Bassist Buell Neidlinger was born on March 2, 1936, in New York City. At the age of nineteen he joined Cecil Taylor’s group. In 1959, he played with Jimmy Giuffre, opening for Ornette Coleman at the Five Spot. He sat in with Ornette sometimes when my father couldn’t make the gig. Buell soon grew tired of the financial see-saw of a jazz musician’s life. He joined the world of classical music. He went on the road with the Boston Pops, and became bass chair in the Boston Symphony Orchestra. In 1971, Neidlinger moved to Los Angeles, where he joined the Warner Bros. studio orchestra. He was principal bassist there for 30 years.
Buell continued playing jazz in a variety of settings. Krystal Klear and The Buells had a big presence in the early 1980s L.A. jazz scene. The group consisted of Marty Krystall on tenor sax, Buell Neidlinger on bass, Warren Gale, trumpet, and my father’s old friend Billy Higgins on drums. Their debut album, Ready For The 90s, was released in 1980. Cecil Taylor performed on one track. Buell Neidlinger continued putting out amazing jazz records for decades. He died in 2018.
The tracks on side one are entitled, I Gor’s BLUEs and Like, Latin/Synapse. Side two starts with Modern Gizz, into P.O., and ends with Cecil.
Read my post, “Interviews From A Box, Pt. 1: Charlie Haden vs Buell Neidlinger” for more about Neidlinger’s life and his relationship to my father. You can find it at joshhaden.substack.com.
In this Substack podcast I listen to albums from the record collection of my father, the late jazz bassist Charlie Haden. If you like what you hear, please consider subscribing. I’m writing a book of Memoires about life, death, jazz, slowcore, and survival. The address is joshhaden.substack.com.
Also, consider visiting the website of my band, Spain. We’re in the midst of recording a new studio album. Subscribers can listen to rough mixes of brand new songs as we record them, and other exclusive tracks. The address is spaintheband.com.
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