It was supposed to be another night out seeking the best live jazz, blues and R&B music in a city known for creating some of the most enduring and memorable music in the world. It was a balmy night in early May, 1979, when jazz vocalist Eddie Jefferson and his alto sax-playing co-leader Richie Cole were about to kick off a six-night stand at Detroit’s Baker’s Keyboard Lounge.
Baker’s, at the corner of 8 Mile Road and Livernois Avenue, claims to be the world’s oldest operating jazz club, opening its doors in May of 1934. In the 1970s, the club was still booking national jazz acts like Dexter Gordon, Sonny Stitt, McCoy Tyner and Betty Carter, among many others.
As a teen growing up in the suburbs of Detroit in the late 1970s, with fake ID in hand, I would go to the music venues in the heart of the city that none of my friends would dare set foot in. There I would see the likes of Bobby “Blue” Bland, organist Jimmy Smith, alto sax players Lou Donaldson and Houston Person and vocalist Etta James. Names that most jazz aficionados would know, but not the average teen at the time. In my neighborhood, teenagers were listening to Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones, all whom were themselves influenced by American blues and jazz.
It was a Tuesday night at Baker’s and on stage was 61-year-old Jefferson, who was in the midst of enjoying a resurgence of his popularity at an age when most musicians might be thinking about calling it quits. By his side was 31-year-old bebop sax player Richie Cole, who started playing with Jefferson in 1975. Jefferson was largely responsible for the creation of so-called “vocalese,” devising lyrics to fit solos originally improvised by leading jazz musicians, such as Body and Soul by saxophonist Coleman Hawkins and Parker’s Mood by trumpeter Charlie “Bird” Parker.
Given that it was a school night during my senior year of high school, one might assume I would be studying for one of my last finals or writing a term paper. But given the fact that I’d been listening to jazz, blues and R&B for much of my 17 years and playing saxophone in several bands, I felt compelled to go out and hear Jefferson and Cole live on stage at one of my favorite jazz clubs, which also happened to served ice-cold Cinci beer on tap.
So I ventured out alone in my rusted and severely dented 1970 T-bird to 8 Mile Road and heard two incredible sets from the Eddie Jefferson quartet, featuring Cole. They played all the songs I had been listening to for the past year off Cole’s 1978 Muse Records release, Alto Madness and more. I stayed until the last note was played and guided the rust bucket home, bleary-eyed for my early wake-up call for first hour at Oak Park High School.
It was later that day that I heard on the news that Jefferson had been shot and killed as he stepped out of the club at 1:35 a.m. – 15 minutes after I had stepped out that same door. I wondered who would want to kill such a kind gentleman who only wanted to entertain and inspire music fans. When Jefferson, his road manager and a woman stepped outside the door, a driver in a late-model Lincoln parked in front of the club, fired four shotgun blasts, one of which struck Jefferson in the chest. He staggered 25 feet and died. Cole followed outside a short time after.
Police later arrested a 41-year-old disgruntled dancer and laid-off auto worker, who had once performed with (and was allegedly fired by) Jefferson in New York. But after a three-week trial, a jury brought in a verdict of not guilty. I wonder if that person is still alive today. He wasn’t convicted, and I believe he took one of my heroes away that night, as well as some of my childhood.
I was five weeks away from graduating high school and came as close to violence and death as I ever wanted to be. But that’s was how it was growing up in the Motor City at the time. If you wanted to hear great music, you had to cross 8 Mile, the border between the suburbs and the city proper.
This leads me to Friday night, April 29, when Cole will be in our fair city, performing at Culver’s Club for Jazz at the Doubletree by Hilton Westside Hotel on Centinela Avenue. Friday’s performance will be a CD-release party for Cole’s newest disc, Castle Bop, recorded in a castle in Prague. Joining this alto sax master will be Lou Forestieri on piano, John Leftwich on bass and Dick Weller on drums.
Cole’s professional career began in 1969 when he joined the Buddy Rich Big Band, followed by stints with band leaders Lionel Hampton and Doc Severinsen, before going solo and releasing more than 50 albums. It seems impossible that it’s been over 30 years since I’ve seen Cole blow his alto, but I do plan to be there to relive some of those happy and sometimes bittersweet memories. Cover charge for the show is $10. Reservations are recommended and can be had by calling (310) 649-1776, ext. 4137. There will be two shows, one at 7:30 p.m. and another at 9:30 p.m.
KCRW DJ Dan Wilcox will be spinning discs the same evening for the opening-night preview party for the L.A. Modernism show at the Barker Hanger at Santa Monica Air Center. Wilcox has a regular Saturday night air shift on KCRW, but on Friday will be spinning his musical piñata of sounds for a night of partying, antique-viewing and art, including remixes, rarities, b-sides and lost classics.
The preview gala party benefits scholarships for the architecture and design students at the Southern California Institute of Architecture. Tickets are $100 in advance, $125 at the door and include an open bar sponsored by Grey Goose, appetizers and KCRW sponsored tunes. The show runs through Sunday and will feature more than 65 exhibitors of 20th-century furniture, decorative and fine arts from across the U.S. and Europe. General admission for Saturday and Sunday is $15 and more information can be found at dolphinfairs.com/lamodernism/.
The ASCAP I Create Music Expo begins tonight in Hollywood and includes three days of celebrity Q & As, master classes, songwriting and composing workshops, song feedback panels, networking opportunities and publisher and business panels. Some of the panelists include Lindsay Buckingham, Pharrell Williams, Fergie, Jermaine Dupri, producer Don Was and many more. Yours truly will be on a mentor panel on Friday, giving advice to would-be songwriters, such as “Do not give up your day job and to go to law school” (just kidding, of course). For more information on registration and full schedules, visit ascap.com/eventsawards/events/expo/.
