“Scooter” (there is something muppety about him, perhaps more Gonzo than Scooter) told me his name but I seemed not to have written it down anywhere. It was probably because when I asked to make his photo for Tokyo Record Style, he said he was in a hurry to get somewhere… and after already having another such interaction (see previous post) suddenly I felt like I needed to get somewhere in a hurry too …perhaps shooting that cool looking girl walking out of Coconuts, right behind Scooter who maybe I would have had the time, and lord knows we need some more women on Tokyo Record Style, hasn’t been one in 24 posts, jeez, but alas, there she goes. And then suddenly Scooter wasn’t in a hurry anymore and wanted me to make his photo, but his way. I think he wanted to pose this way, and not that way, and then this background and not that background, then wanted me to make a photo of the record on his scooter but not of him in the photo, and anyway, it became a case of too many directors on set, and we endured an awkward and clunky dance of negotiating each other. Though he scored a wicked Pharoh Sanders record and had a vintage Vespa 150 Super with a skateboard mount that doubled as a record holder and a sick overall patina, and though he looked the part, supremely cool, and though the photos turned out fantastic in my humble opinion, I didn’t even catch his name.
You hear musicians talk about the difference “art” and “craft” the former being an inexplicable force of energy that you are simply an open conduit of, and the other being essentially muscle memory, …well this photo is the photographer’s version of the latter.
I could have wielded the photos and moment itself into my command, but it seems Scooter could too, and who knows if we would have gotten there. Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda. So there you have it. Two forces doing a bit of push and push rather than push and pull. It’s fine, and again, what it’s really going to show is that Tokyo Record Style in the end is probably more about people than music, cuz with just the music and the pose, and not a level of deeper human interaction and shared music appreciation, it’s just a crafted photo.
Sill though, cool looking dood. And killer record. Thanks, Scooter.
More Tokyo Record Style on the way!
Pharoah Sanders – Karma
Label: Impulse! – AS-9181, ABC Records – A-9181
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo, Gatefold
Country: US
Released: 1969
Genre: Jazz
Style: Modal, Post Bop, Avant-garde Jazz, Free Jazz
https://www.discogs.com/release/873261-Pharoah-Sanders-Karma
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