STYLISTIC EVOLUTION OF JAZZ DRUMMER ED BLACKWELL: THE CULTURAL INTERSECTION OF NEW ORLEANS AND WEST AFRICA David J. Schmalenberger Research Project submitted to the College of Creative Arts at West Virginia University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts in Percussion/World Music Philip Faini, Chair Russell Dean, Ph.D. David Taddie, Ph.D. Christopher Wilkinson, Ph.D. Paschal Younge, Ed.D. Division of Music Morgantown, West Virginia 2000 Keywords: Jazz, Drumset, Blackwell, New Orleans Copyright 2000 David J. Schmalenberger ABSTRACT Stylistic Evolution of Jazz Drummer Ed Blackwell: The Cultural Intersection of New Orleans and West Africa David J. Schmalenberger The two primary functions of a jazz drummer are to maintain a consistent pulse and to support the soloists within the musical group. Throughout the twentieth century, jazz drummers have found creative ways to fulfill or challenge these roles. In the case of Bebop, for example, pioneers Kenny Clarke and Max Roach forged a new drumming style in the 1940’s that was markedly more independent technically, as well as more lyrical in both time-keeping and soloing. The stylistic innovations of Clarke and Roach also helped foster a new attitude: the acceptance of drummers as thoughtful, sensitive musical artists. These developments paved the way for the next generation of jazz drummers, one that would further challenge conventional musical roles in the post-Hard Bop era. One of Max Roach’s most faithful disciples was the New Orleans-born drummer Edward Joseph “Boogie” Blackwell (1929-1992). Ed Blackwell’s playing style at the beginning of his career in the late 1940’s was predominantly influenced by Bebop and the drumming vocabulary of Max Roach. His musical roots, however, were extremely diverse. New Orleans parade drumming, the Blues, Big Band swing, music of the Mardi Gras Indians, Caribbean music, and Rhythm & Blues all informed his burgeoning drumming style. During his forty-year career, Blackwell performed and recorded with various artists such as John Coltrane and Ray Charles, and with musical groups including "Old and New Dreams," and the "American Jazz Quintet." He is, however, most often associated with the Free Jazz Period and his work with Ornette Coleman. This research project will document the generative and developmental aspects of Blackwell’s drumming style. Chapter 1 covers his formative years and early musical influences in New Orleans, Chapter 2 his association with Ornette Coleman and other “free” jazz musicians. Chapter 3 will address the influence of traditional West-African rhythmic structures upon Blackwell’s musical development. In Chapter 4, transcriptions of Blackwell’s playing will show the coalescence of these varied musical influences which shaped his drumming vocabulary. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to thank several individuals for their invaluable help in writing this Research Project. I am very grateful to the faculty and staff at West Virginia University's Division of Music for their guidance and support throughout my Doctoral program. In particular, I would like to thank Phil Faini for his vision in establishing the World Music Center at WVU. I would also like to thank Paschal Younge for all the wonderful musical experiences and for taking me to the source - Ghana, West Africa. Special thanks go to Christopher Wilkinson for his patience, his unwavering commitment to excellence, and for demonstrating the tenacity and integrity required to become an accomplished teacher and scholar. Numerous friends, family members, and colleagues read through the drafts of this work and I appreciate all of their comments. Thanks go to Dave Hagedorn, Marvin Pomeroy, and Phil Hey for supplying me with hard-to-find recordings of Blackwell's drumming. I am indebted to Dr. Bruce Boyd Raeburn and Mrs. Alma Williams Freeman at the Hogan Jazz Archive, Tulane University and to Dr. Donald DeVore and Maria Hernandez-Lehmann at the Amistad Research Center, New Orleans for making certain primary source materials readily available. Thanks to Gene Dutkin for all his hard work in preparing the transcriptions for this Research Project. My sincerest thanks go to Phil Hey for his insights into Blackwell's drumming style, his infectious passion for Blackwell's artistry, and for pointing me in the right direction. I am very thankful for the love and support of my family. Most of all, I thank Sarah for her wisdom and compassion which help me keep everything in perspective. