#roy sheppard

[rewritethisstxry]

Hello and welcome to my mixed mosh little corner of tumblr. Here I write for a variety of fandoms and characters. Primarily will be featuring drabbles with the occasional longer piece. Headcanons will feature from time to time.

At the time I do NOT consent for my work to be translated or posted anywhere else.

Below you will find some more information on who and what I write.

MINORS DNI. Due to the nature of potential content, only 18 and older are allowed.

Characters || Rules || Masterlist || Slasher/horror writing blog : @slxsherwriter

What I will write:

Angst

Fluff

Smut

Platonic relationships

Alpha/Omega dynamics

What I won’t write:

Snuff

Rape, rape play, non con

Underage

Inc*st

Real person fic

Marvel: Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Alexei Shostakov, Peter Parker, Victor Creed, Deacon Frost, Peter Quinn, Frank Castle, Matt Murdock, Foggy Nelson, Bruce Banner, Brock Rumlow, Nathan Summers, Eddie Brock, Cletus Kasady, Otto Octavius

DC Universe: Bruce Wayne, Harvey Bullock, Jim Gordon, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Jonathan Crane, Clark Kent, Arthur Curry

Stranger Things: James Hopper, Steve Harrington, Jonathan Byers

Stargate Atlantis: Rodney McKay, John Sheppard, Ronan Dex, Carson Beckett

Sons of Anarchy: Jackson “Jax” Teller, Harry “Opie” Winston, Filip “Chibs” Telford, Juan Carlos “Juice” Ortiz, Lincoln Potter, Galen O'Shay

The Walking Dead: Rick Grimes, Shane Walsh, Negan Smith

What We Do in the Shadows: Nandor the Relentless, Guillermo de la Cruz, Laszlo Cravensworth

Resident Evil: Karl Heisenberg, Albert Wesker, Chris Redfield

Ted Lasso: Ted Lasso, Coach Beard, Jamie Tartt, Roy Kent

Good Omens: Gabriel, Aziraphale, Crowley

Video Games: Connor RK800, CaptainJonathan Price, Simon Ghost Riley, Sniper

Movies: Finn Brody (Godzilla), Raleigh Becket (Pacific Rim), Terry Malone (Black and Blue), Abe Guevara (Point Blank), Bobby O’Neill (The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard), Guy Clifton (The Crash), Roy Pulver (Boss Level), Sloan (Into the Ashes) Braxton Wolff (The Accountant), Ethan Sawyer (Those Who Wish Me Dead), Bradley James (Grudge Match), Sam Rossi (Sweet Virginia), Mr. McCarthy (Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl), Grady Travis (Fury), Griff (Baby Driver), Adam Frawley (The Town), Buddy (Baby Driver), Clyde Brenek (The Posession), Patrick Sullivan (The Accidental Husband), Harvey Russell (Rampage), Jude Fisher (Peace, Love, and Misunderstanding), Luke Vaughn (Heist), Franklin Clay (The Losers), Max (The Resident), Nicomund the Red/Santa Claus (Violent Night), Doug Dennison (Sleepless), Frank Masters (The Equalizer), Hellboy (2019), Alex Baldr (Max Payne), Matt Graver (Sicario), Douglas Hunsiker (The Rise of the Planet of the Apes), Steve Emmett (Boa vs Python), Joe Braven (Braven), Lee Christmas (The Expendables), Deckard Shaw (Fast & Furious)

Musicals: Jack Kelly (Newsies), Dewey Finn (School of Rock), Hades (Hadestown)

Tv shows: Ike Evans (Magic City), Jason Crouse (The Good Wife), John Winchester (Supernatural), Mason Baldwin (Elementary), Colton Fisk (The Equalizer), Kevin Tidwell (Life), Declan Murphy (Law & Order: SVU), Eugene McGillicutty (Royal Pains), Chuck Martin (ER), Dickie Flood (Th Practice), Malcolm Bright (Prodigal Son)

Tolkien: Boromir, Faramir, Eomer

#fandom imagines #fandom writing #dc comics #marvel #sons of anarchy #lord of the rings #what we do in the shadows #pacific rim #resident evil #Ted lasso #walking dead #stranger things #good omens #obscure characters #obscure writings

[audioletter]

MASTERLIST (updated as I go):

Day 1: Carry (Miss Parker/Jarod, The Pretender)

Day 2: Tattoos (McShep, Stargate Atlantis and Wriolette, Genshin Impact) (twofer)

Day 3: Skillful (Evan Lorne, Stargate Atlantis)

Day 4: Cinnamon (Weir/Caldwell, Stargate Atlantis)

Day 5: Stuck (Jesse/Arish, Control)

Day 6: First Kiss (Kokomi/Kaeya, Genshin Impact) (~sexy~ continuation on AO3 here: 'Still, In This Room')

Day 7: Back Rub (Scully/Skinner, The X Files)

Day 8: Kiss for Luck (Lumine/Childe, Genshin Impact)

Day 9: Bookmark (Teyla Emmagan, Stargate Atlantis)

Day 10: Autumn Leaves (Kaeya Alberich, Genshin Impact)

Day 11: Bluff (McShep, Stargate Atlantis for @spurious)

Day 12: Hair Care (Teyla/Elizabeth, Stargate Atlantis)

Day 13: Mask (John Sheppard, Stargate Atlantis for @colonelshepparrrrd)

Day 14: Apologies (Navia/Clorinde, Genshin Impact)

Day 15: Anonymous Note (Mulder & Skinner, The X Files)

Day 16: Stargazing (Yoimiya/Keqing, Genshin Impact)

Day 17: Pen Pals (Miss Parker/Jarod, The Pretender)

Day 18: Sunset. Sunrise (Lumine, Genshin Impact)

Day 19: Shopping Trip (AR1, Stargate Atlantis)

Day 20: Morning After (Kokomi/Kaeya, Genshin Impact)

Day 21: Swimming (Dehya/Alhaitham, Genshin Impact)

Day 22: Fake Dating (McShep, Stargate Atlantis)

Day 23: Caught In The Rain (Mulder & Scully, The X Files for Anonymous)

Day 24: Fever (Maya/Phoenix-ish, Ace Attorney)

Day 25: Candles & Lanterns (John/Elizabeth-ish, Stargate Atlantis, for @sparktober)

Day 26: Laces (Navia/Clorinde, Genshin Impact)

Day 27: Double Date (Dehya, Alhaitham, Kaveh & Dunyarzad, Genshin Impact)

Day 28: Confession (Kendall Roy, Succession and Kokomi/Kaeya, Genshin Impact) (twofer)

Day 29: Formalwear (McShep, Stargate Atlantis for @spurious)

Day 30: Only One Bed (AR1, Stargate Atlantis for @colonelshepparrrrd)

Day 31: Fireworks (Yoimiya/Lumine [PWP], Genshin Impact)

I DID IT! Click here for playlist and some stats. GO ME

Happy October! That means it's

FICTOBER TIME!

"But audioletter," you say, "your prompt list says audioletterTober 2023!"

No, I'm not writing fic about myself for thirty-one days (oh lord), let me explain.

So I have been in fandom for almost 30 years, and in the past decade I have run into a lot of problems with being doxxed, (extremely) bad fandom friends/experiences and basically the joy being sucked out of it. I now have two fandoms plus more that I really enjoy, and I started a Tumblr again to, well, enjoy them. Writing used to come as naturally to me as breathing, but I simply stopped because I had such a visceral fear of fandom as a whole. Like, I talk to my therapist about it, it's so bad. You may have noticed @spurious sending me multiple asks for fic based on memes - this has been an exercise in getting my brain back into a fic writing mindset and it has been working.

So, I decided I wanted to do Fictober, but I was not jiving with the prompts. Nothing against them, but my brain is so jammed up, I seem to only be resonating with certain prompts or songs and so, @spurious lovingly made me my own prompt list with those she knew I could work with. I am forever thankful.

If you like the prompts, too, please feel free to use them! I will be tagging my Fictober prompts as #audiolettertober fic, but if you want to use them, let me know what you choose so I can follow your progress too. I'll pin this to the top of my Tumblr for the duration of October.

tl;dr: brain is a mess, will write fic, I'm a delicate hot house flower, let's have fun!

#fic #audiolettertober fic #fictober 2023 #fictober23 #i'm such baby i need my own prompts #luckily i have a supportive partner #she's alright i guess.

