33-481: Portraits Plus is an album by the jazz pianist Stan Tracey . It was released in 1993 and was shortlisted for the 1993 Mercury Prize . AllMusic called "Newk's Fluke" "a chugging, engaging post-bop vehicle which includes a blend of Latin and Brazilian rhythms and potent ensembles." This 1990s jazz album-related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Stan Tracey Stanley William Tracey CBE (30 December 1926 – 6 December 2013)
66-446: A free or avant-garde style, including Mike Osborne , Keith Tippett and John Surman . Tracey continued to work in this idiom with Evan Parker at the UK's Appleby Jazz Festival for several years, but this was always more of a sideline for Tracey, who said that he "took more out of free music into the mainstream than I did from mainstream into free". Neil Ferber founder and organiser of
99-478: A US tour with singer Carmen McRae . Although Tracey disliked Heath's music, he gained a regular income and was well featured as a soloist on both piano and vibes, and contributed compositions and arrangements that stayed in the Heath book for many years. The following year he recorded his first album as leader, Showcase , for English Decca (also Heath's label) and Little Klunk in 1959; he had first recorded in 1952 with
132-548: A limited-edition album was produced of a 2013 recording of his poem sequence "Bankbusted Nuclear Detergent Blues", on which he is accompanied by Paul Weller , Graham Coxon and Damon Albarn . Horovitz was married to the English poet Frances Horovitz (1938–1983), their son Adam Horovitz (born 1971) is also a poet, performer and journalist. Michael Horovitz's home was in Notting Hill , London. In his later years, it became
165-553: A notoriously chaotic repository of his personal papers and archives. "Indoor skip it may seem to you, but compared to Francis Bacon 's studio, my pad here is Versailles", he said in a 2010 Evening Standard interview. Horovitz was a loyal supporter of Arsenal Football Club . Horovitz met the British-Spanish artist Vanessa Vie in 2012 with whom he sustained a personal and creative partnership until his death. Horovitz died at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington , on 7 July 2021, at
198-634: A range of writers and musicians, including Adrian Mitchell and Stan Tracey . Horovitz also devised the Poetry Olympics festival, held for the first time in Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey in 1980, with participants over the years including Linton Kwesi Johnson , John Cooper Clarke , Paul McCartney , Eliza Carthy and Damon Albarn . Horovitz was born in 1935 in Frankfurt , then in Nazi Germany . He
231-401: A resurrection & a life for poetry united , with an original dustjacket by Peter Blake . The book is a collection of British artists of the period, with illustrations and photographs by Peter Blake, Michael Tyzack , Adrian Henri , Patrick Hughes , Gabi Nasemann, Paul Kaplan, John Furnival , Bob Godfrey , Pete Morgan , Jeff Nuttall , David Hockney , as well as Horovitz and others. It is
264-497: A student, he founded the periodical New Departures , publishing authors such as William S. Burroughs , Samuel Beckett , and Stevie Smith . Horovitz continued to edit New Departures for 50 years. He coordinated many poetry events such as "Live New Departures", Jazz Poetry Super Jams and the Poetry Olympics festivals. Though initially associated with the British Poetry Revival , Horovitz became known by his appearance at
297-580: A visual and literary elegy to the culture surrounding association football up to the 1960s, celebrating not only Wolves and its supporters, but also Arsenal , Spurs , and teams from the North. Horovitz's Growing Up: Selected Poems and Pictures, 1951–79 was published by Allison & Busby in 1979. In 2007, Horovitz published A New Waste Land: Timeship Earth at Nillennium , described by D. J. Taylor in The Independent as "a deeply felt clarion-call from
330-472: Is unusual for British jazz musicians to do. Under Milk Wood was followed by Alice in Jazzland , an album for big band, the next year featuring many of his former Ted Heath colleagues. Later in the decade, Tracey made the arrangements for an Acker Bilk record, Blue Acker , and his first album dedicated to Duke Ellington compositions (both recorded in 1968), in this case to commemorate Ellington's 70th birthday
363-463: The Appleby Jazz Festival built the festival around Stan Tracey and the musicians who worked with him, booking Stan to appear at every festival for the 18 years that it existed. In the mid-1970s he formed his own record label, Steam , and through it reissued Under Milk Wood (the major label that held the rights to it had allowed it to fall out of print ). Over the next decade he also used
