Giuseppi Logan

by Scott YanowAn adventurous player with limited technique, Giuseppi Logan was often held up in later years as an example of an avant-gardist who simply did not know how to play that well! A somewhat mysterious figure, Logan was self-taught on piano and drums from age 12 before switching to reeds. At 15 he began playing gigs (his most conventional job was with Earl Bostic) and he studied at the New England Conservatory. In 1964 he moved to New York and became closely involved with the free jazz scene. Logan (who played alto, bass clarinet, flute, tenor, piano and a Pakistani oboe) worked with Archie Shepp, Pharoah Sanders and Bill Dixon and then formed his own quartet which also included the young Don Pullen, Eddie Gomez and Milford Graves; they appeared at the October Revolution in Jazz in 1964. Later on Logan had a different quartet with Dave Burrell, was a member of Byard Lancasters band and toured with Patty Waters. He recorded two erratic if interesting sets as a leader for ESP (both reissued on CD) and also made guest appearances on records by Waters and Roswell Rudd (the latter for Impulse). Virtually nothing has been heard of Giuseppi Logan since the early 1970s and it is believed (but has not been confirmed) that he passed away in the early 1990s.