I first met Gale Madden at a document store in Bellingham, Washington within the late 80s. As we stood digging a CD of classic Roy Eldridge, Gale (1) regaled me with implausible tales of her life with the fashionable jazz greats within the two primary jazz facilities of the 40s and 50s, New York Metropolis and Los Angeles. Having arrived in Bellingham from God is aware of the place, and going by the identify Mama X Plus (or simply Mama X), she talked jazz with whomever would pay attention on this small port metropolis close to the Canadian border. Regardless of grandiose claims of affect on musicians, her sole entry in jazz discographies is for taking part in maracas on Gerry Mulligan’s first document date as a pacesetter for Status in 1951, launched as Mulligan Performs Mulligan. Gale is listed within the personnel with out being talked about within the album notes.
When the viewers will get too loud, she admonishes them to maintain silent, unleashing just a few fierce fistfuls of Cecil-like piano for good measure. Compelling and entertaining, the general impact is that of a one-woman wrecking crew
So why even trouble with one so obscure as this? Answering that has been an extended course of for me. Although she regarded Bellingham as a short lived refuge from life on the street, she stayed there, doing occasional native gigs and establishing herself as one thing of an eccentric who grew to become the stuff of native legend. On a recording of an eightieth birthday celebration live performance at a Bellingham restaurant in June of 1998, Gale performs piano and flute accompanied by native musician Maxx Fanucci on electrical bass. As a part of the efficiency, she tells her life story in track, like an previous blues moaner, and finally ends up reciting unique beat poetry à la Snyder or Ginsberg. What her flute solos lack in polish, they make up for by pointing in sudden instructions. Her quirky piano exhibits touches of Monk, stride, and greater than somewhat Cecil Taylor. When the viewers will get too loud, she admonishes them to maintain silent, unleashing just a few fierce fistfuls of Cecil-like piano for good measure. Compelling and entertaining, the general impact is that of a one-woman wrecking crew.
One 12 months previous to the birthday gig, Madden appeared in a radio interview with Don Manning on KBOO-FM in Portland, Oregon. Manning’s program makes it abundantly clear she had been on the scene in each New York and Los Angeles in the course of the youth of recent jazz. She has the within argot down chilly and is aware of the musicians, even the obscure ones, by nickname, quirks and all. Her tales resonate with detailed authenticity. Knowledgeable and sharp, she recognises each piece of music Manning performs. She likewise demonstrates intelligence and originality, casually dropping references to social developments, world historical past, science and classical music as she spins her hipster yarns. By some means she manages to make herself central to the motion of each story.
I had already moved to Japan nicely earlier than personal recordings of the birthday gig and the Manning interview appeared. Nevertheless, I hadn’t put Gale fully out of thoughts, so in 2002, when she was 84, I organized to fulfill her throughout a go to dwelling. Initially of our chat, Gale grew annoyed along with her notion of me as an excessive amount of the uptight WASP, telling me I wanted to have “a badder angle” if I wished to be an interviewer. I felt as if I had been being scrutinised and analysed, and located wanting.
Charlie Parker referred Gerry Mulligan to her when she requested Hen to suggest a ‘caucasian Catholic’ who has ‘gotta be strung out’ for her anti-addiction ministrations
Coincidentally, Madden is remembered as a form of therapist for troubled musicians. Veteran bassist Invoice Crow confirms this function, telling me in a 2019 interview “She [Gale] was gonna be the therapist that bought all of the musicians off of junk. That was her concept.” Most frequently related to Gerry Mulligan, Madden quells the frequent notion that they had been lovers, insisting to Don Manning that their relationship had been strictly skilled and platonic. As she tells Don, Charlie Parker referred Gerry to her when she requested Hen to suggest a “caucasian Catholic” who has “gotta be strung out” for her anti-addiction ministrations. Explaining her methodology, Gale says “He [Mulligan] would sleep and I might sit up whereas he slept, and brainwash him. It was like a conditioning system that I used.”
