Classical and jazz composer William Thomas McKinley
Steve Forrester, editor and publisher of Astoria, Oregon’s The Daily Astorian, and an avid supporter of jazz and jazz programmers at Astoria’s public radio station Coast Community Radio, recently asked me if I had ever heard of William Thomas McKinley, a classical pianist and composer, who had died recently. McKinley was also a jazz composer as well, and had written tunes for many well-known jazz musicians. I had never heard of him before, so Steve sent me his obit published in The New York Times.
McKinley’s obit was really interesting and got me digging for more information about him and his connection to jazz. On the surface classical music and jazz may seem at odds with each other—the readers vs. the improvisers—so it’s fascinating to learn about a musician such as McKinley coming from a classical background who is comfortable and influential in both worlds.
Lennie Tristano
The day that Steve sent me the information about McKinley was also jazz pianist Lennie Tristano‘s birthday. Tristano is not a well-known jazz musician and his contributions to jazz are often underrated, but he is an interesting example of a musician who was classically trained at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago but believed his remarkable improvisational talents better suited in the jazz idiom. Also remarkable is the fact that he was totally blind since the age of nine as a result of glaucoma.
To see a live performance of Tristano, I recommend you check out the following amazing video of the Lennie Tristano Quintet performing at New York City’s Half Note in 1964 with altoist Lee Konitz and tenor saxophonist Warne Marsh, both of whom were former students of Tristano’s. The film is from the CBS News program Look Up and Live, hosted every Sunday by radical theologian Dr. William Hamilton. There is an odd but fascinating essay in the middle of the film wherein Hamilton discusses, in the midst of the club’s patrons, Christianity and its relevance to jazz.
William Hamilton, in a 1950 photograph, earned his doctorate at St. Andrews University in Scotland in 1952.
As an aside, it’s interesting to note that Dr. Hamilton moved to Portland in 1970 to teach at Portland State University. He taught there until he retired in 1984. He was also a dean of arts and letters there. He died in 2012 in Portland. Nancy Haught wrote his obit for The Oregonian on Feb. 29. She gives an excellent if brief overview of Hamilton’s unusual career.
Call and Response 