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| Harold Ousley, in 2001 |
Sadly, we
are all too familiar with reading obituaries of jazz artists we had the
pleasure of interviewing for the Fillius Jazz Archive. The oral history project
has now completed its twentieth year, and the list of deceased musicians
continues to grow. Most recently I read of the passing of Harold Ousley, who
died on August 13, 2015.
Harold has
a special significance for us. At the time of his death we were just completing
work on a book to be released in October entitled Jazz Tales from Jazz Legends. The book features poignant and
informative excerpts from our interviews (over 325 in number), and Harold
provided a unique reflection on music and life. His inspiring words are the
last excerpt in the book and brought it to what we feel is a thoughtful
conclusion.
Harold was
born in Chicago in 1929 and had the advantage of passing through DuSable High
School. DuSable’s now-famous music instructor was Captain Walter Dyett, and his
track record in producing future musical stars is impressive. Harold spoke
about his experience with Captain Dyett, who managed to inspire his young
musicians while running a very tight ship.
HO: I started music in high school. What
happened, I went to the high school, DuSable. And so I got into band because
prior to that, when I was in grammar school, I used to take piano, my
grandmother gave me piano lessons. Because at that time people had pianos in
their home it was just the thing to play piano. And I had people in my family
who were in there — I had my uncle who was a tap dancer and my mother was
interested in show business for a while. So there was a love for the music. And
so by me taking piano and even though I didn’t stay with it, because at that
time I had more of an interest in going out playing football and pump pump
pullaway with it, with the fellas in the neighborhood. And my uncle, I had an
uncle who didn’t play music, he was into sports, but he loved jazz. So he used
to play all the big band things, the records, for me at the time. And so that’s
when I first heard the saxophone. Of course I fell in love with it. So going to
high school I wanted to get in the band and learn how to play saxophone. And
Walter Dyett, was a very wonderful teacher who taught Gene Ammons and Nat King
Cole and people like this. First if you were going to play saxophone you had to
play clarinet. And the reason for this is that a clarinet has three registers.
And within it it has a saxophone register. So if you play clarinet you
automatically know how to finger the saxophone, you got a head start. Whereas
if you play saxophone, you know, playing the clarinet is another situation. So
in first and second, in beginner’s band and first and second band, we played
clarinet. And then we had a concert band, I was in the clarinet section there.
But we had what he called a booster band. It was a swing band. And in there was
the preparation for being able to go into a professional band. And so the
reading ability and everything, in fact Johnny Griffin joined Lionel Hampton’s
band when he was in school. He was 16 at that time, but he was ready because
Cap prepared him.
MR: This was really then kind of serious
preparation for a career, is that right?
HO: Yes it was. You know I didn’t realize until
years later, just how much knowledge and ability that Captain Dyett had. He
used to tell us, “when you play, play to the back of the audience.” In other
words then we’re projecting our sound all the way, so everybody in the middle
was going to hear it, but the person in back could hear it as well. And I
didn’t realize until I started reading metaphysical material just what that
was, you know, positive thinking and projecting the mind and things like this.
And the things that he taught was just even though we might not have realized
it then, and the thing about it, you weren’t officially in the band until you
got thrown out at some time. Because everybody in the band got thrown out at
some time. I remember on one occasion, this was during the wartime, and I had a
clarinet and during this time some of the shops where you would go to have your
instrument fixed, they didn’t have what they needed. I went and the repairman
had put some glue because the bottom, the bell, was broken and he had to fix
that. So what happened, I’m in the band playing, and when you play it the
saliva comes out of your horn and loosened that up. And I managed to catch it.
Because I knew if it hit the floor, out the door. So I just put it down on the
floor. So I’m playing with no bell. But Cap could see everybody in the band and
it was almost, it was about 50, 60 musicians in the band, and he looked over
there, and so now he came over to me and took my clarinet and said what the
so-and-so is this? And everybody fell— he said, “get out of here.” I was trying
to keep from getting thrown out. But when you come back to him he would always
let you get back in the band because he knew you were serious about wanting to
be in the music.
MR: Were the students, did they have a love-hate
relationship with him because he was so strict?
HO: Well no, because most of the students were
really like this, I mean they are trying to keep on his good side. Not
everybody — everybody gets a different impression and responds to the situation
differently. But everybody had respect for him. And so they wanted to be in the
band, so if you got thrown out for not paying attention or just fooling around,
you would go back to make sure you got in the band.
Like many
of his contemporaries, Harold eventually made the move to New York and
fashioned a career through perseverance and versatility. He accompanied singers
including Billie Holiday and Diana Washington, recorded albums in both the jazz
and soul vein, and played with the big bands of Lionel Hampton and Count Basie.
His eloquence and thoughtful reflections can be glimpsed in this excerpt from
our 2001 interview.
MR: In the late 50s, rock & roll was kind of
rearing its head. Did you get into that?
HO: Yeah, I got into that. Well you know I had
to play a variety of music a lot of times in order to work. But I’ve always
enjoyed different kinds of music. You know, a variety of music. Because I think
all music is good when it’s played well, if it has good feeling, and even in
performances I do now, I like to do a variety of things, like swing, play
pretty, play funky, uptempo. Because people, everybody likes something
different. And I think, my belief, in the things that I’ve studied, I found out
that music is a very essential part of life. That life was created to musical
principles. Because life has tempo, it has cycles. And everything vibrates,
like vibration is tempo. Every atom vibrates. You know we’re constantly —
there’s movement in everything. And the planets, the same way with the planets.
And everything is in harmony and in sync with each other. And so everything is
really music. When we talk to each other and we get along, music is harmony.
When people get along together, that’s harmony and it’s music. And when people
don’t get along it’s no longer music and harmony. I think even now, even to a
greater degree in solving situations in the world — music is going to play a
major part in that as people come together through the music. Even like here.
People are coming together because they love the music. Whether they’re
teaching it in school or playing it in clubs or whatever they’re doing, what
brings us together is the music. And we come together in friendship and in love
and harmony. So music is an essential thing. And when people get involved in
it, they begin to develop a greater harmony. You know like in jazz you find
people of all races, of all ages coming together, and enjoying the music and
sharing ideas. And usually, people who like jazz have gotten to a level where
they want to communicate and get along with people. You never see people going
to jazz concert hitting each other in the mouth. You know, it’s always about
loving the music. You see somebody next to you saying hello, so right away
you’ve got something to talk about and you comment on the music and people have
met and fell in love and married. So the music is going to play essential — and
not only jazz but all, you know concert music, all music that is serious and
the people who are involved in it approach it from a very positive level and a
level of love and concern. It happens.
Harold is
one of the countless jazz artists who were known mostly to fellow musicians and
serious fans of the music. I started a conversation with him at a jazz
educators’ event before I knew who he was. He handed me his business card, and
the name jumped out at me, thanks to the LP liner notes I studied as a
teenager.
Soon we
will announce the release of Jazz Tales
from Jazz Legends. If you enjoy this blog you will love the book.
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