[itwoodbeprefect]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love 🤍

thank you!! ❤ i decided to make this five fics from five different fandoms, in no particular order:

-

How To Build A Triangle (or accidentally fall headlong into one, or whatever the fuck) [ted lasso, roy/jamie/keeley]

i wrote this one in a ridiculously short amount of time for how many words it turned out to be, and i had SO much fun doing it. it was the perfect storm of an idea grabbing you and also having the time to let it grab you, and i think the results are great, too, which is even better. (not to mention that seeing it tick past the 1000 kudos mark with ease within i think two months was completely hilarious, used as i currently am to thinking of 50 kudos as a smash hit with the reading public. i won't lie, a massive wave of nice comments IS fun, especially if it's for something you were excited to post!)

-

John Sheppard vs. The Magic Ball of Love [sga, john/rodney]

most of the fandoms i write for these days are not fantasy or sci-fi, but once in a while i'll remember how great it can be to make up some complete nonsense and go "it's magic! i mean, uh, science!", and sga is the perfect sort of setting for that. i wrote this while i should have been writing a paper, which instantly makes anything better, and i still think the core of it is very simple and very silly and very fun, and i always enjoy a good days of the week fic. i also like the way john sounds in this one.

-

Five times Frank was frankly too Frank to notice what Hawkeye and Trapper were up to [mash, frank pov trapper/hawkeye]

i've posted five MASH fics to ao3 and four of them are mainly angst, and that's fine and i love writing that, but at the end of the day what i really like is when it just says Click while writing comedy. i think that happened with this one! frank is (frankly) very frank, hawkeye and trapper are very hawkeye and trapper, and i had a hoot with it, and still have every time i reread it now. frank is an unusual perspective for me to write from, but that just makes it all the more fun.

-

Your hands in my back pockets [starsky/hutch]

these days i do this thing where sometimes i forget that not every fic has to be 2k minimum and convey some deep meaning about something somehow, and that's unfortunate because it obviously makes writing a lot more difficult than it needs to be. this fic was a glorious little moment of breaking through that - the "hey handsome, are you looking for a fun time?" line had been lingering in my drafts meant for some s/h thing for a long time, and then i took that and wrote the entire fic in one sitting, and i think it flows nicely and it's very them and it still accidentally paints that deep picture i keep angling for, just in less than 500 words. a lesson i need to remember! and also just fun, a fun little fic.

-

And I need you more than I want you (And I want you for all time) [h50, steve/danny]

romance! and all of the other kinds of love, and all of it domestic and sure and steve-and-danny. i just like this one and the ways that it worked out and the things it ended up saying a lot, and i enjoy rereading it. easy domestic happy endings in which everyone gets to relax and settle in are my favorite.

#trying to filter out my own (current) favorites was a fun exercise! thank you! #* #tag stuff #my fic #ted lasso #h50 #starsky and hutch #sga #mash

[bagheerita]

B, C, K, N, P, S ❤️️

Ooooh... I really had to think about some of these.

B - A pairing–platonic, romantic or sexual–that you initially didn’t consider, but someone changed your mind.

I feel like often I haven't considered a pairing until I read a fic that does it really well or that gives me a premise I can get behind, but the only time someone, as in another person specifically talking to me, changed my mind was when a friend from one fandom suggested I might enjoy a fic from a different fandom we were both in… so I read an FMA Ed/Roy mpreg fic that I would not have otherwise given the time of day to… and I really enjoyed it ngl. 

C - A ship you have never liked and probably never will.

Sesshomaru/Kagome from the Inuyasha fandom. I do not understand why this pairing was so popular. If you want to hook Sesshomaru up with a human woman, Sango is standing right there ffs, she is such a better choice, lmao. I don't really get Reylo either, and there are plenty of other het ships that just make me scratch my head.

K - What character has your favorite development arc/the best development arc?

Wesley Wyndam-Price from Buffy/Angel. I love this man, and I love his development from someone who has no idea what the fuck is actually going on, to developing both physical and interpersonal competence, to finding a real family, to losing it through accidentally following some bad advice and betraying everyone, to finding love, to losing everything. His devotion to Fred makes a primordial, demonic, god-being care enough to help the protagonists fight an overwhelming army. I mean come on. This might be the one character I really did not mind at all that Whedon killed, because I felt like he had done everything and achieved everything he could possibly achieve and there was nowhere else for him to go. Perfection💔don't tell me anything about the comics i don't care

N - Name three things you wish you saw more of in your main fandom (or a fandom of choice).

For the fandom of Stargate in general… 

More alien headcanons!! There are some really great people writing some fantastic fics for the Wraith, so I'm going to complain specifically about how I want more fics and HC for the Nakai and Ursini in SGU. Also the Reol from SG1 ("The Fifth Man”) have SUCH potential, I want to see more of them!! 

I would love to see more SGU people in SGA plots, if that makes sense. (I have a fic where Sheppard gets booted as military Commander, and I'm thinking of replacing him with Telford. 🤔)

more crossover ideas in general, within the Stargate brand. What if Vala and Cam came to visit Atlantis while Sam was there?  What if the whole gateing-through-the-sun-time-warp thing sent Rush to Pegasus instead and he ran into Todd? What if “Rising” was actually “Solitudes” and Sheppard and O'Neill are the ones trapped under a bunch of ice when their chopper puts down unexpectedly to dodge the drone?  (I just think it would be neat.🙂) 

P - Invent a random AU for any fandom (we always need more ideas).

The last question had a 3 in it so my brain stuck on that track and I came up with 3 SGU AUs I'd like to see

The Lucian Alliance doesn't attack as they're dialing Destiny in ep 1 and even though they have to evacuate bc the planet's about to explode, everyone who doesn't want to go through the gate can beam up to Carter’s ship and evac to Earth. So it's a tense situation but there's enough time and focus that Telford and O'Neill get to send the “right people team" that they wanted to send. I wonder who that was? Presumably this team was already on Icarus base, it just contained fewer civilians. I'd like to see them not do any better, or mess up in different ways. 

Everything happens the same, but Camille is more assertive sooner and gets Young and Rush to stop being such dicks to each other, and everyone has a more mentally healthy experience.

When I first read the title of the s1 finale “Incursion,” I thought it was going to be about the Nakai returning. So, an AU where that happens, OR both the Nakai and the Lucian Alliance show up to invade Destiny on the same day and everything is chaos ❤️

S - Show us an example of your personal headcanon (prompts optional but encouraged)

Wow, I really don't know if I can answer this… I feel like everything I think about the characters is my headcanon to an extent? And what I canon in my head changes for every fic. I think I HC the Wraith as being a lot more into casual touch than they are shown in canon, that just jumps to mind. (But like, there's not much to them, socially, in canon, so it's really all hc, and I don't think I can list all the backstory/society I've made up for them across several fics.) Narrow the question down a bit and I can maybe do better.😂

Thanks for the ask! 💖

Ask game!

#answers

[atlantis-scribe]

anyone willing to write a fic about Sheppard Family Drama, Succession style? it'll be crazy. John's in another galaxy fighting space vampires, only visits once every funeral, and his dad's like. Logan Roy

#i dont even watch the show but it has immaculately rancid vibes #love that for them #john sheppard #not!fic #my post

[edwin--artifex]

"Shanghai Knights" (2003) Touchstone Pictures

action-adventure-comedy

When a Chinese rebel murders Chon's estranged father and escapes to England, Chon and Roy make their way to London with revenge on their minds.

Directed by: David Dobkin

starring: Jackie Chan, Owen Wilson + Fann Wong

Costumes by: Anna Sheppard

Costume & Accessories Buyer & Coordinator,Rome: Edwin Alexander Francis

[faline-cat444]

An Odd Reunion

Since yesterday I’ve been messing around at playing with Master Detective Archives:Rain Code.Detecting a few familiar tones in some of the characters I decided to see what’s been shared about the casting choices so far and got some fairly surprising connections.

Starting it off is Yuma

 I could have easily accepted at being Eiji Kakihana from Odd Taxi but scrolling a bit further I found a more “ideal” choice of why he sounded familiar and it wasn’t from playing one of the rivals in a Pokemon mini-series...

VICTOR S. COURT HAS BEEN DUG UP FROM THE GRAVEYARD

(As for who to give credit for these mentions it’s Lucien Dodge,so now I have a name and character to link if I ever cross by in any future works he happened to be casted for)

My next most major “I think I know this voice” was Pucci Lavmin

And in the grand scheme she was very recent for my experiences.Her English voice is Lindsay Sheppard and I guess until further notice she’s mainly immortalized to me as Sumire.

But Yuria is a rather close second in what I can say must have been my “true” introduction to her casting choices

Following this comes Melami Goldmine

Voiced by Lauren Landa we return to Odd Taxi as she’s the only alpaca around

Finally to end this off is something not exactly out yet but I have now gotten a mix of surprise and confusion from what seems to be known.Shinigami is a crazy little take on the Death God formula but I guess she’s become who I first think of for Anjali Kunapaneni and I’m not quite sure how to feel about that since she’s apparently also going to be Roy when the dub of Pokemon Horizons starts rolling out.Lemon Irvine from Mashle isn’t event standing a chance against a character who says lines like this.

