US $6.00/Can $7.00 Spring 2012
Roy Haynes, Roy-alty Nina Simone is Iyalode TC the third At Home
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African American Classical Music
Spring 2012 Volume 5 Number 1
Publisher / Editor & Chief Jo Ann Cheatham -Senior EditorFikisha Cumbo -EditorAgneta Ballesteros -Contributing WritersBridget Arnwine Jo Ann Cheatham Ed Dessisso Williard Jenkins Ron Scott GraphicsDwight Brewster
Cover Story
-MarketingDanyelle Ballesteros -ConsultantsEunice Lewis Broome Jim Harrison Greer Smith Ed Stoute Randy Weston This magazine was made possible with public funds from BAC the Brooklyn Arts Council and the Department of Cultural Affairs.
Roy Haynes Roy-alty ............ 16
Columns
Features
On The Importance Of Jazz ....................11
Nina Simone IYALODE ............... 5
Space is the Place ....... 14 Drum Roll New Sheriff in Town.....15 Standing on the Shoulders ...............24
One on One Fab 5 Freddy
..........8
TC the Third
. ......... 20
. Delfeayo Marsalis Sweet Thunder .......25
Pure Jazz is published quarterly with editorial and advertising head quarters in Brooklyn, NY. Tel/ 718.636.9671. All rights reserved. The authors and editors have taken care to ensure that all information in this issue is accurate. Nevertheless, the publisher disclaims any liability loss or damages incurred as a consequence directly or indirectly of the use and application of any contents.
Publisher’s Statement
With The Music In Mind When we started Pure Jazz Magazine our future was to get the magazine out and into the hands of our readers. In fact the first issue as the Editor-In- chief, l said that this publication is a dream come true. The years evolved, and we have moved from using the Computer and Social Medial applications to using ones that make noise when the pages move. While we are moving on to a brighter future for the quarterly we will have to keep in mind what the needs of our readership will be met. For this issue we will be printing the entire magazine on the Internet. There will be very few issues available for reading, just enough for the record. The next edition we will be printing both on the Internet and we will be printing copies for those who are not online. . The ultimate goal is to be available The Internet and as a print copy. We will keep you online in for all the readers. Joining us as a feature this month’s cover story is Roy Haynes with his new CD Roy-alty. He adds to his long list of phenomenal treasures that he has compiled for our collections over the years. This easygoing platter is a delightful to hear. We get the opportunity to look at the life of Fabulous Freddie as he recaptures his time spent with the wonderful Max Roach, we get to learn some wonderful lessons. Our visit to the celebration of Nina Simon’s life at the Abyssinian Baptist Church, both the life of the artist herself and the talent that provided the showcase were spacectular Keep in mind the wonderful work of TC The Third and the work he is performing ---In our Space Is The Place section we use the Internet to bring you some music of the wonderful Pure Jazz Magazine cover artists. Thank You,
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IYALODE By Ed Dessisso I had to share with you the sensation I’ve been living with since the tribute I attended this morning. I was privileged to witness the rededication rituals of the Amazon in their funeral salute to the impeccably principled life, legacy and lore of Dr. Nina Simone at Abyssinian Baptist Church. I am still vibrating from such a concentrated immersion in elegant, dynamic estrogen. Men were present but this was clearly a ‘woman’s event’ and conducted under the protocols of the warrior woman. The church was filled. There were Amazons everywhere. Such a large grouping of Amazons sets in play it’s own gravitational force. The pull was tidal and cleansing. As the mosaic of speakers made testimony, magic in the pattern of presentation, revealed Dr. Nina’s final comment to America. Nina Simone transcended this earthly plane within her own life time. Her achievements in self-esteem, when combined with extraordinary talent, absolute courage, a grounded humanity and a need to tell the truth, sculpted a personality so rare, so refined, it virtually willed itself. That quality is the essence of the warrior; the projection of the self, saturated in conviction. To hear a church full of warrior women ululate for one of their greatest is music so pure, it plays through the body. Raw Spirit seeks itself. The melding of sound to Spirit is fundamental technology for the Amazon. They all can do that and differently too. The Amazon is a goddess. A testimonial for Dr. Nina Simone required no less than an army of goddesses. Her army was there. Keep in mind what it takes to be a goddess, then understand that her army was there. These are the troops that can eat their prisoners. Goddesses do that too. A quality of your cool is the level of your Nina Simone story because she was impeccably divine, but humanly accessible. To speak of Nina’s strength, as with all who came to praise her transition, is a redundancy. In so many ways the feminine image of accountability, she reigned supreme as the Queen Mother for the tribe of the unforgiving. In the Old World, the title for
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such sovereignty is Iyalode: ‘the adjudicator of market place issues’. It is a chieftancy occupied exclusively by women and not questioned in its authority. The transition of an Iyalode is both the closure and rebirth of eras by which people live their lives-- conduct their business. The so-called New World has no counterpart translation for the Iyalode, due mainly from the diminished valuation of the woman gender. Iyalode is the woman’s voice in the ruling Senate of Elders and the appeal of last resort within the gender. Such power carries the requirement of impeccable demeanor and comportment. Iyalode is a lonely place because it is the top. Nina Simone’s music is unlike anyone else’s music. She infused her artistry in everything she touched; possessed the soul of any song she sang. Like it or not, you always got the Nina Simone version of everything she did. She continues to be quite luminous, especially to those of us accustomed to music that is alive. Nina accurately interpreted love in the nappy-headed fashion guys like me tend to experience it. Love may start out a Gershwin tune but always ends an opus Simone by the time the kissing stops. Often long before. Dr. Nina tinged the human need for intimacy with reality bites, like the presence of diapers latent in the love making act. You recognize her priorities and make a surviving culture by adherence to them. Nina’s is the music that charts ‘love in a time of plague’, the musical landscape of keeping it real. When you connect the neighboring stars in her constellation, you’ve linked to Billie Holiday, Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey. How these Iyalodes defined love is the unimpeachable standard for Africans and others in the New World. For male members of the tribe of the unforgiving, her music declared the reality that we are not forgotten, are not strange, are not alone. She blended the ‘sweet and sour taste of love’ in her music more consistently and to more memorable effect than anyone you can name. No one handles the scar tissue of romance like Nina Simone. No one gives it more dignity.
