April Fools: Jazz Style

A funny read over on All About Jazz! here are a few bites:

John Coltrane. Albert Ayler is well known for his love of leather suits (green ones, particularly). Less well known is fellow saxophonist Coltrane's obsession with lederhosen. Coltrane bought his first pair on tour in Germany in 1963 and is believed to have acquired over 300 pairs by the time of his death four years later. He regularly threw barbecues at his upstate New York home where he and pianist Alice Coltrane would model their latest purchases to music provided by a local oompah band. Pianist McCoy Tyner and drummer Elvin Jones both quit Coltrane's "classic quartet" when Coltrane insisted they wore lederhosen on stage.

Miles Davis. The trumpeter's impish sense of fun sometimes bordered on the absurd. He would surprise audiences by turning his back to them, slipping on a red clown nose and then stopping the band while he told jokes. Critics accused him of tomming, but Davis said he got his inspiration from Louis Armstrong. "You can't tell a single joke that hasn't already been told by Armstrong," he once said. "We is happy folks, yassuh boss," he added.

For more fun read the full article [here.]