What happened to Woody Shaw?
spenac
As far as I know he fell under a subway train in 1989. Previous to this
Iremember readint that he had some drug problems he also suffered from
some eye trouble
Ranjit Bhagwat
What happened to Woody Shaw in the 1970's that screwed him up?
Is he still even alive? I'm sorry, Im usually not this ignorant, but i
am really without a clue.
Dr. Don Koldon
In article <5qj115$gd3$1...@vixen.cso.uiuc.edu>, rbha...@uni.uiuc.edu
(Ranjit Bhagwat) wrote:
Woody Shaw's is one of the most tragic life stories in all of jazz -
suffered from retinitis pigmentosa (an eye disorder that was slowly taking
away his sight), other medical and personal problems, and far more bad
career luck/timing than an artist of his stature should ever have had to
bear.
Died in '89 or '90 - fell (or may have been pushed) under a subway train
in NYC in the middle of the night.
Michael Cuscuna's essay on Shaw (included in the Mosaic box set) is a very
good overview of Shaw's story and more heartfelt than most liner notes, as
MC knew and worked with him through most of Woody's career.
BTW - some previously unreleased Woody Shaw is coming next month on Blue
Note, unless the schedule's changed.
--
DK
Michael Fitzgerald
On 16 Jul 1997 17:39:49 GMT, rbha...@uni.uiuc.edu (Ranjit Bhagwat)
wrote:
>What happened to Woody Shaw in the 1970's that screwed him up?
>Is he still even alive? I'm sorry, Im usually not this ignorant, but i
>am really without a clue.
Please check my WWW site for details of his recording career.
His obituary can be found here:
http://www.pubserv.com/users/jeff/woody.html
Mike
Jack Woker
Dr. Don Koldon wrote:
>
> In article <5qj115$gd3$1...@vixen.cso.uiuc.edu>, rbha...@uni.uiuc.edu
> (Ranjit Bhagwat) wrote:
>
> > What happened to Woody Shaw in the 1970's that screwed him up?
> >Is he still even alive? I'm sorry, Im usually not this ignorant, but i
> >am really without a clue.
>
> suffered from retinitis pigmentosa (an eye disorder that was slowly taking
> away his sight), other medical and personal problems, and far more bad
> career luck/timing than an artist of his stature should ever have had to
> bear.
>
> Died in '89 or '90 - fell (or may have been pushed) under a subway train
> in NYC in the middle of the night.
I'll second the opinion as to the tragedy of Woody's life. At the time
just prior to his subway accident, it was generally rumored that he was
a drug addict and was afflicted with AIDS. The subway incident may have
been a suicide attempt, although he did not die from it - he lost an
arm, which ended his playing career. At the time of the accident, a
friend familiar with the particular subway station told me that he was
not surprised that somebody might fall onto the tracks at this station.
Apparently the station is laid out in such a way that this is possible.
jack
tst...@natsys.fr
In article <33CE3C...@ix.netcom.com>,
ste...@ix.netcom.com wrote:
>
>
> I'll second the opinion as to the tragedy of Woody's life. At the time
> just prior to his subway accident, it was generally rumored that he was
> a drug addict and was afflicted with AIDS.
But were the rumors true? About AIDS, I mean. I know I read a long
article about Woody Shaw in a French jazz magazine that appeared to be
well-researched and which talked at length about his having AIDS. Also it
is mentioned as fact in the generally reliable "Dictionnaire du Jazz".
- Tom Storer
-------------------==== Posted via Deja News ====-----------------------
http://www.dejanews.com/ Search, Read, Post to Usenet
Mark A. Goldstein
On 16 Jul 1997 17:39:49 GMT, rbha...@uni.uiuc.edu (Ranjit Bhagwat)
wrote:
> What happened to Woody Shaw in the 1970's that screwed him up?
>Is he still even alive? I'm sorry, Im usually not this ignorant, but i
>am really without a clue.
>
Diabetes (or other eye ailment resulting in)...near blindness in the
80s...heroine addiction...falling into subway and losing arm...
pneumonia...kidney failure.
The above are the physical symptoms. The emotional symptoms may be
the progression from being the top jazz trumpeter of 1978 to a
relative unknown in the 80s after the meteoric rise and vast attention
paid to Wynton Marsalis and others a generation junior to Shaw.
It was tragic witnessing Shaw, apparently because of his eye sight
problems, stumble into tables on his way to the bandstand at the
Village Vanguard in the mid 1980s.
The UPI obituary is available at
http://www.pubserv.com/users/jeff/woody.html
/mark
Mark Goldstein
mgj...@quickcom.net
Santa Monica, California
Jack Woker
tst...@natsys.fr wrote:
>
> In article <33CE3C...@ix.netcom.com>,
> ste...@ix.netcom.com wrote:
> >
> >
> > I'll second the opinion as to the tragedy of Woody's life. At the time
> > just prior to his subway accident, it was generally rumored that he was
> > a drug addict and was afflicted with AIDS.
>
> But were the rumors true? About AIDS, I mean. I know I read a long
> article about Woody Shaw in a French jazz magazine that appeared to be
> well-researched and which talked at length about his having AIDS. Also it
> is mentioned as fact in the generally reliable "Dictionnaire du Jazz".
