Subject: Discovering the NEW Sites!
Received: 4/9/01 7:32 AM
To: B.J. Major, bjbear71@mindspring.com
Dear BJ,
For the first time I visited (with Dom Um [Romao] watching with attention) your sites about Bobby Rosengarden and Kai Winding.
I don't know too much about Bobby, but of course I have many of his albums as sideman. . . .
Regarding Kai, I don't have many of his solo albums. But I love his projects with J.J. Johnson.
[. . .]
Your fan,
Arnaldo DeSouteiro
Jazz Station Records
Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
Subject: Bobby Rosengarden
Received: 3/26/03 7:02 PM
To: bjbear71@mindspring.com
Hi there! I just came across your website while searching for Bobby Rosengarden. Great work! Do you know if Mr. Rosengarden is still alive? If so, do you think he would be willing to answer some questions or talk about his experiences with Audio Fidelity records?
Thanks, and again, nice website!
Take care,
Jim Witteveen
Subject: Re: Bobby Rosengarden
Received: 10/16/03 8:05 AM
Hi there...
While surfing the 'net tonite, I stumbled across your Bobby Rosengarden website. Very interesting stuff. I'm very impressed by your archiving. My name is Jon Charles. My mom was Uncle Bob's older sister, Bernice (Rosengarden). My dad is Ray Charles, the vocal arranger and choral group leader (of the same name). In addition to being Bobby's nephew (duh!), I was his arranger-copyist-librarian-schlepper at The Dick Cavett Show (1968-1973) and percussionist for his Waldorf-Astoria orchestra gig (1973-1974). By the way, Tommy Newsom wrote the Brazilian samba arrangement of "Glitter And Be Gay," the Cavett theme. I'm still arranging, but I've given up schlepping. I spoke with Uncle Bob yesterday, October 14th.
[. . .]
Way back when, before the age of "overproduced" albums & monstrous budgets, guys like Bobby & my dad went into the city (our families lived in Great Neck, NY, a 1/4 mile from each other) to work 5 days a week, cranking out 4 tracks (WITH the singer singing live WITH the band) in 3 hours or less. Or maybe they'd do an "S & H Green Stamps" jingle or a "pick-up orchestra" symphony recording. Life (and mixing) was simple & the musicians were talented. It was sorta like "a pack of wolves," moving from one carcass to another. And, there was a lot of food in the jungle. Guys like Bobby might do 3 or 4 different sessions in a day. One would walk into the recording studio, rehearse the tune once or twice, and cut the track--no muss, no fuss. AND, he was doing The Tonight Show, too. He was much in demand. He could read "fly-sh*t," keep immaculate time (this was before the days of the click track), was very intuitive and was famous for his drum rolls. He ALWAYS gave 500%. A no-nonsense guy who loved to have fun.
Happy Hallowe'en,
Jon Charles
Subject: Bobby Rosengarden
Received: 10/22/03 6:32 PM
Hi BJ:
I found your website on Bobby while reminiscing about my years in New York. Both my husband and I worked at various NY recording studios and knew Bobby.
You have done a wonderful job. I can't wait to show the site to my husband. It brings back wonderful memories of the terrific musicians we had back in the"good old days".
Thanks for the great reminders,
Marcia Jensen