(L-R: Horace Silver, Pee Wee Marquette, Curly Russell, Art Blakey, Lou Donaldson and Clifford Brown)
Mosaic Record’s Daily Jazz Gazette consistently has some great content for jazz head’s in need of a good read. This blogpost was taken in full from their site, which appears to have originally appeard on a blog called DangerousMinds dot net. The KTRU Sunday Jazz Team felt compelled to share this one for a Monday.
‘HALF A MOTHERFUCKER’: THE LEGEND OF PEE WEE MARQUETTE
Pee Wee Marquette and Count Basie
Pee Wee Marquette is another of those characters who, like Moondog, found a niche in New York’s cultural ecosystem and carved out a life for himself “back in the day.”
It was not probably what you’d call a very good life, but, what the hell, he’ll remain a sort of Jazz legend long after we’re all forgotten. Pee Wee was the 3 foot 9 inch announcer and MC at Birdland, the famous NYC nightclub, and can be heard on the intros to countless classic live Jazz records from the 50s and 60s.
There’s even a complete CD that came out in 2008 consisting of nothing by Pee Wee’s intros, which are made all the more entertaining by Pee Wee’s deliberate mispronunciation of the names of key acts. You see, Pee Wee would pretty much make life miserable for Jazz acts at Birdland unless they paid him a “tip.” Thus, Horace Silver was “Whore Ass Silber” until Silver relented and paid ($5 in the later years, which was a lot for that time).
The diminutive, but cantankerous, Pee Wee would elbow a non-payer in the groin, blow cigar smoke in their faces, and do even less pleasant things (like telling Bobby Hutcherson to “pack your stuff and get on out of here, we don’t need you”). For this and other reasons he was dubbed by his “pal” Lester “Prez” Young as “half a motherfucker.”
According to legend (and I don’t think this story is on the Internet anywhere), trombonist Bill Watrous once caught up with Pee Wee, who was working the door of the Hawaii Kai restaurant on Broadway in his later years (dressed in a turban and a Nehru jacket, he’d stand outside and try to rustle up paying customers). Watrous saw Pee Wee getting dressed down by some tough guy, claiming that all sorts of harm would befall Pee Wee unless Pee Wee repaid the money he owed or whatever that matter entailed. Watrous saw the tough guy turn to leave and make for the stairs and then saw Marquette run over and stab the toughie in the ass several times with a switch blade before returning to his post, acting as if nothing had happened.
In the book Take Five: The Public and Private Lives of Paul Desmond, Mort Lewis, one-time manager of the Dave Brubeck Quartet recalled Marquette:
There was a black midget, Pee Wee Marquette, who was the master of ceremonies at Birdland. And every act that played there, the musicians had to give him fifty cents and he would announce their names as he introduced the band. Dave Brubeck gave him fifty cents, Joe Dodge gave him fifty cents, and Norman Bates gave him fifty cents. Paul Desmond refused to pay one cent. And when Pee Wee Marquette would introduce the band, he’d always say, in that real high-pitched voice, “Now the world famous Dave Brubeck Quartet, featuring Joe Dodge on drums, Norman Bates on bass,” and then he’d put his hand over the microphone and turn back to Joe or Norman and say, “What’s that cat’s name?” referring to Paul. Then he would take his hand off the microphone and say, ‘On alto sax, Bud Esmond.’ Paul loved that.
Some have questioned whether Marquette was actually female, and just passed as a male, but I’m pretty sure that, had that been the case, it would have made it into the legend somehow or another. Plus, his voice sounds distinctly male to my ears. Interestingly, Pee Wee was interviewed in the mid-80s by David Letterman, so somewhere out there there’s video of William Crayton “Pee Wee” Marquette, telling stories of the old Birdland from his point of view, but (Internet scrub that I am) I wasn’t able to find it.
A compilation of Pee Wee Marquette’s exuberant Birdland intros:
The avant-garde/Third Stream legend, whose name has been well known in jazz circles since the mid-50’s, will be performing this Saturday, January 7 at the Live Oak Friends Meeting House, at 1318 West 26th St, HTX. Doors open at 4:30pm. Concert begins at 5pm (on time) in order to coincide with the sunset and James Turrell’s Skyspace. Admission is FREE. For more info visit Nameless Sound here.
Sunday Jazz Show DJ Achim will be there and he is VERY excited. He would not miss it.
