimed his birth year as 1945. Home Affairs has listed his birthdate as 4 June 1947. Rasmussen believes the 4 June 1947 date to be the correct one.

Whatever the case, it seems to me to symbolise the lack of importance accorded the birth of a black person in apartheid South Africa – no matter that this particular black person would come to occupy a position of some prominence on the international music scene.

Mtutuzeli Pukwana, better known as Dudu, was born in Walmer Township, Port Elizabeth in 1938, and after meeting Chris at the same 1962 Jazz Festival the two became firm and life-long friends and collaborators. Although he started out playing piano he soon switched to alto. His searing, soaring solos on this instrument became hallmarks of the bands he played in, the Blue Notes and the Brotherhood of Breath in particular, but also his own formations Zila and Spear, among many others.

Louis Tebugo Moholo-Moholo the rock-steady drummer who propelled the Blue Notes to some amazing heights of improvisation, was born in Cape Town in 1940. He grew up listening to the swing and dance music popular in the Cape Town townships of the time. Great drummer Early Mabuza was a great influence on Louis, known familiarly as “Bra Tebs”.

Chris himself was born in 1936 in Somerset West (see how long the shadow of the colonialist falls!), not as is sometimes claimed, in Mthatha. He went to school in Mthatha until 1952 when he went to the South African Training Ship General Botha in Gordon's Bay, at first seeing himself following a career in the merchant marine. But music was too powerful a force in his life and a few years later he was enrolled for a B. Mus at the College of Music, UCT.

The Blue Notes had left South Africa to play at the Antibes Jazz Festival in August 1964. Their 20 minute set at the festival attracted some favourable critical notice, including a few paragraphs in Down Beat.

A sixth member of the group, tenor man Nikele Moyake, had gone to France with the Blue Notes but had to return to South Africa before they went to London, due to ill health.

Given the political situation back home, they knew that they could not return to South Africa and started busking around Antibes and the Cote d'Azur. This was fine until the tourist season came to an end and so also the money they were managing to pick up.

Through Dollar Brand the Blue Notes managed to get a gig at the Afrikana, a cafe-bar, in Zurich, Switzerland, where they shivered through the winter, finding life rather difficult.

Maxine Lautré, the band's manager and later Chris’s wife, meanwhile took up a position at Dennis Duerden's Transcription Centre in London to earn some much needed cash. She managed to interest Ronnie Scott and some others in the band and so they decamped to London in the spring of 1965, playing initially at Scott's club in Soho and also by invitation in other venues.

The first gig at Ronnie Scott's got rave reviews and opened the eyes and ears of many British jazz fans, some of whom were to rise to great heights themselves after hearing and playing with Chris, Dudu and the others. One can think of Dave Holland, Keith Tippett, Mike Osborne, John Surman, Evan Parker and more.

But that was in the future. At the time of the Ronnie Scott gig they were still young and, though their music was mature, they were still feeling their ways into another culture, another way of life.

In South Africa they had been stars and had had many fans. In London they were relatively unknown and were finding that experience rather daunting.

The London scene was very different from the South African one. Chris told me once how he and Mongezi were walking somewhere in London after a gig and they saw all these people with purple faces, which almost freaked them out. Mongezi in particular was quite scared by these “apparitions” who turned out to be meths drinkers whose faces were stained by the colouring of the meths they were addicted to.

But when these photos were taken the Blue Notes were still wary, still unsure of anything but the music. They each found different ways of coping with the pressure, not always the most appropriate ways at times.

Within ten years Mongs would be dead, a victim, some said, of racism in the health care sector in the UK. He died of pneumonia, a disease very treatable and curable.


Mongezi's eyes say so much! Photo John Goldblatt

When I look at these photos by John Goldblatt, I see the intensity of the their musical commitment and also the pain of exile, a pain which was not without benefits. They were starting on a journey through experiences which would not have been possible to them if they had stayed at home.

So musically they were in a very positive and exciting place while on a personal level they were lonely and cut off from their roots.

Johnny was the next to die. He died doing what he loved best – making music. It happened in Berlin.

Chris died in late May 1990 and Bra Duds about six weeks later, leaving Bra Tebs as the sole survivor of that intrepid band.

As producer Joe Boyd, who first heard the Blue Notes at the “Old Place” in Gerrard Street, London, said of the deaths of Mongs, Dudu, Johnny and Chris: “Whatever the cause of death on the certificate, homesickness and exile were their true afflictions, and the potential cure of being welcomed by their adopted British homeland was never really on offer.” (White Bicycles, London, Serpent’s Tail, 2006)

Mongezi - total commitment to the music. Photo John Goldblatt

So these photos are a wonderful evocation of a particular moment in the history of jazz in general, and specifically of South African jazz. They seem to capture that moment very poignantly, very beautifully. It is a moment of truth, a moment of the reversal of the abnegation of the indigenous culture of South Africa by the colonial powers, a moment when what the colonial powers had thought of little consequence was brought back to the metropole in all its power and beauty.

