Tape Log

Interviewee: Hugh Joseph “Rusty” Hassan III

Interviewer: Kelly Elaine Navies

Interview Date: August 20, 2014

Location: Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, Washington, DC

Length of Interview: 1:00:35

Comments: Only Text in quotation marks is verbatim; all other text is paraphrased, including the interviewer’s questions.

Time Topic

0:02 “Today is August 20th, 2014…”

0:35 Mr. Hassan, “Rusty”, recounts some details of his family and his early years in New England. He became interested in at an early age and began collecting record albums.

4:40 In the fall of 1963, Rusty moves to Washington, DC to attend Georgetown University and takes his record collection. Rusty turned 18 a few days after President John F. Kennedy’s assassination.

5:50 Rusty’s love of Jazz music was not influenced by his friends or family. However, he discovered in his mother’s closet a collection of 78 rpm recordings of the Jazz at the Philharmonic series. The pianist listed on the record label was named “Shorty Nadine”, which Rusty’s later research eventually revealed to be in reality Nat King Cole. Rusty is now a good friend of Nat’s younger brother and jazz artist Freddy Cole. Rusty makes sure to see Freddy’s appearances in Washington, DC.

7:00 Rusty talks about the influence his friends at Georgetown had on his choices to attend live music performances in DC. He was friends with other jazz lovers. One friend in particular, an African American young woman, Carolyn Jackson, was very influential. Her brother Ambrose Jackson was the trumpet player for the house band at the . Ambrose would encourage Carolyn to see particular performances. So, she and Rusty would go the matinee shows, sometimes cutting class to do so. 8:45 Rusty talks about being one of the few white people that attended shows at the Howard Theatre in the 1960s. He was excited to experience live music performances and absorb the rich African American culture. He was already aware of the ties between Rhythm ‘n’ Blues, The Blues and Jazz. One artist in particular, Bo Diddley, was a major influence on the Rock ‘n’ Roll guitarists that followed. Rusty also recalls that the Magnificent Men, a “blue-eyed soul” group were warmly received by African American audiences at the Howard Theatre.

10:02 Rusty remembers feeling “pretty welcome” as a white person at the historically African American Howard Theatre. This was not his first time venturing outside the mainstream of European American culture. In the summer of 1963, Rusty recalls that he and a friend from New England went to Small’s Paradise in Harlem. These two young white teenagers were not treated with hostility at all. Rusty compares Smalls with the Howard by saying they were pretty much the same. As a music lover Rusty comments that the sound system at the Howard was not the greatest. But it was the audiences’ enthusiastic response to the live music that thrilled him.

12:15 Rusty recalls that the Howard Theatre house band, which was very much in the Soul Music format, was led by saxophonist Rick Henderson. Mr. Henderson had played lead alto for Duke Ellington’s Jazz Orchestra during the period that Johnny Hodges was away from the ensemble. While Rusty was at Georgetown his friend’s brother, Ambrose Jackson, played trumpet for the Howard Theatre house band. In the mid-1950s he left to tour with Otis Redding. Eventually, he settled in Europe and began working with avant-garde jazz musicians.

14:30 Rusty recalls the highlight of live music performances on U Street occurred at Bohemian Caverns. It has been restored to its former glory and is doing good business today. It started in the 1920s as the Crystal Caverns. In May 1965, Rusty and his off-campus roommate from George Washington University, Toby Mason, had seen an ad in the newspaper that Ramsey Lewis was going to perform at the Bohemian Caverns. They arrived for the performance to find large trucks filled with recording equipment outside the club. After some investigation, they learned that the performance was going to be recorded for a live album. The Ramsey Lewis, Eldee Young and Red Holt played a jazzy instrumental version of an R&B hit song, “The In Crowd”. The audience really enjoyed the song and began clapping along underneath the music. The trio plays several more traditional jazz numbers and the performance ends. Later that summer, Rusty recalls hearing the song playing on the radio and realizing that he is hearing himself clapping along to the music.

18:05 Rusty recalls another highlight at Bohemian Caverns. He went to see around that same time. He remembers walking down the stairs while bassist Jimmy Garrison is playing a long solo introduction. Then McCoy Tyner comes in on piano, followed by Elvin Jones on drums and finally John Coltrane on tenor saxophone. Rusty recalls the performance was so intense. During a break, John Coltrane passed very close by Rusty. John had that same thoughtful expression on his face as on the cover of A Love Supreme. Rusty was too tongue-tied to speak to him. Many years later he recounted that story to McCoy Tyner. McCoy Tyner laughed and told Rusty that John was friendly and might have talked all night with him, but it had to be about music. Jimmy Heath, jazz saxophonist, had much the same to say about Coltrane. Mr. Heath added that John Coltrane had complete focus on the music, and practiced during set breaks while other musicians talked and rested.