Some background from Wikipedia, with musical/visual aids from your friends at KTRU Sunday Jazz:
“Beginning in the late 1950s, Blake was part of a duo with vocalist Jeanne Lee. Together they recorded his first album The Newest Sound Around, which was released on RCA in 1962…The album shows Blake’s signature style beginning to develop, as they paid homage to Blake’s early influences with a tribute to David Raksin’s “Laura” and a reworking of the gospel standard, “The Church on Russell Street”.” (wikipedia)
“Blake met Gunther Schuller in a chance encounter at Atlantic Records in 1959. Recognizing Blake’s talent, Schuller asked him to study at the School of Jazz in Lenox, Massachusetts.
Blake met jazz pianist, composer, and arranger Mary Lou Williams during a performance at The Composer, a New York nightclub. She later became a mentor and a significant influence on his work. During his time as a student at Bard, Blake often traveled to see Williams perform and to take lessons from her. Later, Williams and Blake worked together while she was a visiting faculty member at the School of Jazz.” (wikipedia)
“In 1966, Blake released his first record as a soloist, Ran Blake Plays Solo Piano, on New York-based label ESP Disk.
In 1967, Schuller, president of the New England Conservatory, recruited Blake to fill a faculty position as the Conservatory’s Community Services Director. In this position, Blake was responsible for putting on concerts in prisons, retirement homes, and community centers. Blake remained in this role until 1973, when he took on the chairmanship of the new Third Stream Department (now Contemporary Improvisation) at the New England Conservatory, an initiative he started with Schuller.
Schuller coined the phrase “Third Stream” in 1957 during a talk at Brandeis University. According to Schuller, Third Stream is “a new genre of music located about halfway between jazz and classical music”. This new genre was created, in Schuller’s opinion, to combat purists in both the jazz world and the classical world: to play Third Stream music, one had to be proficient in both. When Schuller met Blake, two years after creating Third Stream, Blake’s blend of influences, from free form jazz and gospel music to classical composition and film noir soundtracks, appealed to him. When the two of them created the new department at the NEC, it was natural that Blake would be the chairman. He remained in that position until 2005. He is still a faculty member at the New England Conservatory.
Musicians Don Byron, Matthew Shipp, John Medeski, Grayson Hugh and Yitzhak Yedid have studied with Blake at NEC. He was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for composition in 1982, and a MacArthur Genius Grant six years later. At the NEC, he teaches composition classes, as well as a seminar on performance and a special class on film noir, his earliest inspiration.
He has collaborated with a number of other musicians, including Jaki Byard, Houston Person, Steve Lacy, Clifford Jordan and Christine Correa.” (Wikipedia)
Hope to see you there!
Be sure to tune in on Sunday.
KTRU Sunday Jazz airs every Sunday, from 2 to 7 p.m. central, on 96.1 FM Houston and live online at ktru.org.
Jazzheads everywhere rejoice – a Lee Morgan documentary is here.
The life and death of the prodigious trumpeter who never made a bad album is chronicled in the new documentary “I Called Him Morgan” (2016), directed by Kasper Collin.
Some may have seen Collin’s last documentary, “My Name Is Albert Ayler” (2006) (though a quick scan of the internet pulls up next to nothing as far as clips or trailers, though apparently it does exist).
But we do have a clip from I Called Him Morgan! Check it out below!!
When and where Houstonians can see it is a bit of a mystery. We’ll update if and when and how, if we can…
But rest easy knowing that this is a film that exists in the world. And it’s getting great reviews!
As a bonus, here’s the YouTube video that, according to an interview, inspired the director to return to the jazz well for his latest documentary:
The YouTube playlist for our 7/3 show is up! Get it HERE.
“Twelve voices, 30-instrument big band from Detroit in modernist, self-determining stance. Notables include vocalist Kim Weston; saxophonists Lou Barnett, Ted Buckner, Ted Harris Jr, Ernie Rodgers, Charlie Gabriel, and Miller Brisker; trumpeters Herbie Williams and Eddie Jones; trombonists Jimmy Wilkins and Phil Ranelin; bassist Duke Billingslea.” (AMG)
We played a couple of classic Jaco Pastorius cuts because we finally caught the doc “Jaco” streaming on Netflix. While not terribly groundbreaking it does do a good job of telling the story of one of Jazz’s most popular and beloved cult figures, a player many believe to be the best of his generation.