Similar to what I said with Sheppard this is something of a sample versus the main course.But seeing some cast of Pokemon’s latest mainline anime on the English scene has been shared I also got some rather “rewarding” news from my little hunt.

The sub and dub both have a major casting choice perk...Unless nothing ends up changing but there’s still a chance Sprigatito is Megumi Hayashibara aka Lina Inverse while Friede’s going to be Zelgadis.Lisa Ortiz already took over as Litten...If they decide the cat’s cries must change I have my preference of who should be put on the spot...

#Master Detective Archives #Rain Code #Odd Taxi #Bravely Default #My Clueless First Friend #Mieruko Chan #Pokemon #Pokemon Horizons #Slayers #The Slayers

[captain-grammar]

10 characters, 10 fandoms, 10 tags

@glassbearclock tagged me to share 10 of my favourite characters from 10 different fandoms. I'm not completely sure I've been *in* 10 different fandoms but I'm certain I've been a fan of at least 10 different things so let's go!

The Old Guard | Sébastien Le Livre / Booker

The Witcher | Jaskier

Stargate: SG-1 | Jonas Quinn

Stargate: Atlantis | John Sheppard

The West Wing | Josh Lyman OR CJ Cregg (dead heat)

Downton Abbey | Lady Edith Crawley

Lord of the Rings | Eowyn

Our Flag Means Death | Stede Bonnet (we do NOT condone the actions of the people the characters were based on)

Black Sails | Jack Rackham

Ted Lasso | Roy Kent & Keeley Jones (do NOT make me choose!)

'No Pressure' Tagging: @beepbeepsan @runbymachinesandclones @lazynbored @phatburd @goldheartedsky @paradisetemporarilymisplaced @dorothyoz39 @dani2theela @valkarian-chronicler @cantteachanoldguardnewquotes

#tagged #tag game #i think what we can learn from this is i like my characters dorky and nerdy and sarcastic with a heart of gold and deeply hidden angst #with just a smidge of bi-coding or ambiguously queer

[amywritesthings]

fic writer interview.

found this in the tags while I was browsing & thought it could be a fun way to end 2022! i am not tagging anyone, but if you'd like to fill it out, then feel free to copy + paste it to a new post!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

Eleven, soon to be twelve!

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

113,915

3. How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

Marvel (The Avengers, Moon Knight), Star Wars (The Mandalorian, Andor), The Last of Us, The Bubble, and Stranger Things

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Point A to Point B (493)

Where Shadows Meet Spaces (356)

Meet Me at the Usual (277)

A First for Breathing (226)

Meet Me On the Other Side (118)

5. Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

Every single one, no matter how long or how short! Reblogs on tumblr and replies/comments under the posts are literally my life source to keep me going through the day. I try to make sure I don't miss a single response if I can help it.

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

It isn't finished yet, but I have the finale outlined for Famous Last Words as I only have two more parts to go. (That I intend to finish some day I promise!) Same Old Mistakes will have the angstiest ending out of all of my fics.

7. Do you write crossovers? If so, what is the craziest one you’ve written?

I do not. I totally could one day, though. Just has to have the right mood.

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

No! Luckily I am fortunate enough to say that I have been given only constructive criticism to my fics, which is not equivalent to hate.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I do! I actually really get nervous about writing smut. Like it'll take me eons to write smut chapters versus normal chapters because they're the pieces of writing I'm most self conscious about. (Even if... nearly all of my works constitute as smut-based fics.) I primarily write f/m smut just because... well, it just happens that way? And I write smut for me, so I don't primarily write things that I don't find hot. Because fic-writing it's about self-indulging, baybeeee.

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

No! Not that I am aware of, anyway. Hopefully not, because stealing fics is lame.

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not that I'm aware of, no.

12. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I'm actually more well-versed in roleplay writing than I am with fanfics, so I want to say... yes? Because I've written collaborative stories with friends that I've just never published to the public, but it's a long-winded way of say yes and also no.

13. What’s your all-time favourite ship?

I don't know if I have one? I write mainly reader insert because I would be writing original character x canon fic, but they don't typically sell well, so I adopted 2nd person writing to get with the times.

In terms of readership, I loved Buffy/Spike from BtVS as a kid, Garrus x Sheppard from Mass Effect 3, Zutara from ATLA, Jack & Elizabeth from POTC, Obidala, Dramione, Reylo... I'm typically a big proponent of enemies to lovers, if that hasn't been obvious yet, lol.

14. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

I have a Succession fanfiction that is extremely dark and 'dead dove don't eat' territory that I've had sitting in my google docs for over a year now. I think it's some of my best writing, but I know that it's extremely taboo and very much not safe for work, so I struggle with posting it despite how I go back to read it all the time lol. I write a really good Kendall Roy, guys!

15. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue. I went to school and have a degree in pre-production motion picture and television writing, so screenwriting is my niche little hobby that I wanted to turn into a career and never did. That being said, I think that I can really pick up on dialect of characters and actors very well in order to translate them into original pieces / fanfiction, so I think most of my strengths lie within my verbal writing.

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

Description. I absolutely loathe writing long paragraphs and descriptors and tend to gloss over when others write very long paragraph writing. My attention span just cannot handle non-quippy and whippy writing, and that goes for myself as well. I'd rather just write the dialogue and the drama going on between interpersonal relationships, and tend to struggle with setting up locations and atmospheres in a broader, descriptive sense vs. abstract.

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I don't do it because I would have to use Google Translator and that's a total gamble, but I admire those who can and do fluently. I can read Spanish, but I cannot write it. The closest we get is me writing Din speaking in Mando'a and quite honestly I do not know if those translations are even real / up to Wookiepedia code lol.

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Y'all are going to lose. your. shit over this.

Jimmy Neutron. I was nine years old. A 12-part story I still say is my best work 😂

19. What’s your favourite fic you’ve written?

Point A to Point B will likely be my favorite. I have put so much of my heart and soul in that storytelling and world crafting that I'd be remiss to suggest anything else.

#fanfiction #fanfic #fic writer things #long post cw #interview cw

[willywonka-3435]

the 10 of my favorite characters thing, in no particular order

1. Jake Peralta, Brooklyn 99

2. Will Graham, Hannibal

3. Lucifer Morningstar, Lucifer

4. Niles Crane, Frasier

5. Anthony J. Crowley, Good Omens

6. Tony Stark, Marvel

7. Shawn Spencer, Psych

8. Roman "Romulus" Roy, Succession

9. Nick Miller, New Girl

10. John Sheppard, Stargate Atlantis

[jpbjazz]

LÉGENDES DU JAZZ

JAKI BYARD, DE LA TRADITION À LA MODERNITÉ

‘’Jaki had all these toys and whistles and bells and things that he was playing from the piano, and also screaming and yelling from the piano in joy. I remember thinking, 'This guy's out of his mind.' After the set, I went up to him, introduced myself, and said that I would be studying with him. He said something to the effect of, 'get ready'.’’

- Jason Moran

Né le 15 juin 1922 à Worcester, au Massachusetts, John Arthur ‘’Jaki’’ Byard Jr.  était le fils de John Byard Sr. et de Geraldine Garr. Byard est issu d’une famille de musiciens. Le père de Byard, qui était chauffeur de profession, avait joué de la trompette et du trombone dans des ensembles de corps et clairons au début du siècle. Au début des années 1920, John Byard Sr. avait aussi été membre du premier groupe de jazz professionnel de Worcester, le Mamie Moffit and Her Five Jazz Hounds. À la fin des années 1920, lorsque l’orchestre était passé sous la direction du batteur Boots Ward et avait changé de nom pour devenir les Nite Hawks, John Sr. en faisait toujours partie.

JEUNESSE ET ÉDUCATION

Né le 2 septembre 1897 à Truro, en Nouvelle-Écosse, John Byard Sr. était le fils de William H. Byard et de Jessie Martin. Il est mort à Oak Bluffs, au Massachusetts en 1968. Jaki expliquait: "My father played bass horn, trumpet. As a matter of fact, that's how I learned to play. He showed me how to finger the trumpet."