Photo John Goldblatt

Sadly, it is a moment few South African jazz fans have had much access to over the years. Perhaps this project will begin to bring the music home again, now enriched by the experience of mixing with great musicians from outside of South Africa, but still infused with the energy and joy that characterise South African jazz.


John Keulder. Photo Tony McGregor, 7 June 2011

A note on the photos: The photographs were taken by John Goldblatt, a photographer working for the Daily Worker newspaper and their negatives lay forgotten in the UK Communist Party archives until Professor Robert van Niekerk recently discovered them on an online website dedicated to ephemera from political struggles between the 1950’s and 1980’s. Thanks to the wizardry of retired RU technician John Keulder who worked in the Geography Department’s photo labs for some 30 years, the ageing negatives have been painstakingly brought to life in a darkroom. These non-digitised photographs are thus one of the most authentic representations of the original 45 year old negatives. The photographs will be placed on permanent exhibition in the Beethoven Room of the Music Department, Rhodes University..

Collages

2011-05-04T22:49:00.000+02:00

Movies

2011-05-04T14:21:00.000+02:00

Obituary: Ernest "Shololo" Mothle

2011-05-03T16:54:00.003+02:00

Ernie playing at a gig in memory of Winston Mankunku Ngozi in Novemer 2009.

Ernest Mothle was born on 2 December 1941 in Lady Selborne, Tshwane where he attended school, listening to the music that was happening all around him in that bustling township.

After briefly dreaming of playing the clarinet or the sax, he took up the bass and began playing with various musicians active in the Tshwane area.

By 1962 he was an accomplished jazz musician performing with the likes of Alf Herbert's African Jazz and Variety; Early Mabuza's Big Five with Barney Rachabane, Johnny Mekoa, Tete Mbambisa and Pat Matshikiza, the late great sax player Winston Mankunku Ngozi, and singers like Abigail Khubeka, Thandi Klaasen and Busi Mhlongo.

In 1970 he was involved in recording the great album Armitage Road with the Heshoo Beshoo group. He also co-wrote music for the musical Phiri and for the first film version of Athol Fugard's Boesman and Lena.

Mr Mothle then left for the United Kingdom where he joined the many other exiled South African musicians like Mongezi Feza, Dudu Pukwana, Julian Bahula and many others, eventually joining Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath big band with which he toured Europe.

While in the UK Mr Mothle also played with a number of other jazz greats like Errol Clark, Sonny Stitt, Archie Shepp and he toured with blues shouter Jimmy Witherspoon, sax men Courtney Pine and Trevor Watts and the band Spirit Level.

Mr Mothle participated in a BBC TV recording of music for children. He played with the band of Alton Khumalo's Themba Theatre Company when they toured Britain. He was also a member of the orchestra for the Bill Luther Dance Company (Luther was a student of Martha Graham)

Ernest in front of the nursing home in the former Lady Selborne township in which he was born.

Mr Mothle appeared on TV with the Jonas Gwangwa at the Nelson Mandela 70^th Birthday Concert at Wembley Stadium, in Dr Who and Halfway to Paradise with Courtney Pine.

On his return to South Africa in 1991 Mr Mothle played with visiting musicians Rene McLean, Jon Yon Yen, James Newton, Bob Mintzer and Jasper van't Hof.

He worked as a bass instructor at the Mmabana Cultural Centre and tutored at the Tshwane University of Technology's Music Department.

He has an impressive list of recordings bearing his name as sideman – with musicians as varied as Robert Wyatt, Mike Oldfield (Mr Mothle played percussion on Oldfield's album Ommadawn), George Lee and Mike Osborne.

He played on the soundtrack of David Attenborough's movie Cry Freedom with Jonas Gwangwa and appeared at the first Nelson Mandela birthday concert at Wembly Stadium with Hugh Masekela.

Ernest died of diabetes-related complications on 2 May 2011 at his home in Mamelodi, Pretoria.

