Six for Saturday - In Memory of Free Jazz Violinist Billy Bang (1947-2011)

Billy BangAn excerpt from the New York Times:      "Billy Bang, a violinist whose gritty, expressive and spirited playing earned admiration in contemporary jazz circles, died on Monday at his home in Harlem. He was 63.

The cause was complications of lung cancer, said Jean-Pierre Leduc, his friend and agent.

Prominent as a bandleader and a sideman throughout the 1980s and ’90s, Mr. Bang achieved his most substantial success with the 2001 album “Vietnam: The Aftermath”. It featured music inspired by his time serving in the Army during the Vietnam War, played with peers who had also served. The album — and a 2005 sequel, “Vietnam: Reflections”, which included Vietnamese musicians — in turn inspired “Redemption Song”, a 2008 documentary film about him."

RIP, sir.

The first 5 videos are of the Billy Bang Quintet performing at NYC's Savoy Theater two months ago (4 Feb 2011):

This last video is of the Billy Bang Quintet performing at The Knitting Factory in New York City back in 2000:

Click here to read and listen to A Blog Supreme/NPR Jazz's tribute to Billy Bang.

What are your memories of his music? Now that I've read about his life and challenges, I want to check out both Vietnam: The Aftermath and Vietnam: Reflections. I know that some of my readers either served in the Vietnam War or were affected by having family members serve in it. What are your thoughts about Vietnam as time moves on? I'd really like to hear about that.

I can't end this post without giving a shoutout to Robert Posey aka @regretblues on Twitter!

Comments

[rpposey]

Thanks for the wonderful videos! I think the new CD Prayer for Peace is also good starting point. Rainbow Gladiator (my introduction to his music) has great group sound, while Commandment is a beautiful solo set. As to 'Nam, having pen pals in 1st Air Cav from 1967-1970 when I was 8 thru 10 years old was how I learned a little about what the soldiers went through. The Lt. of our pen pals was KIA & his widow brought us his coffin flag. A revealing comment from one pen pal was that us kids knew more about where his unit was than he did, but he thought he was near the Cambodian border. The return to USA was terrible for many soldiers; as Billy Bang has said, there was no re-entry help.

[Donna M]

Hi Robert!

You're welcome for the vids - thank you for being the inspiration. :) So, now based on your recommendation, I will also check out the Prayer For Peace album.

Wow - you corresponded with soldiers during the war? That must have left an impression on you, particularly as you got older. The only thing I remember about Vietnam was the beginning of the pull back and the eventual end. I didn't know anyone personally involved with it (as a young child), so it was just this event happening on the nightly news to me.

Thank you once again for your suggestions! I truly appreciate them.

^DM