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Johnny Mathis, c. 1960 |
John Coltrane, 1963 |
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Two Famous Johns
By Bob Hecht
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…..It was a weeknight in 1964 and there was hardly anyone in the Half Note. I was sitting in the back, near the entrance to the famous New York jazz club, now long ‘defunked.’ John Coltrane and his quartet were on the bandstand playing for a mere handful of patrons. By that point in his musical evolution, Trane was getting into some of his farthest-out excursions, often marked by a lot of impassioned shrieks and squawks. The music was a far ‘cry’ from the lush lyricism of his popular Ballads album, released just the year before. But it was Trane and I was always open to hearing the various things he was doing, even when they were not my favorite things.
…..Partway through the set, I happened to glance over to my right and saw that there, seated alone at a corner table under the windows that faced out onto Spring Street, was another famous John — one I never expected to find in a jazz club listening to Coltrane. It was none other than pop singing star Johnny Mathis. He was dressed in white pants and white shirt and appeared to be listening intently to what Coltrane was doing. I tried not to stare and shifted my attention back to the bandstand.
…..Later, upon reflection, I realized that Mathis’s presence in a jazz club was not really all that surprising. After all, he had originally been on a jazz career track back in 1956 when he made his very first album for Columbia; that album featured charts by some great jazz arrangers, including Gil Evans. When the album didn’t sell very well, the A&R people at Columbia came up with a different plan for the handsome young man with the smooth tenor voice. Soon he was singing the kinds of blockbusters that catapulted him to fame — and that made Columbia Records, and him, a lot of dough: soft romantic ballads like “Chances Are” and “The Twelfth of Never.”
…..And speaking of romantic ballads, during the year before my evening at the Half Note, both of those two Johns, Coltrane and Mathis, had shared something musical in common. Trane’s classic Ballads album included Jimmy McHugh’s, “Too Young to Go Steady,” and Mathis’s album Romantically included the same song. Was that just a coincidence? We’ll never know, but they did release the same song — with each of their versions rendered lovingly and tenderly — in the very same year.
…..Coltrane would be gone just a few years later, in 1967, at only 40 years old; Mathis would continue as one of the country’s top vocalists until his retirement in 2025, at 89.
…..I’ve learned recently that as a young man Mathis was exposed to a lot of great jazz. When he was growing up in San Francisco, his parents not only played classic jazz records at home, but his father often took him to the city’s famous Blackhawk jazz club to hear the likes of Dave Brubeck and Miles Davis, who appeared there with John Coltrane in his band.
…..“Some of those musicians became good friends,” Mathis recalled in a 2018 Washington Post article. “Dizzy Gillespie, for instance, became a good buddy of mine. I was 13 or 14 years old at the time,” he says, “and I got to meet all of these incredible jazz artists. And later on, after I started to sing professionally, I’d meet them on the road, and they’d say, ‘Oh, you’re little Johnny.’”
…..That night at the Half Note I didn’t stick around after listening to Trane’s set, but I wonder if “little Johnny” and John Coltrane, two heavyweights in their own respective musical arenas, took that opportunity to get reacquainted. I’m betting that — chances are — the chances are awfully good.
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Listen to the 1962 recording of John Coltrane performing the Jimmy McHugh composition “Too Young to Go Steady,” with Coltrane (tenor saxophone); McCoy Tyner (piano); Jimmy Garrison (bass); and Elvin Jones (drums). [Universal Music Group]
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And…the 1963 recording of Johnny Mathis performing the same song… [Columbia/Legacy]
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Bob Hecht frequently contributes his essays, photographs, interviews, playlists and personal stories to Jerry Jazz Musician. He has a long history of producing and hosting jazz radio programs; his former podcast series, The Joys of Jazz, was the 2019 Silver Medal winner in the New York Festivals Radio Awards. In addition, he is a widely published fine art photographer, whose work has appeared multiple times in The Sun, LensWork, Black & White Magazine, Zyzzyva and other periodicals, as well as in the book, Dream of Venice in Black & White, published by Bella Figuera Publications. He lives with his wife in Portland, Oregon.
Bob recently published a new book, Haiku Eye, comprised of 65 of his color photographs, each accompanied by one of his original haiku poems. Click here for information about the book.
His photo website is roberthecht.com
Instagram: @roberthechtphotography2.0
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Click here to read about his book, Stolen Moments: A Photographer’s Personal Journey
Click here to read “Two Jazz Survivors,” his reflection on his personal friendship with Sheila Jordan
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In addition to putting together great playlists, Bob has conducted several fine interviews for Jerry Jazz Musician.
Click here to read Two of a Mind: Conversations on Creative Collaboration, featuring Bill Charlap and Sandy Stewart; Click here to read his interview with Pepper Adams biographer Gary Carner. Click here to read “Life in E Flat” – a conversation about Phil Woods – with pianist Bill Charlap and jazz journalist Ted Panken, and click here to read his interview with Alyn Shipton, author of The Gerry Mulligan 1950’s Quartets.
Click here to view all playlists published on Jerry Jazz Musician
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Click here to read The Sunday Poem
“Where the Music Wasn’t Allowed” is Jane McCarthy’s winning story in the 71st Jerry Jazz Musician Short Fiction Contest
Click here for information about how to submit your poetry, short fiction, playlists, art, or essays
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