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HORACE TAPSCOTT
Article and Photos by Bob Hershon
This was the kind of article that was made
for CJN. For Horace Tapscott is as responsible
as anyone I know for what Jazz has now become
in the L.A. area. His groundbreaking compositional and orchestral work is finally becoming
available through the efforts of Hat Art Records
Dark Tree Volume 1 & 2 with John Carter and
Cecil Mcbee. Nimbus Records has released a
seven record set entitled The Tapscott Sessions
and RCA Novus has recently made available
West Coast Hot a re-release of Bob Thiele's
Flying Dutchman Sessions with John Carter.
Horace T apscottis a community prominent
figure There are many reasons to applaud him.
He helped nurture such talents as David Murray,
JamesNewton,ArthurBlythe andothers. While
providing a platform, through his Pan African
Peoples Arkestra, for exceptional musicians
such as Roberto Miranda, Sun Ship Theus and
Azar Lawrence who otherwise might have escaped the notice they deserved. So dedicated is
Horace to integrating art into the community,
that he had the Arkestra playing in the middle of
the Watts Riots from a flatbed truck. "Kids
were dancing in the streets until the police
showed up with their guns drawn and forced the
thirty musicians, dancers and poets to stop." A
conventional society's reaction to innovation,
something Horace has had to endure for almost
half a century now. Despite the lack of recognition and record sales he has achieved in the
arena that matters mosL "Your record might
not be in the top ten but your life is." If you ask
Horace he is merely returning the favor.
"It all started out of Robert and of Mary in
Houston, Texas in 1934. I was raised in a home
that was filled with music. My mother was a
Jazz pianist and tuba player. A friend of Floyd
Dixon (of Hey Bartender fame), she wouldn't
let me out of the house till she heard something.
There was always a sacrifice made so I might
move on towards the types of music I wanted to
explore. In 1943 we migrated to Central Avenue in the heart of L.A. about two blocks from
the Black Musicians Union." (The Los Angeles
Musicians Unions were segregated until 1953)
CentralAvenuewastheequivalentofNew
York's famed52nd StreeL Not only was there
homegrown talent such as Dexter Gordon, Lester
and Martha Young, Wardell Gray, Chico
Hamilton and Sonny Criss. But all the stars of
the day, Charlie Parker, Howard McGhee, Slim
Gaillard, Earl Garner and Teddy Edwards, would
be jamming at regul'ar and after hours clubs till
the wee hours of the morning. Clubs with
colorful names ·like The Bucket of Blood,
Casablanca, Cobra Room, Jacks Basket Room,
The Jungle Room and Cafe Society were strung
out from 1st to 97th streets. Filled to overflowing with a heterogeneous crowd composed of
everyone from locals to local stars like Eva
Gardner. Everything was moving west with the
war and the industry that was being created
around iL
For Horace Tapscott, the musicians that
mattered were not only great players but great
teachers. There were four that stood out among
the fine teachers at the time. Miss Elma
Hightower, whose band could be seen marching down Central Avenue every Saturday moming, boasted among its alumni, Vi Red one of
the jazz's pioneering female big band leaders.
Lloyd Reese was a profound influence for most
of the young sax players of the time. Included
among his disciples were a couple of youngsters
by thenames ofEric Dolphy and Dexter Gordon.
Horace credits Gerald Wilson and to a smaller
extent trombonist Melba Liston with "taking
me off the streets and really getting me to play
the instrument." (The trombone was the first
instrument he
played professionally. Anauto
accident and the
resulting dental
surgery forced
him to give it
up) And finally
Samuel Brown
who tutored
Dexter, Sonny
Criss, Chico
Hamilton and
most important
for our purposes
herehad the most
lasting effect on
Horace and his
work. "Samuel
told me, 'I'll
teach you if you
promise to pass it on.' And he did."
"I lived within shouting distance of the
'union' which was this giant three story house. I
was blessed. I was into it all day everyday with
all the cats you could name. The major people
were Sam Brown at Jefferson High, Gerald
Wilson and Lloyd Reese. I even went to night
school and studied improvisation with Buddy
Collette. I played in the municipal orchestra
that consisted of Eric Dolphy, Frank Morgan,
Walter Benton, myself and a bunch of older
musicians that had been around for years. In
addition I was playing with my own group at the
Bucket of Blood on Vernon. In 1952, I went
into the Air Force Band with Houston Person
and Billy James. There all I had to do was write
and perform with the orchestra. It a\lowed me
to develop because I had a forum for my ideas,
and quality people to carry them out.