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The ‘going over ceremony’ for such an accomplished spirit engages the most exacting nuances of testimony because no one is capable of saying it all. Ritual provides the outlet by which many
Ms. Nina Simone on the mic
compose a portrait of the one. Ritual is the social mechanism that attacks the void and defeats death. The footpath of ritual is much grown over, but there are those who still know the steps and tread it with the purity of their initiation, for the salvation, the restoration of us all. Words cannot capture the ritual dance of the leaders as they guide us up the ancient pathway, but the landscape was indelibly, undeniably Nina Simone. Without interpretation, the non-initiate can only find release in tears of loss. We’re only human after all. But that is not the way of goddesses. Perfectly, as an invocation must be, Sister Camille Yarbrough ululated a war cry for the fallen before she put everybody on their feet in a blood rushing tribute to the memory of Dr. Nina Simone. She scorched the earth and made sacred space for all to follow within. Then Ossie Davis, the distinguished presiding elder, leaned adroitly on his several prerogatives to interpret Simone’s signature, ‘Mississippi, God Damn!’ right there at the pulpit. It was quite a hit, built into his lesson on the battle implications of the trumpet, and the trumpet that Dr. Nina was for the world. He sat down
to a standing ovation and the amazed approval of Rev. Butts. Then flowed a river of other fascinating women, each bearing an intimate and personal facet of Nina Simone that was given to the rest of us as a treasured artifact, a valued relic. Tahiya Nyahuma led a large contingent of The Philadelphia Congress of the National Congress of Black Women in a powerful but sensitive recovery of Nina’s lost dream at conservatory. Sister Nyahuma presented the Honorary Degree from the Curtis Institute that had denied her admission at 19, along with the heartbreaking story of Nina’s unjust rejection. It helped me understand how rage can be born from the thing you love the most. . Sister Nyahuma finished with the dedication of commissioned art work in Nina Simone’s name and the acknowledgment of her chapter members there in the church. Those Philly sisters were fine and a great example of how far-reaching the goddess community extends. Then Cecile Tyson spoke on behalf of a long and dear friendship: “I can’t remember a time when I didn’t know Nina Simone.” From there, she launched into a meaningful recitation of the Langston Hughe’s poem, “I’ve Known Rivers”. It was politely devastating. Then Dr. Verta Mae Grosvenor, herself known to make a skillet talk Gullah, charmed household insights and child rearing techniques into a lustrous and warm portrait of Nina Simone. She began on the ‘mommy network’ but finished by stating that “…Langston dug Nina as much as Nina dug Langston”. Then Dorethea Church, Dr. Nina’s personal stylist, came before us and allowed the world a look at Nina dressing. With absolute naturalness, Sister Church spoke of Dr. Nina’s ability to remain elegant under any circumstances, in every situation. Nina Simone held court from the back of limousines. Then Sonia Sanchez looked through the veil and spoke with the ancestors to manifest Nina’s voice. Sister Sanchez shattered us with her poem “Indigee, So Close to the Ancestors…” We are deep in Old World tra-
dition when the voice of the deceased is invoked. This is major Amazon technology but nothing new to the goddess Sanchez. “Nina’s intelligence was kissing our hearts. She was like Nut arching over us.” Sonia has made the Mask talk many times. And the voice came when Sam Waymon, Nina’s brother sang. He manifested her with exact intonation and phrasing. His keyboard work has always contained the same personal virtuosity. The combination was pleasantly unnerving to those who had never experienced it. There in our midst was the living, vocal presence of Dr. Nina, thrilling us like only she is able to; yet she was gone. Sam played generously and graciously in spite of his own grief. His personal salute could not have been better. Then Patti La Belle testified to Dr. Nina’s protective nurturing in a story about champagne in a plastic cup. Patti sang the ‘Lord’s Prayer’ for Nina, after telling another wonderful story about Nina and Andouille sausages. It was all so right. Attillah Shabazz faced her moments of testimony in the same confident stride as the people before her. Crisp and to the point, she put the world on notice that the fires lit by Nina Simone not only burned brightly in her generation but gave form to their work as well. And then Simone, Nina’s daughter animated the mosaic by pledging that the world has not heard the last of Nina Simone. “She will be in all that I do”. There, was Dr. Nina Simone’s final comment to America: a wide and continuous flow of brilliant, beautiful, talented and fearless Black warrior women [The Amazon Goddess] deeply inspiredby Nina’s life and rededicating their commitment to devour her enemies. Puts lead in Ogun’s pencil to hear the praises of the unbroken. I’m writing to tell you that Dr. Nina Simone’s army is unbroken and way larger than America wants anyone to know. Nina Simone transitioned by releasing forth an army as fierce and multi-faceted as she was. Everyone present drank deeply in the
blessing of the collected power on display, while marveling at the size of the personality that could umbrella it all. Dr. Nina’s presence was made manifest by the reflections and memories emanating from the whole church, in what I will always remember as a holy event; the melding of sound to Spirit. I left before the benediction. Having searched among the faces to find her, I handed the tapes I brought to Jo Ann Cheatham and made my exit ducking the encounter with “Young, Gifted and Black”. I needed to walk off some of my feelings before going to work. My head was clouded with the mists of ritual, the touch of the Creator and all that fine womanhood. Spiritual for sure, but something very earthy and sentient as well. As in the words of her song, I had gotten quite a bit of ‘steam on my clothes’. Vibrating is the only way that I can describe the feeling. In a church full of alpha women, the male energy gets to explore how many different ways there are to fall absolutely in love. Among an army of goddesses, mere man strains to keep his focus and his feet turned to purpose. Nina’s army sets a mere man’s world in tension that feels like vibrating because each of them is Iyalode material, each of them a queen and
as it enriches. I needed to walk and meditate on bearing witness to the birth of a super nova. Galaxy Simone ritually rendered, if you can dig it. I vibrate still, but deeper. It’s more in the bones, pitched at the frequency of ululation, ripples of sound meld to my Spirit and I surrender, conjured and captured in the web of the Amazon. The pull is tidal and cleansing. With my head to the ground, I salute Iyalode Dr. Nina Simone and all those who keep her legacy a factor in this world because so much of living now is ugly and absurd. Nina Simone willed beauty and purpose upon us in the lavish manner of the royalty that she was. Like the people who celebrated her, she kept us in mind of what the best moments of struggle is all about. She raised sacrifice to its exalted position and used her life as an Ebo by which the nation could survive. I vibrate with the joy that comes from knowing generations of Black women who, though constructed from Iyalode elements, are yet content to make life among mere men and give what meaning there is to our world. They give us children and love and faith and labor and wisdom and day to day understanding that breeds the assurance of survival. They also give us heartaches and worries and the weary blues, just like Dr. Nina when telling her truths. I vibrate because love at the level of Iyalode is nothing a man can be cool about nor should he be. Dr. Nina Simone is rightfully the distillate of all Iyalode women and she is enshrined in the pantheon. The ones who circulate among us are enshrined in the bones of the living.
