JamesJazz

Dick's comments about Oscar Pettiford in "Jazz Masters of the 40's" are really interesting. Made me feel like I knew what OP was about, at least a little bit.

The CD release party is Sunday, November 8, 4-7 PM at Cliff Bell's in Detroit. www.cliffbells.com

http://kenncox.com/PartyContributionInfo.pdf Apologies - it won't be released until early November. I'll see if any advance copies can be purchased.

Guarante's band worked in Detroit in the early 20's, and they are similar to another obscure Detroit band - Finzel's Arcadia Orchestra - which recorded around the same time. Finzel's material has never been reissued. Pianist Justin Ring, a good ragtimer, was on Finzel's band. Interesting blend of novelty, ragtime, and syncopation which isn't too bad at all.

We now have the first treasure from Cox' tape stash: A duet with Donald Walden, his longtime friend & collaborator. This was recorded at the Kerrytown Concert House in Ann Arbor, a wonderful, intimate concert setting. Walden passed in 2008, and Cox grieved deeply for his friend until his passing earlier this year. Fifty years of heartfelt friendship joined them, and nowhere is this better expressed than on this recording. They worked in different groups most of the time and their collaborations were always Bright Moments, especially during their infrequent appearances as a duo. This is a conversation, and we are "flies on the wall," as bassist Marion Hayden tells us in her succinct sleeve notes. The set includes three Monk tunes ("Ask Me Now," "Misterioso," and "Worry Later"), and for me these are highlights. "Ask Me Now" is magic. It's like the two musicians are playing this in Monk's apartment. Each man contributes material (Cox' "Cuernavaca" and Walden's "This Goodbye Could Last A Long, Long Time" and "Portrait Of You"), and the set is rounded out with two neglected numbers - "While My Lady Sleeps" and "I Hear A Rhapsody", the latter a Walden favorite. I'm but one of many Detroit folks who heard these Masters over many, many moons, and "Duet At Kerrytown" captures them at their peaks.

We have the honor of Mr. Jones performing at the 2009 Detroit International Jazz Festival. It's great that his family is forever linked to Detroit, but Hank (unlike Elvin & Thad) spent little working in the city proper - he spent much time around Flint/Saginaw.

I too love Pres' earlier stuff, and place the Deccas above all else, save the Jones-Smith session. The "America Dances" airshots (esp. "One O'Clock Jump") are wonderful. The Decca's also have Durham's "Time Out" which has some of the hippest writing of all time, IMHO.

James Carter has the tenor used by Buddy Tate to record "Air Mail Special" AND Chu Berry's tenor, too.

Have read Yusef's book. It's dignified and polite, offers some interesting details about Lateef's illustrious career. There are a few name/date errors. I believe this was slated for the University of Michigan Press, but it didn't have enough gritty details and Bro. Yusef was unwilling to provide more than this book offers. So UMP rejected it.

In Detroit, we have many gifted tenor men, like Charlie Gabriel and George Benson. Charlie sat in with Lionel Hampton's BeBoppers during Hamp's 1948 Paradise Theater gig - Fats Navarro was on the band - and Hamp kept him for a couple of weeks, according to Charlie, who was 16 at the time. His pal, trumpeter Claire Roquemore, also sat in with Hamp. While Claire (whom Miles cites in his "bio" and who terrorized all the trumpet players in town) succumbed to 'the horse which so many rode,' to paraphrase Ira Gitler, Charlie is going strong and works regularly around town, usually with Marcus Belgrave, and around the country. He's from New Orleans and his tenor sound is warm, swinging, and distinctive. And his clarinet playing....too much! His CD with Red Richards won an award in France. George Benson started in solid late 40s R&B bands on alto, and added tenor in the early 60s. George led the last house band at the Flame Show Bar. He's more bop oriented than Charlie, and when he gets going on a blues it sends shivers up my spine (George used to 'walk the bar' when he played with King Porter's band). And his ballads....wow.... Pianist Johnny Allen is 92, plays beautiful piano, elegant, really, and has touches of Hines and Wilson. He arranged the score for "Shaft" and crafted many Motown charts. We just honored him at last year's Detroit International Jazz Festival. Johnny was MD for the Club Congo Orchestra in 1942 when the band backed Billie Holiday during a week long engagement... This is a great thread, I'm unfamiliar with most of the musicians cited here.

One of Aretha's early trios around Detroit included Teddy Harris - piano, James "Beans" Richardson - bass, and Hindal Butts - drums. Beans said she was a decent pianist, knew her some stuff, a bit difficult to work with at times, but overall a positive experience.