Links for 2011-03-09 [Digg]

2011-03-10T00:00:00-08:00

Peace in Suburbia – Struben Dam, Pretoria
A place of quiet beauty i the heart of Pretoria's eastern suburbs, the Struben Dam Bird Sanctuary offers peaceful walks and stunning sights
Not dancing on the bones of the dead – Górecki's 3rd Symphony
Is beauty possible after the horrors of Auschwitz? Is it barbaric to create art after the massacres and genocides of the 20th Century? This essay explores some of these issues by looking at the art of composer Henryk Gorecki
Key to humanity is in missing DNA - life - 09 March 2011 - New Scientist
"ONE of the most fundamental questions of our existence - how our genes make us different from chimpanzees and other animals - comes tantalisingly close to being answered this week by a ground-breaking study of DNA we lost along the way."
Illinois Abolishes Death Penalty
Illinois Governor Pat Quinn (D) took the historic and humane step and abolished the state's death penalty. While Quinn is on record as personally supporting the death penalty when properly implemented, after months of consultation he decided to sign the measure sponsored by state Rep. Karen Yarbrough and state Sen. Kwame Raoul.
Empathy and life
The world seems crazy and dangerous sometimes. How can a person respond creatively and positively in the face of change and the inevitability of death? Some thoughts about empathy and responsibility in the context of the connectedness of all life.
Keith Jarrett: Mystic Poet of the Piano
Music has many faces, many streams, such variety that its richness can overwhelm the listener who doesn't make the effort to really listen, to hear with heart and mind. Sometimes the richness is like a well-fortified Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte (Black Forest Cake) that leaves one feeling heavy but happy.

Links for 2011-03-08 [Digg]

2011-03-09T00:00:00-08:00

My top 10 philosophy books - the best philosophical books I've read
We are all philosophers. This is a very personal answer to the question asked by Ryan Hupfer about the 10 philosophy books it is essential to read.
What are the characteristics of an educated person?
A personal view of the important characteristics of an educated person.
Rome is a world - some poems and vintage postcards about the city in Italy
Some old postcards set me on a search for some interesting poems about Rome. A short trip around the Eternal City guided by these rather charming postcards.

Links for 2011-03-07 [Digg]

2011-03-08T00:00:00-08:00

How to Overcome Creative Blocks and Distractions | BNET
You’re on your second cup of coffee, but you can’t get past the first sentence of your pitch to your boss. Or, perhaps you’re st

Obituary: Harry Beckett; a doyen of Jazz trumpet and flugelhorn.

2010-07-29T20:59:00.000+02:00

Obituary: Harry Beckett; a doyen of Jazz trumpet and flugelhorn.
This is a great tribute to Harry Beckett, the only musician besides Chris to have been in all the formations of the Brotherhood of Breath. He was a great man and a superlative musician whose musicality and dedication will be greatly missed.

The day the piano went silent

2010-06-04T07:53:00.001+02:00

The day the piano went silent

Twenty years ago my brother, jazz pianist, composer, band leader, arranger, and visionary, left us after a painful struggle with cancer. He was older than me by almost exactly seven years. His name was Chris McGregor and he and his musicians between them put out some of the most amazing jazz, in trio, small group, and big band formats.

The Blues – the Bedrock of Jazz

2010-04-10T17:37:00.004+02:00

The Blues – the Bedrock of Jazz

The blues as the bedrock and foundation of jazz. The second article in my series on the history of jazz
“The story of the blues is the story of humble, obscure, unassuming men and women.” - from The Blues Guitar by Alan Warner (nd)

How did jazz begin? Part one of a history of jazz

2010-03-02T16:09:00.001+02:00

South African bassist Ernest Mothle with Rene McClean

How did jazz begin? Part one of a history of jazz
Jazz was born out of the pain of slavery and the clash between the cultures of West Africa and the Protestant ethos of the Southern states of the United States. This is a first article in a series looking at the history of jazz through an examination of its many genres.

Chris McGregor – the posthumous albums

2010-01-04T11:45:00.002+02:00

Chris McGregor – the posthumous albums
When South African exile musician Chris McGregor died in May 1990, there was already a respectable, though not entirely representative, discography of his work, both in Europe and in South Africa. But like any jazz musician, he played gigs all over the UK and Europe, some of which were recorded, but never released.

electricjive: Assagai: Zimbabwe (1971)

2009-12-18T17:16:00.001+02:00

electricjive: Assagai: Zimbabwe (1971)

This 1971 prog-rock offering by Assagai includes one of my favourite voices, Martha Mdenge. A follow-up to their self-titled debut album, "Zimbabwe" showcases some of South Africa’s best exile musicians at the time – Dudu Pukwana, Louis Moholo and the special trumpeter, Mongezi Feza. It also features some cover songs and musical back-up from Vertigo “stable-mates” Jade Warrior,

electricjive: Morris Goldberg's Urban Jazz Band (1975)