En 1921, John Sr. avait épousé Geraldine M. Garr. Né à Norwich, au Connecticut, en 1899, Geraldine était la fille de Craig Garr et de Malvina Hannibal, une pianiste qui jouait dans les cinémas lors de la projection de films muets. Dans sa notice biographique sur Byard, le New England Conservatory of Music écrivait: "As silent picture shows were replaced with the technological advances of the 'talkies,' or movies with their own sound, her job grew obsolete and she was able to bring the piano from the silent movie house to their home." Byard confirmait: "My grandmother used to play. She used to play for the movie houses. That's how we got the piano, because after the [silent] movie industry folded up, they gave her the piano. And my grandmother gave my mother the piano. They put the piano in my house and that's how I got started." C’est d’ailleurs sa grand-mère Malvina qui avait encouragé Jaki à faire une carrière musicale.  La mère de Jaki, qui gagnait sa vie en travaillant dans une confiserie, a joué du piano à l’African Methodist Episcopalian Zion Church.

Jaki avait grandi à Worcester dans de quartier afro-américain de Laurel/Clayton. Plusieurs musiciens de jazz étaient originaires de Worcester, comme Wendell Culley, qui avait joué de la trompette dans les grands orchestres de Noble Sissle, Cab Calloway, Lionel Hampton et Count Basie. Culley était aussi l’auteur de plusieurs classiques du jazz comme ‘’Lil’ Darlin.’’ Culley avait une soeur, Zara, une actrice qui s’était fait connaître dans le rôle de la mère de George Jefferson dans le feuilleton du réseau CBS, The Jeffersons. Parmi les autres musiciens de jazz qui avaient connu Byard à Worcester, on relevait les noms d’Emil Haddad, Barbara Carroll, Don Asher, Don Fagerquist et Harry Sheppard. Tous ces musiciens avaient plus tard reconnu avoir été fortement influencés par Byard.

Jaki avait commencé à jouer du piano à l’âge de six ans. Après que son père lui ait fait cadeau de sa trompette, Jaki avait tenté d’imiter les meilleurs trompettistes de l’époque, comme Roy Eldridge et Walter Fuller. Jaki avait huit ans lorsqu’une professeure de piano nommée Grace Johnson avait commencé à lui donner des leçons.

La mère de Jaki avait aussi encouragé son intérêt pour la musique. Elle le laissait écouter du jazz à la radio et lui prêtait de l’argent pour qu’il puisse assister à des concerts de jazz lorsque des musiciens étaient de passage dans la région. Jaki avait un frère, William, et une soeur, Jesse.

Jaki était tellement passionné par le jazz qu’il se rendait souvent à pied jusqu’au lac Quinsigamond pour aller entendre les grands orchestres de Benny Goodman, Lucky Millinder, Fats Waller et Chick Webb. Il écoutait aussi énormément la radio. Des décennies plus tard, Byard avait expliqué: ‘’Those were the things that inspired me – I guess it stuck with me". Dans une autre entrevue, Byard avait précisé:

"My mother used to give me seventy-five cents to go see the bands that were playing at Quinsigamond Lake---ten cents for the streetcar each way, fifty cents to get into the dance, five cents for a coke. I would walk to the dance so that I could drink five cokes. I'd stand in front of the band all night and listen. Fats Waller, Lucky Millinder, Chick Webb with Ella Fitzgerald, the Benny Goodman Quartet with Teddy Wilson, Lionel Hampton, and Gene Krupa. That would be about 1936. And I was tuning in on the radio broadcasts of the big bands from hotels, 11:30 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. Ellington, Basie, Fatha Hines, Jimmie Lunceford, Benny Carter. Those were the things that inspired me.’’

À l’époque, les musiciens de jazz favoris de Byard étaient Earl Hines, Jimmie Lunceford et Count Basie. Byard avait ajouté:

"Of course there was Stan Kenton, Woody Herman and that crew. Teddy Wilson was a favorite too. He was with Benny Goodman. My father used to listen to him every night. He'd say, 'Come here and listen to this man. Do you know who he is?' 'Yeah, I know who he is.' 'Do you know what he is?' I'd say, 'What?' He'd say, 'He's us—he's a colored boy.' He didn't say ‘black’ then."

Après avoir fréquenté la Elizabeth Street School, Byard avait poursuivi ses études au Commerce High School. Byard n’avait jamais reçu de formation musicale proprement dite, même s’il avait étudié l’harmonie en 1941 au Commerce High School. Selon Robert Bliss, c’est à cette époque que Byard aurait décidé d’étudier non seulement l’harmonie et l’orchestration, mais d’apprendre à jouer de plusieurs instruments. Bliss expliquait:

 "He figured this was the way to learn that range and color of the primary jazz instruments—trumpet, saxophone, and drums. He picked up other instruments along the way—the guitar, violin, vibes, and bass." En plus de jouer de plusieurs instruments de musique, Jaki excellait également au basketball.

Jaki a amorcé sa carrière professionnelle à l’âge de seize ans en jouant du piano dans les groupes de Doc Kendross et Freddy Bates. Comme Jaki l’avait expliqué dans une entrevue accordée au Worcester Magazine, "One of my first gigs was in Grafton with a guy named Doc Kentross (dentist). The day I made the gig I came running out of the high school and fell on my hand. I had to get six stitches and played that night."Les Nite Hawks de Freddy Bates se produisaient régulièrement au Nile Café sur Summer Street, un établissement qui se vantait d’être le premier club de jazz opéré par des Afro-Américains. Byard avait précisé: "There was a guy named Pete Price (pianist). I took his place. I was about 18 years old. We used to play up in Holyoke, Springfield … on the road."

UN LABORATOIRE: LE SAX-TRUM

Fondé en 1938 par Jes saxophonistes Howie Jefferson, Barney Price et d’autres musiciens de jazz de Worcester comme Jaki Byard, Dick Murray, Ralph Briscott, Ed Shamgochian et Harold Black, le Saxtrum Club est considéré comme un des premiers collectifs de jazz opéré par des musiciens de couleur aux États-Unis. Durant près d’une décennie, la coopérative avait accueilli de nombreuses jam sessions et était rapidement devenue le centre de ralliement de plusieurs artistes locaux, régionaux et nationaux.

Décrit par Rockie Blunt comme un petit club mal éclairé, le Saxtrum Club était situé à l’intersection des rues Glenn et Clayton. Le principal objectif de la fondation du club était de fournir un lieu aux musiciens de jazz pour tenir des jam sessions. Lors d’une entrevue accordée en 1998 au Worcester Magazine, Byard prétendait avoir créé ce nom en juxtaposant les premières lettres des instruments des deux principaux fondateurs du club, le saxophone et la trompette. Il précisait: "Yeah, that's my name. I named that club: Sax-trum. First, it was a small candy shop. Then we moved it to another place that was a soda shop—a big room. Saxtrum club, yeah! We used to jam."

Byard avait déclaré au sujet de Jefferson, qui était de huit ans son aîné: "Yeah, Howie Jefferson. He's sort of my mentor, you know. He's the one that brought me into this business. He's the one that got me to play trumpet with the Nite Hawks. Then the piano player quit, so they asked me to play because I used to tinkle around a bit. So I ended up playing piano."

Selon Rockie Blunt, d’autres musiciens de jazz originaires de Worcester comme Barbara Carroll, Don Asher, Emil Haddad et Don Fagerquist étaient des habitués du club. Parmi les autres musiciens locaux qui participaient aux jam sessions, on relevait les noms de Rockie Blunt, Tony Finelli, Rod Ford, Gretchen Morrow, Bill Toney, Franny O'Connor, Eddie Dolbare, "Miff" George, Kenny Proctor, Alice Price, Pete Price, Bobby Hold, Dave Robertson, Joe Ferrazano, Phil Scott, Murray Guralnick, Al Mercury, Hal Drellinger, Moe Batchelder, Bert Hardin, Morgan Sorrell, Dick Hill, Chet Lavallee et Don Fancy.

Selon Blunt, il s’agissait d’une des premières tentatives visant à éliminer les barrières raciales non écrites entre les musiciens de couleur et les musiciens blancs.

Plus la réputation du club augmentait, plus il commençait à attirer de gros noms. Parmi les ‘’grosses pointures’’ qui avaient participé aux jam sessions, on remarquait Gene Krupa, Cozy Cole, le percussionniste de l’orchestre de Cab Calloway, "Chu" Berry, le saxophoniste ténor de Calloway, Roy Eldridge, le trompettiste de l’orchestre de Gene Krupa, Charlie Ventura, les chefs d’orchestre Tommy Reynolds, Sam Donahue et Johnny ‘’Scats’’ Davis, sans parler des musiciens de Duke Ellington et de Count Basie. Blunt poursuivait:

"And the sessions lasted until dawn when the younger jazz musicians finally went home, cleaned up, ate and went off to school ... and the bi-timers collapsed into their hotel rooms to rest for the next day's three live shows. It was a time of truly almost perpetual music. The exhaustion factor never entered the picture. Musicians lived, ate, breathed and were almost totally consumed by their music."