I met Mr. Triglia at an IAJRC convention in Newark in the 80s. I was browsing through boxes of LPs for sale, and I became aware of an older guy standing next to me. I turned and said "Hi" and smiled at him, and he asked me if I really liked jazz. After I said "yeah" he said he'd played piano for many years. So I asked him his name and almost fell over when he told me. I couldn't believe it! So naturally I complimented him, told him I was a big fan of the Open Door stuff, and Mingus' stuff, and he became quite voluble and we talked for a solid forty five minutes. I remember asking him about OP and Mingus, told him I loved OP's playing. Bill told me that Oscar was the greatest bassist he'd worked with. He said Mingus always seemed to be waiting for a solo rather than playing for the music. I wanted to interview him 'on tape' but he begged off and left after a few more minutes. What a thrill it was to meet Mr. Triglia. Thanks for remembering him, Allen.

Otis Finch...spent time in Detroit, mid-40s, joined Fletcher while the band was in Detroit. Son, "Candy" Finch, drummer. Actually, Fletcher picked up several Det cats at the same time - info detailed in Allen's marvelous "Hendersonia" p. 435

Good list, Roger. There are two Cox CD projects "in the works" which will surface next year. One with his group "Drum," and one a duet with Donald Walden. Both sessions are excellent... Kenny had scads of tapes collected over the years. He was pushed and encouraged to issue a compilation, and there was some progress, but he was a perfectionist and a minor flaw (technical or artistic) was enough to sink a track...I recall a beautiful version of "Body And Soul" which took one's breath away, but there was a small recording balance issue, and Kenny shot it down immediately...

Kenny was connected to Barry Harris, also to the earlier generation of pianists - specifically, Willie Anderson and BuBu Turner. Cox always sought out older cats (unlike many of his peers) and marvelled at Anderson's unique style and amazing chops - he was a mix of Tatum, Garner, and Wilson. BuBu was pure bebop. Kenny said one of the highlights of his then young life was attending with his father a Bud Powell concert.

Mark, a beautiful observance, as always tasteful and informative. I put this together but hadn't posted it until now. Pianist/Composer/Arranger Kenny Cox died last Friday, December 19, after a battle against lung cancer. He was 68 years old. Born in Detroit on November 8, 1940, Cox was a product of Cass Tech, WSU (Business major), and various Detroit music schools. He studied trumpet in his teens – visions of Clifford Brown danced in his head – but his mother insisted that he learn piano, too. So Kenn studied piano, and became proficient enough to gig on both instruments. After a couple of years most of the calls were for piano so he reluctantly put the trumpet aside. Decades later, he’d sometimes refer to himself as a “failed trumpeter”! Cox loved music of all type and description but during the early sixties he was influenced by Miles and Coltrane both in his playing and composing – his material has been recorded by many bands. One early band featuring Kenn was the Bohanon-Fields Quintet, a Coltrane-influenced group which recorded under drummer Bert Myrick’s name. Their tenor/trombone front line created an interesting blend. Members of the Jazz Crusaders were in Detroit frequently at the time (1962) and listened attentively to Bohanon-Fields. The Crusaders later recorded two of Cox’s compositions. Kenny also worked frequently with percussionist Francisco Ali Mora in a Latin flavored quintet which really cooked. He led his Guerilla Jam Band at many spots around town and in Europe during the 1980s.Cox also worked with Yusef Lateef and Kenny Burrell among many others. His first records were made with vocalist Etta Jones in the early 1960s. But his best known association was with the CJQ, a powerhouse quintet which recorded for Blue Note in 1968. The two LPs have been collated onto a two-CD which is currently available. Cox was politically active, and dubbed himself a "Cultural Warrior" who pushed for recognition of many forgotten Detroit music legends. His widow, Barbara, was president of the Societe of the Culturally Concerned, a group which most recently honored pioneer ragtime composer/pianist Harry P. Guy. I met Kenny some thirty-six years ago when I began working at WDET. Kenny hosted “Kaleidephone” on Saturday afternoons. I was a neophyte jazz host, and Kenn offered many useful and practical tips on producing/hosting jazz radio programs. Cox was also the Development Director at WDET and later was Grants Officer for the Detroit Council of the Arts. Kenny was the first Detroit musician who “let me in,” accepted me as a friend. Our friendship was my entree into the jazz scene. I spent many Saturdays in his company and we were colleagues and became friends. Latterly, Ken could be heard at Baker’s semi-regularly in a trio setting. Cox loved show tunes, and these would pour forth from the piano balanced by a healthy dose of Ellington and other American and Latin composers. Stylistically, Kenn exemplifies the Detroit piano tradition: a lyrical approach infused with the blues. And Cox was a blues master. His love of Strayhorn, James P. Johnson, and Jelly Roll Morton was never far away during his improvisations… Kenny spent most of his life in Detroit, performing, teaching, observing. Barbara, his wife of forty-two years, loved his playing and loved him. Kenny was eloquent and witty, a man with many thoughts and opinions whose words were as clear and crisp and lyrical as his pianoflage...he was a Griot, a Music Master. One is reminded of the saying, “A city’s reputation is established by those musicians who leave, but sustained by those who stay”. We are fortunate to have had the wonderful Mr. Cox with us for so long.