Ms. Nina Simone on the piano
each a compelling vortex of leadership, intelligence and love. High-grade womanhood of such intensity addles
Ed Dessisso is a Free Lance writer and is the author of Vinyl Man, which is regular column in this publication. Pure Jazz Magazine - Page 7
A Jazz Up-Bringing at the Roots of Hip Hop By Willard Jenkins Back in the early 80s, when hip hop was in its nascent stage, a young man who grew up in Brooklyn – definitely one of the root beds of the form – named Fred Brathwaite, Jr. was making his moves on that cutting edge. Originally an aspiring graffitti artist, young Fred immersed himself in those early experiments, basment-rapping with an aspiring DJ friend in the rawest sense of what became hip hop. According to Freddy Brathwaite’s Wikipedia entry: “As a teen in the 70s he was a member of the Brooklynbased graffiti group “The Fabulous 5.” He got his name for consistent graffiti “bombing” of the number 5 train on the IRT [subway line]. In the late 1970s and early 1980s he was an unofficial bridge between the uptown graffiti and early rap scene and the downtown art and punk music scenes.” Eventually Freddy Brathwaite made some pioneering moves that elevated what was originally designated “rap music,” then morphed into a global form of its own known as “hip hop.” But long before that he’d come under the spell of jazz music, a form which was never far below the surface of his music consciousness as rap music was blossoming and coming into its own. Freddy grew up in Brooklyn’s fabled Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood in a Pure Jazz Magazine - Page 8
household where jazz music was king. And besides the influence of jazz platters constantly spinning on his mom’s and dad’s turntable and wafting out of home radios, young Fred’s godfather was none other than the great drum pioneer Max Roach. During the course of our many interviews for his autobiography AFRICAN RHYTHMS, on his growing up in Brooklyn and all the people who influenced him in the borough, – musicians and lay people alike – Randy Weston often spoke of Freddy’s dad, Fred Brathwaite, Sr., Max Roach, sculptor Jimmy Gittins, and jazz enthusiastphotographer Jimmy Morton. Randy also mentioned, on several occasions, that one of the younger keepers of that legacy, one who had collected many of Jimmy Morton’s Brooklyn jazz lore photographs, and one who as a youngster had really paid attention to the influence of jazz music around his home and neighborhood was, as Weston characterized him “the rapper, Fab 5 Freddy.”
Willard Jenkins: Since your father was so heavily involved in jazz, what’s your earliest recollections of jazz music?
Fab 5 Freddy: My earliest recollections were [of] jazz being played all the time in the house, along with fiery discussions about everything affecting us as a people. I’ve got vivid memories of jazz being played in the house going way, way back. The jazz station that I can recall was WRVR with Ed Williams, who was a hipster with a massive collection of the music. I remember as a young kid wondering how they could know who a guy was just by the instrument that was playing! I would later learn to do that myself. My dad and Max Roach were friends from teen years at [Brookyn] Boys High School. Max played in the drum & bugle corps as a kid and then he became this young whiz kid drummer playing with big bands. He quickly rose in the 40s to be one of the architects, and my dad was right along with him. There was a group of friends who had formed a social group that referred to itself as “The Chessmen”; they developed a love of chess during World War ll. Max lived in a big, kind of old mansion at 212 Gates Avenue. This house, I understand, had a huge living room and a huge baby grand piano and they
would have these sets. As Max became prominent he would bring other Brooklyn jazz guys to come and hang with my dad and his friends. Hence that became a scene of jazz hipsters and front- runners in Brooklyn.
Willard Jenkins: Was it your sense that this group of guys, the Chessmen, was hanging in clubs in Brooklyn?
ny’s] were gigs that helped keep Monk alive. Robin even found a little ad in the Amsterdam News archives of one of those gigs at Tony’s that Jimmy Morton blew up and I framed.
Yeah… There was the Putnam Central, which I heard a lot about. Along with having these gatherings – sets as they called them – at the house on Gates Avenue, there was a period of time where my dad and his friends were promoting their own [jazz performances] at this place called Tony’s Grand Dean, which was on Grand and Dean Streets in Brooklyn. I’ve got a series of photos [from Jimmy Morton’s collection] which I let Robin Kelley use for his Thelonious Monk book which document that scene.
The interesting thing about these pictures [he displays one with Monk, Mingus, Miles, and Max on the bandstand in Brooklyn] – [they were] in color, one of the first 35mm slide cameras, the beginning of that technology, and Jimmy Morton had one! Its very rare to see color shots of jazz guys from the early 50s, everything is always in black & white. These slides that Jimmy have given me over the last 20 years document this scene. I’ve heard stories about countless times when the vibe would hit the right pitch at our house and the music was right, my dad and his friends would always go back to things that happened at Tony’s. It was always exciting to hear these guys get real geeked up talking about what happened and I would often be a little kid playing in the room with my toys and things, but would tune in to these stories. During a critical period for Monk when they had taken away his cabaret license, which as you know was his ability and legal right to play in clubs,… he couldn’t feed his family. So these particular gigs [primarily at To-
How so? Fab:
WJ: You talked about those sessions the Chessmen used to have at Max’s house on Gates Avenue; what were they like? Fab:
Fab:
WJ:
That was more like jam sessions. The musicians would come and play and it was just like a scene. The thing that was infectious to me was the enthusiasm and the energy they would have when they would get into those conversations. Jimmy Gittins, who I would say was such a huge influence on me and what I even do now, was like a big brother/uncle to me. It was Jimmy Gittins, Lefty Morris, my dad, and [drummer] Willie Jones. Willie was always there, and Willie was an activist. He was at my house three days of every week until I was an early teenager; he was like a fixture at my house, along with at least three other [jazz] guys.
WJ: At what point did you become more conscious of what they were about? Fab: I was always conscious; as a little boy I was aware of these things and I would hear these tapes, but I was pretty much still a kid playing with army men and stuff that kids would do. I’m a kid with all my issues being taken care of by my parents, so I didn’t get to experience what they knew as black men and had to experience at that time. Especially when musicians went on the road and how they had to live, the situations these young, intelligent men were forced to deal with when they went out into these different environments and were very actively concerned with making change. I’m saying all that to say that I also realized, later in life, that my dad was a big part of Max’s [Roach) consciousness and awareness at that time.
You hear it in [Max’s] music. It was all further explained to me when I grew up, and as an adult Max would explain things to me himself. One of my earliest remembrances of a Max Roach record is the “Freedom Now” suite. “We Insist” – that record. One of those records has a photo on the cover of Max and some men sitting at a lunch counter, and as a very small boy I always wanted to know what this was about. My dad and them would explain this to me. I destroyed a lot of my parents’ records as a kid playing with them, but the images on those records… there was great photography at that time, abstract art, etc. I would later see records and I’d be like “Oh my God’!…
My mother had all the jazz singers – Sarah Vaughan, Nancy Wilson, etc., and my dad had a nice collection of a lot of the bebop records and they would listen to them both. But my mother was always into the singers. My mother hung out a little bit with Dinah Washington, she hung out a little bit with Etta Jones, and I remember the imagery from those records. So if I see them now, I’m like “Oh my God, I’ve seen this, I know this…” I have a little collection of photos and I think I was developing my visual sense at that time through looking at and playing with these records, but particularly the “Freedom Now” suite. As I grew up and got to understand a little bit more about Max, I realized that was one of the first protest records; the beginning of the 60s, the beginning of anti-war protests, the whole Cultural Revolution that transpired at that time. I realize that Max was at the forefront, and my dad’s influence [was important], because when they came to my house my dad pretty much held court. He had read the complete works of Mao, Marx, and Lenin – all this stuff. WJ: When you say that your dad had an influence on Max Roach as far as his political consciousness, explain that. Pure Jazz Magazine - Page 9
Fab:
and ever. Monk becomes that musician; I became fascinated about this whole thing with Thelonious. One day I looked in my father’s phone book and I saw Thelonious’ phone number, and I call his house and I speak to Nellie [Monk, Thelonious’ wife].
