Hall of Justice
For too long we have ignored our state's contribution to the history of jazz, from Scott Joplin's ragtime influences to Jack Teagarden's unrivaled improvisations. It's time to fix that: It's time to build a Texas Jazz Hall of Fame.
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The building itself should include a modestly sized but beautifully designed gallery, studios and classrooms for visiting speakers, a small research facility, and an attached medium-sized concert hall named for Coleman, where jazz can again take center stage in Fort Worth. Maintaining a realistic eye on the design and scope of the project should keep it within an affordable range. (Georgia opened a 43,000-square-foot Music Hall of Fame in 1996 using only $6. 6 million in public funds.)
Community leaders with a passion for jazz should form a commission to set up a statewide series of fundraisers, persuading Texas jazz musicians, along with big-name touring talent, to donate their time and effort. A benefit concert, starring Coleman and other Texas jazz stars, should be held in Fort Worth. The city should donate land in the museum district for the project. Since the hall will also be a lure for young jazz hopefuls, UNT should be involved as a natural crossover to the academic realm. And, of course, the commission should search for all sources of donations. All it would take is one major corporate sponsor to get the ball rolling. Who knows which CEO might be a jazz enthusiast? Target the broadcast giants (Tom and Steve Hicks of Clear Channel), the automobile barons (Red McCombs), and the high-tech mavens (Michael Dell, are you listening?). Once the project is announced, the faithful will come forward. With underwriting, the Hall of Fame would be an important stop for all jazz touring talent. Allowing aspiring musicians the chance to experience the music that now passes them by will in turn fill our clubs with future hall of fame hopefuls. And Texas will carry on its proud jazz heritage.
Fortunately there are some indications that Texas jazz is already moving in some encouraging directions. Artists such as Waco's Roy Hargrove and Houston's Jason Moran are playing in rock halls, feeding on contemporary influences, and drawing large, youthful audiences. The Burns historical documentary will surely initiate new jazz fans. But the Texas Jazz Hall of Fame would declare the music alive and well and help inspire new talent for many future generations. For a state that has never been shy about trumpeting its achievements, some serious bragging rights are being ignored. Here is an opportunity whose time has come. Illinois Jacquet couldn't agree more. "I think the Hall of Fame would be a great thing for the people who don't know what really happened there," he says. "Someone should let the world know what came out of Texas."
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sidebar Heads of the Class Jeff McCord's picks for the Texas Hall of Fame.
William "Red" Garland His fat block chording and superior rhythmic stance found him work with Charlie Parker and Coleman Hawkins, but it was his days as the consummate piano stylist in the first great Miles Davis Quintet that made the Dallas keyboardist a household name. previous page, Ornette Coleman "The first name when Americans talk about the avant-garde and alternative jazz. He still pretty much defines the vanguard," says Bruce Raeburn, the curator of the Hogan Jazz Archive at Tulane University. The Fort Worth native's genius is unparalleled, his recorded output to date indispensable. Jack Teagarden The trombonist was the most famous of a large musical family from Vernon. "He had amazing technique," says jazz critic Gary Giddins. "One of the very few people who could improvise on a level with Armstrong. As a singer, he's the guy who proved it was possible for white people to sing the blues." Charlie Christian In the less than five years this Dallas native played professionally before dying of tuberculosis, he revolutionized modern electric guitar. "It's impossible to even imagine the state of not just jazz but American popular music without Christian," says Giddins. Teddy Wilson The Austin pianist made history by breaking jazz's live-performance color barrier, but the startling originality of his work was idolized by fans and players alike. Henry "Buster" Smith Smith was a major voice in the Kansas City era (who probably wrote "One O'Clock Jump," though Count Basie claimed credit) and subsequently became a big influence on Charlie Parker. Unfortunately, the Ennis alto saxophonist was sadly underrecorded. Albert "Budd" Johnson Gary Giddins calls Johnson the Zelig of jazz for his ability to turn up in so many diverse but crucial settings. The Dallas tenor's long career encompassed Kansas City in the twenties, Louis Armstrong in the thirties, and the first major bebop session in the forties, as well as work in the big bands of Boyd Raeburn, Gil Evans, and Woody Herman. A great player with a rich, voluminous sound. Eddie Durham His single-note electric guitar solos predated Christian's by a year, but the real strength of this San Marcos guitarist and trombonist lay in his arrangement and composition skills. As much as anyone else, Durham defined the Basie Band and the Kansas City sound. Illinois Jacquet If ever a single song defined a career, it was Jacquet's hair-raising solo on the Lionel Hampton classic "Flying Home." Born in Louisiana but raised in Houston, the Texas Tenor still toots his own horn. "I sold millions of records with the 'Flying Home' solo," he says. "Even Arnett Cobb played it so much he thought he'd made it. I'd have to tap him on the shoulder and say, 'Hey, Mother, I made that.'" Arnett Cobb A critical favorite, Cobb is an overlooked Houston tenor giant who never quite emerged from bandmate Illinois Jacquet's shadow, even after replacing Jacquet in Lionel Hampton's orchestra. Yet during and after his stint with Hampton, he continued to make music of passion and intensity. Herschel Evans The yin to Lester Young's yang (or is it the other way around?). This Denton saxophonist became the first proponent of the Texas Tenor sound, and his unrefined technique served him well throughout his days with Lionel Hampton, Buck Clayton, and of course, in Basie's band alongside the silky smooth Young. Kenny Dorham Because Kenny Dorham played with stars like Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Fats Navarro, and Dizzy Gillespie, the remarkable talent of the Fairfield bebop trumpeter remains almost the definition of underrated, but he had a gorgeous sound and was a first-rate improviser.
Also, early influences awards should go to Blind Lemon Jefferson (c.1880-c.1930), Coutchman's "King of the Country Blues" and an architect of early jazz; and Texarkana's Scott Joplin (1868-1917), who was ragtime's greatest composer. In addition, a nonperformer award should go to M. E. "Gene" Hall (1913-1993), the Whitewright native who was the first in the nation to set up an accredited jazz program, at Denton's University of North Texas. |
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Tune in to KUT from the University of Austin (or listen online at www.kut.org) on Wednesday January 10th from 8pm-midnight to hear Jeff McCord play music by artists mentioned in this story.
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