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#1733092378036396-604: The For Heaven's Sake album and also performed gigs together. In 2003 Tracey was the subject of a BBC Television documentary Godfather of British Jazz , a rare accolade nowadays for any jazz musician, let alone one from Britain. Tracey's catalogue from the LP era is being reissued on ReSteamed Records. Already an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), he was appointed Commander of
429-663: The International Poetry Incarnation at the Royal Albert Hall on 11 June 1965, alongside Allen Ginsberg and Alexander Trocchi . In 1969, Penguin Books published Horovitz's Children of Albion anthology. Introducing him to New York City in 1970, Ginsberg characterised him as a "Popular, experienced, experimental, New Jerusalem, Jazz Generation, Sensitive Bard". In 1971, Horovitz published The Wolverhampton Wanderer, an epic of Britannia, in twelve books, with
462-569: The 1965 landmark International Poetry Incarnation , at the Royal Albert Hall in London, deemed to have spawned the British underground scene, when an audience of more than 6,000 came to hear readings by the likes of Ginsberg, Burroughs, Gregory Corso and Lawrence Ferlinghetti . Characterised as an early champion of oral and jazz poetry, Horovitz in the following decades organised many "Live New Departures" events featuring poetry and jazz performances by
495-446: The Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2008 New Year Honours . Tracey died of cancer on 6 December 2013; he was survived by his son, Clark Tracey , who has written a biography of his father, with a complete discography. His daughter Sarah died in 2012. With Stan Getz With Ronnie Scott With Ben Webster With others Michael Horovitz Michael W. Horovitz OBE (4 April 1935 – 7 July 2021)
528-503: The United Kingdom. Tracey was inspired to compose the suite by hearing the original 1953 BBC broadcast on an LP his wife Jackie had acquired. The track "Starless and Bible Black", a quote from the opening monologue, is probably the best demonstration of Wellins' lyricism and the highlight of Tracey's whole career. Such is the affection with which these pieces are held that Tracey has re-recorded them on several occasions, something that
561-618: The Welfare State , edited by Alan Morrison . An eccentric and colourful part of the UK poetry scene, Horovitz fronted the William Blake Klezmatrix (one his heroes being the 19th-century poet and painter William Blake ), featuring trombonist Annie Whitehead, pianist Peter Lemer, and often, in later years, his companion, poet and singer Vanessa Vie, where he played his "anglo-saxophone", an updated and extended eunuch flute of his own devising. To celebrate Horovitz's 80th birthday,
594-549: The age of 86. He was also recognised for his artwork and at the time of his death a two-week exhibition of his "Bop Art paintings, collages and picture poems" was opening at the Chelsea Arts Club (6–25 July). Michael Horovitz is buried in Kensal Green Cemetery next to Harold Pinter, Eric Fried, Anthony Trollope, Wilkie Collins, William Makepeace Thackeray, Alice Maynell, in among other renowned contributors to
627-454: The age of sixteen as a member of an ENSA touring group playing the accordion, his first instrument. He joined Ralph Reader's Gang Shows at the age of nineteen, while in the RAF and formed a brief acquaintance with the comedian Tony Hancock . Later, in the early 1950s, he worked in groups on the transatlantic liners Queen Mary and Caronia and toured the UK in 1951 with Cab Calloway . By
660-509: The beat generation, Keats to Bob Dylan and Blake to Beckett. In the same article he emphasised the connections between art media, stage and page poetry, and his wish to extend "communal paths my bardmobile has struck over the last five decades." In the event. Horovitz came second, in a field of 11, to Geoffrey Hill . In January 2011, Horovitz contributed to an eBook collection of political poems entitled Emergency Verse – Poetry in Defence of
693-484: The club. Recordings of some of these performances appeared on LP, while others appeared on the Jazz House and Harkit labels, recorded by the journalist Les Tomkins, but with non-professional recording equipment. Which working at Scott's club, Tracey gained some high-profile admirers; Sonny Rollins asserted at one concert: "Does anyone here know how good he is?". It is Tracey on piano that film viewers hear behind Rollins on
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#1733092378036726-539: The drummer Clark Tracey . He was able to share the billing with arranger Gil Evans in a 1978 concert at the Royal Festival Hall , such was Tracey's pre-eminence in the UK. In private, he played Ellington recordings for Evans that the latter had not previously heard. Tracey continued to record with American musicians on occasion as well, with dates taking place with Sal Nistico in 1985 and Monk associate, Charlie Rouse in 1987. The Steam label ceased trading in