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ii Acknowledgements iii Legend v Chapter 1 Blackwell's Formative Years and Early Musical Experiences 1 Chapter 2 Ornette Coleman and "Free Jazz" 32 Chapter 3 The African Connection 55 Chapter 4 Spirit of the Dance: The Mature Drumming Style of Ed Blackwell 98 Bibliography 122 Discography 133 iv CHAPTER 1 BLACKWELL'S FORMATIVE YEARS AND EARLY MUSICAL EXPERIENCES Edward Blackwell was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on October 10, 1929, and the Crescent City proved a highly creative and fruitful environment for his development as a musician.1 From his family background, to the varied indigenous musical traditions, as well as his association with numerous influential musicians and the prolific recording industry in and around New Orleans, Blackwell was assured a very rich and diverse musical foundation. As with many successful musicians, Blackwell was born into a family whose members possessed a great deal of musical talent. His oldest brother and a sister both performed with a traveling vaudeville show - he as a pianist and dancer, she a dancer and singer. Blackwell was sure to attend the shows whenever their vaudeville company visited New Orleans. According to Blackwell: I’d sit behind the drums and watch how the drummer would play with the tap dancers. When I started playing in New Orleans they had clubs and I used to play with these different “shake dancers” and “fire dancers.” That was another experience. You had to catch their dramatic movements when they’d throw up their hands by choking the cymbal (Fish. “Ed Blackwell: Singin’ on the Set.” p.56). Throughout his life, Blackwell credited dancing and dancers as a major influence upon his drumming style. Early on, it was tap-dancing which had the greatest impact: 1"Crescent City" refers to New Orleans. 1 I was quite influenced mostly by my sister’s tapping. The staccato of her steps always intrigued me. I would try to imitate it with a pair of sticks or something. That was about the beginning of it (Salaam. “Edward Blackwell.” p.4). His sister encouraged Blackwell’s early interest in the drums. Indeed, his entire family offered positive reinforcement regarding a career in music. Blackwell explained the support of his family as follows: Any kid in New Orleans that showed any kind of an inclination for playing music was always encouraged to pursue it...because being a musician was one of the better paying jobs for black people (Fish. “Ed Blackwell.” p.56). Blackwell’s older brothers also nurtured his earliest musical experiences by supplying various jazz recordings. These albums included small-groups led by “Dizzy” Gillespie and Charlie Parker, as well as prominent big bands such as the Count Basie and Benny Goodman orchestras (with drummers Jo Jones and Gene Krupa, respectively). Such recordings helped prepare Blackwell for work with various “rehearsal” big bands in New Orleans (i.e. bands which served as performance laboratories for musicians, composers, and arrangers). Blackwell recalled that: musicians in New Orleans would always experiment and put together big bands. Cats would write, and that was their way of experimenting, writing charts for big bands. They would get musicians because we were always ready to play. Everyday that I lived in New Orleans, musicians were always playing with somebody. Everyday you were on your instrument, and that way you kept your chops up (Fish. “Ed Blackwell.” p.56). Blackwell would eventually utilize these big band swing experiences when he toured with the Ray Charles band in 1957. Although this band was playing blues and R & B material, the musical arrangements (e.g. the use of call and response between the horns and vocals) required an approach to drumming not unlike that within a big band. Blackwell often mentioned Wilber Hogan (1931-1970), a New Orleans-born drummer who played with Lionel Hampton and Ray Charles among others, as an important early influence. It was Hogan who befriended Blackwell, taught him to read music, and encouraged him to join the 2 high school drum and bugle corps. According to Blackwell, “that’s when I got serious about the drums, marching around and playing press rolls at the football games” (Milkowski. “Masters of the Free Universe.” p.35). Blackwell offered the following recollection of his experiences: Wilber was about three grades ahead of me in school, and when I went to [Booker T. Washington High School] I wanted to play in the band, but I couldn’t read. He volunteered to teach me to read the music and the teacher accepted me as a drummer in the high school band. Wilber was the one that first taught me about the rudiments, and the paradiddles, and all the basics of the drums (Riley and Vidacovich, p.50). Blackwell played snare drum and/or tenor drum exclusively in the high school band. It is indeed surprising that he never played a complete drumset until age nineteen when he auditioned for his first professional gig. Raymond and John (“Plas”) Johnson were forming a Rhythm & Blues band in 1949 when their drummer was drafted into the service. Blackwell auditioned and was subsequently hired. The “Johnson Brothers Band” consisted of trumpet, tenor saxophone [Plas], piano [Raymond], bass, and drums, and their repertoire included jump-swing, shuffle, and R & B selections (Fish.