In 2002, the History Fair competition required interviews with people involved in jazz. Below are the Curator's responses to the interview questions. They are the personal opinions of Deborah L. Gillaspie and do not necessarily represent official views of the University of Chicago.
Important: The answers to these questions are the property of the Chicago Jazz Archive and its Curator, copyright 2001-2003. You are welcome to use them for educational purposes, but you must cite the Chicago Jazz Archive as the source and you must be sure to keep the interview intact so that it is clear where the information came from. Please don't plagiarize!
The Questions
1. What is your full name and title?
Deborah Lynn Gillaspie
Curator, Chicago Jazz Archive
University of Chicago Library
2. How did you become involved in music?
I started taking violin lessons in 4th grade (around 1964) and played violin and viola through high school. I had a year of drums when I was in 5th grade because we moved to a school district that didn't offer orchestra. I started studying orchestral percussion, jazz drumming and vibraphone privately in the early 1990's.
3. What experience do you have in jazz?
I have been a jazz lover for many years, and have been studying and playing jazz drums for about ten years. I'm lucky because my day job is preserving the history of jazz in Chicago, so I get to hang out with musicians. The Archive keeps me pretty busy, but I play for the monthly jam sessions at the faculty club here on campus.
4. Do you have any influential role models in jazz?
Of course; every musician does because you learn the idiom by hearing it rather than reading it off a page. Jazz is an AURAL tradition.
I learn something from every drummer I hear, whether in live performance or on recordings. I wish I could go back in time to talk to some of the early guys about their playing, people like Big Sid Catlett, Zutty Singleton, and Warren "Baby" Dodds. My own teacher, Phil Stanger, knew Baby Dodds and shared with me what he learned from Baby about the early style of jazz drumming. I've been lucky enough to know Elvin Jones, Ed Thigpen, Ernie Elly, Charlie Brougham, "Tootie" Heath, Isham "Rusty" Jones, Barrett Deems, Dennis Charles, Charles Walton, Famodou Don Moye, Wilbur Campbell, Robert Shy, Aaron Scott, Sylvia Cuenca, Redd Holt, Johnny Vidacovich, Paul Wertico, Greg Hutchinson, Paul Jacki, and Ricky Frigo well enough to explore with them the nature of jazz and the drummer's role in the process. Drummers are very, very generous to each other with their time and knowledge.
The people I listen to on recordings also include Ray Bauduc, Vernel Fournier, Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich, Keni Washington, Brian Blade, Greg Hutchinson, Terri Lynn Carrington, Jeff Hamilton, Dana Hall, Sherrie Maricle, Tony Williams, Kenny Clarke, Max Roach, Jo Jones, Philly Joe Jones, and Louis Bellson.
Jazz drumming isn't just about sitting back and going "boom-chick" or launching into frenzied drum solos. The drummer's job is to work with the bass player to keep things together and running smoothly. A good jazz drummer not only knows how to keep time, but knows the song structure and even the chord changes so the different parts of the band work together.
I learn the most from the other members of the rhythm section: pianists, bassists and guitarists, because they all have to work together with the drums to lay the foundation for the soloists (usually horn and sax players, but not always.) But I also learn a lot about the melodic line and improvisation from the soloists, which helps me provide support for what they are doing.