2009-11-15T20:43:00.001+02:00

electricjive: Morris Goldberg's Urban Jazz Band (1975)
When talking of Cape Jazz pioneers Morris Goldberg’s name is usually mentioned in the same sentence along with Dollar Brand and Chris McGregor. This gem was recorded in 1975 when Goldberg was visiting South Africa from his New York base. Both Goldberg and percussionist Monty Weber were part of the “Manenburg” legend. Goldberg was the third saxophone player whose name does not appear on the cover credits. Read some of the back-story here.

electricjive: The birth of Heshoo Beshoo

2009-11-15T12:47:00.001+02:00

electricjive: The birth of Heshoo Beshoo
The band Heshoo Beshoo grew out of a great friendship. formed in the home of jazz promoter and founder of the Johannesburg Jazz Appreciation Society, Ray Nkwe.

Top 10 albums of the South African jazz diaspora – Tony's picks

2009-11-02T11:45:00.002+02:00

Top 10 albums of the South African jazz diaspora – Tony's picks
Exile was a two-edged sword for the South African musicians who left their homeland for the freedom of Europe and the United States. This is a selection of some of the finest albums to come out of the great South African jazz diaspora

Top 10 South African jazz albums – Tony's picks

2009-10-16T23:28:00.001+02:00

Top 10 South African jazz albums – Tony's picks
Tony's picks of the top ten South African jazz albums of the post-war years. A look at albums made in South Africa during that time - the apartheid and post-apartheid years.

A fellow-musician reminisces about Mankunku

2009-10-14T21:27:00.008+02:00

Today I had a meeting with my friend, bass player Ernest Mothle, who came to my home for one of our regular talk sessions. I am getting him to talk about his life in music, as he is one of a disappearing group of South African jazz musicians born during, or around, the years of World War Two, with the hope of later publishing the story of his life in some form or other.

Obviously with the death of Mankunku still in our minds, the talk turned to Ernest's meeting with, and learning from, the great tenorman. During our meeting last week Ernest had spoken a bit about Mankunku, but now he wanted to tell the story in more depth, to indicate more fully his sense of indebtedness to Mankunku.

The following is more or less how the conversation went.

“I was playing with a band called the Big 5, with Early Mabuza on drums, Pat Matshikiza on piano, and myself on bass, we were asked by Ray Nkwe, who founded the Johannesburg Jazz Appreciation Society, to back Mankunku for a gig because Mankunku had not brought his band up from Cape Town with him. Ray had brought him up for promotional purposes.”

“Early, Pat and myself rehearsed a song that had no title. Johnny Mekoa (a well-known trumpeter and jazz educator in South Africa) was listening to this. He commented that since Mankunku had hit town, all the tenor players around sounded like cows.

“Mankunku then said he would call the tune 'Yakhal' inKomo'. That's how the song was named.

“The band was also rehearsing for a recording we were going to make for Professor Yvonne Huskisson of the SABC. We were asked to do about 10 songs.

“For me, two of these songs stood out – one was the ballad 'It Might As Well Be Spring' (from the 1945 movie State Fair by Rogers and Hammerstein) and the other was 'Yakhal' inKomo'.

The latter was so good that there was huge public demand for it to be recorded.

At around that time Ernest was arrested on charges for which he was later acquitted. But the result of his being in jail for a while was that when the group went to make the recording of 'Yakhal' inKomo' they thought Ernest was still in jail and got Agrippa Magwaza to play instead. That's how Ernest missed being on the biggest-selling jazz album in South Africa.
“Ray Nkwe had access to lots of jazz records (because of his position as head of the Jazz Appreciation Society) and so a group of us used to spend a lot of time at his place listening to his records – that was myself, Mankunku (who was staying with Ray at the time), guitarist Cyril Magubane and drummer Gilbert Matthews. From those hours of listening emerged a band which eventually became Heshoo Beshoo (this band made the great album Armitage Road, now sadly no longer available).

“I learnt a lot from Mankunku – especially involvement, the use of tonic solfa, and concentration.
“Mankunku was totally involved in his music, totally emotionally there. I liked that even though I was in awe of it.

“Tonic solfa helped us to grasp and understand the music very quickly. We would not have managed to learn so much so fast with staff notation.

“Concentration – Mankunku taught us this by getting us to climb a tree with our shoes on, after a few, actually a lot of, brandies! This led to my riding a motorbike for the first time in my life. It happened like this – we were having a lala-vuka (an all-night drinking session) and in the early hours of the morning ran out of booze. One of the people there had a motorbike ad so I said I would go and buy some more liquor if I could use the bike. So the guy showed me the gears and how they worked and I went off on it.

“The others were very worried, especially Mankunku, as we had been drinking for a long time. But I came back safely with the booze. I managed because of the lesson in concentration that Mankunku had given me.”