20:55 In the fall of 1965, Rusty and his new roommates, who were living at 19th and S Street NW, went to Bohemian Caverns to see the classic Quintet featuring Herbie Hancock on piano, Wayne Shorter on tenor saxophone, Ron Carter on bass and Tony Williams on drums.

24:17 Rusty didn’t eat at restaurants on U Street. He grabbed food, a hot dog or something like that, on the way.

24:30 Rusty graduated from Georgetown in 1967 and became a Vista Volunteer. He met his future wife, Sandra Barrett, in 1968. Sandy, an African-American woman born in Washington, DC at Freedmen’s Hospital and had attended the March on Washington in 1963, was teaching African dance at a community organization in Adams Morgan.

25:40 Rusty recalls the “insurrection” or riots of 1968 after the assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. He and Sandy were living in an apartment at 1620 Fuller Street NW. They were just off 16th Street and not far from 14th Street, and experienced the spill over to Columbia Road. Because he was a Vista Volunteer connected with the Georgetown University Community Action Program, Rusty rode over to campus and went up to the roof of one of the buildings to get a panorama view over the city and the fires that were burning. Later, Rusty gave a fellow community activist, Alice Arshack (sp?) a ride to her home uptown, but the National Guard would not allow him to get back home to Sandy, and so he spent the night at Alice’s.

28:05 Rusty never felt that he should fear for his safety because he was white. He recalls that neighborhood around the apartment was fairly integrated. Some of the building tenants were involved with Nonviolent Action Group “NAG”, the Howard University affiliate of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). These residents were involved in opening an African-American focused bookstore known as the Drum and Spear. Sandy was one of the original employees. A lot of her friends were Black Nationalists and initially relations were very tense. However, eventually he became close friends with a lot of the people who had been very hostile at first. This group included the poet, Gaston Neal. In the beginning, Sandy’s friends weren’t sure about Rusty. They wondered if Rusty was a very light-skinned black guy. Once they understood that he was white, they were against Rusty and Sandy’s relationship. They asked her questions like “What are you doing with this white guy?” Their relationship survived that test; they got married and have remained together 45 years.

30:00 Rusty talks about their “honeymoon” trip to Europe from September to December of 1969. Sandy wanted to be married before going on a trip to Europe with Rusty. They started in Great Britain first. They stayed with Rusty’s former roommate from Georgetown University for a week or two. Then Rusty, Sandy, and a third friend drove down to Dover. From there, the trio took a ferry to Dunkirk and then went on to Amsterdam. Then they went to Paris and parted ways with the third person. Rusty and Sandy searched for Ambrose Jackson, the brother of his Georgetown University classmate and former trumpet player with the Howard Theatre house band. He was now working with avant-garde jazz artists in Paris. Ambrose introduced them to another interracial couple. The two couples drove to Marseille and then took a ferry to Corsica. They stayed in the man’s father’s home for a week and returned to Paris.

33:00 Rusty was wanted to attend a major Rock and Jazz Festival in Paris sponsored by the BYG Actuel Record Label. However, Paris was under martial law in response to the insurrections occurring in major cities in America and Europe. The CRS, a militarized police force, were patrolling the streets armed with machine guns. The festival had been declared cancelled in Paris. It was relocated to Belgium and they traveled to see it. Frank Zappa was there as an emcee, not a performer. Rusty saw several avant-garde artists perform including The Art Ensemble of Chicago, Anthony Braxton with Leo Smith and Leroy Jenkins, Archie Shepp, and Grachan Moncur. He also met an American writer, Fred Bouchard, who was covering the festival for the British publication Jazz Journal.

34:25 Rusty recalls being arrested on the bridge St. Michel after returning to Paris. City officials had decided to crack down to prevent a huge anti-war demonstration like the ones that had happened in Washington, DC and London. The police were sweeping the streets of anyone who looked like they might be going to a demonstration. Rusty and Sandy were detained briefly. Sandy spoke French fluently and was able to convince authorities that Rusty was a reporter, so they were released from custody.

37:00 Rusty recalls what U Street was like after the riots of 1968. “It was devastated to say the least.” He recalls that Ben’s Chili Bowl and Lee’s Florist remained undamaged and open after the riots. Also, Bohemian Caverns, which at that time was known as Frank’s Cave, remained open too. After the Caverns closed, Rusty recalls that owner Tony Taylor formed a community organization called Let ‘em Play to support DC musicians.