Rahsaan Roland Kirk was a polarizing figure in jazz’s golden era, the 50s and 60s. Some felt he was a gimmick; a sideshow; a blind man who played three or four instruments at once, cheeks puffed out like octopus heads, pulling back on three reeds in harmony. Others felt he was one of a crowded group of certified musical geniuses, supremely influential in his approach as well as his composition. Jazz at that time was in no short supply of genius. Arguments still ensue today.
But the truth to the question likely lies in the answers of those who actually played with him. The high talent he drew to be a part of his world, from Tommy Flanagan and Roy Haynes, to Charles Mingus and Herbie Hancock and Andrew Hill, and so on and so on. “Arguably the most exciting saxophone soloist in jazz history, Kirk was a post-modernist before that term even existed.” (AMG).
We are excited to learn that a documentary about the life and music of this quixotic character of classic jazz has finally come to screen – both big and small. Check out the trailer below:
[vimeo 110507254 w=640 h=360]
We can’t wait to check it out!
In the mean time – here’s some Kirk classics to tide you over:
This week we’re doing a series of posts this week on Texas Tenors. What is a Texas Tenor?
There’s a brotherhood of tenor saxophone players from in and around the Lone Star State who, over time, have been grouped together for their similarity in sound – to a point – a style that over the years has become known plainly as the Texas Tenor.
“The Texas Tenor style” is defined by Ted Gioia in The History of Jazz as “a blues-drenched tenor sax style … characterized by honking’, shoutin’, riffin’, riding high on a single note or barking out a guttural howl.”
Cannonball Adderley once described the Texas sound as “a moan within the tone.”
This week we’ll be talking Texas Tenors and posting some tunes. Can you dig it?
(Lionel Hampton and Arnett Cobb, Aquarium, NYC, ca June 1946)
Next on our list is Houston’s own Arnett Cobb – the Texas Tenorman known as the “Wild Man of the Tenor Sax” for his wild, raucous and stomping sound. You really can’t talk Texas Tenors without talkin’ the Houston legend.
“Born in Houston, Texas, he was taught to play piano by his grandmother, and he went on to study violin, before taking up tenor saxophone in the high school band. At the age of 15 he joined Louisiana bandleader Frank Davis’s band, doing shows in Houston and throughout Louisiana during the summer. Cobb continued his musical career with the local bands of trumpeter Chester Boone, from 1934 to 1936, and Milt Larkin, from 1936 to 1942 (which included a period on the West Coast with Floyd Ray). Among his bandmates in the Larkin band were Illinois Jacquet, Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson, Tom Archia, Cedric Haywood, and Wild Bill Davis. Having turned down an offer from Count Basie in 1939, Cobb replaced Jacquet in Lionel Hampton’s band in 1942, staying with Hampton until 1947. Cobb’s featured solo on Hampton’s theme song “Flying Home No. 2” generated much excitement, his blasting style earning him the label “Wild Man of the Tenor Sax”.”
“Cobb then started his own seven-piece band, but suffered a serious illness in 1950, which necessitated spinal surgery. Although he re-formed the band on his recovery, in 1956 its success was again interrupted, this time by a car crash. This had long-term effects on his health, involving periods in hospital, and making him permanently reliant on crutches. Nevertheless, Cobb worked as a soloist through the 1970s and 1980s in the U.S. and abroad. As late as 1988 he played with Jimmy Heath and Joe Henderson in Europe. He died in his hometown, at the age of 70 in 1989.”
This week we’re doing a series of posts this week on Texas Tenors. What is a Texas Tenor?
There’s a brotherhood of tenor saxophone players from in and around the Lone Star State who, over time, have been grouped together for their similarity in sound – to a point – a style that over the years has become known plainly as the Texas Tenor.
“The Texas Tenor style” is defined by Ted Gioia in The History of Jazz as “a blues-drenched tenor sax style … characterized by honking’, shoutin’, riffin’, riding high on a single note or barking out a guttural howl.”
Cannonball Adderley once described the Texas sound as “a moan within the tone.”
This week we’ll be talking Texas Tenors and posting some tunes. Can you dig it?
(L-R: Buddy Tate & Milt Buckner)
Next in our series is Buddy Tate.
“Tate was born in Sherman, Texas, and began performing on alto saxophone. As a teenager in 1925, he played with his brother and their band called McCloud’s Night Owls.” Tate quickly switched to tenor saxophone making a name for himself in bands such as the one led by Andy Kirk. He joined Count Basie’s band in 1939 and stayed with him until 1948. He had been selected by Basie after the sudden death of Herschel Evans, which Tate stated he had predicted in a dream.
