Toward the end of1966, vibraphonist Gary Burton left the Stan Getz Quartet to form his own group. The personnel he chose for his quartet shifted over the early months of 1967, but by the time Gary recorded Duster in April, he was joined by guitarist Larry Coryell, bassist Steve Swallow and drummer Roy Haynes. But in the summer, drummer Bob Moses had replaced Roy in the recording studio.
The Gary Burton Quartet's second recording in August 1967 was Lofty Fake Anagram. Puzzled by the title, I gave Gary a call last week:
“Typical of the weirdo '60's, there isn't any anagram in the title. It came from a longer statement conjured up by Paul Haines [pictured], a writer acquaintance at the time. He had created a computer program to see if he could come up with a sentence that could not be turned into an anagram.
“The result—"Your rappaplat bugle calls"—was what Paul referred to as his “lofty fake anagram." According to Paul, the computer couldn't turn that odd sentence into another series of words. For some reason, “lofty fake anagram" had a ring to it that I was looking for in a title—something that was both ambiguous and provocative.
“That is also the last time I titled a record or a song with something that required an explanation. People kept asking what it meant, and I got tired of having to offer my pretty obtuse explanation."
The Gary Burton Quartet's second recording in August 1967 was Lofty Fake Anagram. Puzzled by the title, I gave Gary a call last week:
“Typical of the weirdo '60's, there isn't any anagram in the title. It came from a longer statement conjured up by Paul Haines [pictured], a writer acquaintance at the time. He had created a computer program to see if he could come up with a sentence that could not be turned into an anagram.
“The result—"Your rappaplat bugle calls"—was what Paul referred to as his “lofty fake anagram." According to Paul, the computer couldn't turn that odd sentence into another series of words. For some reason, “lofty fake anagram" had a ring to it that I was looking for in a title—something that was both ambiguous and provocative.
“That is also the last time I titled a record or a song with something that required an explanation. People kept asking what it meant, and I got tired of having to offer my pretty obtuse explanation."
This story appears courtesy of JazzWax by Marc Myers.
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