Elvis `no show` at NY Jazz club show

johnfoyle · Post by **johnfoyle** » Wed Nov 26, 2003 1:53 am

Elvis did not , after all , guest at the Lee Konitz birthday show in the Iridium Club , New York , last night (Nov.25th). Details are not clear yet - this note appears on l-listserv -

What a drag!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
IT seems he had a fight or argument with either the bass player or the
drummer,
and was a no show for both shows,
Lee Konitz was good, but after a while you start to think where is
Elvis?
at 9 30 the first set was over and still no Elvis,
then after many angry customers wanted to know what the deal was,
We were finally told he wasn't going to be playing or showing up at
all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This club leaves a lot to be desired,
they service was slow, very very slow,over an hour for the people
sitting
next tome to get their orders,
But back to Elvis, they must have know before the show started, but
didn't
tell anyone until we all started asking, they were giving out papers
printed out
for a complimentary ticket, for those of us who wanted our money back,
now
how could they have those printed up so fast unless they knew in
advance,

martinfoyle · Post by **martinfoyle** » Wed Nov 26, 2003 5:42 am

John Ottaviano on the eclistserv has this account

-According to an eyewitness report bassist Gary Peacock said to Elvis, "I ain't playing behind no rock singer" upon which Elvis left the building. Rozy chalked this up to jazz snobbery, but I felt this was totally unprofessional. It wasn't even Peacock's gig, it was Konitz's and he
must have wanted EC to perform or he wouldn't have invited him. And for all his faults, Elvis has consistently shown great reverence to the jazz
community and has certainly done his best to help showcase jazz artists like the Mingus Big Band and Bill Frizell (North not withstanding).

I was waiting on line outside for the second show when all this came down.
Exiting punters told us all that Elvis didn't show and that they stiffed
their tabs in protest. It seems that there was quite a bit of anger and a
bit of screaming as well.

I'll let Rozy relay her very close EC encounter before the show, but while
he was all appy-polly-logies in advance because his appearance was to be
brief, he gave no impression that he wouldn't be playing.

Much discussion ensued at the pub, but the question I have is this: Has
Elvis ever bailed on an appearance before? I can't think of anyone ever
mentioning this.

I have this fine Gary Peacock album,
http://www.view.com/peacock-bio.html
and ,as his bio suggests, he has never really worked with rock musicians. So, respect where respect is due, if he asked not to have to back Elvis it was very respectful of Elvis to grant him this request. Still the audience should have been told and offered a refund. The big loser in this case, it seems to me, is the venue which sounds like an awful dump.

verbal gymnastics · Post by **verbal gymnastics** » Wed Nov 26, 2003 6:53 am

martinfoyle wrote:So, respect where respect is due, if he asked not to have to back Elvis it was very respectful of Elvis to grant him this request. Still the audience should have been told and offered a refund. The big loser in this case, it seems to me, is the venue which sounds like an awful dump.

Unless you're joking and it hasn't made the translation onto the post, I'm not sure I agree Martin. Surely Mr Peacock knew in advance who the guest(s) would be - they would have either rehearsed or known what they were going to play. Why did this not come out before the show (unless it was hoped Mr Peacock would change his mind at the last moment)? I would have thought some compromise would have been reached - a lot of people would have gone just to see Elvis.

It sounds like musical snobbery to me - I wonder if Mr Peacock has heard North or was aware of Elvis' work with different musical fields. Or was Mr Peacock just expecting Oliver's Army or something?

Copenhagen Fan · Post by **Copenhagen Fan** » Wed Nov 26, 2003 8:49 am

just for the record...North is not jazz...and never will be....I don't know why people even try to categorize it as jazz....

bambooneedle · Post by **bambooneedle** » Wed Nov 26, 2003 3:42 pm

I'd love to witness EC getting pissed off at a bass player...

Misha · Post by **Misha** » Wed Nov 26, 2003 9:04 pm

Did anyone even mention to the sadly named Peacock that Elvis is in bed with the Jazz community....in more ways than one????

