Joe Morello died on Saturday 12 March 2011. Joe Morello, the drummer for the classic Dave Brubeck quartet. Joe Morello, for whom the most popular jazz tune ever, 'Take Five', was written (by Paul Desmond) specifically to provide him with a platform for playing a drum solo. Joe Morello, to whom I have been listening all my life since 'Mr. Broadway' came out in the early sixties! At 82 years of age, Joe Morello has gone the way of all flesh.
I didn't start out in life being a jazz fan, I always loved music, and I have 'fallen in love' with various musicians over the years, my all-time favourite being Dave Brubeck. But you can't listen to Dave Brubeck without hearing all the other members of his band, it used to be Dave, Paul Desmond (alto sax), Eugene Wright (bass violin, or double bass) and Joe Morello (drums) in the old days, way back in the sixties. Then there was Gerry Mulligan (baritone sax) to replace Paul when HE died, and various other guys over the years. One of my all-time favourite LP's (or digitally remastered cd's) has gotta be 'The Real Ambassadors', featuring Louis Armstrong and Carmen McRae. Music by Dave Brubeck, lyrics by Dave Brubeck's wife, Iola!
My favourite saxophone player of all time, and I have heard all the best ones, is the guy who is currently in the Dave Brubeck quartet, his name is Bobby Militello. Man, when this guy plays, it's like Namaqualand in early spring! 'Trane was good, Miles was good, but guys like Winton Marsalis and Bobby Militello are right up there with the best of them, the golden era of jazz is NOT in the past.
As I was saying, of late I have taken to attending Sunday morning Masses at Holy Cross Church, in District Six. I don't know why, searching for my roots, or something. Firstly, I feel so at home in that church; it's not a big church, it is small and intimate and has a great atmosphere and ambience. But, as you can well imagine, there's a whole lotta history there. District Six was created after the abolition of slavery in 1838, to house freed slaves, the so-called 'Coloured' people. Us, actually. Or, more specifically, our grandparents and parents.
So I sit in that church thirty minutes before Mass begins, and I can't help thinking about the history. Look, there's no percentage in thinking about what the Boere did to us, what varke they were and so on. But I get kinda nostalgic or something, and, for some reason I can't quite figure out, my thoughts go out to those other former slaves, Black America. I think about the blues boy from Beale Street, Riley B. King, better known as B.B. King, I think about Mackinley Morganfield, better know an 'Muddy Waters' because, as a child, he used to like to play in the mud ( he was mos a vlakkie, just like me and Caitlin!), and I think of all my other favourite blues players, like Buddy Guy and a whole host of others. And I get it; I can see where they're coming from. And I get a lump in my throat, and I wish I still had my B.B. King guitar so that I can express myself. Or that the harmonicas wouldn't keep on giving me a sore throat, because, with a blues harp you can REALLY express yourself, once you get past the infernal difficulty of trying to play that instrument.
I don't think you'll ever 'get' jazz if you don't like the blues; the blues is its very foundation. That's why European or UK jazz sounds so like flou tea - there's no blues foundation in it!
Lots of Love
I didn't start out in life being a jazz fan, I always loved music, and I have 'fallen in love' with various musicians over the years, my all-time favourite being Dave Brubeck. But you can't listen to Dave Brubeck without hearing all the other members of his band, it used to be Dave, Paul Desmond (alto sax), Eugene Wright (bass violin, or double bass) and Joe Morello (drums) in the old days, way back in the sixties. Then there was Gerry Mulligan (baritone sax) to replace Paul when HE died, and various other guys over the years. One of my all-time favourite LP's (or digitally remastered cd's) has gotta be 'The Real Ambassadors', featuring Louis Armstrong and Carmen McRae. Music by Dave Brubeck, lyrics by Dave Brubeck's wife, Iola!
My favourite saxophone player of all time, and I have heard all the best ones, is the guy who is currently in the Dave Brubeck quartet, his name is Bobby Militello. Man, when this guy plays, it's like Namaqualand in early spring! 'Trane was good, Miles was good, but guys like Winton Marsalis and Bobby Militello are right up there with the best of them, the golden era of jazz is NOT in the past.
As I was saying, of late I have taken to attending Sunday morning Masses at Holy Cross Church, in District Six. I don't know why, searching for my roots, or something. Firstly, I feel so at home in that church; it's not a big church, it is small and intimate and has a great atmosphere and ambience. But, as you can well imagine, there's a whole lotta history there. District Six was created after the abolition of slavery in 1838, to house freed slaves, the so-called 'Coloured' people. Us, actually. Or, more specifically, our grandparents and parents.
So I sit in that church thirty minutes before Mass begins, and I can't help thinking about the history. Look, there's no percentage in thinking about what the Boere did to us, what varke they were and so on. But I get kinda nostalgic or something, and, for some reason I can't quite figure out, my thoughts go out to those other former slaves, Black America. I think about the blues boy from Beale Street, Riley B. King, better known as B.B. King, I think about Mackinley Morganfield, better know an 'Muddy Waters' because, as a child, he used to like to play in the mud ( he was mos a vlakkie, just like me and Caitlin!), and I think of all my other favourite blues players, like Buddy Guy and a whole host of others. And I get it; I can see where they're coming from. And I get a lump in my throat, and I wish I still had my B.B. King guitar so that I can express myself. Or that the harmonicas wouldn't keep on giving me a sore throat, because, with a blues harp you can REALLY express yourself, once you get past the infernal difficulty of trying to play that instrument.
I don't think you'll ever 'get' jazz if you don't like the blues; the blues is its very foundation. That's why European or UK jazz sounds so like flou tea - there's no blues foundation in it!
Lots of Love
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