759-594: The early 1990s, reportedly because of difficulties caused by the retail trade's need for its inventory to carry a barcode . However, in 1992 Tracey benefited from Blue Note's brief interest in UK musicians, leading to the Portraits Plus album and the commercial issue of the BBC 's recording of the concert commemorating the 50th anniversary of Tracey's first professional gig, as well as Under Milk Wood ′s debut on CD. In 1995 his new quartet featuring Gerard Presencer recorded
792-496: The following year. The early 1970s were a bleak time for Tracey. Around 1970, he almost chose to retrain as a postman under pressure from the Unemployment Benefits' office – "I would have quite a good pension by now" he quips – but his wife, formerly involved in public relations, took a more direct role in the development of Tracey's career. He began to work with musicians of a later generation, who worked in
825-558: The mid-1950s, he had also taken up the vibraphone , but later ceased playing it. At this time he worked widely with leading British modernists, including drummer Tony Crombie , clarinettist Vic Ash , the saxophonist-arranger Kenny Graham and trumpeter Dizzy Reece . In February 1957, he toured the United States with Ronnie Scott 's group, and became the pianist with Ted Heath's Orchestra in September for two years (1958–59), including
858-402: The musicians interacted spontaneously with the words. The New Departures group recorded an album in 1964 with saxophonist Bobby Wellins , a partnership that continued for several decades. Both men contributed original compositions to the album. Tracey's 1965 album (its full title is Jazz Suite Inspired by Dylan Thomas's "Under Milk Wood" ) is one of the most celebrated jazz recordings made in
891-496: The outlet to issue recordings of a number of commissioned suites. These included The Salisbury Suite (1978), The Crompton Suite (1981) and The Poets Suite (1984). He led his own octet from 1976 to 1985 and formed a sextet in 1979 (later called Hexad), touring widely in the Middle East and India. In this context he had a longstanding performance partnership from 1978 with saxophonist (and physician) Art Themen , and his own son,
924-506: The radical underground", and by Tom Stoppard as "A true scrapbook and songbook of the grave new world". Horovitz stood for election as Oxford Professor of Poetry in 2010 (supported by Tony Benn ). Contributing to The Guardian , Horovitz wrote then: I would most likely pitch some of my lectures around the legacies of my closest comrades in the broad continuum of poetry, from David and Solomon to James Joyce , Sappho to Bessie Smith , Beowulf to Lead Belly , medieval troubadours to
957-608: The soundtrack of the Michael Caine version of Alfie (1966). However, the experience of working in Scott's club affected Tracey's health; the long hours led to him taking various illicit stimulants, and the low wages also meant that he had to take the workman's bus back home to Streatham at 3 am. At the same time, he became active too in Michael Horovitz's New Departures project, mixing poetry performances with jazz, where
990-503: The trumpeter Kenny Baker . At Decca Records, Tracey met his future wife, Jackie Buckland (3 April 1929 – 13 August 2009 ); the couple had two children Clark and Sarah. From March 1960 until about 1967 (some sources give 1968), Tracey was the house pianist at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in Soho , London, and he had the opportunity to accompany many of the leading musicians from the US who visited
1023-468: Was a British jazz pianist and composer, whose most important influences were Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk . Tracey's best known recording is the 1965 album Jazz Suite Inspired by Dylan Thomas's "Under Milk Wood" , which is based on the BBC radio drama Under Milk Wood , by Dylan Thomas . The Second World War meant that Tracey had a disrupted formal education, and he became a professional musician at
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1056-457: Was a German-born British poet, editor, visual artist and translator who was a leading part of the Beat Poetry scene in the UK. In 1959, while still a student, he founded the "trail-blazing" literary periodical New Departures , publishing experimental poetry, including the work of William S. Burroughs , Allen Ginsberg and many other American and British beat poets. Horovitz read his own work at
1089-529: Was the youngest of ten children who were brought to Britain in 1937 by their Jewish parents, Rosi (née Feist) and Dr Avraham Horovitz, both of whom were part of a network of European rabbinical families, and from London Dr Horovitz helped organise routes for other Jewish families to flee the Holocaust. Michael Horovitz attended William Ellis School in north London, and went on to read English at Brasenose College, Oxford , from 1954 to 1960. In 1959, while still
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