| Margaret Davis - 12/12/01 My URL:http://www.jazznewyork.org My Email:musicmargaret@earthlink.net |
Comments: I first met Denis sometime in the mid-8O's. Denis Charles is one of the master musicians of the ages, a loving, giving person, a griot, a truthteller, a gentle & radiant being, a joy to have known & to have heard. I cannot say enough about how wonderful he was. Life wasn't always easy for him, angels in human form are often afflicted by demons, & Denis contended mightily with some of his own, & he was overcoming them even as he came to the end of his time here & had to leave us. I will always love him, as I'm sure everyone shall who ever knew him. It's hard to believe when walking around on the lower East Side now that I'm not going to run into his open arms in my journeys, or spot him in the felafel place that's no longer there, or hear his sound bouncing out of all the little clubs he played in, where so many young would be musicians gathered around to learn all they could from him. Let us give thanks for Denis Charles! |
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Henry Peters, Sunny Moon Recording |
Comments: Thanks so much for your fine & considerate work with Denis Charles's life... Your page/s made me both rejoice for a life well spent & your obvious Love/care for the man & his works, & also, lament even more (by positive example)... the terrible disregard & or disrespect "our" culture in general in america... has had for the forces of constructive future Human intent... those soundz, that stance... building... such as Denis & other made (& so some do valiantlycontinue today, despite the "odds"), that include almost everyone... (in fact, really do... but certain blindnesses... & other factors,make some, seem incapable of seeing or hearing this) to urge us to participate somehow in these events we call Life. And it is your kind of Love/care... & dedication to this process, that I'm sure, will help see us through to continue... this very long tradition of Human renewal. |
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david gorman - 12/06/00 22:18:56 | Comments: |
| DIDIER PARIS - 11/18/00 00:52:32 My Email:OIMA@FREE.COM When did you meet Denis?: 1998 |
Comments: FROM THE GUY WITH FLOWERS IN MONTREUIL AND ON THE SIDEWALK IN MANHATTAN FOR THE VISION FESTIVAL 1999 IN NYC SEE YOU SOON MELANIE GIVE ME A CALL SOMETIME OU PAS. |
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anisha - 07/19/00 17:34:38 My Email:anil_kumar_kaul@hotmail.com | Comments: I want some nursery rhymes |
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space monkey #197 - 06/05/00 14:43:39 My URL:http://hawg-town My Email:hawg-town | Comments: Great musician! One of my favorite recordings being "school days" with lacy, rudd, grimes. |
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jc morrison - 05/21/00 15:14:28 My Email:jc@izone.com When did you meet Denis?: early 80's, in front of judy's Is there anything you can add to the discography? (see discography link on the home page):: hmmmm.... | Comments: what i learned from denis: simple and from the heart is not so simple and the heart doesn't always go along. but what choice do you really have? anyone who struggles with this, is bound to spend some time in a hole. the rest is spent cleaning up, or playi g drums (or just with the other kids). |
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Véronique Doumbé - 03/15/00 21:58:16 My Email:Véronique@Earthvideo.net When did you meet Denis?: 82 or 83 | Comments: "Denis A. Charles: An interrupted conversation", a documentary on the late Denis A. Charles was screened (as a work-in-progress/ 20 minutes) on Friday 3/17/2000 at 4P at the 3rd Annual African American Women in Cinema. The film festival was held at the N w York Film Academy, 100 East 17th Street. |
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joshua wildman - 03/12/00 02:49:14 My Email:www.joashuawildman@yahoo.com When did you meet Denis?: habib's falafel | Comments: I used to drink coffee and hang out with this great gut in leather pants and he would tell me about playing with cecil and all of the heavies and I was thinking, who is this jive turkey. A couple years later as I got deeper into the music I saw his name everywhere. I was out in Chicago then. i saw him once on a visit. The passing of him and Fred Hopkins both affected me deeply and make me more productive. They inspire me more than they will know. Peace to the jazz |
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Tammy - 11/17/99 01:44:53 My URL:http://www1.50megs.com/drumparadise/index.html My Email:fuzzycats2 When did you meet Denis?: I dint' have the pleasure | Comments: I just wanted to say that I really like this page its nice to see memorials up to great percussionists |
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- 11/07/99 06:43:47 My Email:sumnirv@aol.com When did you meet Denis?: never | Comments: Denis was one of my favorite drummers. I: am pleased that someone has taken the time to document the accomplishments of this outstanding musician. |