40:15 In 1968-1969, Sandy was involved in Melvin Deal’s African Heritage Dancers and Drummers. She was one of the original members, and teaching dance in Adams Morgan. This was in correlation with the community organization that Rusty was working with as a Vista Volunteer. The offices were primarily located near 18th Street and Columbia Road NW, but one facility was at 18th and Florida Avenue NW near U Street. These community groups held drumming and karate workshops for young people. They also held performances, most often at St. Margaret’s Church on Connecticut Avenue NW. Organizer, Topper Carew, brought in local musicians to be guest performers including jazz vocalist Shirley Horn and multi-instrumentalist Andrew White.

41:00 Rusty remembers meeting Andrew White at one the community performances at St. Margaret’s. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Andrew White was the principal oboist for the American Ballet Theatre Orchestra and bassist for Stevie Wonder as well as for the Fifth Dimension. Mr. White started his own record label, Andrew’s Music. One of his first albums was called Live at the New Thing, a recording of a live workshop at St. Margaret’s.

42:15 Rusty recalls that Andrew White had led a DC-based jazz group, The JFK Quintet. This was in the early 1960s before President Kennedy’s assassination. The group chose the name following Kennedy’s election and the inauguration here in DC, when the country was filled with a new spirit. They recorded a few albums on the Riverside label. Rusty believes that jazz saxophonist, Julian “Cannonball” Adderley, was influential in getting the JFK Quintet signed and recorded.

46:35 Rusty remembers that just before his trip to Europe, he helped Topper Carew develop The New Thing Music Show on WAMU to promote local musicians. There were a variety of people on the program including Eric Gravatt, a drummer for McCoy Tyner and instructor for the African Heritage Dancers and Drummers.

48:08 Rusty recalls helping to re-house DC residents in homes on 14th Street from Shaw up to Columbia Heights through his job at redevelopment aid agency. This was during the time of the historic urban renewal or Negro Removal that occurred in southwest DC. Many African-American residents were displaced and forced to relocate because of this. He was working out of the former Hines Funeral Home building on 14th Street which now houses the headquarters of the Urban League in Washington, DC. His job was to find better housing for people in buildings that were slated for demolition after the riots. He attempted to use tactics like Priority To Return to get people into other, better government housing in the neighborhood. In some cases, major fires occurred in apartment buildings and people needed emergency sheltering. A lot of people moved to southeast because the priority was to get into public housing, and that was the area where slots were available. After people were relocated, developers tore down the old structures and built new housing.

51:10 Rusty relates his thoughts about recent rapid transformation of U Street after decades of slow rebuilding. He is thrilled to see the abundance of new amenities in the area. However, the thriving historically African-American community is gone and probably won’t return. “It’s rather disconcerting in a way.” This transformation is not unique to DC. Rusty’s niece lives in Harlem, NY and she is observing the same trend there. This is the same area of New York City that Rusty had gone as a teenager to see live jazz at Small’s Paradise, and was one of the only two white people in the audience. Rusty understands all of the intellectual arguments for the survival of a city: increase the tax base; younger people bring a vibrancy, etc. Rusty recalls the story Blair Ruble tells in the beginning of his book “Washington’s U Street: A Biography”. Blair is standing on U Street a few years ago talking with local jazz musicians Nasr Abadey and James King. Blair realizes that a vibrant, rich cultural heritage moment in time and space is about to pass into history, and needs to be documented.

54:17 Rusty thinks that the U Street Oral History Project is a “really important task that needs to be done.” As a jazz historian and lecturer, he understands the importance of conducting interviews to preserve the first-hand accounts of DC musicians and audience members. The DC jazz scene has been an important component of the broader jazz history.

56:32 Rusty is “really excited about the current music scene.” He’s featured many young artists on his radio show on WPFW. The Strathmore has had an incredible artist-in- residence program. Many great instrumentalists have come out of the Howard University Jazz Ensemble, directed by Fred Irby. Also, good vocalists have come from the Afro-Blue jazz vocal group formed by Connaitre Miller. Frequently, these young artists get into the Strathmore program. They get a chance to hone their craft and learn the business aspect as well.

57:45 “There’s a real vibrant scene that I really feel good about.” Rusty was recently at a performance at Bohemian Caverns. The club was full and the audience was diverse in terms of age and ethnicity. This is really important for young artists “at a time when things are really rough because of the changes in the recording industry. Younger musicians really have to scuffle. It’s the live performance that really makes it for them rather than making records.”

59:08 Rusty likes to also go to Twins Jazz at 1344 U Street. He believes that the two Ethiopian women that run the club have done a lot to keep the local jazz music scene alive; at the current location in the heart of U Street and at the previous locations on Colorado Avenue NW and Florida Avenue NE. They’ve done a lot to support local straight-ahead jazz artists like Allyn Johnson.

1:00:03 Rusty closes by stating that he believes oral history programs like this one are important for documenting the vibrant local history of this great city.