By His Daughter Michal Fishman
My beloved, amazing Abba, (“father” in Hebrew) Charles “Charlie” Fishman passed away unexpectedly on November 12 at the age of 82.
“Born, bred and bageled” in Brooklyn, to Louis and Hilda Fishman, he graduated from Ardsley High School and New York University. But his true education took place around the Five Spot in 1960s Greenwich Village, the streets of Jerusalem, and what he called “two PhDs from Dizzy Gillespie University.”
Abba liked to say he was nothing if not consistent. His passions for more than 60 years boiled down to alliterations (for which he had a penchant) of Jazz, Judaism and Jerusalem, books, baseball and then basketball (Go Celtics! Respect, Red Auerbach and Bill Russell), and playing the piano soulfully and skillfully.
He loved and was so proud of his four children, whom he often referred to as ‘mootek,’ meaning sweetheart in Hebrew – Sarit, me, Ari and Moses/Moshe; his three grandchildren – Elie z’’l, Shoshana and Ethan; and, married two wonderful women, first my mother Pearl Horn z’’l and then Moses’ mother Stephanie Peters.
In my early years, Abba taught me to play ball, sat with my older sister and me on Saturdays teaching us how to chant from the Bible and took us to Israel almost every summer from the ages of 7 to 17. He is the reason I speak Hebrew, know my Bible, Jewish history and am a Zionist and, have a love for the piano even though I didn’t quite learn to play it (yet). He played a mean game of checkers, Scrabble and Boggle, and challenged us on road trips to add up or multiply the numbers on license plates or in restaurants to be the first to find typos on the menu. He exposed me to classic and raunchy movies, Black authors, civil rights history and heroes, jazz icons, and sports, especially basketball and football.
In my later years, he continued as my guide, expanding my world and mind, opening doors for me at jazz clubs in name-the-city, taking me on tour with him, non-stop recommending books, movies, dance, plays, political thinkers and more, discussing current affairs, history and stretching my thinking and interests. For a short spate, I joined forces with him to promote his jazz festival before realizing I much preferred being his daughter than his colleague. He was my intellectual and cultural hero who lived by his dreams and ideals, sometimes to a fault.
My dad was an entrepreneur and visionary, a fearless and dogged creator, and a charismatic and inspiring leader whose lifetime successes were often born from an attitude of “what’s the worst they can say, no?” mixed with the philosophy of Theodore Herzl, the man credited with the modern Zionist movement - עם תרצו אין זו אין זו עדשה״ - If you will it, it is no dream.”
His passions, genius, chutzpah and tenacity drove him to an amazing mix of accomplishments that I regularly marvel at now that I understand how remarkable it was that anyone could dream of these ideas let alone create and follow through on them. They include a long list further below, with links to some of his best work, which I hope you’ll take the time to explore.
To achieve it all, my father used his one-of-a-kind inspiring spirit, intellect, talent with words and music, ‘rules-don’t-apply’ attitude, and larger-than-life personality. Add to this a clever and biting sense of humor grounded in a mix of one part each: Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Lenny Bruce and George Carlin. Plus, dashes of stubbornness like no other (at times infuriatingly so), a tough critic, sometimes curmudgeonly attitude and a healthy use of the “F” word in many variations. He was fueled by a metabolism that required little sleep or nourishment and way too much diet coke and cigarettes. The man – dressed in his signature cowboy boots, jeans and JAZZ belt buckle, Dizzy Gillespie Quintet jacket, African kippah and sunglasses, day or night – embodied COOL and exceptionality. And when you got him to break into his cartoonish laugh, it was the best.
At the same time, he was a complicated man and his accomplishments didn’t come without challenges, a few failures and deep pain along the way. Heartbreakingly, my father also suffered in the last chapter of his life from depression and ill-health that drained too much of the incredible spirit that carried him through for so many decades.
Favorite Charlie-isms included “solve the problem,” “that’s life in the big city,” “don’t let the bastards get you down,” and the all-encompassing, “I’m Dizzy Gillespie’s manager.” These life philosophies enabled him to persevere, to overcome and, more often than not, to triumph.