My dad had read all the works of Mao, Marx, Lenin and also African nationalists; my dad wanted my middle name to be Lumumba but my mother wasn’t going for it [laughs]. But later I learned who Lumumba was and how incredible these guys were and how a lot of my WJ: dad’s ideas were right in How old were you terms of alterat the time? natives that were much Fab: more viable – whether they Twelve, maybe a worked or not, little younger. Rein other counmember, I’m still tries – 30 or 40 kind’a little boyyears later we ish because when I can see that look back to that, I those things think, ‘God, that’s didn’t pan out such’a kid thing to as well as they do!’ She could tell were sketched it was a little boy out in those calling and I said, books… But ‘Hi, I’m Freddy that’s what Brathwaite’s son went on at my and I want to talk house. These to Monk, I know guys would my dad knows you.’ roll up and do She was really their thing, sweet and I started listen to mutalking to her and Fab 5 Freddy sic, and have these inI guess I was telling her tense discussions and that Monk was a musician that I realdebates. Often my dad would have the ly liked and in the course of discussing most insight because he had read the most and had this kind of broader un- that she said, “You know Freddie, jazz derstanding of what was going on in is like a conversation, and in the beAfrica, what was going on in China… ginning of the conversation somebody as all these African countries were makes a point and then they go on to explain that point.” getting their independence.
WJ: What’s your recollection of how the music interacted and spurred some of that discussion, because the music was obviously more than a soundtrack for those discussions?
Fab: Yes, absolutely! My dad’s den/study was in the basement where the real shit would go down. Thelonious Monk… as I’m growing and becoming a young teen I’m beginning to now discern who the musicians are that I like, that I’ve been hearing forever Pure Jazz Magazine - Page 10
I’d been listening to this music all the time and from that I now get what’s going on: the song starts off, the theme is stated, and then these guys all go off and do their own interpretation and you could still hear the theme going through there, like that’s the point. And I get it now, this became really apparent to me and I was like ‘wow, yes…’ Now when I’m hearing songs I could understand them and see how different guys do their thing as they get into the improvisation and all that stuff. But I guess I also began to understand that the guys making this music were really intelligent and they were really aware of their times; so the music was a reflection of this, therefore the music was an articula-
tion of the intelligence and point of view of these very sophisticated and modern musicians. I knew that Max and my dad were in synch with a lot of the same thoughts, and then once I got older I figured out a lot of these things for myself. You just realize that these are very intelligent men and they’re very concerned. I’m not trying to say that all jazz music had this protest, “let’s make revolution thing” but it clearly was an affirmation of us as these modern individuals, which I guess is the thing that had the most impact on me, because I always saw them in that light. Those conversations that went on, I realize that these particular individuals had a lot of conversations like this. I remember later, when I became a young man and spent a lot of time with Max, (some) things that we would do together. I remember Max telling me how when Olatunji first came over [from Nigeria] how him and Dizzy were so excited about this new thing going on. And I remember Max explaining this to me because Max was a very big, early supporter of me being involved in hip hop music and culture. So Max essentially instigated us having gigs together.
Fab 5 Freddy
This is Part one of two Parts, Part two in next issue Willard Jenkins is a Jazz Journalist his blog is www.openskyjazz.com
Rome Neal’s BANANA PUDDIN’ JAZZ
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On the Importance of Jazz Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Opening Address to the 1964 Berlin Jazz Festival, WPFW News (Washington), [23 August 2002] God has wrought many things out of oppression. He has endowed his creatures with the capacity to create—and from this capacity has flowed the sweet songs of sorrow and joy that have allowed man to cope with his environment and many different situations. Jazz speaks for life. The Blues tell the story of life’s difficulties, and if you think for a moment, you will realize that they take the hardest realities of life and put them into music, only to come out with some new hope or sense of triumph. This is triumphant music. Modern jazz has continued in this tradition, singing the songs of a more complicated urban existence. When life itself offers no order and meaning, the musician creates an order and meaning from the sounds of the earth which flow through his instrument. It is no wonder that so much of the search for identity among American Negroes was championed by Jazz musicians. Long before the modern essayists and scholars wrote of racial identity as a problem for a multiracial world, musicians were returning to their roots to affirm that which was stirring within their souls. Much of the power of our Freedom Movement in the United States has come from this music. It has strengthened us with its sweet rhythms when courage began to fail. It has calmed us with its rich harmonies when spirits were down. And now, Jazz is exported to the world. For in the particular struggle of the Negro in America there is something akin to the universal struggle of modern man. Everybody has the Blues. Everybody longs for meaning. Everybody needs to love and be loved. Everybody needs to clap hands and be happy. Everybody longs for faith. In music, especially this broad category called Jazz, there is a stepping stone towards all of these. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Opening Address to the 1964 Berlin Jazz Festival
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Where the Music & the Universe Meet By Jo Ann Cheatham What a treat for our readers to find some of the readers of Pure Jazz Magazine all in one spot. In our section “Space Is The Place”, we find selections of some of the music of pure jazz music performers. We thank YouTube.com on the internet for providing us with the images we need to see these tunes performed. We start with legendary artists who have been featured in Pure Jazz Magazine. All you have to do is highlight the title of the tunes listed in black below, then go to the YouTube.com site and enter it in the search box on the site. Click... Enjoy!!
Tribute to Mr. Leonard Gaskin: “I Left My Heart at Stagedoor” ... Leonard Gaskin, (Bass) Wycliffe Gordon & Friends: “Shhh!!!” ... Wycliffe Gordon and Friends at the Harlem Suite, Hilton, New York. Abbey Lincoln “The First Song” ... Abbey Lincoln on the television program “Night Music” The Maurice Brown Effect:”Misunderstood”… New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival Randy Weston African Rhythm Trio Dakota Jazz Club… “Blue Moses Dakota Jazz Club” “I Thought About You”..... Etta Jones. Live in Japan Roy Haynes, David Kikoski, John Patitucci: “Trinkle Tinkle” … one of the really crazy Monk tunes.
