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The photo suggests that jazz is as much about continuity and tradition as it is about radical change.
I was the new boy in town, he recalled.
It was, he said, a small miracle.
Tell me about the photo.
Nobody really knows who I am.
Art was such a patient guy, he was trying to get that all together.
It took over an hour to get that picture.
Where did you live at the time?Where I lived at the moment was 55 West 92nd Street.
I was on the fourth floor and Quincy [Jones] was on the sixth floor.
We were in the same building, but somehow he wasnt called or he didnt make it.
Something happened, and he wasnt in the photograph.
In fact, there were a lot of people who werent in the photograph.
Buddy Rich should have been there.
Greatest drummer I ever heard in my life.
Im not talking about his style.
His technique nobody could touch that man.
Im telling you, no drummer that you ever speak of Max Roach, Kenny Clarke, Gene Krupa.
He was in a space by himself, and I dont know if people realize that.
But his personality was horrible.
Most of the guys there, I knew who they were, but I didntknowthem.
Who did I know?
I knew Dizzy Gillespie because I was with his band.
The other people I didnt really know.
I feel like youre selling yourself short.
Before that, Im embarrassed when I look back.
I would meet people and give them a lead sheet.
Then he added, But Miles needs some tunes, do you have any?
I had written this oddball tune called Stablemates.
James Moody recorded the very first thing, and it didnt get much attention.
Then I ran into John about a month later, and he said Guess what?
I said, What, he do that tune I gave you?
He said, Yeah, we recorded it!
I said, What?
Miles recorded my tune?
He said, Yeah, Miles dug it.
And when I saw Miles, Miles said to me, What were you smokin when you wrote that?
Miles is also sorely missing from that photo, of course.And Red Garland, who was from Philadelphia.
He wasnt in the picture, but I assume if he were in town he would have been.
But then, like I said, lots of others werent there.
And we never knew.
What do you do when you get a magazine and you finish reading it?
And then it started to gain fame.
Those who were still alive, we couldnt believe it.
Its up on 126th Street on theEastSide.
I never go on the East Side for anything.Not that I venture to avoid it.
What I do never takes me there.
So thats the way it is.
It seems like youre in pretty good shape.You know, this January, Ill be 90 years old.
Now, I tell my audiences, its a good thing I chose music because Im still playing.
Its a good thing I wasnt a quarterback.
Whos ever heard of an 89-year-old quarterback?
So Im still functional.
I still do what is in my heart to do.
Im still able to play, nothing wrong with my mind and my fingers.
[When] I play my solo now, theres a chair right by the piano.
I sit down, but Im still playing.
Of course,Sonny will never play again.
What are you working on lately, anything new?Nothing new.
She doesnt know who my daughter is.
Sometimes she knows who I am.
Sometimes shell ask me where do I live.
Its funny and tragic at the same time.
Thats a good way to look at it.So I dont want to be away.
So we gave it up.
And I want to be here as much as I can.
I dont want to be gone too long.
I dont want to do anything thats going to take me away too long.
Yet I have to work; Im not rich!
So my life is quite different.
Sometimes I feel like just lying down and crying.
So youre mostly performing now?No, I also do master classes.
Ive been up to Hartford and Stanford and throughout Europe and different colleges.
They want me because Im old and I have lots of information.
Ive seen it all, Matt.
I feel like you andWayne ShorterThat guy doesnt show his age, does he?
Thats true, but its interesting that youre both tenor saxophonists and youve both written such enduring tunes.
Hes still playing, and he sounds great.
Some of the tunes sometimes sound athletic, you know?
In 2004, you were featured in the Steven Spielberg filmThe Terminal, with Tom Hanks.
His wife, Rita, shes a singer.
But theyre ordinary just like you and me.
This music has been fantastic for me.
The first job I had, I used to deliver furniture.
And then I got another job where I became an expert at hanging these big mirrors.
I could put up a mirror in 20 minutes.
I hated both of the jobs.
I said, Im gonna be a jazz musician.
And they all started to laugh.
But I never went back.
I watched the clock from 8 oclock till 5 oclock, every day.
I dont blame you.And here I am at the end of my career.
Weve got so many young ones, and Im inspired when I see what theyre doing.
Theyre doing it much faster.
When I was coming up, you couldnt go to college and get a diploma for jazz.
Im wondering a little more about the photo because youre standing behind Art Blakey.
But as time went by, we were getting ready to record.
I called a rehearsal, and I said, Bobby, you know that little thing you play?
Youve got a potential tune there.
Were gonna sit here and make up an eight-bar bridge.
He said, Oh, this is nothing.
I said, Bobby, its got great potential, make a run at put a bridge to it.
And so he did.
In about a half-hour, he had something together, and he played it for me.
I said, Bobby, no, you dont have the same feeling as the original lick.
He said, You write it.
I said, No, Bobby, this has gotta be your tune.
I said, What are you gonna call it?
What does it make you think about?
He said, Maybe Moanin?
I said, Okay, call it Moanin.
I had just come in to the band, and Art wasnt making that much money.
There were so many things wrong, and I talked to him sometimes.
And when I mentioned the wordmillionaire, his eyes widened.
And he said to me, What do I do?
And I had the nerve to tell him, Do everything I tell you to do.
And he said, What do I do?
I said, Get a new band.
He said, All right, tell them theyre fired.
I said, I cant tell them theyre fired.
And during all that time, everybody was listening to what I was saying.
Its a head shot.
Id like that head shot on the cover.
And they did everything I was telling em to do.
Up to this day, I cant believe it.
What do you think that would have sounded like?That never crossed my mind.
That would have been something.
Wed have had somebody from every instrument piano, bass, trumpet, trombone.
My goodness!Hmm.
That never crossed my mind.