F'em. Since I wasn't there, I'm glad he left, good to see he is still tough stuff inside that gooey love machine that he has been lately!!!

Elvis kicks ass, yet again!!

I bet Peacock had some serious talking to do to the club owners.....I'm sure he won't have to worry about performing with Elvis again...

johnfoyle · Post by **johnfoyle** » Thu Nov 27, 2003 1:53 am

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/27/arts/ ... ner=GOOGLE

JAZZ REVIEW | LEE KONITZ
A $400 Cake Wasn't Served, but the Band Played On
By BEN RATLIFF

Published: November 27, 2003

A bit of show-business disaster surrounded the subdued music of a new quartet led by the alto saxophonist Lee Konitz on Tuesday night at Iridium. Elvis Costello was to make a brief appearance to give Mr. Konitz a cake for his 76th birthday and to sing "Someone Took the Words Away."

But Mr. Costello left abruptly during the sound check, apparently after a disagreement with the quartet's bassist, Gary Peacock.

Mr. Costello's appearance had been arranged by Iridium, which had advertised it widely. Mr. Peacock did not want to play backup for the song; he had said so last week and reiterated that on Tuesday, said Steve Cloud, his manager. When that became clear to Mr. Costello, he left in a huff.

Mr. Costello and Mr. Konitz had a bond that included Mr. Konitz playing a solo on Mr. Costello's new album, "North" (Deutsche Grammophon).

Many Costello fans who came for the first set unaware that Mr. Costello had already left — and perhaps not particularly interested in Mr. Konitz's quartet — angrily demanded refunds at the end of the set. (The club obliged.)

The $400 cake never left the kitchen.

By the second set things had settled a bit. Mr. Konitz's history goes back to the early years of bebop, and he had performed only occasionally before this week with the guitarist Bill Frisell, who is 24 years younger. But they are strangely compatible, no matter what they are playing. Their connection is not a matter of rhythm or harmony, but is expressed in individual notes, which both musicians like to give a kind of half-inflated shape; they both know how to make quiet, vulnerable, woozy music.

For a full house the newly convened quartet — filled out by Matt Wilson on drums — delivered free-floating dream material. Mr. Konitz's improvisations in recent years have been tender to the point of disjointed, and this was an epigrammatic performance. Instead of stamping out one song after another, the quartet worked fluidly with few breaks, letting Mr. Konitz lead with spontaneous suggestions of favorite melodies, which included "The Song Is You," "Pennies From Heaven," "What's New?" and Sonny Rollins's "Oleo."

There is a Konitz side to the music and a Frisell side; as the band plays through Sunday, the poles should come closer together. The late set on Tuesday often flickered between hesitant, wispy elaborations of the standards' melodies and more durable, countrylike playing instigated by Mr. Frisell. (Mr. Konitz weaved in and out of those parts, never quite gaining firm footing.)

Both styles had moments of incredible beauty; the rhythm section of Mr. Peacock and Mr. Wilson, whose refined free-jazz telepathy has little directly stated pulse but lots of clear implications, already communicates strongly.

verbal gymnastics · Post by **verbal gymnastics** » Thu Nov 27, 2003 5:24 am

Misha wrote:Since I wasn't there, I'm glad he left, good to see he is still tough stuff inside that gooey love machine that he has been lately!!!

Nah - Diana probably wanted to go shopping and Elvis needed an excuse!

The heading on one of the articles was Tears At The Birthday Party. I was gonna use that but I thought it was too corny!

