Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
One of the great names of jazz who has excited more controversy and argument than any other figure in popular music.
On the island
Eight records
I think it's absolutely necessary that I have something by Bartalk.
When It's Sleepy Time Down South
I must have something there that represents an effort or an example of what the father of all jazz can do.
It's like a modern painting. On first hearing, you did not absorb it all.
I think of all the men that have led big bands and jazz, Duke possibly should be presented with the the crown.
Nancy (with the Laughing Face)
I'm taking with me strictly for sentimental reasons.
I can think of no better music to do it by than, of course, Iber's Ports of Call.
I think he has one of the cleanest, freshest sounds on record.
This is something that I'm sure that any time I felt a little low, I could play and I would gain a smile.
In conversation
Presenter asks
0:49Your tour has been a triumphal progress with people hanging from the rafters. Is that so?
Well, right, it's been pretty exciting and a very warm thing.
Presenter asks
3:12When did you first have the idea that music was going to be your vocation?
Well, my mother exposed me to music when I was about 10 years old, but it was a very fast exposure. I would rather be outside playing. She tried again when I was 12 years old, but it seemed in vain. Finally, when I was about 14 years old, I suddenly became obsessed with the idea of wanting to learn how to play the piano, and I then started dreaming about making my life a professional life in music.
Presenter asks
4:14Was there any one musician that was an inspiration to you?
Well, at a very early age, I discovered that I was interested in jazz more than in classical music. And I met an older man in music, a piano player, that said, I think that you should be set in the right direction right now. He said, Do not confuse yourself by listening to a lot of jazz music other than that of Louis Armstrong and Earl Hines. He says, Louis Armstrong, I think, is going to be the father of all jazz because he's the one that is doing the most genuine creative music. I started listening to Louis Armstrong…
The keepsakes
The book
H.L. Overstreet
I've read one book somehow that has excited me more than any of the others, and that is a book by H.L. Overstreet called The Mature Mind. ... it's a book that sort of takes away all the sham of life and gets right down to the bare facts. And I think that it is a book that I could read time and time again. And each time I would read it, I'd find something new and a different message.
The luxury
Not recorded.
Presenter asks
5:31When did you get the idea that you must have a band of your own?
Roy, I think that after I'd played around in Southern California, around Hollywood and Los Angeles for a number of years working in clubs, the studios and radio stations, there was such a hunger to play a certain kind of music that somehow the opportunity didn't present itself, so I decided that if I was going to be able to play that music, I'd best try to organize my own band. I think that was really the reason the band was organized.
Presenter asks
6:41Your music has faced criticism for not being soothing. How do you respond to that?
Roy, you know, I actually believe that some people believe music should be just a thing that's there if you want to listen to it. And if you don't want to listen to it, you don't have to pay any attention to it. But I know that music like ours, not only like ours, but there's a lot of music just like it in the classical world, in the contemporary modern world of the classical music scene. Some music you cannot disregard. It's too pointed and it is too strong. It demands too much of your attention. We in the musical world call that music more absolute music. It's music that you can't, it's not functional. You can't eat by it and it's not good for atmosphere. It's music for music's sake.
Presenter asks
14:26Would you be able to look after yourself on the island? Could you build a shelter?
Well, I suppose I'll have to build it out of anything I can find. I don't know how to build a hut, but I certainly know that I'll have to build one. … No, I'm the world's worst fisherman. I've never been on a hunting trip, but I have to do both of those. Well, I want to live, Roy. Yes, so I'd better learn how. … No, not at all. But if I have to live, if I have to cook to live, I'll say I'd better learn how to cook.
“Some music you cannot disregard. It's too pointed and it is too strong. It demands too much of your attention.”
“I've always said that I think that I have the smallest amount of sentimentality and nostalgia of any person I know. But here I am in choosing these records from my desert island. Here's something that I'm taking with me strictly for sentimental reasons.”
“I don't know how to build a hut, but I certainly know that I'll have to build one.”
“If I have to live, if I have to cook to live, I'll say I'd better learn how to cook.”
“This record I consider one of the masterpieces, and so does the commercial world of music, considered a money-making masterpiece. This is something that I'm sure that any time I felt a little low, I could play and I would gain a smile.”