After his period with Basie ended, he worked with several other bands before he found success on his own, starting in 1953 in Harlem. His group worked at the “Celebrity Club” from 1953 to 1974. In the late 1970s, he co-led a band with Paul Quinichette and worked with Benny Goodman.”
“Tate was one of the great tenor saxophonists of the swing era, a superbly sophisticated ballad player influenced by both the diaphanous tone of Lester Young, his section mate in the Basie orchestra, and by the urgency and rhythmic muscularity of Coleman Hawkins. These traits could be heard in his first recorded solo with Basie’s band, ”Rock-a-Bye Basie” from 1939, which Mr. Tate felt was one of his best. His force and his flights into the horn’s high registers identified the Texas tenor style, also exemplified by the saxophonists Arnett Cobb and Illinois Jacquet.”
“In the 1950’s Tate played with Lucky Millinder, Jimmy Rushing and Hot Lips Page, and in 1953 he began to lead his own band, which played a regular show at the Celebrity Club in New York for more than 20 years. He worked often in Europe, playing with Jim Galloway, Jay McShann and Al Grey.
In the late 60’s he recorded in France with the organist Milt Buckner and the drummer Wallace Bishop. He and the saxophonist Paul Quinichette were co-leaders of a band at New York’s West End Cafe; Mr. Tate led another band with the drummer Bobby Rosengarden at the Rainbow Room in the 70’s.”
(Buddy Tate in the middle in glasses, with the Count Basie Orchestra)
Sunday was heavy stacks as usual for the Jazz Show. If you missed it, it is what it T-I-is.
No Room For Squares in the Circle, Jack.
Can you dig? If so, read on…
You can dig most of the set on YouTube by clicking right HERE.
We played the new Bill Evans on wax, some rare Blue Note and a 17 minute Buck Clayton jam session with Tommy Flanagan, Money Johnson, Vic Dickenson, Lee Konitz and like a dozen other cats. S’wonderful.
Plus new music from the Josh Berman Trio and Keefe Jackson – those Chicago cats are keeping a scene alive.
Dig some of it below.
KTRU Sunday Jazz starts every Sunday at 2pm CT on 96.1 FM Houston and online right here at ktru.org
We’re on instagram at https://www.instagram.com/mingus.sushi/
We’re a little late with this one – but last week’s KTRU Sunday Jazz Show Playlist is up on Youtube. Check it HERE.
We kicked things off with a Heavy Hitter straight out of the KTRU archives – Eddie Lockjaw Davis’ quartet reading of the classic “Comin’ Home Baby,” kind of a funky take, with the skittering drums of Victor Lewis.
Later we busted out some more OG wax with Gabor Szabo’s nasty, latin-tinged modal and hypnotizing “Spellbinder,” with Ron Carter, Chico Hamilton and Willie Bobo. Dig a super sweet and crispy clip of us spinning it live RIGHT HERE!
We busted out some Monk, in the form of a rare Ernie Henry LP, The Last Chorus, on Riverside. The cut appears in full on Monk’s classic “Brilliant Corners” LP from the same label.
Later we proved that just coz the rekkid is “partied-on” as DJ Roy would say, doesn’t mean it can’t jam on ’em. We pulled our OG copy of Don Patterson’s “Satisfaction!” LP, masterfully engineered by the great Rudy Van Gelder. Just an organ trio record, but for the funk, you must go to Prestige Records. Our copy was wobbly, but it banged nicely. We spun Patterson doin’ Miles Davis’ “Walkin'” – a cut so rare we couldn’t find it on YouTube, so you gotta tune in to get the real!
Another JAM from the KTRU heavy archives was this one – Kenny Drew on Xanadu in 79 with Sam Noto, Charles McPherson, Leroy Vinnegar and Frank Butler. There’s a record label that’s been reissue classic sessions from the great Xanadu Records catalog on CD the last year or so, and they’re doing a fantastic job – it’s a label that’s long overdue for reissues – BUT, they haven’t reissued this one yet, and it is a CLASSIC. Luckily, the KTRU archives holds it down!
Tune in this Sunday, 4/24, to catch all the good stuff LIVE. We’ll be spinning some new Record Store Day wax by Bill Evans and the MJQ – plus new music from the Josh Berman Trio, classic and rare Bud Powell – all kinds of goodness you need for your Sunday.
We’re on at 2pm central – on 96.1 FM Houston and streaming live right here on KTRU.org.
Instagram: mingus.sushi
We Love it when you call – so call us and request – 713.348.KTRU
