Still thinking about my dear friend Harold every day with a mixture of profound sadness and wonderful, warm memories.
Here is an evocative Martin Bostock photograph of Harold guesting with my Orchestra Futura trio at the Clothworker's Hall in Leeds on the occasion of my 70th birthday event, two years ago. That was such an honour for me and ended up being the final time we would play together, though we both had no idea of what was to come...
I love the warm expression on Harold's face as he looks from the piano towards where I'm playing guitar...
@Bill Nelson, I see now that it's a hoodie that you're wearing in the top photo', but the way that hoodie looks and with your haircut, the Japanese bells, well, it's all very much with-religious-cult-implications-emanating-from that can't be ignored by me at first glance. 😊 The cult of magick music.
Some time around 1953 - he must have been 16 - he remembers bunking off school and driving to the coast with some friends listening to AM radio. One track stood out."Jesus Christ! What is that?""Stan Getz, man."Getz's "Indian Summer" electrified him. He recalls, in some detail, the complex emotional reaction he had to the track. It wasn't just that it made him feel good. What made the music even more poignant was the sense that despite its beauty, he says, he couldn't feel good all the time.Enthused by Getz, he took up jazz drums, playing in local go-nowhere bands. The following year he fell in love with Lenny Tristano's "Line Up" and remembers thinking, "Nothing is ever going to top this..."... from The Independent
Harold's early musical incarnation was as a drummer, playing with avant garde saxophonist Albert Ayler, when they were in the army together. Ayler went on to record some of the most confrontational free jazz recordings of all time. I remember Ayler's albums being released on the ESP label back in the '60s, one of which was on transparent vinyl if I remember correctly.
Harold, after pursuing an extremely conceptual and hyper minimalist mode of composition, turned his back on the so-called 'avant garde' and developed a unique, personal style of music which aimed at a profound, highly focused sound, a sound which has been described as 'pretty.' It was actually a beautiful, transcendent form, encapsulating Harold's warm soul and his acute, sophisticated sense of harmony and space.
His music had poise and grace, tenderness and sadness, it was both sharp and soft. I understood it instinctively, if not academically. Hearing it for the first time was a revelation, like meeting a fellow soul. Despite our different backgrounds, upbringing, education and birth countries, we became brothers of the heart. I think of him in the wee hours of every night, and miss his letters and laughter so much.
So sorry this is late...Bill, I know how difficult this is for you as I still think about Chuck Bird passing - six months after Ian past.
My loving and peaceful thoughts are with you and Emiko.
I am sooooo thankful to have seen and heard Harold and Bill play together and to be surrounded by the Bill Nelson family, friends and fans that evening. It was magical!
I have cherished memories of being at the Brighton gig....but fifteen years ago! Was it really that long since that evening - dear God - time goes so damn quick....that's why every single moment mustn't be taken for granted....
Life runs out like sand....someone will write a song about that one day no doubt....
Some years ago, I recorded some tracks with Harold in Hull at Steve Cobby's studio. The resulting EP was titled 'Three White Roses And A Budd'. I'd forgotten that, several years before, I had sold my Wurlitzer electric piano to Steve Cobby, and that very same Wurlitzer piano was still in Steve's possession when Harold and I went to try recording something with Steve. The piano had an interesting history because it was the same piano that I had written, and demoed 'Ships In The Night' on, back in the '70s.
So, here is a photo' of Harold, playing the 'Ships In The Night' piano during the recording sessions for the EP we recorded in Hull together, all those years later. (Thats me on drums in the background by the way.)
Found this quote from Harold in an article that also includes a recent photograph of him playing drums ...
BILL NELSON“I noticed that my accent changed when I lived in the UK. I remember training it up to see Bill Nelson for dinner with his family and his wife said that that I had a very posh accent. That pleased me but it was somewhat surprising.”
The 'White Arcades' was very inspiring to me as a 17 or 18 year old. I never knew of his connection to Bill until 'By The Dawn's Early Light' album. I was very pleased that two of my favorite musicians were friendly collaborators. I've always loved 'The Real Dream of Sails' and have used it to bring on good dreams.
My friend Martin Bostock posted, on Facebook yesterday, this photograph he had taken of Harold and I playing together at my Clothworker's Hall 70th birthday concert in Leeds. When I saw it, the floodgates opened and I broke down in tears...
This ancient and intriguing name is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and derives from the Old English personal name or byname, "Budda". There is some confusion about the original meaning of the name; it may reflect the use of the Old English pre 7th century "budde", bud, swelling, as a nickname for a plump or thickset person, or it may also have been used as a nickname for someone with some fancied resemblance to a beetle, from the Old English "budda", beetle. The first recording, below, is strictly speaking that of a byname, and the entry describes the person as being "so called because of his thickness".