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Drum Roll/New Sheriff In Town Words roll out with the distinct deliberateness
There’s a new Sheriff bringing new hope to new life
of notes from Miles’ Porgy and Bess
in a way not quite seen for a long long while
and the loveliness of Flamenco Sketches at a speed matched with a force only Muhammad Ali could deliver There’s a new Sheriff in town bringing forth lines with the melodic sweetness of Coltrane’s notes making sense to all who know and don’t or didn’t want to
bolstered by a soulful mama giving a soulful view through touch and feel that only an eloquent queen brings All hail Barack Obama basketball player dribbling his way through Chicago politics All hail Obama lawyer constitutional expert organizing his community to campaign into the Senate
slick as Bird with the rhythm of Max Roach Ron Carter
All hail Barack H. Obama President
Herbie Hancock and Horace with the silver
rapping his way organizing creating a new vision
glimmering in his smooooth silk tie There’s a new Sheriff in town inspiring bringing new life into a new way like be bop did punctuated by hard bop giving birth and propagating twenty-first century hip hop spoken through Jay Z and Will I Am saying yes I will can and shall do
for all americans all nations All hail Obama the magic man Let the music play Remember! Reparations is serious business and stands as the title of this new play Written by Ted Wilson
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Roy Haynes His Roy-alty, THE ROYAL OF HAYNES SWINGING AT 86
By Ron Scott
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Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary describes the adjective GREAT as “markedly superior in character, quality and skill.” This word “great”describes the dynamic jazz drummer Roy Haynes as a human being and superb drummer. At this juncture all the superlatives have been usedto describe his phenomenal career that covers over six decades in jazz. And as Haynes notes with a laugh during our telephone interview,“legend means you are old.” Ironically, the octogenarian at 86 who has played every major jazz club and jazz festival in the world looks like he’s in his 60s and plays with the ferociousness of an eager lion on the jazz prowl. “Waiting for my next gig is still exciting,” said Haynes. Haynes reflects jazz history going back to the swing era and his first gig with the Luis Russell Big Band in 1945 at the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem, to bebop, post bop and avant garde. He’s led his own bands including versions of the Hip Ensemble from the 1970s which at various times included pianist Dave Kikoski, saxophonist Greg Handy and Kevin Eubanks, who became known as the bandleader for Jay Leno’s NBCTV Tonight Show Band. His current Fountain of Youth Band (the name is quite apropos)includes pianist Martin Bejerano, saxophonist Jaleel Shaw, and bassist David Wong. “This is one of the longest groups I’ve had,” stated Haynes. “At this stage of my life I don’t do a lot of gigs, someEuropean tours but I spend a lot of time in New York. I’m a dreamer so I have more time to dream and hang out with my family.”
about how fortunate I am to play with Roy all the time and what I’m learning and how he’s able to do the things he does. And he still plays with the fire of a young man.” Some may ask, how does a young musician get to play with such a noted bandleader? Actually it is still done the old fashion way,recommendations usually come from the band, “since they usually know what I like, and there’s always people who want to play,” stated Haynes. “I don’t have to do it that often because people usually stay with me for long periods of time. I’m very thankful.” Upon leaving Charlie Parker’s band it was drummer Max Roach who told the saxophonist, “Hire Roy Haynes.” Asking Haynes who he’s played with would be an amazing all-day affair. From the beginning Haynes perfected an infectious beat, an improvisational rhythmic flow, and a distinctive sound that led him to play with such esteemed musicians as saxophonist Lester Young (1947-49) who fondly called him the “Royal of Haynes.” He joined Charlie Parker’s quintet from 194952; the saxophonist referred to Haynes as “my favorite drummer.” Haynes noted during our interview,“After playing with Charlie Parker and Lester Young I felt I would be important but not to this exit. I cherish every moment.” Haynes later enjoyed a five year (1953-58) stint with Sarah
“Stolen Moments” with Oliver Nelson, “How High the Moon” with Sarah Vaughan, “Rhythm-A-Ning” with Thelonious Monk, “Don’t Go to Strangers” with Etta Jones, “On Green Dolphin Street” with Eric Dolphy, “Down” with Miles Davis, “Two Brothers” with Nat Adderley, “Transfiguration” with Alice Coltrane, “Bouncin’ With Bud” with Bud Powell, “The Way Ahead” with Archie Shepp, and “Te Vou! “ with Pat Metheny. Haynes has also worked in the bands of Louis Armstrong, Sonny Rollins, Roland Kirk, McCoy Tyner, John Coltrane, Stan Getz, Andrew Hill, Jackie McLean, Gary Burton, Dizzy Reese, Tommy Flanagan, vocalist Jackie Paris, J.J. Johnson and Kai Winding. In this millennium Haynes continues to record and perform with all-star configurations in the group “Birds of a Feather: A Tribute to Charlie Parker” ; Haynes’ and Chick Corea’s guests were Roy Hargrove,Dave Holland and Kenny Garrett (2001). Kenny Barron led the trio with Charlie Haden and Haynes on “Wanton Spirit” (1994). In 1996 the album “Flamingo” featured the trio of Michel Petrucciani, Stephane Grappelli and Haynes. Haynes celebrated his 85th birthday at the Blue Note Jazz Club with his Fountain of Youth Band and special guests Christian McBride and Roy Hargrove. “I feel good about all the people I have played with,” said Haynes. It’s been a great beautiful life to have been involved with this music and I’ve enjoyed everything about it.” Haynes added, “I play; I become a different person. I don’t know what I would have done if I hadn’t become a musician.”
“Playing with Sarah was like playing with Charlie Parker. She was more than a singer, she was a genius.”
“ROY-alty”, Haynes’ third recordings with his Fountain of Youth band was released in August, 2011 (Dreyfus Jazz). While Haynes is one of the most recorded drummers in jazz he notes, “I am always excited about my albums being released. Hopefully, it will excite all the listeners.” Wong, the able young bassist, is also quite excited since this will be his first recording with his bandmates. “I have learned so much from Roy these past 5 years. To me he truly embodies a jazz master. He is different from other band leaders in that he never tells us what to play and makes us all feel so encouraged and part of the music that he invented,” stated Wong. “I think
Vaughan. He said, with excitement, “Playing with Sarah was like playing with Charlie Parker. She was more than a singer, she was a genius. I was delighted to be with her.” Haynes had the pleasure of playing with another incredible vocalist Billie Holiday; he performed on her last gig at Storyville in Boston. “Playing with her was like a dream,” says Haynes. “My oldest brother Douglas, the hippest guy I knew, had all of Billie’s records. I felt like I knew her at that point after hearing her records all those years.” Some of his many band memberships and unforgettable recordings include
Roy Owen Haynes was born March 13, 1925 in the Roxbury section of Boston, Massachusetts. He was raised with his three brothers, and is the only musician. He is primarily self-taught although he did take some lessons along the way. “I was born a natural drummer,” says Haynes. “I was playing on my mother’s pots and pans and sometimes they would break. When I reached high school I was making $2 per night playing in different bands, and I would give my mother some of the money to make up for the broken pans and stuff.” An early influence on young Haynes was drummer Poppa Joe Jones, a member of Count Basie’s Big Band
