[f_minor] Being Kind and Kevin Bazzana

[Jörgen Lundmark]

Hello Mary,

I didn't comment on the Ray Roberts part of your message since I don't 
have details. Kevin Bazzana on the other hand does:

= FYI, yes it is Ray Roberts who has the "basement of mystery" where so 
much Gould material resides (assuming it hasn't finally been moved to 
Ottawa)---definitely the recordings kept back by the estate, maybe also 
photos and such. (At some point, Bert Gould gave the estate a big trove 
of photos, many unique, some of which appeared in the "Life in Pictures" 
book---I don't know if these have been put in the Ottawa archive.) 
There's nothing "questionable" here; Ray has always had some sort of 
official consulting relationship with the GG estate. My point was not 
that anyone is doing anything illegal or underhanded, just that by 
scholarly/archival standards they are being shockingly cavalier about 
some unique and important and priceless material.

= As to Joseph Stephens, just to clarify: he was never really "close" to 
Gould, and never claimed he was. They knew each other over a long 
period, but it was a not-very-deep telephone relationship, not a close 
friendship. JS actually stressed that to me when I chatted with him for 
my biography. Stephens and Peter Ostwald are often referred to in the 
literature close friends of Gould's, but that was never the 
case---Ostwald's conclusions have sometimes been given undue weight for 
this reason. His is a good book, but not because of any special, 
profound personal access to the subject.

Two other vitally imporant matters:

= I am not "far away and unapproachable"; just lazy and sullen and 
reluctant to get involved in most things.

= "Wondrous Strange" is a terrible title but it is all I could come up 
with. I came up with it at the very last minute (ie, late on the night 
before the deadline for picking a title) while desperately flipping 
through Shakespeare, after a fruitless evening spent brainstorming with 
my wife. As far as I can tell, everyone on earth loves this title except 
me---strange. Incidentally, the original title (same Shakespeare 
reference) was "Wondrous Strange Snow", which I actually like better, 
esp. with its appropriate "wintery" allusion and more direct connection 
to Shakespeare's "hot ice" image, but I let my editor chop off the noun; 
by then I was too weary to care. I've written 2 other books and they too 
have the same problem: a title that I came up with desperately at the 
last minute and that everyone likes except me. If I ever write another 
book, I will WRITE THE TITLE FIRST and make sure it's perfect before 
proceeding to Page 1.

K

Hope this answers your questions.

Regards,
Jorgen

maryellen jensen skrev 2011-06-21 04:04:
>
> Jorgen, You are Just*.* I was not Kind**I was Honest. You merit that.
>
> I would love to pose a dozen or more questions to Kevin Bazzana but he 
> seems
> so far away and unapproachable. 'Wondrous Strange' is a brilliant 
> title for a brilliant biography.
>
> No one has answered my question about Ray Roberts.
>
> Only _one_ person on F Minor ever acknowledged my email about Dr. Joe 
> Stephens and Agi Jambor and
> it wasn't Kevin Bazzana. It was K. Papademas.
>
> The End of the Concert: you're correct. It's not a question of 
> either/or. It never was, it never will be.
> I love chamber music live, I'm not worried about it.
>
> Zenph is utter crap and anyone who listens to it is crap as well.
>
> If Sony wants to spend 3 Million Dollars to sign up Lang Lang why not? 
> China is the big market.
> China is also the largest market for bootleg crap but Sony prohibits 
> *M&A *from distributing Honest
> Gould Live. Go figure that one.
>
> nota bene: You can still have holes in your socks on stage _and_ on 
> film in the recording studio. I have
> spoken with men who have even worn women's undergarments at war. It's 
> all true, everything is permitted.
>
> Mary
>
>

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