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Dominic Duval - 10/26/99 02:26:41 My Email:katdom@earthlink.net When did you meet Denis?: 1999 | Comments: Dennis was and always will be a force of insperation for all musicians to rest on. His struggles are mankinds struggles. He lived for his passions and in the end died for the love with love for his music. Alway Cecil Taylor told me he was happy for Dennis, that he saw a change in him that he hadn't seen in many years. My recording experience with him was a pleasure and I am very happy to have known him even for a short time |
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Peter Kuhn - 10/25/99 03:45:07 My URL:http://www.pythonpete.com My Email:pete@pythonpete.com When did you meet Denis?: 1977 | Comments: Denis was a great friend and had a big heart that overflowed with music. He had an infectious smile and could always make me laugh. He was a melodic drummer and a giant in the lineage of Art Blakey and Ed Blackwell. I use to love hearing his stories about Sonny Rollins, Art Blakey, Steve Lacy and many others. His dedication to music was deep as the ocean. I am much richer for having known him and playing with him. |
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Sandy Bull - 10/23/99 21:33:15 My URL:http://www.sandybull.com My Email:timrecsoc@home.com When did you meet Denis?: 1960/NYC | Comments: Dennis (as we knew him before he corrected the spelling after he saw his Birth Certifcate) will always live in my heart as a friend and teacher. I used to mess with drums up at Denis' loft on Grand St., and to teach me co-ordination, he'd get me to play a kang, ka-chang, kang, ka-chang beat with the right hand and then play a simple nursery-rhyme like "Mary Had A Little Lamb" on the snare with my left. Sounds easy? - no way! After losing contact with Denis for about 20 years, fate brought us into contact in a beautiful phone conversation, within hours of his passing. Denis, you're missed, but as Don Cherry used to say, "In a minute." |
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steven kelly denman - 10/09/99 23:46:06 My Email:donutcat When did you meet Denis?: i never did | Comments: his open and foward playing is inspiring. I too had a period of several years of not playing,before resuming my career.now i am stronger and continually more creative then before.not just because of practice either. |
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Mario Alphonso Charles - 07/12/99 22:57:33 My Email:mchbb@cuynvm.cuny.edu When did you meet Denis?: When I was born. Is there anything you can add to the discography? (see discography link on the home page):: I'll see what I can find. | Comments: When I was a child Jazz use to make me laugh by blowing in my eyes. When I grew up he played music to give listeners the laughter of his music. Through his recordings he continues to blow in my eyes and to give the laughter of rhythm to all listeners! |
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diana gilchrist - 06/01/99 14:31:48 My Email:diana.gilchrist@mla.org When did you meet Denis?: @ 1985 or so | Comments: I knew Denis through my husband, Maceo Gilchrist, (bass player) who passed away in January, 1999. He always spoke highly of Denis and respected him as a musician and a person. My husband talked to him constantly about cleaning up his act; getting off drugs and Denis always agreed that he would. It was a ball for me to listen to them talk about their music and their lives in music. Denis always bowed his head to me and acted like a true gentleman to me. When we passed Judy Rhodes's house on Avenue B, Denis's impeccable rythms could be heard flowing out the window and down the street. Somehow Denis and others like C-Sharpe and Tommy Turentine brought the Lower East Side alive with music. It is an era that will not return. I feel privleged to have witnessed it. Diana Gilchrist, Maceo's lady |
| Joseph Barbaccia - 05/24/99 12:52:26 My URL:http://paradisestudio.com My Email:jbarbacc@paradisestudio.com When did you meet Denis?: 1990 | Comments: I have some tapes from a gig he did at the Painted Bride in Philly @1990. |
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worldstyle - 05/09/99 10:27:57 My URL:http://www.kaliweb.com | Comments: just learned that denis was a sag..... cool.. great site.. tons of wonderful info you go ladies!!!!!!!! |
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Matt Hunyadi - 05/03/99 15:02:51 My Email:mhunyad@uakron.edu When did you meet Denis?: I never have Is there anything you can add to the discography? (see discography link on the home page):: He will always be a big part of the Jazz Percussion world. | Comments: I have never heard any of his music, but i can say he if he's a Jazz Percussionist then he is part of the percussion world forever. As a fellow percussionist he will be missed. |
Comments:
Je pense que votre emplacement est intéressant. Je l'ai trouvé par accident tout en surfant GeoCities. Bonne Chance!