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in 1934-36-- he later rejoined in the early 1940s. “I remember listening to Poppa Joe, he was the king. When Duke Ellington and Poppa Joe came to the RKO Theater in Boston to perform five to six shows per day I would be there all day or leave right after school.” It was funny because Poppa Joe remembered me from when I was 13 and my brother brought me to see him. Poppa Joe said,“You, chucklehead, I remember when you came to see me with your brother and school books.” Haynes points out that before he went to New York he was already making a reputation playing around the Boston area and sitting in with bands that came from New York. Haynes was reluctant to mention any names since he didn’t want to leave anyone out. “I never really had to look for work in high school.” However, in 1945 when he was playing in Martha’s Vineyard, New England he received a one-way ticket from the famous Bandleader Luis Russell, who requested him to join his big band playing in New York at Harlem’s Savoy Ballroom. Once arriving in Harlem Haynes adapted well, “being kind of familiar with most of the musicians and their music I just tried to fit in.” He recalls hanging out Monday nights at Minton’s Playhouse for the jam sessions in 1945, “man that was something! Drummers were standing in line to play, you could learn just from watching all those great musicians.” In December 1949, he had the distinct pleasure of opening the original Birdland with Charlie Parker “A Journey through Jazz, Dixieland and Swing.” Haynes developed his own unique style that earned him the nickname “Snap Crackle” given to him by Al McKibbon, a bassist with George Shearing (at the time). “I am snappy on the snare drums with my left hand making those rim shots. It’s a crisp snap and crackle sound.” Haynes recorded a tune entitled “Snap Crackle “(1963). Today the term specifically describes Haynes’ drum style and the nickname sticks. His cymbal work is ‘art in action’, always the perfect pitch,never Pure Jazz Magazine - Page 18
too loud.... Haynes a genius at work. Some musicians have a rigid practice schedule but Haynes doesn’t practice that often. “When I first started playing as a youngster I practiced a lot. I practice during my performance,” noted Haynes. “I’m like a doctor with my drums and music. Playing with Sarah Vaughan, Coltrane and Charlie Parker was my practice. I’m just an old time swing drummer.” As a bandleader Haynes explained his role, “I make suggestions, not paint
Mr. Hayes in concert
a complete picture. Understanding is one of the great things in life. I try to create an understanding with artists that perform with me without putting it in any special words.” “A Life In Time: The Roy Haynes Story” is a three-CD set plus an interview with the drummer on DVD (Dreyfus Jazz). The box-set covers his music as a bandleader as well as memorable recordings with the legends from 19492006. These recordings reflect the Haynes’ creativity and intuitive swing sense that allow him to play with a variety of great vocalists and musicians. Haynes’ successful longevity speaks to his adaptability and inventiveness to fit in or lead, while adding to the mix, without overstating his purpose. When asked what advice Haynes would give to aspiring musicians he stated, “I don’t like to give advice unless asked. I would say don’t play the music for the money, don’t expect to get rich.” Then he laughs and says, “well maybe you will who knows. But you got to love what you’re doing. I do it and have loved doing it from day
one. The music continues to evolve, jazz is not standing still, there are too many musicians with their individual stories and experiences to share.” Haynes noted, “Duke said there are only two kinds of music good and bad.” Haynes is a two-time Grammy Award winner and a recipient of a Grammy “Lifetime Achievement Award” (2010). He was presented an Honorary Doctorate degree from the New England Conservatory and Harvard University, is an NEA Jazz Master, and received the “Living Legend Jazz Award” in 2010 from the Mid -Atlantic Arts Foundation. The Danish Jazz Center presented him with the “JAZZ PAR Prize.” In 2009 WKCRFM (Columbia University radio station) dedicated 301 hours of programming to the music and collaborations of Haynes (January 11-23). Haynes is the only jazz musician to appear in a video game, “Grand Theft Auto IV,” as the host of the jazz radio station, JNR. Although Haynes noted his semi-retirement over 15 years ago he is still one of the busiest jazz musicians on the scene and one of the best dressed. The latter dates back to 1960 when Esquire Magazine named him one of the “Best Dressed Men in America” along with Fred Astaire, Clark Cable and Cary Grant. Over the years he has performed in the royal presence of the King and Queen of Thailand, as well as at the White House for Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Ronald Reagan. “It’s been an exciting year already; it’s hard to believe; and I did it. I’ve been fortunate from day one, a beautiful life and it’s not over yet !!!” Ron Scott is the author of Jazz Notes, which is Published weekly in the Amsterdam News
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TC the Third At Home By Ed Dessisso It’s no secret that TC3 operates from a deeply spiritual base. One listen to his channeling of Eddie Jefferson or the Pygmy yodeling of Leon Thomas and you realize you’re in the presence of an authentic Jazz medium endowed with the original flame of Spirit at the core of the music. Carrying the torch of authenticity doesn’t diminish TC3’s own creativity either. His is a song both personal and melodically correct. Inventing in the tradition is just part of who he is. During my interview with TC3, I enjoyed the opportunity to soak in his environment while listening to his Compact Disc. TC’s personal space reflects a tidy serenity with many collected elements of meditation, musical study and family privacy: the perfect woodshed. Born into a musical family; he’s the son of pianist/organist Trudy Pitts and drummer Bill “Mr. C” Carney, TC3 chose to focus on vocals even though he has training on drums and piano. He is more in the footsteps of his maternal grandmother, Ida Bea Pitts-Dobbins, a renowned featured soloist in the church community of Philadelphia. TC’s earliest formal vocal lessons came from Settlement Music School; the musical spawning ground of Mario Lanza. TC spoke of “having the music in me” throughout his days as president of his high school A Cappella choir while moonlighting harmony lessons in Band rehearsal. He credits his music teacher, Ms. Zatzmann with encouraging TC and his parents to invest in formal singing lessons as a foundation that TC’s devotion to the craft has built upon. The following is a small part of our conversation.
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‘boom-boom-boom’. He had us playing straight, classical to the left. One day he was late and we had to march to Progress Plaza up in the area of Freedom Theater, from Broad and Paris. Sherman Ferguson was late so we said “we gonna take charge and spruce this walk up to Progress Plaza. We gonna do our own thing. Man I was playing the bass drum like I had seen at the college football games. Whop! Duh-dodup, duh dup-duh-dup!!!” Cats were looking at me with ‘man we didn’t know you could play the drums like that! Where‘d you come from?” Usually when we’d walk to Progress Plaza we wouldn’t be playing, we’d just walk. But this time we handled that and he tore us a new behind when we got there. He was so angry and hurt he didn’t let us play at the game.
