I really enjoyed your writing. I studied with Pete and he was a really deep person. It was towards the end of his life and his physical abilities were somewhat diminished, but when he occasionally would sit and play he sounded incredible. He conveyed some concepts about playing non-repetitive time based off of the ride that were extremely helpful.
One thing that may not be widely known is he was really into classical music. He had me analyze a few scores. His intention was to submerge into compositional techniques.
On the first lesson he talked about being able to instantly access an out of body mind state. He said it happened to him accidentally while was playing with Sonny Rollins and it freaked him out. He told me it took years to understand what had happened but he could freely get to that consciousness.
Just a suggestion but one of the best recordings he did in my opinion was the Coltrane live at the Jazz Gallery.
He did tell me that while he was soloing on Minor Apprehension he was always thinking of the form.
Dec 2, 2022·edited Dec 2, 2022Liked by Vinnie Sperrazza
You do explain well where the "La Roca" name came from, and, considering that his most important years as a jazz musician saw him using that name professionally, it seems reasonable to refer to him as "La Roca". But I'll note that for the last 45 years of his life, he preferred to be known professionally as Pete Sims, and he begrudgingly let others bill him as Pete "La Roca" Sims because having some name recognition was better than having no name recognition in the very tough post 1960s acoustic jazz scene. Sims was (personally) done with "La Roca" by the time he left jazz to get his law degree in the late 1960s.
Great piece. Milford Graves started out playing Latin music; his first credit was on an album by Jamaican conguero Roger "Montego Joe" Sanders, and there's some mention of that early work in his NY Times obit:
Vinnie, a great essay! The solo is something to behold! As you pointed out, it is astonishing how everybody joins him at the end. What I noticed that for the last half minute or so after the solo and everyone else joins in, he maintains that free feeling in all his strokes. How he starts the piece is different from how he ends it. He must have been in a different state of consciousness after the solo. Great inspiration! Million thanks!
Hi Vinnie
I really enjoyed your writing. I studied with Pete and he was a really deep person. It was towards the end of his life and his physical abilities were somewhat diminished, but when he occasionally would sit and play he sounded incredible. He conveyed some concepts about playing non-repetitive time based off of the ride that were extremely helpful.
One thing that may not be widely known is he was really into classical music. He had me analyze a few scores. His intention was to submerge into compositional techniques.
On the first lesson he talked about being able to instantly access an out of body mind state. He said it happened to him accidentally while was playing with Sonny Rollins and it freaked him out. He told me it took years to understand what had happened but he could freely get to that consciousness.
Just a suggestion but one of the best recordings he did in my opinion was the Coltrane live at the Jazz Gallery.
He did tell me that while he was soloing on Minor Apprehension he was always thinking of the form.
Thank!
Pete Sweeney
You do explain well where the "La Roca" name came from, and, considering that his most important years as a jazz musician saw him using that name professionally, it seems reasonable to refer to him as "La Roca". But I'll note that for the last 45 years of his life, he preferred to be known professionally as Pete Sims, and he begrudgingly let others bill him as Pete "La Roca" Sims because having some name recognition was better than having no name recognition in the very tough post 1960s acoustic jazz scene. Sims was (personally) done with "La Roca" by the time he left jazz to get his law degree in the late 1960s.
Great piece. Milford Graves started out playing Latin music; his first credit was on an album by Jamaican conguero Roger "Montego Joe" Sanders, and there's some mention of that early work in his NY Times obit:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/19/arts/music/milford-graves-dead.html
Solid! If All roads lead to Rome, they at least pass through Utica...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlGTCIN5Kcg&list=PL0q2VleZJVElEY8R5Q6ldM8a650mB_Qdy
Two thumbs up, Vinnie!
Vinnie, a great essay! The solo is something to behold! As you pointed out, it is astonishing how everybody joins him at the end. What I noticed that for the last half minute or so after the solo and everyone else joins in, he maintains that free feeling in all his strokes. How he starts the piece is different from how he ends it. He must have been in a different state of consciousness after the solo. Great inspiration! Million thanks!
Thanks for sharing ! I wasn't familiar with the referenced Jackie McLean and Shelly Manne recordings.