Apparently, at least according to the publications you mention. How
recently were they written? I heard the "rumors" at least a year or two
before he died. Maybe that information is now more generally available.
jack
Dr. Don Koldon
In article <33d3bb4a.5900552@news>, mgj...@quickcom.net (Mark A.
Goldstein) wrote:
>The above are the physical symptoms. The emotional symptoms may be
>the progression from being the top jazz trumpeter of 1978 to a
>relative unknown in the 80s after the meteoric rise and vast attention
>paid to Wynton Marsalis and others a generation junior to Shaw.
As written, this could imply luck passed Woody by to shine upon others.
Another way to say it could be "... after being summarily dismissed from
the limelight (most notably by Columbia Records) in order to clear the
deck for what was felt to be more marketable youngsters." That carries
the additional personal weight that, most unfortunately, can stick in
someone's gut for years. Likely to do down in history as one of, if the
THE the lowest point(s) in George Butler's career.
--
DK
c943...@student.anu.edu.au
In article <5qj115$gd3$1...@vixen.cso.uiuc.edu>, rbha...@uni.uiuc.edu
(Ranjit Bhagwat) wrote:
> What happened to Woody Shaw in the 1970's that screwed him up?
> Is he still even alive? I'm sorry, Im usually not this ignorant, but i
> am really without a clue.
Hi
Apparantly, Woody fell in front of a train at the Subway and his arm was
torn away from his body. He died on the way to hospital probably realising
that he'd never play again. This may be worth checking though.
--
Peace and good fortune!
Al Clarke
dip. jazz studies
Australian National University
JohnHassel
>Apparantly, Woody fell in front of a train at the Subway and his arm was
>torn away from his body. He died on the way to hospital probably
realising
>that he'd never play again. This may be worth checking though.
Actually, Woody did not die on the way to the hospital. He died of a
heart attack at least several weeks after the subway accident.
John
Chi...@ix.netcom.com
I had the great fortune to see Shaw play with Dexter Gordon in NYC.
Beautiful sound and crystal clear ideas. What a tragic loss.
Chico
JFR
In <33d3bb4a.5900552@news> mgj...@quickcom.net (Mark A. Goldstein)
writes:
>
>On 16 Jul 1997 17:39:49 GMT, rbha...@uni.uiuc.edu (Ranjit Bhagwat)
>wrote:
>
>> What happened to Woody Shaw in the 1970's that screwed him up?
>>Is he still even alive? I'm sorry, Im usually not this ignorant, but
i
>>am really without a clue.
>>
>
>80s...heroine addiction...falling into subway and losing arm...
>pneumonia...kidney failure.
>
>the progression from being the top jazz trumpeter of 1978 to a
>relative unknown in the 80s after the meteoric rise and vast attention
>paid to Wynton Marsalis and others a generation junior to Shaw.
>
>problems, stumble into tables on his way to the bandstand at the
>Village Vanguard in the mid 1980s.
>
>The UPI obituary is available at
>http://www.pubserv.com/users/jeff/woody.html
>
>/mark
>Mark Goldstein
>mgj...@quickcom.net
>Santa Monica, California
So it was ultimately tied to wynton. I figured that......
John
Kenneth I. Schacter
If I'm not mistaken, Woody Shaw had some tough times in the 80s. I think he
lost his vision because of diabetes and then met a terrible end when he was
killed in a fall down some subway steps in NYC about 5 years ago. Mosaic
Records has a box set reissue and doubtless has the complete story of his
decline and demise in there.
Ranjit Bhagwat <rbha...@uni.uiuc.edu> wrote in article
<5qj115$gd3$1...@vixen.cso.uiuc.edu>...
Peterbwms
I guess that I have to wonder why you care if he had AIDS. Why are some
users of this newsgroup so interested in getting hot gossip? It was well
known that Woody Shaw was a herion addict. He mentioned 'riding the drug
train' in several articles. Who cares if he had AIDS? He was a great
p[layer with taste and sensitivity who had a great sense of improvisation.
Watch the "One Night With Blue Note" video and his playing will bring
tears to your eyes. It is a moving thing to see, Woody also had trouble
with his eyes, and they seem to bother him on the video.
Enjoy him for what he played.
Peter
Keith Hedger
Well I for one would find it interesting to know if he had AIDS....I have
heard from several sources that Shaw didn't fall in front of a
subway...that he jumped. I don't necessarily believe these statements,
but it's important to know as much as possible about what was happening in
a person's life when trying to determine the possible validity of such
statements.....
keith
In article <19970801023...@ladder01.news.aol.com>,
James Bunnell
Ashot Bakunts <as...@mailexcite.com> wrote:
>
>There is a very good web site specially dedicated to Woody -- check it out at
>
>http://www.eclipse.net/~fitzgera/woody/wsdisc.htm
>
>You will find biographical information as well as a very detailed discog.
Great discography, but I couldn't locate any biographical info at the
site. Is there a different URL for that?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
James Bunnell > jbun...@aros.net > http://www.aros.net/~jbunnell
"Stupidity has a certain charm; ignorance does not." -- Frank Zappa