Lorsqu’on lui parlait des jam sessions qui avaient lieu aux SaxTrum, Byard répondait: "Oh, yeah, practice—played, played and played. We got a hold of a piano and that was it. And we had a jukebox. We used to run rent-socials to pay rent. $3 admission. We had a drum set there."

Byard a aussi travaillé avec un groupe de pratique au Saxtrum, le Sal-Salah. Le nom du groupe était une contraction des noms des trompettistes Sal Siam et Bob Salah. Byard précisait:"I played piano with that band. It was pretty interesting, pretty interesting musical ventures, then." Parmi les autres membres du groupe, on retrouvait Dick Reed, Paul Gervais, John Milocz, Harold Black, Cal Gould, Paul Benson, Al Bond, la chanteuse Janet Athy et Murray Guralnick, un futur membre de l’orchestre de Gene Krupa. Selon la Prospect House, le groupe se serait également produit dans les salles de danse de Danny Dugan et Johnny Hines, dans la basse-ville de Worcester.

C’est d’ailleurs en travaillant avec Sal-Salah que Byard avait acquis la confiance qui lui avait permis de continuer à composer et d’écrire des arrangements. Il expliquait: "I remember doing Earl 'Fatha' Hines arrangement of 'You Can Depend on Me' and Jimmie Lunceford's 'Chopin's Prelude'''.

Selon Byard, la ville de Worcester offrait un environnement idéal aux amateurs de jazz. D’après Asher, le dimanche après-midi au Plymouth Theater, "you could see a movie, the Fats Waller sextet, and a stage show back by the Charlie Barnet or one of the Dorseys [Tommy and Jimmy]—for 50 cents."

Selon le saxophoniste Michael Marcus, qui avait joué avec Byard dans les dernières années de sa vie, même Cecil Taylor serait venu le voir à jouer à Worcester. Marcus expliquait: “Cecil’s father used to bring Cecil to hear Jaki when he was like 16 years old.” Marcus citait aussi une déclaration de Byard dans laquelle il se vantait d’avoir inventé le free jazz. Selon Marcus, Byard aurait affirmé: “Man Cecil Taylor, I invented that style of playing. I would play that style [James P. Johnson, Erroll Garner, Earl Hines] with my left hand and then I’d play Charles Ives and Stravinsky in my right. I was playing free like that 10 years before Cecil. I invented that style.”

Si Cecil Taylor avait été influencé par Byard, c’était surtout dans son utilisation de l’atonalité, car Taylor a joué très peu de swing et absolument aucun stride. Quoi qu’il en soit, les sympathies de Byard pour les oeuvres de Charles Ives et d’Igor Stravinsky lui avaient été d’une aide précieuse lorsqu’il s’était installé à New York et avait rejoint les rangs de l’avant-garde au début des années 1960.

DÉBUTS DE CARRIÈRE

En 1941, dans l’espoir de faire avancer sa carrière, Jaki avait quitté Worcester pour aller s’installer à Boston. Devenu musicien à plein temps, Byard était maintenant prêt à élargir ses horizons au-delà des limites étroites de sa ville natale de Worcester. Comme l’écrivait Don Asher, "Jaki Byard had split for Boston and more challenging vistas – we had all known his talent was too large for Worcester; the only surprise was that he had stayed so long…"

Après l’attaque de Pearl Harbor de décembre 1941, Byard avait été mobilisé par l’armée. Après avoir rencontré des musiciens qui avaient également été mobilisés comme le batteur Kenny Clarke et le pianiste Ernie Washington, Byard avait décidé de se joindre au groupe de l’armée. Cependant, comme ce dernier avait déjà un pianiste, Byard avait dû se replier sur le trombone. C’est donc un peu par la force des choses que Byard avait commencé sa carrière de multi-instrumentiste.

Au cours de son séjour dans l’armée, Byard avait continué de suivre des cours de piano. Durant cette période, Byard avait été particulièrement influencé par le pianiste Ernie Washington, avec qui il partageait les mêmes barraquements. Byard avait effectué une partie de son service militaire en Floride, où il avait servi de mentor au jeune saxophoniste Cannonball Adderley et à son frère, le trompettiste Nat Adderley.

Après avoir été démobilisé en 1946, Byard était retourné à Boston, où il avait étudié la musique en autodidacte, en concentrant plus particulièrement sur le travail de ses deux pianistes favoris, Bud Powell et Erroll Garner. Après avoir joué durant deux ans avec le violoniste Ray Perry, Byard avait collaboré avec le violoniste et trompettiste Ray Nance, qui l’avait encouragé à apprendre le saxophone ténor. En 1947, Byard avait fait partie du groupe du saxophoniste alto Earl Bostic. Byard avait alors formé un groupe de bebop avec Joe Gordon et Sam Rivers.

La découverte du bebop avait été toute une révélation pour Byard. Il expliquait: “I remember being on a Bud Powell kick at about twenty five years old. That’s when I decided to get into music more and listen to everything. Bebop was an age of revelation. It made everyone want to study more.”

Après être parti en tournée durant un an, Byard avait travaillé durant un an avec le saxophoniste Charlie Mariano dans un groupe qui jouait près de Lynn, au Massachusetts. Byard avait enregistré un album avec le groupe en 1953. De 1952 à 1955, Byard avait aussi été membre du grand orchestre d’Herb Pomeroy comme saxophoniste ténor, avec qui il avait enregistré en 1957. Byard avait également commencé à composer et à écrire des arrangements pour le groupe.  Au milieu des années 1950, Byard avait aussi joué comme pianiste solo à Boston. Très en demande comme musicien, Byard avait également commencé à enseigner, même s’il n’avait jamais eu de formation académique formelle lui-même.

Après quelques années, Byard avait recommencé à jouer du piano en solo. Il s’était installé à New York où il avait enregistré en décembre 1960 un premier album sous son nom intitulé ‘’Blues for Smoke.’’ L’album n’avait été publié aux États-Unis qu’en 1988.

De 1959 à 19620, Byard avait aussi joué avec le groupe de Maynard Ferguson. Même si Byard était un des musiciens et arrangeurs préférés de Ferguson, il s’était senti à l’étroit dans la formation, car ses tentatives d’expérimentation étaient souvent limitées par les goûts plutôt traditionnels des autres membres du groupe.

En 1960, Byard s’était joint au groupe de Charles Mingus. Mingus avait exercé une grande influence sur Byard, car il le poussait constamment à expérimenter de nouveaux rythmes et harmonies. Byard, qui avait enregistré plusieurs albums avec Mingus, était devenu un de ses pianistes les plus réguliers avec Don Pullen. Dans les notes de l’album de Mingus ‘’Portrait’’, Byard avait décrit sa première rencontre avec Mingus. Il écrivait:

‘’I first met Mingus in 1956 in the Athens of America — Boston. He was appearing at a joint on Commonwealth Avenue called Storyville. I was at the joint across the street. Its formal name was The Stables, but we used to call it the Jazz Workshop. Tuesdays and Thursdays, I played tenor sax with Herb Pomeroy’s big band; the other nights, I played intermission piano. Mingus and his sidemen would drop by frequently — to check us out, I guess. Since his group was called the “Jazz Workshop,” of course there had to be a few words with regard to who had a better right to use that title. The matter was usually discussed by Mingus and Varty Haratunian, who was sort of the coordinator of financial affairs at The Stables. Even during an argument, their conversations were conducted very intelligently: For example, Varty might explain that our group was actually the “Jass Workshop,” to which Mingus would respond “Yeah, take the ‘J’ off and that’s what you have for a workshop!”

Loin de s’intéresser uniquement au jazz, Byard avait continué d’étudier les oeuvres des compositeurs classiques au cours des années 1960, et plus particulièrement celles de Stravinsky et Chopin. Au cours de sa carrière, Byard s’était également intéressé aux oeuvres d’autres compositeurs classiques comme Debussy, Rachmaninoff et Bartok.

En 1960, Byard avait aussi collaboré à l’enregistrement du disque du multi-instrumentiste Eric Dolphy intitulé ‘’Outward Bound.’’ Byard avait écrit au sujet de Dolphy:

‘’What can I say about this gentleman? His mind, as you can hear, was very active, musically intelligent, innovative, and emphatically involved with precision and decision. Eric was not only multi-faceted in his musical approach, but was also a most introspective individual. His thoughts, harmonically and melodically, were always on top of the chord of the seventh, especially on alto. We had many conversations about this intriguing approach to improvisation. (I could go into the technical aspects of this subject, but this would probably involve writing a whole book!) Without doubt, we were always ready to go into space together — from my very first musical association with Eric, when I played piano on his first album, Outward Bound. Actually Eric was largely responsible for me becoming involved in the recording industry and joining the Mingus Dynasty.’’

