On YouTube these days, you might notice an explosion of videos of musicians playing transcriptions of their favorite artists for others to watch. The quality varies widely, from seamless renditions with completed scores to pretty bad ones. And there’s an increasing number of Jimmy Raney solos out there as well. Doug’s too. On the one hand, this increased and deserved exposure of the Raney contribution to jazz is certainly welcome given the chronic lack of recognition. But on the other hand, I am not certain about the intentions of the people doing them. I know my brother was suspicious of the growing trend certainly, while he was alive. (Ofcourse that’s…
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Doug’s Path to Jazz
Doug Raney’s personality is a bit hard to describe. He had a sort of tough guy, school-of-hard-knocks persona which he hid his intellect under. Where we grew up in Briarwood was sort of a melting pot. There was some racial tension from time to time but for the most part we all got along. You just had to be cool enough to hang in the clique and act like you were willing to fight even if (for the most part) you didn’t have to. The local place to hang was the P.S. 117 schoolyard with an alternate hangout in Hoover Park near Archbishop Molloy High School. As in any social…
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Unraveling the Raneys
Recently at least a few people asked me if I was playing anymore. I said no, because well, it’s the truth. I don’t really know how it happened. It just happened. Some physical things, a lot of mental things and boom, C’est fini. People ask me to sit in but I usually refuse and the more I don’t do it … the more I don’t do it. Jerry Bergonzi, though I adore his playing, basically had to drag me onstage to sit in. I was in the front row at his gig and there was no piano player so there was zero excuse. It was a great experience but honestly…
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Happy Birthday Jimmy Raney (2021) – Time Marches On
So, I’ll be honest. I haven’t been handling reaching my own 60th birthday very well (2 days from now). I’ve been in a real funk about it. Those of you who know me intimately have gotten an earful of my various infirmities and laments over getting old and the change in my once youthful appearance. I honestly dread people with a camera phone and intentions. Where is my hair going all of the sudden and why does what little I have look like straw? Why won’t these aches and pains go away? Blood pressure, cholesterol, thyroid, tinnitus, an unbreakable weight barrier and unmovable gut? My nose? Since when do I…
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Raney, Bird licks & all that Polymetric stuff
At times, I get inspired to talk about two particular aspects of Jimmy Raney’s language often missed: rhythmic subtlety absorbed uniquely from Bird’s model, and the difference between “lick playing” and “non-lick playing”. I’ve blogged about it some but perhaps not enough. Part of the reason I don’t do talk about it more is that it’s a mental slog both for the reader and myself – an investment on both sides. It also might come across as overanalytical of that which, on it’s own terms, imparts the complexity directly without “libretto” so to speak. Nevertheless, not to talk about it, if the various forms of public commentary is at all…
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Reflections on my Brother, Doug Raney in 2020
Recently, I received a website email requesting I write about the details of the dark side of my brother’s life. This person just launched into the letter without preamble, “Hey so why don’t you write about the dark stuff and what happened to his guitars… I’d like to hear it because… blah, blah, etc. “ So aside from tactless manner in which this person wrote to me, I’ve pondered the implication that my website presents an idealized and selective view of my famous jazz family and in particular, Doug. In all honesty, it’s possible. This is one of the dangers of the social media age. Bill Maher refers to this…
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Memories of The Legend, the Myth and the Man (Happy Birthday Jimmy Raney 2020)
Each year on the August 20th, I struggle a bit with what to say about Jimmy Raney that I or his most ardent fans haven’t said already. The music of course, speaks for itself and thank God for that. But there are some things I perhaps haven’t shared chiefly due to my pack rat tendencies. The Featured image above shows just some of the fun things I’ve found in the closet recently. I will be adding these and others gradually on other pages of the site. The small photo shown is likely from ~1952 taken from his apartment in Sheridan Square. It’s really a wonderful snapshot of him and the…
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Keeping the meter running…
Pursuant to my recent quest to write more frequently and keep everything I’ve been thinking about writing top of mind, I submit this quick one. On Facebook, on a whim I whipped up the below little poem pretty quickly. It reflects what I was thinking about with my recent battles to stay sane in the pandemic as well as (in some degree) my attempt to try to reconcile the Raney family members burden – from Dad, Doug and finally me – to always be perfect, and the inevitable toll it takes when we can’t. I have no illusions anymore, just tremendous new creative energy to straighten out all my shit…
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On Language: Unforgettable conversations with Jimmy Raney, Doug Raney, myself… and the World
There is an unusual clarity we feel under duress. Like feeling death’s door is near, and the world flashes before you. I’m sure many of you are feeling it. I’m feeling it in my own conversations and instant messages, as well as in broadcast interviews and speeches. Certain people are putting on their game face and showing great compassion, sincerity and depth while others are talking out of both sides of their mouth and showing their true colors. (And it ain’t a pretty sight..) I’m also feeling the hair rising in my neck towards the language patterns of certain politicians, who struggle to say the same words over and over…
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Thoughts on the Pandemic
Hi Folks, Although this is technically a Raney Legacy blog, it would be ridiculous to ignore the elephant in the room, so at least to start, let me combine the themes. My immediate family has survived a lot over the years. I am perhaps the least tough of all the family members and have drawn inspiration from all of them: my daughter, my wife an her family, my brother, mother and father. There has always been an aspect of tragedy and triumph in the Raney family and the three remaining members have the challenge of their lives ahead of them. My family is wonderful, and I have great friends and…