martinfoyle · Post by **martinfoyle** » Thu Nov 27, 2003 5:36 am

Here's Rozy's account from the eclistserv

-The funny part of all this is that Elvis really *did* tell us he wouldn't be playing, but his words didn't deliver the message he intended, so we completely misunderstood. Let me explain--
Mary and I were first in line at about 4pm since the show was GA (the guy sitting inside the club entrance thought we were nuts). Doors were scheduled to open at 6:30. Elvis came to the club alone at about 5pm, and was apparently in a good mood. He signed albums for a couple people waiting at the curb, then walked over to us. He took my arm as he said hello and asked how we were (!) Mary gave him a gift (I'll let her tell you about that) and then he said he had to go in. No problem so far...
In the meantime, Mike V and Jeff (with the EC glasses) joined us in line, so they also witnessed what happened as EC left the club. It was after 6pm when he stormed out the front door and got into the waiting car. His mood had obviously changed. He sat there for a second with the door open, then got out of the car. We thought he forgot something inside the club, but instead, he came over to us again and said that he wanted us to know that the show was not as advertised--that there would only be 2 numbers and that there had been a major f**kup. We thought he meant that *he* would only be doing 2 numbers, so we weren't too upset. (We later realized that he was telling us that the whole show was literally just 2 numbers... ) We couldn't imagine just then what the major f**kup had been, except to think that his participation in the show had been cut down to 2 songs, and that was the reason he was upset. When Mary reminded him that we had flown in from Chicago, he said he knew and that he was really sorry. Then he left. We thought he was going to dinner or to pick up Diana or whatever, but we didn't think he was leaving for the evening.
When we finally got in the club, the guy wanted to seat us in the back! No pal, I don't think so. Not after we waited in line for almost 3 hours, crazy as we are! So we did get front center after all. Prior to the show, not a word was said by anyone associated with the club that EC wouldn't be there, so we were still completely unaware of what had happened. The show started a little past 8. I don't know much about jazz, but I enjoyed the music and the quartet obviously enjoyed each other's company--lots of smiles from Bill Frisell (who was the only one of the 4 who kept his eyes open during the show...) After the 2nd number, it looked like Frisell was going to remain on stage to accompany EC, but then he too left and the lights came up. Lots of questioning looks on audience faces and then a disturbance by the kitchen door--someone in the audience had gone after Gary Peacock!
An unusual evening for sure, but I'm not sorry I went. Mary and I had a great time--we both love NYC-- and it's always fun seeing fellow listers even without getting to see EC.
I just wonder why EC couldn't go ahead with his part of the show without Gary...
Rozy (who had been hoping for something from Deep Dead Blue last night)

What happened happened, let's move on. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in the US, its just another day in paradise here in Dublin.

cbartal · Post by **cbartal** » Fri Nov 28, 2003 1:55 pm

Copenhagen Fan wrote:just for the record...North is not jazz...and never will be....I don't know why people even try to categorize it as jazz....

Right on, Cope. As I've always said, North is much closer to an aerobic phenomenom in the States in the mid-Eighties commonly known as Jazzercise!

Can YOU PEOPLE please keep your genres straight!?!

Misha · Post by **Misha** » Sat Nov 29, 2003 3:44 pm

OK, I give, what and where is eclistserv and how do I get on it?

Yeah, I'm a computer tard.

johnfoyle · Post by **johnfoyle** » Sun Nov 30, 2003 2:41 am

Misha asks -
`OK, I give, what and where is eclistserv and how do I get on it? `

See
http://listserv.aol.com/archives/costello-l.html

Misha · Post by **Misha** » Sun Nov 30, 2003 4:36 pm

I've said it before and I"m sure I'll say it again....

I love the Foyles!!!!!!
Thank you both Martin and John!!!

Pov · Post by **Pov** » Mon Dec 01, 2003 12:27 pm

All I can say is: "Unbelievable!"

BTW, who are these people from Chicago? Interesting that Elvis knew them well enough to want to tell them what was going on.

HungupStrungup · Post by **HungupStrungup** » Mon Dec 01, 2003 4:02 pm

I imagine Elvis would be quite reluctant to bail out on an event at which his appearance had been advertised, knowing the inconvenience such a decision could cause for some of his fans. Whether he knew these people well, personally or not at all, the fact that they were there to see him and were about to be disappointed had to have given him pause. Surely he would want to leave word with someone on hand that he had been there, that he was forced by circumstances to withdraw. In the absence of any witnesses, those who don't know him any better might assume that he was simply too rude or disorganised to bother to show up.

Mr. Peacock's remarks must have been very offensive indeed.