In late 1957, alto saxophonist Herb Geller was having a hard year that would only grow more difficult in the fall of '58 with a family tragedy. Up until the late 1950s, he had it all. Starting in 1949, Herb was an in-demand band and bop ensemble player. His big-band work in the late 1940s and very early 1950s included recordings with Earle Spencer, Billy May, Jerry Wald, Stan Kenton, Shorty Rogers and Claude Thornhill. Then he met pianist Lorraine Walsh in 1951 and the couple married and settled in Los Angeles. Lorraine Walsh became Lorraine Geller, and the pair began recording together in 1953. Over the next four years the Gellers had an amazing jazz run on the West Coast, together and separately.
In 1957, Lorraine gave birth to their first child, Lisa. According to Herb, Lorraine had come down with asthma, and Lisa's birth was difficult. Then skin didn't form on one of Lisa's legs at first and she had to remain in the hospital. Unfortunately, the Gellers' health insurance wouldn't cover their daughter's treatments. They were saddled with a massive hospital bill they couldn't pay immediately. To make this financial strain even more daunting, Lorraine's doctor insisted she take a year off to recuperate.
But the couple needed cash to pay their bills. So after six months, Lorraine went back to work accompanying singer Kay Starr against her doctor's wishes. Then in October 1958, while Herb was on tour with Benny Goodman, Lorraine collapsed at home in L.A. and died at age 28. She was found later under her overturned baby's crib in the couple's home in the Hollywood Hills. The cause, Herb told me, "was pulmonary edema, which is what happens when the lungs fill with fluid, leading to a shortness of breath. Add a terrible asthma attack on top of that and you have a disaster."
Herb tried to work through the grief and managed to power through. But by early 1962, he told me, he wanted to get away from the relentless work that had become joyless and escape the demons that lingered in Los Angeles after Lorraine's death. So in February 1962, he moved to Europe. In March of that year, he was at the San Remo Jazz Festival in Italy and then recorded for French radio in Paris from May through July.
Now, these 1962 recordings have surfaced for the first time and have been issued by Fresh Sound on an album entitled European Rebirth: Herb Geller, 1962 Paris Sessions. Herb was 38 at the time of these recordings and sounded rejuvenated. Europe agreed with him, especially the audience appreciation and soulful lifestyle, which included socializing, caring and beauty, all of which helped ease his depression and anxiety.
On the album's 17 tracks, Herb is backed by a wide range of French jazz musicians. Best of all, we hear him playing fluidly with his lyrical, West Coast bebop approach. There are standards, originals and bop pieces, but most of all, we have Herb in his prime, at a time just after all seemed lost and when possibilities and opportunities were beginning to emerge. It was the dawn of his second career and a new life. He would re-marry in Germany and start a new family. Talking about Lorraine was difficult for Herb, but he was ready to open up and share those memories with me.
Which brings us to Lisa. What happened to her when Herb moved abroad? From my interview:
JW: One last question that's been tugging at me: What happened to Lisa?
HG: My sister and her husband offered to take care of her while I was gone and then decided to adopt her. Lisa thought I was her uncle until her 16th birthday.
JW: What does Lisa do now?
HG: Lisa and her husband are lawyers. They are updating the state law books where they live.
JW: Do you stay in touch with her?
HG: Lisa, her husband and their daughter will be coming to Hamburg for a week in June. The last time I saw her was four years ago. However we talk on the phone and write emails all the time. I'm looking forward to seeing them.
Herb Geller died in 2013. To read my five-part interview with him, go here for Part 1 (a link to subsequent parts can be found by scrolling above the red date at the top).
JazzWax tracks: You'll find European Rebirth: Herb Geller, 1962 Paris Sessions (Fresh Sound) here.
You'll find more Herb Geller albums here.
JazzWax clips: Here's Greta No. 1 with Herb Geller (as), Henri Renaud (p), Michel Gaudry (b) and Teddy Martin (d)...
And here's I Should Care, with Herb Geller (as), Jack Dieval (p), Jacques Hess (b) and Franco Manzecchi (d), in which you can hear Herb's lingering grief coming through on the ballad...