The personal name Budda appears in a number of English placenames, such as Budbrooke, in Warwickshire, and Budworth in Cheshire, and has generated a variety of derivative surnames, among them the diminutive form's, Budcock, and the patronymics Budds and Budding. The marriage of one Bartholomew Budd and Mary Smyth was recorded at St. Andrew by the Wardrobe, in London, on February 4th 1573. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Brihtmerus Budde, which was dated circa 1025, in the Register of Old English Bynames, Cambridgeshire, during the reign of King Canute, 1016 - 1035.
Still thinking about my dear friend Harold every day with a mixture of profound sadness and wonderful, warm memories.
Here is an evocative Martin Bostock photograph of Harold guesting with my Orchestra Futura trio at the Clothworker's Hall in Leeds on the occasion of my 70th birthday event, two years ago. That was such an honour for me and ended up being the final time we would play together, though we both had no idea of what was to come...
I love the warm expression on Harold's face as he looks from the piano towards where I'm playing guitar...
This is from the latest Mojo mag.
Three more photo's from the sessions when Harold and I recorded in Hull for the '3 Roses and a Budd' EP. (Photo's taken by Steve Cobby.)
First photo' is of myself playing a bit of percussion.
Next photo' shows me playing my old Wurlitzer electric piano.
Final photo' is of Harold seated at the Wurlitzer electric piano.
Some time around 1953 - he must have been 16 - he remembers bunking off school and driving to the coast with some friends listening to AM radio. One track stood out. "Jesus Christ! What is that?" "Stan Getz, man." Getz's "Indian Summer" electrified him. He recalls, in some detail, the complex emotional reaction he had to the track. It wasn't just that it made him feel good. What made the music even more poignant was the sense that despite its beauty, he says, he couldn't feel good all the time. Enthused by Getz, he took up jazz drums, playing in local go-nowhere bands. The following year he fell in love with Lenny Tristano's "Line Up" and remembers thinking, "Nothing is ever going to top this..." ... from The Independent
So sorry this is late...Bill, I know how difficult this is for you as I still think about Chuck Bird passing - six months after Ian past.
My loving and peaceful thoughts are with you and Emiko.
I am sooooo thankful to have seen and heard Harold and Bill play together and to be surrounded by the Bill Nelson family, friends and fans that evening. It was magical!
I have cherished memories of being at the Brighton gig....but fifteen years ago! Was it really that long since that evening - dear God - time goes so damn quick....that's why every single moment mustn't be taken for granted....
Life runs out like sand....someone will write a song about that one day no doubt....
Some years ago, I recorded some tracks with Harold in Hull at Steve Cobby's studio. The resulting EP was titled 'Three White Roses And A Budd'. I'd forgotten that, several years before, I had sold my Wurlitzer electric piano to Steve Cobby, and that very same Wurlitzer piano was still in Steve's possession when Harold and I went to try recording something with Steve. The piano had an interesting history because it was the same piano that I had written, and demoed 'Ships In The Night' on, back in the '70s.
So, here is a photo' of Harold, playing the 'Ships In The Night' piano during the recording sessions for the EP we recorded in Hull together, all those years later. (Thats me on drums in the background by the way.)
Found this quote from Harold in an article that also includes a recent photograph of him playing drums ...
BILL NELSON “I noticed that my accent changed when I lived in the UK. I remember training it up to see Bill Nelson for dinner with his family and his wife said that that I had a very posh accent. That pleased me but it was somewhat surprising.”
Harold Budd and Laraaji perform in a Cave in 1989
The 'White Arcades' was very inspiring to me as a 17 or 18 year old. I never knew of his connection to Bill until 'By The Dawn's Early Light' album. I was very pleased that two of my favorite musicians were friendly collaborators. I've always loved 'The Real Dream of Sails' and have used it to bring on good dreams.
Hugely sad....I'm sorry for the loss of your friend Bill.
What can I say. About that picture, he is teh image of his music...I already miss
him.
My friend Martin Bostock posted, on Facebook yesterday, this photograph he had taken of Harold and I playing together at my Clothworker's Hall 70th birthday concert in Leeds. When I saw it, the floodgates opened and I broke down in tears...
Budd
This ancient and intriguing name is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and derives from the Old English personal name or byname, "Budda". There is some confusion about the original meaning of the name; it may reflect the use of the Old English pre 7th century "budde", bud, swelling, as a nickname for a plump or thickset person, or it may also have been used as a nickname for someone with some fancied resemblance to a beetle, from the Old English "budda", beetle. The first recording, below, is strictly speaking that of a byname, and the entry describes the person as being "so called because of his thickness".
The personal name Budda appears in a number of English placenames, such as Budbrooke, in Warwickshire, and Budworth in Cheshire, and has generated a variety of derivative surnames, among them the diminutive form's, Budcock, and the patronymics Budds and Budding. The marriage of one Bartholomew Budd and Mary Smyth was recorded at St. Andrew by the Wardrobe, in London, on February 4th 1573. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Brihtmerus Budde, which was dated circa 1025, in the Register of Old English Bynames, Cambridgeshire, during the reign of King Canute, 1016 - 1035.
Read more: https://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Budd#ixzz6gHKdQnKa
Yes very sad. An artist who's music changed my life in subtle ways.