Chatting With the Gods
Tubby [Hayes] is a very fine musician. He knows what he’s doing. He’s definitely had a wealth of experience, because to sit in with the band and do such a commendable job he had to be excellent. After all, he must have been under some sort of a strain. We have about the worst book–so far as explaining how to play the arrangements. We don’t have anything cut and dried, that follows through from the left hand corner to the right hand corner. As a matter of fact, I think he played the new music better than we played it! – Harry Carney
Well, in that respect we were all even up, because it was just about as new to us as it was to him. – Russell Procope
“We” refers to the Duke Ellington band. This is from a blindfold test in Jazz Professsional conducted by Les Tomkins in 1964.
This is from later in the same interview:
Tomkins: [plays a Gerry Mulligan/Johnny Hodges Group record] And you’re in favour of these tie–ins between people who might seem unlikely partners?
Procope: I don’t know what would make unlikely partners. If two people get together in the studio to play music . . .
Carney: They speak the same language.
Procope: People are inclined to categorise–which shouldn’t be done. We are all musicians. whatever might arise. I’ll say that maybe one [person] is more adapted to one thing than another. But in a partnership, if we’re both in the same business, we’re going to get along.
I know a couple whose kids are studying clarinet and saxophone. While the names Harry Carney and Russell Procope would make you and me and them gasp, the kids might not know them yet. But if those kids ever want to find out about musicianship, it’s all there.
Well, that and Milt Bernhart’s story.
And if you’re registered at the NYT, this review of a perfomance by Lee Konitz.
That was one of the fabulous things about the Ellington legacy. All of the prominent musicians throughout his career were unique to themselves, and Duke kept on writing to adapt to the new sounds. So Barney Bigard’s clarinet sound was different from Russell Procope’s, which was different from Jimmy Hamilton’s. And Ben Webster’s tenor sax sound was different from Paul Gonsalves, which was also different from Jimmy Hamilton’s. Carney was the glue that held everything together, and Duke also took full advantage of his tremendous alto and bass clarinet chops.
And I haven’t even mentioned Johnny Hodges yet.
April 14th, 2008 at 5:45 pmI read this in downbeat, one of the guys in the band said, “You know how when you take a solo you play differently than when you’re playing in the ensemble? We play that way all the time.”
April 17th, 2008 at 2:33 pm