Interview Excerpt: PJ: I know you have formal musical training. Why do you choose to sing? TC3: Wow… I’ve been singing since I was a little boy you know. Singing with my parents… they worked together and were always working on routines and in learning their routines with them and singing along with them. It was just in me. I never thought of it as anything but having fun with Mommy and Daddy. I never really thought that I was making a career; even though I sang in a lot of different settings and even though I did have aspirations of one day being able to perform with my parents in some capacity, I just didn’t know how. When my mother transitioned from playing the organ to piano I thought I might play bass to accompany what they were doing or I’d learn guitar to go along with their organ thing. During that time I was influenced by Pat Martino and Bob Devoe and Rudy Tricolli and Steve Guiordano and Wilbur Longmier in Cincinnati and I’m sure someone else I’m forgetting for the moment, but I was really influenced by those guitar players and I wanted to be down like them at some point. PJ: So you’re a guitarist at heart or somewhere in there? TC3: Well that was early on. I’m sort of everything cause you know my folks
PJ: Is that basic band discipline? had a lot of great horn players with them when I was coming up and they left a lot of influence in me too. Grover (Washington) was with them for a little while just before he made it big and a cat who was like an uncle of mine by the name of Elsworth Gooding, a tenor man there in Philadelphia, he was real short, a short man with a big horn, him and Little Jimmy Oliver, Philly cats with big sounds, Hoopty Barnes and Charlie Bowen all these were influences. TCIII
When I was 12 years old, Odean Pope had a band called Catalyst, with Tyrone Brown on Bass, Sherman Ferguson on drums and Eddie Green on piano. That group worked for a nonprofit group in North Philadelphia at the time that was called Model Cities. They taught all the youths in the community musical instruments. They gave instrument lessons free to the kids in the community. If it wasn’t free, it was at very low cost. If you were a brass or woodwind player or a drummer, you could be in the marching band and get the free lessons. I wanted drum lessons so he put me with the bass drum cause I was a rookie. He gave me the Bass drum because anybody could carry
TC3: Yeah, it was deep man. In fact it was so deep that I left the band soon after that cause I felt he was riding me behind that event. He was saying ‘man I counted on you to do the right thing’ while I was passing the buck to the older cats in the band. I was like ‘didn’t we sound good?’ But he was “man that’s not the point. It wasn’t the point. It wasn’t the order you know what I mean. You can’t just do everything you want to do in life”. I was 12 years old and I didn’t think that at the time but I’m not 12 anymore and I know that he was right.
PJ: How about the influences. Styles as wide afield as Jefferson, Hendricks, Williams, I also hear in your scat style a lot of Betty Carter. TC3: I was just talking about her with Curt Lundy last night. She is one of my greatest influences even though I don’t sing a lot of compositions she sang. I probably will start doing a few tunes that she did but I was raised on the belief that I must do my own thing. I might sometimes bend a note or use a phrase like Betty Carter might but it’s in the moment and for the song that I’m doing; nothing more. If I’m doing a Betty Carter song I wouldn’t Pure Jazz Magazine - Page 21
because I was raised to be my own man and express my own thoughts. I was taught to ‘do my own thing’. Borrow from people what you like but use it to create your own voice in whatever it is that you do across the board. Do everything in moderation. Take care of yourself, cook your own food and you’ll live longer; these are things I have been hearing all of my life that I seek to put in practice for my own success. Accidents may go down, but I strive for progress.
PJ: How do you place yourself now, as you are on the grind? Your name is not as big as you want it yet. Where do you place yourself in the progression? TC3: Well right now in New York I’m the Jazz Guy. I walk down the street, they may not know my name but they know I sing Jazz. That’s a miracle. So many people call me the Jazz Guy it might as well be my name. I have always seen myself as a leader and a collaborator in extending the tradition of Jazz vocals.
sion and every week they close with RHYTHM-A-NING or NOW’S THE TIME or CONFIRMATION, I had the words and could get in on the jam. The musicians would be like ‘oh you sing? Well go sit over there and we’ll call you when it’s time for you to hit’. I couldn’t go for that. What they learn, I was gonna learn; Trane, Haynes, Opie, Dizzy, Johnnie Hartman, Basie, Joe Williams, Betty Carter, name somebody…going to learn them so I won’t be shut out of the music. Whenever I go to the Jam Session, whatever they pick, I’m in there you understand. I’ve been blessed with a strong voice. I don’t need a microphone. I’m strong. I don’t need a mic. It’s good to have one, you know, if you want to be cool. I can stand next to a cat on sax and maybe you don’t hear me over the sax but when I get my shot, you’ll hear me. I get my solos. That’s been my interpretation and my vision as far as that goes. I’ve been around the music so long with my family; I didn’t want to be on the sideline so much. PJ: What about training? Your vocal thing is quite fine. Can you talk about that or is it too private?
PJ: Expand on that for me please. The whole vocal landscape in Jazz covers differences as wide as Nat King Cole to say Leon Thomas with his pygmy yodeling and you’ve got all of that. You are a balladeer. You do the old classics. You do the stuff that’s off center; show tunes, talk to me about all that and what you intend to do with it. TC3: Well what it comes from is Miles Davis… and probably a lot of other people but Miles for sure, made classics of popular music, soundtracks and movies of his day. When I began singing Jazz music, I wanted to be one of the cats. I wanted to be a vocalist with the Jazz groove. I wanted to be singing and swinging and respected by the musicians. So what I did was learn the words to a song if I liked the way a musician was playing it. If I was at a jam sesPure Jazz Magazine - Page 22
TCIII on the mic
TC3: I use the vocal training I received from my grandmother Ida Bea PittsDobbins. She was head soloist at her church and represented her church at inter-church functions. Every Sunday afternoon, she and I would go to some church function in Philadelphia. I went to choir practice with her and voice lessons with her. I would imitate her in the mirror to get the intonation right. Her face would be all shriveled up. I’d say ‘Grandma do you have to do your face like that’? And she would say, ‘when I give a performance, how does it sound?’ And I would answer Grandma you’re the greatest. I love your singing.’ And she would say ‘Well I’ve got to do this.’ I’d ask ‘if I sing do I have to do that too?’ She replied ‘there may be some other method by the time you’re singing but it will be the same basic thing.’ The basics of it have remained the same. Others might have another technique but it is the same. TC3: I was going to call Norman Connors. He’s a good friend of mine. He produced my first record. (shows me a cd) PJ: Norman Connors made a whole lot of music. You have everybody on this CD: Gary Bartz, Eddie Henderson, Joey De Francesco, Trudy Pitts and Mr. C Carney. You get to sing SO WHAT with this crew of people! TC3: Yeah, it was a great experience with great musicians and great people. It was a testament to growing up in Philly among great people. It couldn’t have happened without Norman Connors. These two records were because of my association with great people. It’s been a long time but I just didn’t have the mindset to make a lot of recordings. My thing has mainly been about the gig and learning how to get there without a record. I followed what my parents showed me: every gig is not about a record. It may help you. It may validate you in some respect. You have a following that may represent you somewhere other
than the gig. But you could go to someone else’s gig and they dig you and give you your shot and you have it made, like survival. A lot of young cats are like ‘you got to have a record even if only for documentation’ but you don’t need a record to work. You need a record to work in certain types of environments though. It’s good for wider recognition. It is good to have a new project every once in a while. I did some other gigs with an all-star situation but every gig I do is not that condition. I could never call all those cats on a regular.
Ed Dessisso is a Free Lance writer and is the author of Vinyl Man, which is regular column in this publication.