| carlos costa - 12/13/98 18:47:11
My Email:rdd19014 When did you meet Denis?: 2 years ago |
Comments:
he was such a great person, as a musician and as a wonderfull human being, i can´t believe he´s gone... |
| Pedro costa - 12/11/98 13:35:36
My Email:rdd19014@mail.telepac.pt When did you meet Denis?: 5 years ago Is there anything you can add to the discography? (see discography link on the home page):: yes, many things |
Comments:
I´m in love with Denis music. He was (and still is) such a spiritual player,I can compare his chops to those like Coltrane, Ayler and Dolphy. He will stay with us forever. |
| Keith Knox - 12/07/98 09:56:57
My URL:http://www.silkheart.se My Email:info@silkheart.se When did you meet Denis?: mid-eighties I guess Is there anything you can add to the discography? (see discography link on the home page):: yes, eventually |
Comments:
I'm delighted that a home page for Denis Charles is on the web. I worked with him on several recording projects and we kept in touch quite a lot for ten years maybe. I liked Denis a lot and I respected his drumming very much indeed, right up from his time with Cecil Taylor, through Gil Evans to his tremendous spurt of activity late on in life. To me he was a major jazz artist and a charming, friendly person. I count him as a real friend in fact, and I'm grateful for that. |
| Cooper-Moore - 11/02/98 08:10:30
My Email:gya@aol.com When did you meet Denis?: 1967 |
Comments:
In 1967 I bought the C.T. albumn LOVE FOR SALE, and there was Denis Charles playing drums.. I was blessed to meet him in the flesh on e. 7th st. in NYC in 1986. I lived down the street. It would be morning and he would have his sticks and his pad and be on the way to Tompkins Square Park to practice. |
| Nathan Breedlove - 10/16/98 05:59:24
My Email:Nbreedlov@aol.com Is there anything you can add to the discography? (see discography link on the home page):: I have a cassette recording of Denis, Jr. Cook, Essiet Essiet, and myself, but the quality is very poor.... |
Comments:
I love Denis. |
| Monti Pierre-André - 07/26/98 15:37:02
My Email:montipa@sysco.ch |
Comments:
thanks, Dennis, see you again ! |
| joão de vilhena - 07/06/98 22:17:33
When did you meet Denis?: in a happy and blessed day |
Comments:
-denis the «bacalhau» is ready...is already on the table.we miss you a lot...joão. |
| MaryBeth O'Hara - 07/06/98 21:22:51
My Email:avebgirl@aol.com When did you meet Denis?: 1984-85 |
Comments:
Your presence is still in the park. I miss our chats about life. Send it down from the heavens! Love Mary X |
| Louis Leger - 07/06/98 16:13:08
My Email:bflat.jazz.club@mail.telepac.pt When did you meet Denis?: fevrier 1996 |
Comments:
Vous etes fOrmidable !!! |
| ken meredith - 06/23/98 21:02:21
My Email:kkmere@bellatlantic.net |
Comments: |
| mary geitner - 06/04/98 13:55:52
My Email:mgeitner@buncombe.main.nc.us When did you meet Denis?: last week while checking out the cd cover in Melanie's living room |
Comments:
it's been illuminating having a friend who knew denis intimately--if anyone can convey the spirit of another person while maintaining her own so beauifully, it's Melanie. |
| Adam Lore - 06/04/98 13:11:59
When did you meet Denis?: 1997 Is there anything you can add to the discography? (see discography link on the home page): William Parker's In Order to Survive (Black Saint) w/Grachan Moncur III, Rob Brown, Lewis Barnes, William Parker, Denis Charles (replaced by Jackson Krall on the final track). Released 1995/6? |
Comments: |
| gino wilson - 05/23/98 00:28:09
My URL:http://www.dclink.com/reggaeon My Email:reggaeone@dclink.com |
Comments:
may this beautiful person, artist...rest in peace. gino |
| Anthony Sanderson - 05/12/98 14:09:41 | Comments: |
| kat diaz - 05/03/98 03:09:30