“He's always stood by me – we've always been there for each other. I remember once a tenor ploayer called Mike Faure came to play at a club where we were playing. People were drawn to him because he was doing a new thing, a sort of Archie Shepp thing. I noticed Mankunku sitting to one side, feeling left out, so I went and spoke to him and told him I'm with him.

“After the recording of 'Yakhl' inKomo' there was a jam session at Early Mabuza's house in Dube, Soweto. There were a lot of musicians, young and old and at that time I was just a face in the crowd because of the euphoria and excitement around 'Yakhal' inKomo'. I'll never forget Mankunku chose my favourite song on the programme, the ballad 'It Might as well be Spring' and came and asked to take the bass. I was shy and only reluctantly took the bass. We did the song and there was that emotional thing happening again and I could see him crying.

“After the song ended he asked a question to the people in the room: 'Why don't we always play like this?'

“I was a little confused at first but then I realised he was talking about getting emotionally involved when playing – giving it all.

“This is my form of dedication and I want to thank him for his contribution to my career.

“Go well, my dear friend.”

Tonight - 'A great loss for jazz music'

2009-10-13T10:43:00.000+02:00

Tonight - 'A great loss for jazz music'
South African jazz legend Winston Monwabisi Mankunku Ngozi, 66, has died.

His younger brother Thuli said today the saxophonist had been ill for a while. "He was suffering from heart disease and has been in and out of hospital. In the end, his kidneys and liver packed up," he said.

Ngozi died at the Victoria Hospital in Cape Town at around 2am.

Friend and music promoter Rashid Lombard said Ngozi's death was a great loss for jazz music in Cape Town and South Africa.

Top 10 Jazz CDs – Tony's Picks

2009-10-09T10:49:00.001+02:00

Top 10 Jazz CDs – Tony's Picks
This Top 10 list is going to concentrate on the players from North America that I have found that I enjoy and relate to. I will do a follow-up Hubs on the South African and the European Top 10s in due course. These might entail music that is less familiar to listeners and fans.

Love you madly – serendipitous beauty from tenorman Bob Rigter

2009-10-03T10:41:00.001+02:00

Love you madly – serendipitous beauty from tenorman Bob Rigter
Bob Rigter's breathy, mellow tone recalls the late, great Ben Webster

Guitar master with fingers like spiders on the strings

2009-08-27T16:51:00.001+02:00

Guitar master with fingers like spiders on the strings
Above the guitar his face reflects the agony and the ecstasy of the music while his fingers range up and down the fretboard like some huge and agile spider, creating chords and notes that sing and wail.

South African jazz – a historical introduction to the beautiful music of a beautiful country

2009-08-27T15:01:00.001+02:00

South African jazz – a historical introduction to the beautiful music of a beautiful country
South African jazz started not long after the great explosion of the music in New Orleans more than 100 years ago – or it started long before then, depending on how you look at it.

My top 10 philosophy books

2009-08-21T13:42:00.001+02:00

My top 10 philosophy books
Edward Craig wrote in the book Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction (OUP 2002): "In fact, philosophy is hard to avoid, even with conscious effort." His point is that any statement one can make about philosophy will come from some set of values or beliefs, which are of course, phiosophical questions themselves.
I have always loved reading philosphy and these are my favourite reads.

The space wherein I'm free - part one

2009-08-15T21:41:00.001+02:00

The space wherein I'm free - part one

The day had dawned grey, only slight wisps of dull pink enlivening the clouds that hung heavy over the hills on the other side of the old valley, and Matt shivered as he climbed into his car with the heavy black overcoat hanging loosely on his shoulders. His few clothes were stashed in the two small suitcases in the boot and his precious laptop was safely stowed behind the driver's seat. Of all his possessions this was the one he most relied on and treasured. It was his gateway to the world, his refuge from the daily grind and, of course, the tool of his trade.

This is the start of what I hope is going to develop into a novel!

Miles Davis and Gil Evans gestated masterpieces

2009-08-12T09:48:00.001+02:00

Miles Davis and Gil Evans gestated masterpieces
In a little basement room behind a Chinese laundry on West 55th Street in New York City was born a musical relationship that would produce some of the greatest music recorded in the 20th Century. It was in that little room that great composer/arranger Gil Evans (whose room it was) and trumpeter Miles Davis explored their ideas about jazz and put together what famous jazz disc-jockey Symphony Sid (real name Sidney Tarnopol) announced as "something new in modern music" - the nonet which produced the music which would give rise to the so-called "cool school" of jazz and the aptly-titled album "Birth of the Cool."