A few of my influences who are NOT drummers are:
- Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson, McCoy Tyner, Dorothy Donegan, Jay McShann, Willie Pickens, Bud Powell and Bill Evans on piano
- Johnny Dodds, Sidney Bechet, Franz Jackson, Bud Freeman, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, James Moody, David "Fathead" Newman, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Red Holloway, Von Freeman, Gerry Mulligan, Claire Daly, Jimmy Heath Joseph Jarman, and Mwata Bowden on reeds
- Louis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbecke, Jimmy McPartland, Jack Teagarden, Lee Morgan, "Cootie" Williams, "Cat" Anderson, Clifford Brown, Willie Ruff, Valaida Snow, Melba Liston, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, John Faddis, Clark Terry, Lester Bowie, Deborah Weiss, and Nicholas Payton on brass
- Thelma Terry, "Pops" Foster, Jimmy Garrison, Earl May, Niels Henning Orsted Pedersen, Reggie Workman, Milt Hinton, Rufus Reid, Ray Brown, Avery Sharpe, and Larry Gray on bass
- Charlie Christian, Django Reinhardt, Joe Pass, Herb Ellis, Kenny Burrell, Larry Coryell, Wes Montgomery, Pat Martino, and Henry Johnson on guitar
- Milt Jackson, Red Norvo, Gary Burton, Terry Gibbs, Lionel Hampton, and Bobby Hutcherson on vibes
- Stuff Smith, Stephane Grappelli and Johnny Frigo on violin
- Jimmy Smith, Shirley Scott, Joey DeFrancesco, and Chris Foreman on Hammond B3 organ
- Singers Ella Fitzgerald, Mel Torme, Joe Williams, Everett Greene, and Billie Holiday
- More composers than I can possibly name, but they include Lil Hardin Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Cole Porter, Mary Lou Williams, Billy Strayhorn, Bill Evans, Duke Ellington, Melba Liston, Carla Bley, Charles Mingus, and the Art Ensemble of Chicago.
5. What was the most significant period in the history of jazz?
I don't think there's ONE; jazz is not
a static art form, it's constantly changing. It's more a question of
what are the catalysts for change, and what's going on in society
at the time. Here are three:
The first was the very beginning, in the
late 'Teens and Twenties. Everything we have now was built on what
emerged from that first fusion of influences. The second was Charlie
Parker's major innovation, playing over the chord changes, coupled with
the concurrent move of the beat from the bass drum to the hi-hat and
ride cymbal -- those two events changed the shape of jazz forever.
The third was Miles Davis' "cool" style, where the silences
between the notes became as important as the notes themselves.
6. Who do you think contributed most to the evolution of jazz?
Musicians who were willing to think creatively and take chances. That takes a lot of courage when you're playing to make a living and have to please the audience in order to get paid.
7. Was there any opposition to jazz?
Yes, it's pretty much been that way from the beginning, and it never seems to stop. Every time somebody tries something new, someone else says it's not jazz -- that cycle repeats over and over. Two current, accessible sources to examine that cycle are Setting the tempo: 50 years of great jazz liner notes and Andrew Clark's Riffs & Choruses: A New Jazz Anthology. The Clark is particularly good at illustrating the level of hatred people had for jazz at the beginning.
8. When was jazz really accepted by Americans?
You can't really think of jazz as one music, accepted or rejected. Americans accepted swing as the popular music of the day in the 30's and 40's, but from the beginning to now, I think vocal jazz is what's most readily accepted by Americans. I think it has to do with accessibility. People "like" vocal jazz because they don't have to work at understanding it; most other forms of jazz require some level of intellectual engagement by the listener to understand what is going on. For those willing to put in a bit of time and careful listening, the payoff to all forms of jazz is tremendous, but many people don't want to have to "work" at enjoying themselves and so never explore beyond the singers.
9. How do you consider jazz a revolution, reform, and reaction? (each respectively)
It's a revolution in that the fusion of many societal and musical influences gave birth to something totally new. It's a reaction in that the emergence of each new jazz style is a reaction to what came before (i.e, swing vs traditional, bop vs swing, cool vs bop, etc etc.) -- and that includes what came before historically and sociologically as well. And it's a reform in that some change gets made to the emergent jazz style that makes it "acceptable" to more than just the innovators, and the cycle starts over again.
10. Can you refer us to any other people who could help us out with our research?
You should be working closely with the reference librarians at a large public or college library after exploring the resources available on the Chicago Jazz Archive website.
11. Lastly, would you mind if we considered calling you for more questions? If so, please list the times when you'd be available and what number we could possibly use.
I'm sorry, but I get far too many of these requests every year to spend phone or email time with every team. I feel the website is the fastest and fairest way to ensure that all the teams willing to do a bit of web searching will get what they need. I wish you the best of luck with your project!
Best wishes,
Deborah L. Gillaspie
Curator
Chicago Jazz Archive
University of Chicago Library
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