When did you meet Denis?: a long time ago |
Comments:
Dennis, you will be missed |
| Roldan - 05/02/98 23:42:46
When did you meet Denis?: Twenty years ago |
Comments:
Thank you Denis for your advice of music in life and life in music, Peace and Love from your brother -- Roldan |
| abby stuthers - 05/01/98 18:37:25
My URL:http://privatematters.com/abby My Email:abbyRN@aol.com |
Comments:
Your Music will live forever..Cool Jazz |
| sylvan charles - 04/30/98 12:00:11
My URL:http://privatematters.com My Email:charlie@privatematters.com When did you meet Denis?: at his birth |
Comments:
I miss my brother but the thing I will really miss is "jazz's" music He died before he reached his peak |
| Louisa Brane - 04/27/98 10:58:22
My Email:brane@dorit.ihi.ku.dk When did you meet Denis?: 1989 |
Comments:
I met Dennis in 1989, when I visited him and Melanie. I'm danish and It was my first time in N.Y and Dennis was so kind to show me around, introducing me to the neighbourhood, when I didn't know anybody. I liked him very much,he would even teach me how to play some jazz-rythms on melanie's roof ( I only played rock-drums at that time. He was a very kind man. |
| Katrine Spang-Hanssen - 04/26/98 05:23:00
My Email:KSpanghans When did you meet Denis?: In 1986 |
Comments:
I did my first gig ever , as a juggler (That is what I do for a living now) with Denis. We called it Jazz & Juggling. It was sooo cool. I haven't seen him in several years, but he sure was inspirational...I am gonna miss his wonderful spirit, such a great guy. I hope they have drums in heaven...Love ya Denis, Katrine the Dane |
| Holly Laubach - 04/12/98 01:47:55
My Email:kiwikrnr@ptd.net When did you meet Denis?: Via Melanie-a long time ago |
Comments:
Denis transcending is a great loss amongst the living. Although my inclination tells me that he has joined [Jim] Pepper and, together they will provide us with their wisdom and creativity thru the tunes they create - for us to follow...if we listen ... we should hear them on the wind. |
| Lynn Pietak - 04/08/98 00:29:37
My Email:lm@minspring.com When did you meet Denis?: 1986 |
Comments:
Denis was a dear, sweet thing and he will be terribly missed. Let's keep in mind he'd want to be remembered with happiness and good vibes. |
| Joseph Barbaccia - 04/06/98 19:01:16
My URL:http://ncc-1701.com/paradise My Email:jbarbacc@wheatintl.com When did you meet Denis?: 1986 |
Comments:
Thanks Dennis for helping me plug into "The Beat." The Beat goes on. |
| Melanie Maclennan - 04/03/98 16:29:24
My Email:mmaclennan@aol.com |
Comments:
Dear Folks, Denis died in his sleep on the morning of 3/26 in new york. His adored daughter was with him. The first in a series of memorials will be held may 2, saturday at 7 p, at the university of the streets, 130 E 7th st. He would laugh, but he has a webpage and email address, which follow below. Denis called himself a late bloomer- but he left too early- and its not just his music, but his spirit which will be sorely missed. denischarles @ geocities.com http://www.geocities.com/BourbonStreet/Bayou/1204 love, melanie |
| David Friedman - 04/03/98 00:50:35
My URL:http://members.theglobe.com/friedart My Email:davidf@cmdpdx.com When did you meet Denis?: 1980 something through Melanie. |
Comments:
I'm sorry for your loss. David Bruce Friedman |
| Scott Brown - 04/02/98 18:58:36
My Email:gakm.nysales@worldnet.att.net When did you meet Denis?: 1986 |
Comments:
Denis was actually my daughter Barri's friend but I often used to go see him at St. Mark's Bar. He always treated me as if I were special. He was also very candid about whatever was going on in his life. Denis was real. I didn't see very much of him in the last 5 years . . . but I'll miss him. The king is dead; long live the king! |