Though the list of legendary achievements is long, his best accomplishments are his enduring influence, friendships, and deep admiration that so many people all over the world have for him. For someone who couldn’t really cook, the number of Shabbat and Jewish holiday dinners he hosted for family and friends and friends of friends is innumerable. I and so many will forever appreciate him for his talent and dedication for building and nurturing community – from Young Judaea to Django, from Kinneret to the United Nation Orchestra, from Shabbat Village to the DC Jazz Festival. He mentored and opened the minds of countless people, and helped build the careers of many others.
Abba, thanks to you I learned to use words and language to inspire and influence; to use creativity and vision to activate others; to give my all in my work and aim for impact; to love and hold in deep respect music and the arts, literature, my faith and heritage, our country’s democracy and Israel; to enjoy sports, dance, festivals; to remember birthdays, and send thank you cards and postcards; and, most of all, to be loyal to family and friends and hold them dear. It is an honor to reflect on and celebrate your life and your legacy and I’m so proud that you shaped me into the person I am today. I am forever grateful that you are my father and will miss conversing with you about all of the above and spending time with you while you held court in jazz clubs. I love you immensely.
May you get the rest you didn’t get while doing all of the above and below and may your spirit live on through all of us.
For those you’d like to make a donation in his memory, please consider the DC Jazz Festival's Education Fund https://www.dcjazzfest.org/donate in honor of Charles Fishman.
And stay tuned…a memorial service will take place in Spring of 2025.
Charlie’s professional accomplishments included:
Led a Jewish youth camp in the middle of nowhere Texas that helped shape a new generation of committed Jewish community leaders and served as matchmaker for 10 campers, leading to 5 decades-lasting marriages;
Founded Django, the 1st jazz club in Jerusalem, co-founded a moshav, Neve Ilan, in the hills of Jerusalem, and co-founded the band Kinneret with a handful of talented musicians who composed a beautiful Shabbat service with music that fills my and David’s home every Friday when we sing Shabbat blessings;
Founded the Jewish Book Fair in Houston, which continues today after 50 years;
Produced a star-studded Hollywood concert – on ABC television, no less! – to celebrate Israel’s 30th Anniversary. The concert ended in a live telephone conversation between Barbra Streisand, who was in L.A., and Prime Minister Golda Meir who was in Israel…this was 1978! (I recently asked him to explain to me how in the world he pulled this off to which he casually answered, “I just did it!”);
Founded the Kinneret Foundation to promote the cultural arts in Israel, convincing, over the course of 12 years, renowned musicians – from Joan Baez, Stan Getz, Paul Simon, Billy Joel and Janis Ian to Roberta Flack, Wynton and Branford Marsalis, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Lalo Schifrin and Dizzy Gillespie, to name a few, to perform concerts in Israel he produced and to give master classes to Israeli musicians;
Produced the first Israel Jazz Festival and subsequently produced numerous jaw-dropping concerts in Sultan’s Pool, surrounded by Jerusalem’s Old City walls and in other cities throughout Israel;
Created and produced the Grammy-winning big band United Nation Orchestra led by jazz icon Dizzy Gillespie, and, managed Dizzy and his quintet for 7 years in hundreds of concerts all over the world and on a U.S. State Department tour through Africa, which culminated in a concert with the infamous Miriam Makeba;
Through his production company Charismic, produced EPIC, memorable and illustrious concerts, like this one, with SO many jazz legends that the local Seattle jazz station we listen to often doesn’t go 30 minutes without playing a song by someone my dad produced or worked with;
Beyond managing Dizzy, he also contributed to then up-and-coming musicians such as Roy Hargrove, Danilo Perez, David Sanchez, and Anat Cohen as they launched their careers, and worked with and managed storied ones including Hugh Masekela, Chucho Valdes, Arturo Sandoval and Cachao;
In addition to composing original music for each of his wives, his children’s bat/bar mitzvahs, and two of their weddings and for many other friends’ weddings, his composition “Magic Summer” was selected by the Alvin Ailey Dance Company’s suite honoring Dizzy Gillespie and was the theme song for the film “El Invierno en Lisboa;” and,
Founded the enduring and world-renowned DC Jazz Festival, now in its 20th year, producing another jaw-dropping array of concerts with some of the greatest living musicians over the years, including the Marsalis family and Harry Connick, Jr, before retiring 8 years ago.