Folks still rue over the fact that trumpeter Buddy Bolden, dubbed the “first man of jazz,” was never recorded. Only the imagination can beckon the sound that led to his looming and continued reputation. If only we could hear the essence of his horn and the style of his sway.
When Harold Battiste began capturing New Orleans modern jazz pioneers on his AFO (All for One) label in the mid-1950s, it didn’t occur to him that they might share a similar fate. In retrospect, he’s realized the importance of these recordings. They represent a too rare documentation of the oft-neglected modern jazz of the period and offer a glimpse of players like drummer Ed Blackwell, pianist Ellis Marsalis, clarinetist Alvin Batiste and others as they ventured into the then-new style.
“If it were not for that happening, a lot of cats would be like Buddy Bolden,” suggests Battiste of what he fondly describes as his little label. For instance, the only recordings of the late saxophonist Nat Perrilliat blowing modern—his first love—rather than rhythm and blues exist on AFO.
Battiste, a saxophonist, educator and producer, has never strayed from his determination that modern jazz gain its rightful place in the history of New Orleans music alongside its well-documented cousin, traditional jazz. His latest effort towards that goal is the creation of the AFO Foundation. The non-profit organization’s aim is to focus on the “second 50 years of jazz” in the city, spanning the period from 1950-2000.
Earlier this year, the AFO Foundation’s web site was born and last month Battiste released the album, Lagniappe: The 2nd 50 Years, The Future of the Past. Available only as a premium for joining the foundation, the disc compiles material from a scattering of important New Orleans jazzers from the years 1976-1998. All but two of the selections on which they perform come from Battiste’s soulful pen.
Beyond the music, some of these sessions themselves offer unique slices of life. We hear Battiste introduce his and Ellis Marsalis’ 1991 duo on the uplifting tune “Nevermore,” which was first played by the American Jazz Quartet.
“I’m always grateful that he had the vision and the courage to bring me back home,” says Battiste on the cut as he speaks with obvious emotion in reference to Marsalis asking him to join him at the University of New Orleans after decades in Los Angeles. “I’m glad to be here man. It gave me an excuse to be here.”
Battiste tells how the 1976 recordings of “The Masquerade” and “Cry Again” with vocalist Tami Lynn and Johnny Adams plus Batiste, Marsalis, bassist Chris Severin and drummer Herman Jackson came about purely as a fluke.
“I was down here visiting and I was actually going into the studio to bring Wynton and Branford [Marsalis]—they were 16 and 17-years-old,” Battiste recalls. “I wanted to do something on them to see if I could get them a record deal out in Los Angeles. So we did three things with them. While we were there—I don’t know why Johnny was there—and then Tami was there so we recorded those cuts.”
(Battiste went to a couple of companies in L.A. with the Wynton and Branford masters, but nobody was biting. “I believe, I didn’t make much headway because my association with Sonny and Cher was so strong that I didn’t seem credible as person that would be doing jazz. [Battiste produced the Sonny & Cher Show] So that’s just more archival stuff.
“Part of the real mission of the foundation is to allow extensive research and uncover the stories of the musicians that didn’t come my way,” Battiste explains. “We’ve got to do something to extend the scope of that time.”
Battiste has long been active on many fronts in his efforts in “keeping the music and the musicians alive.” Even when he lived in L.A., he established the National Association of New Orleans Musicians and his home was often the first stop for local musicians arriving on the coast.
In the early 1990s, Batiste revived the AFO label to record and thus document next generation artists such as saxophonist Victor Goines and vocalist Phillip Manuel. Since then, there have been several incarnations of the “next generation” concept that have included the participation of now well-known players such as drummer Brian Blade and trumpeter Nicholas Payton. He’s published his Silver Book series that offers bios on some of the city’s modern jazz forerunners and transcriptions of their compositions. These days he can often be found in the audience or on the bandstand for shows dubbed Harold Battiste Presents. These dates find hot young players performing his and other New Orleans composers’ work. In this way, tunes like drummer James Black’s “Monkey Puzzle” become a part of this city’s continuing jazz repertoire. He, of course, has been an ongoing force as a professor at the University of New Orleans. Figuratively, the AFO Foundation brings all these endeavors under one roof.
“None of it is separate to me,” Battiste explains. “I always have the same personal motivation about the music with whatever I am engaged in. In my mind it all comes together. ‘All’ [of All for One] is the effective word.”
At this point, Battiste says he would really like to devote more time to the foundation as it relates to the university and perhaps gain the status of a research professor. “That’s where my heart is and that’s what I think my most valuable asset to the university is—to elevate the presence of the university in the community through music. I really believe that the whole motive for having a jazz program was to sort of soften the image of UNO first as a white university and secondly as aloof from the community. We’ve sort of succeeded in that because we have the Sandbar series [nighttime performances by established jazz musicians playing with jazz program students]. I like to be an outreach person and an in-reach person.”
Different levels of donations to the AFO Foundation boast further premiums including the excellent CDs The Original American Jazz Quintet’s In the Beginning (1956), Ed Blackwell & the AJO-2’s Boogie Live! (1958), A Compendium (1962) and The Classic Ellis Marsalis (1962).
“The cats of my generation had a real tough time here,” recalls Battiste, and he wants to make sure they are recognized. “When I found out that New Orleans does not have a jazz museum, I was appalled and I was really angry.”
He hopes that the foundation can help “muster up some insight into who we are” and help begin rectifying the omission of a jazz museum in the birthplace of jazz. “That’s for the next generation; that’s not going to happen in my time.
“I think like a CEO,” says Battiste of his position as head of the foundation, “but I’m a CEO who has to go to the post office box and get my own mail.
Harold Battiste Presents performs with pianist Jesse McBride, bassist Edwin Livingston, trumpeter Andrew Baham and drummer Ocie Davis at Snug Harbor, Tuesday, June 16 at 9 p.m. and 11 p.m.
TROMBONE BONANZAS
Two of the finest, most influential and internationally renowned trombonists in jazz arrive at Snug Harbor this month. First up is Steve Turre, who not only plays a mean and soulful ’bone but does likewise on conch shell. He picked up the technique from the late, great, magical multi-instrumentalist Rahsaan Roland Kirk and has since carried it to great heights.Turre, who might be best recognized as a member of the Saturday Night Live band, comes in on June 12 and 13 with a full quintet including pianist Larry Willis, drummer Obed Calbire, bassist Santi DeBriano and special guest, fellow trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis. The group will be focusing on Turre’s most recent CD, One4J—Paying Homage to J.J. Johnson.
Turre and jazz veteran Curtis Fuller, who joins the Maurice Brown Quintet on June 18 and 19, have more than just the trombone in common. They both spent time as members of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, a great swinging institution. Fuller, 69, grew up in jazz-rich Detroit and through his long career has played with literally all the important players. He’s heard on John Coltrane’s masterpiece Blue Monk and was often on the front line with saxophonists Cannonball Adderley and Benny Golson. He’s and shared stages with trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie as well as leading and recording with his own outstanding bands.