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Standing on the Shoulders Ohhh freedom! Oohhhh freedom
and Mary Mcleod Bethune
Oh freedom over me
We stand walk in the steps of power
And befo’ ah’ll be a slave
Solid earth that speaks to us roars
Ah’ll beberried in ma grave
up our loins and lifts us
And go home to ma Lord and bee free
pushes us forward upward
In the middle In the middle
These shoulders make the ground solid
In the middle in the middle in the middle
keeps the melody in our message
in the midst of all this
the choreography on our canvass
we you and me exist
the creativity in our science so we
I/we exist because
can continue to tell
we stand
the story chronicle the events
as they unfold
Stand on the shoulders of Langston
in the gymnasiums of life
Richard Toomer Zora Margaret and
making our shoulders strong
a whole host of writers song sayers wordsmith and such
to carry the struggle
We stand on the work of Monk and Martin Miles and Medgar Malcolm MJQ and Marvin Gaye Jacob Lawrence Katherine Dunham and Sun Ra Baldwin and Bird Diz and Duke The Count and Claude McKay Satchmo Robeson and Nina Sam Cooke and the rest A panoply of genius and gigantic intellect rising out of the under… from beneath the stone thrust upon us on these western shores In the middle in the middle in the midst of The Divine One
to the next level fearing not fearing nothing til Victory is ours Let the music play and the words speak clearly and loud and befo ah’ll bee a slave ah’ll bee buried in ma grave and go home to ma Lord and bee free. Remember! Reparations is serious business
Lady Day and Coretta Betty Carter and Betty Shabazz Romare Bearden Pure Jazz Magazine - Page 24
Ted L. Wilson is a superb poet and writer. His poems are published in Slow Dance, Sensors and Shadows.
Such Sweet Thunder By Bridget Arnwine
“Thus conscience does make cowards of us all, And thus the native hue of resolution Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought, And enterprises of great pitch and moment With this regard their currents turn awry And lose the name of action.” (Hamlet, Act III, Scene I) Stated another way: to remake a Duke Ellington work, or not to remake a Duke Ellington work? What is the hesitation? How much weight should be given to an idea, a project, or a dream before resolving to either move forward in action or “be sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought?” Such was the dilemma for 2011 NEA Jazz Master Delfeayo Marsalis. Before Duke Ellington penned Such Sweet Thunder-- a commissioned, twelve-part suite written in tribute to the works of William Shakespeare-back in 1957, tributes to Shakespeare were far less grand. But Ellington, who composed more than one thousand songs and an unimaginable number of albums, made a career of being grand and his tribute to the Bard was no exception. Not only did Ellington compose each song to represent one of Shakespeare’s most famous characters, he also relied on the proficiency of the members of his orchestra to give the characters life and depth. Enter Delfeayo Marsalis. After studying literature and jazz performance as a graduate student, Delfeayo was inspired to dedicate his thesis assignment to bringing the two worlds together. He wrote about Duke Ellington and William Shakespeare-two artists whose work he greatly admired. While researching the subjects
of his thesis at the Smithsonian Institute, Delfeayo eventually discovered the original scores from Such Sweet Thunder. This discovery inspired the trombonist, composer, producer to re-work the original effort scaling it down from full orchestra to alternating quintet and octet formats. There were some, however, who disagreed with Delfeayo’s decision to interpret Ellington’s music. Gunther Schuller-- noted author, composer, musician, and Duke Ellington buff-- wrote in a letter that was included in the cd notes for Sweet Thunder, “the problem with taking Ellington’s music and reworking it is that it is so unique, so special, so genial (as in genius) that it is virtually untransformable, untranscribable.” Though Mr. Schuller’s opinion is an invaluable resource in the jazz community, he missed one great benefit to re-working Such Sweet Thunder. Most obviously: audiences get to hear the music. Even with Delfeayo’s changes, the scores remain unmistakably Ellington. Sweet Thunder is no avant garde or instrumental R&B makeover. There’s no autotune and there are no added rock riffs. The music is beautifully played, thoughtfully arranged, and a great representation of American classical music (also known as jazz). Despite the noted differences that has to be worth the risk. The disc’s opening selection “Such Sweet Thunder” starts the music off on the right foot. The octet has a confrontational sound; they clearly didn’t come to mess around. Each soloist-Branford Marsalis, noted saxophonist and eldest brother of the Marsalis clan, Delfeayo, and Mulgrew Miller,
one of the best pianists on the scene today-- played beautifully. The group’s sound is so big that it is easy to forget that this is a group of eight instead of a full orchestra. “Half the Fun” is a nod to the storied Egyptian queen, Cleopatra. Here, Tiger Okoshi, Branford Marsalis, and Victor “Red” Atkins deliver some of the most spirited solos offered on the recording. Trumpeter Tiger Okoshi’s solo is very matter of fact, very masculine, very strong-- the same way Cleopatra liked her men. Branford weaves in sounding as though he’s under the rhythm section’s spell. As the solo progresses, a transition occurs where Branford goes from being under the spell to casting it. Following Branford’s solo, Victor “Red” Atkins sounds like he’s playing a whisper after a scream in an effort to refocus the music, the listener, or maybe even himself. Delfeayo should be commended for expanding this song from Ellington’s original. Though it now runs at just over nine minutes, the progression of the music and the solos was a great use of time. “Madness in Great Ones” is about one of Shakespeare’s most volatile characters, Hamlet. In Delfeayo’s reimaging of the Ellington work, the “madness” comes through Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Victor Goines’s sopranino saxophone. Interestingly enough, though he doesn’t perform a solo, Goines may have sounded a little less insane without the push he received from the youngest Marsalis, drummer Jason. As Goines played and Delfeayo countered with a trombone solo that represented a “voice of reason,” Jason is the one who seemed to push Goines Pure Jazz Magazine - Page 25
over the edge, thrashing and banging along, almost bullying him to his ultimate doom. This song was brilliantly maddening. “Circle of Fourths” was great to listen to as a final song, because it goes out on the note set by the disc’s opening number. Mark Shim, Victor “Red” Atkins, Charnett Moffett, Delfeayo and Jason Marsalis were a tight unit with a joyous and audibly 3-D sound. Special note: Charnett Moffett’s bass work toward the end of the song provided, arguably, the best twenty seconds of my life. Also worth mentioning, Delfeayo along with Mark Shim, Mark Gross, and Jason Marshall dazzled on “Sonnet to Hank Cinq.” Younger brother Jason demonstrates with much conviction that he is more than just another Marsalis on “Sonnet in Search of a Moor.” Victor “Red” Atkins opened “Lady Mac” with an old-time, Sunday morning, gospel-tinged intro that turned Lady Mac into Sister Mac-- the first lady that all the women of the church hold in high regard. Branford Marsalis’ solo on “Sonnet for Caesar” was more than beautiful. Even those who know nothing of Caesar would know everything about him after hearing Branford’s solo. For all that is great about Sweet Thunder, it’s even better when listened to in conjunction with Ellington’s Such Sweet Thunder. For any action to have value, it must be firmly rooted in where it first began.
littlke s an s i “Thok pac p bo c wallo rto e p it h e P u e s of an dia Ricra frome po eminin .” a f wpoint v ie “In this book you will find a breath of characters who reside inside the wisdom of Aponte’s ingenuity.” .....Tato Laviera
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Delfeayo Marsalis
718.554.3706 www.direct-comtech.com cdirect147@gmail.com
Bridget Arnwine writes for several jazz vehicles including examine.com in which this article first appeared Pure Jazz Magazine - Page 26