C’est d’ailleurs Dolphy qui avait aidé Byard à signer un contrat avec les disques Prestige. Cettte collaboration avait donné lieu à la publication de l’album ‘’Here’s Jaki’’ en 1961. Plusieurs des albums enregistrés par Byard avec Prestige mettaient en vedette le contrebassiste Richard Davis et le batteur Alan Dawson. Le trio avait été décrit par le critique Gary Giddins comme "the most commanding rhythm section of the '60s, excepting the Hancock-Carter-Williams trio in Miles Davis's band", même s’il n’existait alors que sur disque.

Parmi les autres albums enregistrés par Byard à cette époque, on remarquait ‘’Jaki Byard With Strings !’’, un album en sextet qui mettait en vedette les compositions et les arrangements du pianiste. Les capacités novatrices de Byard étaient particulièrement évidentes sur la pièce "Cat's Cradle Conference Rag", dans laquelle les musiciens du groupe interprétaient cinq standards ‘’based on similar harmonies simultaneously". Un autre exemple de l’approche parfois inhabituelle de Byard face à la composition se retrouvait dans la pièce-titre de l’album ‘’Out Front !’’, qu’il avait écrite en pensant à la façon de jouer de son collègue pianiste Herbie Nichols. Même si la musique de Byard était très appréciée des critiques, cette popularité ne semble pas s’être reflétée sur les ventes de disques.

Parallèlement à sa carrière en tant que leader de ses propres formations, Byard avait également continué de collaborer avec d’autres musiciens. En 1963, Byard avait joué et enregistré avec le saxophoniste ténor Booker Ervin. Byard a aussi collaboré avec d’autres grands musiciens de jazz comme Don Ellis, Charlie Mariano et Booker Little. En 1965, Byard avait travaillé avec un autre collaborateur de Mingus, le multi-instrumentiste Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Byard avait également continué de collaborer avec Mingus, notamment lors de l’enregistrement des albums ‘’The Complete Town Hall Concert’’ (1962), ‘’Mingus, Mingus, Mingus’’ (1963) et ‘’The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady’’ (1963). Byard avait aussi fait une tournée en Europe avec Mingus en 1964. En 1970, Byard était d’ailleurs retourné jouer avec Mingus, notamment dans le cadre d’une autre tournée en Europe. Faisant le bilan de sa collaboration avec Mingus, Byard écrivait:

‘’My entire association with Charles Mingus was an honor and a treat — including all the moods, temperaments, personality clashes, cooperation, and feelings of accomplishment and self-gratification. I can’t find any superlatives strong enough to define what those years meant to me. I left Mingus in 1968 primarily because of domestic obligations, and also because I felt an urge to pursue in my own ways some obligatory missionary work in the growing jazz community. But I continued to appear with him, off and on, until 1976.’’

Lors d’un séjour en Europe en 1970, Byard s’était joint aux Jazz Messengers d’Art Blakey dans le cadre d’une série de concerts sur le continent. Deux ans plus tard, Byard avait fait partie d’un petit groupe dirigé par le batteur Elvin Jones. De 1966 à 1969, Byard avait aussi enregistré trois albums avec le saxophoniste Eric Kloss.

Après avoir remporté en 1966 le prix  du magazine Down Beat décerné au musicien le plus prometteur, Byard s’était joint en 1969 au New England Conservatory à l’invitation de son président, le chef d’orchestre et historien Gunther Schuller, qui l’avait chargé de prendre la direction des études de jazz, qui deviendrait plus tard l’Afro-American Music and Jazz Studies Department. Byard avait continué d’enseigner au Conservatoire jusqu’en 1977. Byard donnait aussi des cours et des lectures dans d’autres écoles et universités, comme la Manhattan School of Music (1989-1999), la New School for Social Research de New York, le Bennington College, la Hartford School of Music, le Brooklyn Conservatory, l’Université du Massachusetts, l’Université Harvard (où il fit aussi des lectures durant trois ans), l’Université de Pittsburgh, l’Université du Maryland, la Hartt School of Music (à partir de 1975), la New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music et le Bismark Jr. College. Byard donnait également des cours privés.

DERNIÈRES ANNÉES

Lorsque Duke Ellington était tombé malade en 1974, son fils Mercer avait demandé à Byard de prendre sa place au sein de l’orchestre. Byard avait d’ailleurs reçu le Duke Ellington Fellowship Award de l’Université Harvard en 1973. La Duke Ellington Society lui avait aussi décerné un prix pour la qualité de ses performances.

Au milieu des années 1970, Byard avait décidé de former un big band parmi ses étudiants. Surnommé les Apollo Stompers, l’orchestre se produisait au Ali’s Alley, un club de la basse-ville de New York, lorsqu’il avait été élu meilleur groupe résident de la ville.

À un certain moment, Byard avait créé deux groupes parmi ses étudiants du New England Conservatory of Music, chacun des groupes devant prendre place sur des côtés opposés de la scène. Lors d’une entrevue accordée à Royal Stokes, Byard avait expliqué en plaisantant: "I called it the Stereophonic Ensemble, and the effect was very interesting because I could bring that band down and this band up and you could hear the difference---just like listening to a stereophonic performance. That was one of my dreams." Par la suite, Byard avait décidé de créer un autre big band avec des musiciens qu’il connaissait à New York.

Reconnu pour ses connaissances de l’histoire du piano jazz, Byard avait formé plusieurs jeunes pianistes prometteurs comme Jason Moran, Larry Goldings, D.D. Jackson, Hal Galper, Bruce Barth, Myra Melford, Alan Pasqua, Ted Rosenthal, Joel Weiskopf et Steve Wilson. Byard a aussi influencé plusieurs non-pianistes, comme les saxophonistes Jamie Baum, Sue Terry, Marty Ehrlich, Ricky Ford et Michael Moore. 

Moran s’était inscrit à la Manhattan School of Music  expressément pour étudier avec Byard. Moran, qui avait succédé au pianiste Billy Taylor comme directeur du département du jazz du Kennedy Center de Washington, D.C., raconte comment il avait rencontré pour la première fois Byard lors d’une performance des Apollo Stompers:

‘’Jaki had all these toys and whistles and bells and things that he was playing from the piano, and also screaming and yelling from the piano in joy. I remember thinking, 'This guy's out of his mind.' After the set, I went up to him, introduced myself, and said that I would be studying with him. He said something to the effect of, 'get ready'.’’

Moran avait étudié avec Byard durant quatre ans. Moran a toujours été reconnaissant envers Byard pour l’avoir aidé à développé ses habilités, sa connaissance de l’histoire du jazz, ainsi que son désir d’expérimenter différents styles musicaux. Il expliquait:

“Jaki Byard seemed to represent everything-- all tradition, all modernism, all conceptual ideas-- and also have the facility to apply all of it without it ever feeling odd. He kind of taught me in that way: He taught me tradition and history without wagging his finger in my face.”

Sans Byard, Moran n’aurait probablement jamais enregistré son album de 2014 intitulé "All Rise: A Joyful Elegy", un disque louangé par la critique sur lequel il interprète des versions actualisées des classiques de Fats Waller.

Un autre étudiant, Fred Hersch, avait décrit Byard comme un enseignant à la fois organisé et chaotique: s’il faisait durement travailler ses étudiants, Byard avait souvent un comportement assez excentrique et oubliait même parfois qu’il devait se présenter à ses cours. Hersch, qui a été mis en candidature à douze reprises pour un prix Grammy, avait ajouté:

‘’He could play like Fats Waller or Bud Powell and demonstrate the mechanics of each technique. He had a profound and detailed understanding of why each pianist sounded the way he did—to this day I'm not sure where he got such vast knowledge. For that ability alone he was ideally suited to teaching. He was also funny as hell and great company. He taught from the deep well of experience he had accumulated over many years as a professional musician—he had a lot to teach . . .

I learned a lot from Jaki simply being in his presence. As a musician and as a person his spirit was fearless—he didn't let stylistic constrictions get in his way of playing whatever he felt—and he was not the least bit ostentatious. He had an unmanicured view of jazz and life in general [...].

In the course of a lesson with me, he might play in half a dozen styles. But no matter what tune he played or what style he played in, the music was definitely his. Jaki had his own approach to line, to rhythm, to color, and to touch. I learned quite a lot from watching him over the keyboard, playing piano duets with him, and just simply listening to him . . . what I took away from Jaki was what I learned being next to him while he played, watching him use the whole instrument, top to bottom, style by style, in a way that always had his own musical signature.’’