Yes, Leonard always looked 'younger than his years' and was a mainstay in Lymon Woodard's organization. He and bassist Rodney Whitaker had an interesting duo years ago- Proportioned Orchestra - (there are tapes of them). Leonard hosted a jazz radio show on WDET during the 70's. Oopapada is a really swinging group, too, composed of Leonard's children, mostly. Leonard used to ply his trade in Greektown, playing on the streets with other gifted players. The man can also sing some stuff. He loves Minneapolis.

Mezz had a few bright moments on the wonderful 1938 Newton/James P./Pete Brown RCA session...

Theme For Donald Walden By Jim Gallert Donald Walden’s death, on April 6, sent shock waves through our community. He was two years into his battle against Cancer, and after hearing him play so wonderfully at the SOCC’s tribute last month, we hoped that he might have gotten the upper hand. Leading his Free Radicals (a term Walden discovered while researching Cancer therapies) through a short set of originals, Donald sounded like a million bucks, doubtless responding to the love he felt and which surrounded him. His spirit, if not his body, had triumphed. And now, one month later, his family and friends gathered to remember him, to pay respects to that spirit, to laugh, to share stories. The room at Haley Funeral Home was packed, alternately hushed and boisterous as stories were told, remembrances were offered, and musicians filled the space with melodies. Melba Boyd’s touching thoughts and beautiful poem summed up our thoughts. Robert McCarther’s heartfelt singing of “A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square”, a Walden favorite, with Robert’s added lyric, summed up our feelings. The Free Radical Sextet and numerous musical friends played a swinging set of Walden’s compositions that expressed our love. That Walden celebrated Mingus and Monk is no surprise – like them, he was demanding, passionate, honest, and unique. He had a built-in “bullshit detector” which never failed. He was strong and confident, sure and certain, an African American man who carried himself with dignity and respect, a Griot who spoke to us of life and love through his music and his words. Donald was interested in creativity, in any field, and he was a cultural warrior, ably championing jazz in performance and conversation. He was a humane and spiritual person who eschewed religious trappings. And he had soul, plenty plenty soul, and a keen sense of history. He knew that jazz is a flowering of African American culture, but Donald also knew that the creator is colorblind, and acted accordingly. Donald’s homegoing continued at Bert’s Marketplace, where his friends hugged and laughed and played music and consoled ourselves with the knowledge that his spirit, like the music of Monk and Mingus, will always be among us, an example of human expression at its finest. The man left a legacy which will endure.

...and to second Markstryker's comment ref. Leon Henderson, none of his longtime friends have been able to contact him, in fact disquieting rumors regarding his health are circulating.

When that band was together they had a hell of a time getting gigs in Detroit - a notorious Bebop town - but found work in Ann Arbor. AA was/is a strong college town and was more open to the CJQ sound. Kenny was just honored at Baker's by SEMJA (Southeast Michigan Jazz Association) and played a couple of numbers with Ron Brooks. Kenny has a regular slot at Baker's. He embodies 'the Detroit sound', or approach, anyway: lyrical, strong blues feeling, tuned in to Bud, and Horace, too. Writes interesting stuff, good arranger, very creative player.

Leonard may have the occasional 'off nite' but he's a fine drummer and good all-round percussionist. He was a mainstay of the Detroit music scene for decades, leading several different groups like the "Visger Road Drum Band" and worked in a really interesting duet with bassist Rodney Whitaker - the Proportioned Orchestra. I've known King for many years and admired him as both player and teacher...always involved in one or more youth-oriented music projects.

FWIW, Hosea Taylor is alive and well in Detroit, plays a few gigs, former music teacher in the Det school system. And Tate Houston was in the house band at the Blue Bird Inn, fine bari man. Budd Johnson was the only tenor guy I heard get as much out of a blues as Yusef.

Not old enough to have seen the original broadcast, but viewed it a few years ago. It's good, decent quality video and sound.

Don't forget "Lateef At Cranbrook", a 1957 set with Frank Morrelli, Terry Jean Pollard and Will Austin.