James "Doc" Carlson, RIP

UMM jazz was pride and joy of Jim Carlson (photo courtesy Del Sarlette)

The post-Christmas letdown is accentuated this year by sad news: the passing of Jim "Doc" Carlson. He was a member of my father's UMM men's chorus for the Seattle World's Fair trip in 1962. But you probably don't remember him for that. The musical whiz seized on jazz as a vital musical program, right when society was first ready for it. Society was not ready in the 1960s. 

Jazz education crept along in sort of a nascent way in the '70s. John Woell introduced this at the high school level but he suppressed the word "jazz." The high school had a "stage band." There was a time when "jazz" seemed out of the boundaries of decent society. Well, rock 'n' roll was most certainly there too. 

Jazz had an imprint at UMM before Jim came on board as faculty. I have written about what I consider a historic performance, Clyde Johnson directing, of the Don Ellis tune "Final Analysis." I was there at the recital hall to witness this history. "Final Analysis" was an esoteric piece but also a crowd-pleaser. Del Sarlette joked with me "the only time we got the ending right was in the concert." It probably wasn't a joke. Great there was a "happy ending," as it were. 

Carlson seized jazz as a full-fledged dynamic program at UMM. You are most familiar with that if you are a long-time Morris resident. Doesn't seem so long ago in my mind. Then again, many things that are distant in time seem fresh in my mind, like "Y2K." I remember Dad joking with me the next morning about how our dog "Sandy" thought it to be no big deal: snored right through!

Prairie Pioneer Days, the classic PPD at the park, is fresh in my mind. We ought to feel astounded how this went into such a steep and embarrassing decline, until it just seemed to go "poof." 

Well, long-time residents can most certainly remember Jim Carlson's UMM Jazz Festival. It was a huge springtime highlight on UMM's calendar, a highlight of the whole school year really. Which is all well and good, although I suspect - I know the nature of people in academia all too well - there was jealousy about this. 

Carlson's jazz program was many-tiered. Not all elements were set up to be totally crowd-pleasing. Had Jim been oriented to constantly excite audiences, we would have gotten more of the "Jazz I" ensemble. That was the equivalent of the "varsity team." 

But Jim knew all along that the objective was education, to enrich the lives of all the charges under him. He even directed a band made up of 1) non-music majors and 2) music majors who wanted to experience a secondary instrument. Maybe this group wasn't scintillating. But audiences soaked it all in, including the "combos" who sometimes could not be scintillating either, especially in the early years of the program. 

The last time I attended a Fest - Byron Stripling was guest artist - the combos had come a long way. Each rendered something distinctive, for example Dixieland. Whereas, in the early years of the program, I personally found the combos to be, if I may use a word I learned from Woell, "non-descript." I mean, a melody would be established and then members would simply improvise. 

It was explained to me years later that this approach was essential for getting the students acclimated to jazz, as it was the essence of jazz: improvisation. 

I have a friend whose family is a UMM benefactor, whose name I won't type here although you might guess, who said he stopped attending the Jazz Fest because he got tired of the combos. That's disappointing to hear but I can actually understand. I grew frustrated over time that we could not get a bigger dose of the "Jazz I" ensemble. 

But Jim never retreated from the broad-based educational approach. He was no sell-out. 

"Jazz I" was so good, I'm sure people bought tickets just to hear a relatively short program. But doggone it, I wanted to hear more of it! 

Now we are left with memories of "Doc" Carlson after his passing. My testimonial will be one of many. I wish Jim had stuck around in the Morris area longer. His sense of humor was infectious. It was a little on the edge with being cynical at times - all right, often - and there was a time in our culture when this sense was pretty mainstream. You have to be careful showing that kind of humor today. 

Perhaps Jim adjusted. I'm afraid I have not, in large part. 

The Carlsons retired to Florida.

