Hal Stein documentary – new sample clip!
Here’s a preview of our forthcoming film about the late jazz saxophonist Hal Stein. In this clip you’ll see Hal rehearsing with his quartet (drummer Danny Spencer, bassist John Wiitala, pianist Lee Bloom), discussing his impending eviction and sitting in at Yoshi’s with his pal Phil Woods.
Do you have thoughts on this clip or memories of Hal you’d like to share? Please feel free to leave a comment.
Remembering Hal Stein…
Saxophone master Harold Jerome Stein died on April 29, 2008 at his home in Oakland, five months short of his eightieth birthday. In addition to being a great friend, Hal had become an important musical mentor to me. I was pianist in his quartet (John Wiitala, bass and Danny Spencer, drums) since 2000 and had the good fortune to play many interesting venues with him. Additionally, we made a habit of getting together weekly to learn new tunes, improvise and have lunch and/or tea & cookies. Hal had an insatiable musical appetite and tirelessly searched for new material for the quartet. His kind manner, ever-present sense of humor and musical spirit inspired many, many people….He is missed!
more info: www.halsteinjazz.com
From San Francisco Chronicle:
A swinging soloist who came up as a teenager on the hothouse New York jazz scene of the 1940s and ’50s, Mr. Stein was a musician with wide experience and knowledge. He was equally at home playing with Swing-era masters like Artie Shaw, Benny Carter and Gene Krupa, early bop musicians like tenor saxophonist Don Byas – with whom Mr. Stein performed at Manhattan’s Town Hall when he was 15 – and modernists from Roy Haynes, Gerry Mulligan and Charles Mingus to Claude Thornhill, Elvin Jones and Toshiko Akiyoshi.
Mr. Stein was born in Weehawken, N.J., in 1928, began on the clarinet at 11 and was playing tenor saxophone professionally by the age of 15. He cut his teeth with pianist Erroll Garner and the big-toned Byas, who, along with lyrical Lester Young and the blazing bop originator Charlie Parker, was a prime influence on his playing.
From the Berkeley Daily Planet:
Lee Bloom told us that “Hal was a charming, passionate musician; a gifted improviser and a dedicated teacher who made lots of great jazz and mentored many younger players during his long career. I feel privileged to have been his friend, pianist and collaborator for the past seven-plus years and will miss him terribly.”
