A Unique Sound to Philly Jazz?
I did this many years ago for The Philadelphia Inquirer. In case you missed it…enjoy it now. One of the most enjoyable stories I’ve done.
A UNIQUE SOUND TO PHILLY JAZZ?
MUSICIANS' ANSWERS AREN'T IN HARMONY. NO, SAYS BENNY GOLSON. MCCOY TYNER DISAGREES.
By Karen Bennett, FOR THE INQUIRER
Sunday, Apr. 4, 1999
Years ago, shortly after moving to New York from Philadelphia, I went to a jazz club to hear Taylor's Wailers, the band of the late drummer Arthur Taylor. Tenor saxophonist Willie Williams, who spent his first 23 years in Philadelphia, was playing with the group. He took a particularly rousing, bluesy solo on the final tune of the set, and afterward commented to me, "I know you heard that Philly thing." And, of course, I had.
But what was it that I heard? Something that summoned the memory of Williams' early gigs in smoky bars in the hometown? A rhythm-and-blues motif woven into a jazz improvisation? A deep-digging style of tenor playing associated with Hank Mobley and John Coltrane? Is there a "Philly sound" in jazz? If there is, how does one identify it?
This was the admittedly nettlesome question I put to a core group of experts who had started their careers in the City of Brotherly Love and migrated to the Apple, giving them the proper remove with which to assess such a phenomenon. I limited my pool: McCoy Tyner (who appears Thursday at the Gershman Auditorium at the Gershman Y), Jimmy Heath, Kenny Barron, Benny Golson, Randy Brecker, Reggie Workman and Buster Williams (from Camden - close enough).
There was dissension among the ranks.
Golson, a prime instigator of Gamble and Huff's "Sound of Philadelphia" that became a studio hallmark of late '70s R&B, denied the existence of a similar phenomenon in jazz. "Jazz is a different animal," said the 70-year-old tenor saxophonist. "It's much more free. There might be certain talents coming out of Philly, but we're all individuals."
Heath, the other elder statesman of this informal study, disdained the whole idea. "Philly was the place that was close to New York, so we imitated the sound of the New York scene where bebop was flourishing," Heath,a saxophonist, said. "Trane and Benny Golson, Johnny Coles and Bill Barron, we all wanted to get with the bebop movement. And by being in proximity to New York, we were like second-string beboppers. Hank [Mobley] was trying to play like some of the same people we [imitated]. He went to Philly after having lived in Paris and a whole bunch of places. . . . So was it a Paris sound?"
Equally adamant on the flip side, bassist Workman declared, "Of course there's a Philly sound in jazz! There's a territorial sound in all African American music."
Pianist Barron and trumpeter Brecker both held that a certain "attitude" or "seriousness" informed the playing of Philadelphia musicians. "I can't say what it is," Barron conceded, yet he named a slew of musicians who exemplifed it, most notably the late alto saxophonist Clarence "C" Sharpe and trumpeter Lee Morgan.
Brecker cited a "certain style of open trumpet playing, a big, full-bodied tone." After musing at length about the Philly heritage, he concluded, "It's as far from the West Coast tradition as could possibly be." (Translation: We are not laid back!)
By way of e-mail, bassist Buster Williams agreed: "Hard-swinging, powerful, forward projection, and innovative in the tradition of the revolutionary music of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie."
Finally, pianist McCoy Tyner (the apotheosis of the Philly sound, in my estimation) deconstructed it: "Philadelphia does have a distinct sound and deep-rooted traditions in a lot of areas of music: jazz, R&B and gospel. Our sound in jazz was very intellectual and very soulful. The soulful aspect was very important, whereas in a lot of cities the 'gut' thing was strongest.
"Musicians, even if they didn't study a lot, had this mental kind of approach, and it was swingin' like you wouldn't believe! There were very prominent musical institutions in Philadelphia. There was a great orchestra. There was a great seriousness. . . . They wanted to nail it! And if you didn't think like that, you'd get left behind."
Copyright ©️ Karen Bennett 1999, 2022
All Rights Reserved