My father Ralph had the kind of background where he could have directed some jazz. He had performed in such groups himself. I have a classic photo of him from 1940 that I will share here sometime. I only recently discovered it. My father directed a range of ensembles in UMM's early years - he was in fact the sole music faculty in the initial year. But jazz would have been off the table in UMM's first decade. Our culture was not ready. How to characterize the public perception of jazz then? I'm groping a little. Perhaps "low life" or "lowbrow" or some such words. And to be frank, association with non-white cultures, yes. 

A youth rebellion built up that gave us the rainbow of cultures consciousness. The rebellion was below the surface for a long time. It finally went mainstream. I worry at present that we are backtracking some with the Trump revolution, if you want to call it that. 

The counterculture would have blessed "CRT," no hesitation. But now we are seeing huge pushback from the white, non-apologetic element of society that pushes Trump and his kind. 

The music aspect of the counterculture will stay with us, I am confident. I once read that "the new left" died but the counterculture had staying power. I'm inclined to use the past tense: "had staying power." 

I think UMM will continue to have jazz indefinitely. I have heard that high schools have backed off some with their commitment to jazz. I have often told people that one thing I love about jazz in high schools is that the musicians are arranged in tiers onstage - you can clearly see and hear all of them. 

When the MAHS concert band gave concerts at the high school auditorium, pre-concert hall, I'd get frustrated because we could only see the front row of clarinet players. I actually felt that concerts were better when they were in the 1968 gym! But Fred Switzer went through a lot of heartache, as he himself would be the first to tell you, getting the auditorium built. He'd say over and over that it almost cost him his job. 

And yet the auditorium is now dwarfed and outclassed by the concert hall. And UMM doesn't even have a concert hall. UMM does have its "ghost of Christmas future" though, which is "Humanities Phase III." Yes, only a ghost. 

I'm wondering if there will be a push to get the HFA recital hall named for Carlson. Let me suggest that college administrators toss and turn at night because of suggestions for naming stuff. Any name that is put forward is worthy, of course. But any institution of higher learning has had a great many make significant contributions. So how to proceed with naming? Glad I asked. I can suggest an answer: It's about money. If certain people want the recital hall to be named after "Doc," they and their friends can pony up. We'll see what happens. 

I'm thankful that photos that include my father are at the recital hall entrance. Oh, a nice photo downstairs too. By the recital hall is a photo of the 1962 UMM men's chorus that includes Carlson. You might have a hard time picking him out. His appearance "morphed" through the years. The names are underneath the photo! All of those souls are indelibly etched in UMM history. (Should I be typing "UMN?")

I'll cherish the memories of Jim's laugh, his often irreverent sense of humor, but most of all his contributions to the art of jazz among UMM students. He came along at just the right time. But he left us too soon. 

I wondered at first about covid. I thought of the Florida governor who has become famous for intransigence with covid coping measures. This DeSantis fellow is in the mold of Trump of course. A lot of these people seem willing to literally risk their lives in order to support Trump. I'll never understand it.

But it was not covid that brought down "Doc" at the end, it was a cerebral hemorrhage on Christmas Eve. I was just informed of this, 9 a.m. Monday. So sad to die at such a festive, family-oriented time, of course. 

Jim Carlson RIP. Heaven will be a nightclub of jazz virtuoso performances for you. Or, involving you!

Jim Carlson is in this photo of the UMM men's chorus that performed at the Seattle World's Fair, a.k.a. "Century 21 Exposition." They opened the Minnesota Day program at the Fair. My father Ralph is at left. The U.S. was at the height of Cold War tension with the Cuban missile crisis. JFK canceled his appearance for the end of the fair, claiming to be sick, but really he was preoccupied with the missile crisis. The Minnesota Twins were in their second year and took second in the American League, just five games behind the New York Yankees! Vic Power was our first baseman and team MVP.

A recent photo of Jim and Kay Carlson. They retired to "The Villages" of Florida. Can you believe I have typed this far and not mentioned golf? How many people remember Kay's father, Mr. Joranger? I do. I can visualize him like it was yesterday.

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com