Of extra curiosity to jazz historians than her private relationship with Mulligan is her attainable musical affect. Mulligan himself was amongst her greatest champions. Referring to the Status date in Ira Gitler’s guide Swing To Bop, he says “Gail [sic] Madden had gotten the rhythm part collectively … And she or he had these guys taking part in rather well collectively.” And whereas varied theories have been superior as to why Mulligan distributed with piano in his well-known quartet with Chet Baker, Gerry credit Gale for the thought. Within the liners to the quartet’s first Pacific Jazz album, he writes “I used to be first made conscious of the probabilities of a pianoless rhythm part by Gail Madden, an individual who possesses a most refreshing and revolutionary conception of the rhythm part and its operate.”
Moreover, in a 1994 interview, Gerry advised Gordon Jack that Madden was liable for suggesting Chico Hamilton for the unique quartet with Chet Baker, and, by Bob Graettinger, for introducing Mulligan to Stan Kenton. (2) As well as, bassist Bob Whitlock advised Gordon in one more interview that Gale had been the primary one to contact him about auditioning for Gerry in 1952, confirming her main function in recruiting the rhythm part for the unique quartet.
What’s extra, Whitlock corroborates Mulligan’s estimation of Gale’s affect within the interview with Jack. Whereas admitting “She may very well be a ache within the ass generally”, he mentioned “A lot of her observations had been very astute, and she or he made some beneficial contributions for my part. How might a bass participant fail to understand her obsession with transparency, buoyancy, precision, and stability throughout the group?”
Allen Keen: ‘She performed maracas and wished to be on a document date with us, however she didn’t kick the beat off into one thing higher than it was; in truth, she was a little bit of a drag’
Some query Madden’s declare to affect on Mulligan. Chet Baker – removed from probably the most dependable of informants – clearly refers to Gale in his “misplaced memoir” with out in truth naming her, writing “Largely she was only a ache within the ass for Gerry and stored something from taking place along with her bullshit.” Others are much less blunt, however sceptical. Invoice Crow advised me that in early 50s New York she performed maracas on a few concert events with Gerry, one thing that appeared to him “form of fruitless”. Allen Keen, in his interview with Gordon Jack, echoes Crow, saying, “She performed maracas and wished to be on a document date with us, however she didn’t kick the beat off into one thing higher than it was; in truth, she was a little bit of a drag.”
Deciding who to imagine – the sceptics or her supporters – invitations debate. Mulligan’s acknowledgment of her affect carries weight. Then again, her tendency to self-aggrandisement was readily evident to those that knew her. By some means she managed to place herself on the centre of each important musical growth by which she grew to become concerned. Citing only one instance, she advised me how a younger African-American pianist and singer known as R.C. stopped copying Nat King Cole and located his personal voice after listening to her preach the blues in a Seattle nightclub within the 40s. This explains how Ray Charles grew to become her reward to the world!
Regardless of her bluster, she might activate the allure when she wished. At our 2002 assembly, her defences cooled a bit when she realised I knew one thing about jazz and was genuinely involved in her story. She advised me she had been “conceived in New Orleans” and born in 1918 in Toledo, Washington, a considerably distant hamlet on the Cowlitz River, positioned between Seattle and Portland. Later she lived in Centralia, Washington the place she started taking part in saxophone within the college band. Sooner or later, her father operated a “roadhouse” that featured stay music, offering her an early style of performing.
A precocious teen, she grew keen on Euclidean geometry at an early age. Later, she digested a gentle weight-reduction plan of works of the nice philosophers, particularly Nietzsche. She likewise advised me of her curiosity in varied sciences, and within the workings of the human mind. When she was on the street, she would go off and attend a lecture when the opposite musicians wished to social gathering. “I’m up on each concept, each scientific discovery,” Gale advised me.
Notes:
(1) Madden’s start identify was Beatrice McNulty. I’ve been unable to find how she got here by her surname. Bud Shank advised Gordon Jack it got here from her affiliation with saxophonist Dave Madden. She talked about to me that she and Madden had lived collectively for a number of years however weren’t associated. Additionally, in the course of the time I knew her, she was spelling her identify “Gale,” not “Gail” because it had been spelt in supply supplies. Indications are she selected the alternate spelling herself. Aside from quotes from direct sources, I take advantage of the latter spelling all through this piece.
To be continued
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