Le compositeur classique Bruce Wolosoff, qui a suivi les cours de Byard au New England Conservatory of Music, le considérait également comme un de ses plus importantes influences. Le pianiste et auteur-compositeur Grayson Hugh a aussi étudié avec Byard au début des années 1970 et lui avait toujours été reconnaissant d’e l’avoir aidé à développer ses capacités harmoniques.

Un autre étudiant, Marty Ehrlich, avait un jour écrit au sujet de Byard: ‘’The man was touched by genius. Musicians all knew it. He was not cut out to conquer the world. We are all the beneficiaries of his generosity and brilliance.”

Dans les années 1980, le piano était toujours le principal instrument de Byard, même s’il continuait de jouer du saxophone alto et ténor à l’occasion. Même s’il donnait toujours des cours de contrebasse, de batterie, de guitare, de trombone et de trompette, il avait cessé d’en jouer professionnellement. À la même époque, on voyait souvent Byard se produire à New York, que ce soit en solo, en duo ou en trio. En 1988, Byard avait aussi collaboré avec le Mingus Big Band, un groupe qui avait été mis sur pied par la veuve de Mingus après la mort du compositeur en 1979.

De 1989 à 1991, Byard avait joué et enregistré avec un de ses anciens étudiants, Ricky Ford. Il avait aussi continué de se produire sur scène et d’enseigner durant les années 1990. À la fin de sa vie, Byard s’était particulièrement concentré sur l’interprétation de standards.

Byard avait toujours été un musicien très créatif. Comme l’écrivait en 1983 le magazine People, "As a solo pianist, Byard mixes his styles liberally, not only from song to song but often within songs." Trois ans plus tard, lors de la parution de l’album ‘’Rhythm is Our Business’’ que Byard avait enregistré avec Jordan Sandke, le même magazine avait commenté: "Crossing generational and stylistic lines with gleeful disregard, this album is an engaging bit of chamber jazz. The group wanders happily from New Orleans style to swing to bop."

Influencé par plusieurs styles musicaux, Byard avait toujours eu des goûts très éclectiques. Interrogé par Len Lyons dans le cadre de son ouvrage ‘’The Great Jazz Pianists’’ publié en 1983, Byard avait expliqué: ‘’I go from Bach, to outside, back to inside, and all over the place. I analyzed Chopin, Beethoven, Ravel, Stravinsky, and piano rolls.” Même si Byard ne détestait pas le free jazz, il était profondément enraciné dans la tradition. Comme l’écrivait Lyons, “More than any other pianist. Byard alludes explicitly to the jazz piano tradition in his playing.”

Le 11 février 1999, Jaki Byard a été retrouvé mort dans ses circonstances mystérieuses à sa résidence de Hollis, dans le Queens. On lui avait tiré une balle dans la tête. Même si les filles de Byard se trouvaient dans la maison au moment du meurtre, elles ne s’étaient aperçues de rien. La police n’avait constaté aucun signe d’infraction, qu’il s’agisse de vandalisme, de vol ou de la moindre bagarre. Byard avait vu sa famille pour la dernière fois à 18 heures. Il avait été assassiné vers 22h. L’arme du crime n’a jamais été retrouvée.

Le mystère de l’assassinat de Byard n’a jamais été résolu. L’épouse de Byard, Louise M. Caruso, étant décédée en 1994, il laissait dans le deuil ses deux filles Denise et Diane, et son fils Gerald, ainsi que quatre petits-fils et six arrière-petits-fils.

Après la mort de Byard, un de ses anciens étudiants, la flûtiste de jazz Jamie Baum, avait formé un groupe en son honneur composé principalement de musiciens qu’il avait formés. Baptisé The Jaki Byard Project ou ‘’Yard Byard’’ en référence à la composition de Charlie Parker, le groupe était composé notamment de Baum, d’Adam Kolker, de Jerome Harris, de George Schuller et d’Ugonna Okegwo. L’orchestre interprétait des pièces que Byard avait composé lors de sa collaboration avec Baum, mais qu’il n’avait jamais interprétées lui-même.

Byard avait exercé une énorme influence sur le monde du jazz. Multi-instrumentiste, il excellait non seulement au piano, mais aussi à la trompette, au trombone, à la contrebasse, au vibraphone, à la batterie et aux saxophones alto et ténor. Reconnu pour un style éclectique qui amalgamait des styles aussi différents que le ragtime, le stride et le free jazz, Byard était aussi compositeur et arrangeur. Le critique Gary Giddins décrivait ainsi le style de jeu de Byard:

"His tone [...] is unfailingly bright. His middle-register improvisations are evenly articulated with a strong touch and rhythmic elan [... he] likes ringing tremolos and portentous fifths [... and] barely articulated keyboard washes that float beyond the harmonic bounds but are ultimately anchored by the blues". 

Dans les notes de pochette de la compilation de Booker Ervin ‘’The Freedom and Space Sessions’ (1979), le critique Stanley Crouch écrivait au sujet de Byard:

“He amalgamated the past with the most adventurous new harmonies and rhythms, evolving a style that always offered the possibilities of numerous improvisational perspectives. His playing rumbles and waddles, often summoning the dark tremolos of the church, the spunk and kick of stride piano, and the nearly seamless blisters of sound in Tatum and Powell. And all of this periodically careens into new musical worlds where some of Europe’s harsher harmonic responses to modern life are given a lilt even as they curse the age.” 

Le saxophoniste Jed Levy avait également été très impressionné par Byard. Il affirmait: “I’ve been fortunate to play with many great musicians, but there are two people who I wouldn’t hesitate to use the word ‘genius,’ and Jaki Byard was one of those people – it goes beyond his piano playing, his writing…he looked at nature and made music out of it.” 

Byard jouait une grande variété de styles, les amalgamant souvent dans une même performance, ce qui donnait souvent des effets assez comiques, et voire même surréalistes. Pianiste polyvalent, Byard était aussi à l’aise avec le répertoire d’Art Tatum qu’avec celui de Fats Waller, de Thelonious Monk ou de ce Cecil Taylor. Lorsqu’on le questionnait sur l’humour qu’il insérait dans ses performances, Byard expliquait que cela ne signifiait pas que sa musique n’était pas sérieuse: "I might do it with humor, but it's still serious because I mean what I'm doing". 

Après avoir décrit la musique de Byard comme étant en avance sur son temps, le critique Dan Lander avait ajouté qu’il avait même influencé les pianistes du 21e siècle: ‘’Byard's grasp and integration of historical forms, his ability to embrace tradition and risk taking, was visionary, impacting on a new generation of jazz musicians who understood the history of jazz as a material to build on and work with, at the service of creating something new, rather than as an unmovable weight, fixing them to the past.’’ Quant au jeu de Byard au saxophone ténor, il était influencé par celui de Lester Young et de Ben Webster.

L’une des plus impressionnantes compositions de Byard était la pièce ‘’European Episode’’, dont il avait enregistré des extraits sur son premier album comme leader en 1960. Byard avait de nouveau enregistré la pièce en 1964 sur l’album ‘’Out Front !’’, avec le saxophoniste Booker Ervin et le trompettiste Richard Williams. Il s’agissait d’un ballet en six parties qui avait été inspiré par un séjour en Europe de Byard, notamment à Bruxelles, Paris et Milan.

Travailleur infatigable, Byard avait toujours cherché à s’améliorer. Il avait toujours continué d’apprendre d’étudier, même en poursuivant sa carrière de professeur. En 1995, le maire de New York, Rudolph Giuliani, lui avait remis un prix à l’occasion du 100e anniversaire de la Harlem Week, pour son travail avec les Apollo Stompers.

Lors de sa carrière d’une durée de soixante ans, Byard a enregistré au moins trente-cinq albums comme leader, et plus de cinquante comme accompagnateur.

En 1980, Byard avait été l’objet d’un court documentaire intitulé ‘’Anything for jazz’’, dans lequel on le voyait jouer et enseigner ainsi que partager des moments d’intimité avec les membres de sa famille.

©-2023-2024, tous droits réservés, Les Productions de l’Imaginaire historique.

#jazz

[maccorecrazy]

Another thing about otacore:

Their original MVs are so damn good.

Consider:

Just the style asmi used for the OMV here really plays into the song's theme set out by the title "Dokomeki Diary". For those who can't be bothered to watch the MV, the whole video has lyrics formatted in a sort of newspaper format, at one point looking almost like a crossword (verse 1). This, once again, seems to send the correct vibes for Liko in Pocket Monsters: Liko and Roy Set Off. I'd say that asmi's OC (who is the character there, I believe) is supposed to be (at least indirectly) Liko.

Another example:

Once again, this is a really good MV! Whyyyyy??? This, for those who are not familiar, is Cinderella by CIDERGIRL, which is the OP for Komi-san. This also really feeds into the character of Komi in aformentioned anime. The first woman we see is much like Komi— one who is reluctant to express her love. Now that I think of it, Dokomeki Diary and Cinderella could have been transposed and still made sense… but I disgress.

https://youtube.com/channel/wearesheppard

To add insult to injury, Sheppard's MVs for their music are just as good as the last two. That is really something, beacuse if you watch some of Sheppard's music videos, they are REALLY good. So there's that.

(As far as I know, Sheppard haven't done any music for TV or movies.)

#music #otacore #music video #maybe beacuse it's so popular #pokémon horizons #komi san can't communicate #dokomeki diary #cinderella #Youtube #asmi #CIDERGIRL #Sheppard

[deadlinecom]

[tonin-terets]

The New York Times | More of life brought to life | Sneakers from Mackenzie Sheppard on Vimeo.

CREDITS Agency: Droga5 N.Y. Chief Creative Officer: Scott Bell Executive Creative Director: Laurie Howell Executive Creative Director: Toby Treyer Senior Copywriter: Sara Muchnick Senior Art Director: Ben Muckensturm Copywriter: Aaron Araya Art Director: Ross Weaver Copywriter: Ian Hart Art Director: Charlotte Simons Senior Designer: Melanie Reichert Co-Head of Production: Ruben Mercadal Senior Producer, Film: Kyla Bridge Senior Producer, Film: Patrick Wood Associate Producer, Film: Harit Muttreja Muttreja

Head of Business Affairs: Dan Simonetti Senior Business Affairs Manager: Ann Marie Turbitt Senior Traffic Manager: Mary Thornton

Senior Music Supervisor: Mike Ladman Junior Music Supervisor: Mara Techam

Executive Group Account Director: Lea Mastroberti Account Director: Colby Burlingame Account Manager: Collin Wolf

Chief Strategy Officer: Harry Román-Torres Chief Strategy Officer: Colleen Leddy Group Strategy Director: Keir Moreano Strategy Director: Claudia Vitarelli Head of Media Strategy: Ben Nilsen Group Communications Strategy Director: Justin Schneider Communications Strategist: Moi Lee Data Strategy Director: Ty Matsunaga

Group Project Manager: Karen Tshimanga Project Manager: Skye Harper

Production Company: Bonaparte Co-Production: ProdCo Director: Mackenzie Sheppard Managing Partner: Nico Kries Managing Partner: Philip Töpfer Senior Producer: Jana Reinermann Director's Rep: Michael Gugger Creative Assistant to Director: Rico Noël Production Coordinator: Aratrika Das Motion Design Coordinator & Post Production Tech: Alex Vozar 2nd Unit Assistant and Post Production Tech: roy Levin Production Assistant: Johanna Katz Production Assistant: Julian Mathieu Visual Research: Jess Lipington; Visual Research: Marisa Nuxoll Data Organization: Cora Ge Data Organization: Vivienne Makumbirofa Data Organization: Sarah Masete Data Organization: Julia Tham Assistant to Production Dept: Zoë Heimann Assistant to Production Dept: Tina Paffen Office Management: Marco Piana Office Management: Johann Oeding Office Management: Lola Chalmers

Senior Editor: David Gesslbauer Senior Editor: András Guti Senior Editor: Shane Lester Senior Editor: Søren Schneider Offline Editor and Camera Operator: Maximilian Elske Motion Designer / 3D Artist: Lukas Hertlein Motion Designer / 3D Artist: EVEROE Motion Designer / 3D Artist: Sarah Masete Bonaparte Sound Dept: Alexander Wolf David Bonaparte Sound Dept: Denis Elmaci

Post Production, VFX: The Mill N.Y. Executive Producer: Chris Connolly Producer: Kyla Graham Art Director: Laura Nash Designer: Chris Rodriguez Designer: Evan Bech 2D Lead: Anton Anderson 2D Lead: Yoon Bae Compositor: Luke Bedillion Edit Assist: Joseph Zappulla

Sound Design & Mix: Wave Studios N.Y. Executive Producer: Vicky Ferraro Producer: Eleni Giannopolous Sound Engineer: Aaron Reynolds  Music Company: KO Music Music Composer: Philip Kay Music Producer: Andy Oskwarek Track Name: "The Rabbit Hole"

[linuscaldwellwikihow]

Reservoir Dogs (1992) - Movie Review / Fancast

I watched Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs for the first time tonight. (By the time I finished this, it is actually DAYS later) Remember all of the things stated in this review are my PERSONAL opinion.

Let's talk about Reservoir Dogs, because I enjoyed this film much more than I thought I would.

So, being completely transparent, I accidentally spoiled myself ten minutes in when I went to search which color Tim Roth was playing. Regardless, I enjoyed the film.

I thought the latter half of the movie was more entertaining, with the inclusion of Joe and Eddie and the more in-depth looks into White, Blonde, and Orange.

I'm not very good at serious movie reviews and don't take movies all that seriously anyways, so I am comfortable admitting that Mr. Orange was a big selling point for me. I very much enjoyed the close-up of him smirking. It really felt like a tragic love story at some parts, I was rooting for Orange and Mr. White.

Now on to the more entertaining part, let's recast. Pictures at the end.

We'll start with Mr. White. Originally played by Harvey Keitel, I think Jason Bateman would be an exceptional recast. He does serious, as Ozark proves, he does comedically dramatic, he is dilf material, and I don't think they look UNALIKE... there are some similarities that caught my eye. Honorable mention goes to a man of the same name, Mr. White, Bryan Cranston.

Mr. Pink feels like a no-brainer. Originally played by Steve Buscemi, who else other than Bill Skarsgard. Mr. Pink is slimy and he has awful posture and, for some reason, that reminded me of the very handsome Bill Skarsgard. He will never escape the typecast. For as long as I can remember, Roman Godfrey to Pennywise to that dude in Barbarian... they're all shady as fuck.

You know who else is shady as fuck? Mr. Blonde. Michael Madsen is the original Mr. Blonde and he brings such a specific energy to Blonde. I found it hard to find a good match. Looks-wise, Richard Madden. Though, in general, I think Vincent Cassel would be a very creepy, very sexy Blonde and if you've seen that scene in Ocean's Twelve, you'd know the "Stuck In The Middle With You" scene is in good hands.

I reluctantly add this next one. "Nice Guy" Eddie, played by Chris Penn, is being recast to probably my least favorite actor of all time, Jonah Hill. Fuck, it just works so well.

You know that cop, Martin whatever? Yeah, he's now Rami Malek. This is payback for being in Amsterdam.

Tim Roth, the reason I knew the plot of the entire movie before watching it, I fucking love your face man. Mr. Orange is now fan-cast as Andy Bean. Completely self-indulgent. Though, past Gee apparently thought Joesph Gorden-Levitt was a good contender because his name is very bold in my notes. Also, self-indulgent.

Randy Brook's Holdaway would be brilliantly played by Brian Tyree Henry. If you've seen Bullet Train, he is fucking incredible.

For Joe, originally played by Lawernce Tierney, I give thee Brian Cox of the Logan Roy variety. Or Vincent D'Onofrio of the Marvel supervillain variety.

Moving on to Mr. Brown, I could not decide. Give my dude Jake Sim a couple of years and he's perfect. I also have Michael C. Hall, Matt Berry, and Mark Sheppard. I don't guess it really matters as long as they can deliver an entire speech about Madonna's Like A Virgin and make it as disgusting as possible.

Before researching, I had wanted Edward Bunker's Mr. Blue to be Danny Trejo. Here's a fact I learned while researching for this review, Bunker and Trejo actually served jail time together. Small world. Oh, and Bob Odenkirk was the runner-up for Mr. Blue. I love that man.

Shit, I think that's it. Now I have to go make a collage of all these actors.

#movie review #fancast #reservoir dogs #quentin tarantino

[garudabluffs]

Stolen Moments · Mark Murphy Timeless: Mark Murphy ℗ 2003 Savoy Records

Bill Cunliffe - Stolen Moments

Live at the Culver Club Feat. Bill Cunliffe - Piano Tom Warrington  - Bass Paul Kreibich - Drums Andy Martin - Trombone Bob Summers - Trumpet Rickey Woodard - Tenor Sax Bob Sheppard - Alto Sax

Oliver Nelson Septet - Stolen Moments (1961) Personnel: Freddie Hubbard (trumpet), Eric Dolphy (alto sax, flute), Oliver Nelson (tenor sax, arrange), George Barrow (baritone saxophone), Bill Evans (piano), Paul Chambers (bass), Roy Haynes (drums) from the album 'THE BLUES AND THE ABSTRACT TRUTH' (Impulse! Records)

#music video Stolen Moments Mark Murphy