When I got out of the Air Force I went on
the road with Lionel Hampton's Band. I was
dissatisfied with the experience because it
mainly consisted of one niters with little or no
feedback. A sort of machine-like existence.
When we got back to Hollywood I got off the
bus and stayed home."
What Horace found at home amounted to
mass neglect by the local media. With the
exception of Leonard Feather, mostofthe writers still hovered about the "Big Apple" as if it
was the only breeding ground for genius. "Most
of the writers that were here expected to be
wined and dined for their efforts on our behalf."
So Horace went about developing a solution
that didn't force him to rely on the whimsical
patronage of this press or the powers to be in the
music business.
'The only thing to do was to organize the
musicians among themselves and bring music
to the people. To change the imageofJazz and
It. Horace Tapscott r. Arthur Blythe I
those who played it, you had to show them that
the music came from them and their surroundings. You had to be consistent. Not just a day
in the park. So we formed The Underground
Musicians Union (which later became UGMAA,
The Union of God's Musicians and Artists
Ascension) in 1961 with five people. Despite
the fact that the Pan- African Peoples Arkestra,
which is the musical voice of UGMAA, has
provided a platform for young musicians and
composers like David Murray, Patrice Rushen
and Arthur Blythe only one recording (flight 17
on the Nimbus label) was ever made. The
reason we took our music to the schools,
churches and the streets was because we couldn't
dictate terms to the music center."
His fust "major" recordings were a set of
(continued on page 10)
CALIFORNIA JAZZ NOW September 1991 Page 7
Jazz Clinic tickets are $13 .00, with reservation
$10.00
Both Clinic and Show withreservations $20.00,
without reservations $23.00
Parking is avaliable both in front and back of the
Berlekey House
For more information, call 1-800-732-3117 tell
them you read it hear in California Jazz. Now
I
Horace Tapscott
(continued from page 7)
two albums Sonny's Dream, which featured
Sonny Criss on Prestige and The Giant Has
A wabned, Horace's debut as a leader, on Hying Dutchman Records. The Giant Has A wakened, which also marked Arthur Blythe's
recording debut, reflected the anger and turmoil
years. As intense as his playing gets however,
he never loses the art of it. In the same manner
as one of his acknowledged influences, Vladamir
Horowitz he digs in and "grabs hold of the
piano." His passionate approach to life may
also have been responsible for a life-threatening cerebral aneurysm he developed in 1978.
"It was from all the things I was concerned with
at the time." The doctors gave him an even
chance of recovery. Less comforting was the
fact that the other four men in his ward with the
same condition didn't make it. Horace describes his mystical recovery to writer Gregg
Burle, "During the operation, I left my body and
saw the doctors below me.''He says he saw
many who died in past years hold out their
hands to him, "Like, you can come if you want
to. Butaren'tyou thinking about theArkestra?"
When he awoke he found thathe could move his
fingers and he could play but for three years that
was all he could do. His recent album "Dark
Tree" is a triumph. A beautifully recorded live
album it features a universe of expression from
the beautifully tender "A Dress For Renee," to
the piano moving rhythms of"Dart Tree." Once
again the recognition and acclaims that he has
received abroad has translated into an opportunity well advantaged.
Always a master atmaking a bottom heavy
sound move, here he combines a powerful left
hand with Cecil McBee's powerful bass lines.
His Arkestra boasts four to five bass players
(Roberto Miranda sounds like two) and three
drummers.
Horace Tapscott has endured. Perhaps
now he will prosper. He has a song called
"Middle Aged Madness" that he dedicates to
"all us teenagers in our fifties who are too old
for this and too young for that. Most of the
musicians didn't make it here. You have to
hurrah when you get this far. Maybe you should
get an award for surviving tactics. It would be
more meaningful than a Grammy. For me it's
been from here to there, filling in with transcribing, teaching and ghost writing. Maybe
it'll change now. I just thank God for all the
people who have been around for me and had
enabled me to contribute to change the image of
jazz." And we thank you Horace for being
around for us.
Merrill Hoover
I
(continued from page 8)
Norwegian wife of 20 years. He played in Jon
Hendricks' Evolution of the Blues, subbing for
Larry Vukovich, and joined the band of The
Wiz at the Curran Theatre. During the 1970's
he began teaching at Cal State Hayward, the
College of Marin and UC Berkeley. His circles
kept broadening-he toured on and off with
Nancy Wilson and Herb Jeffries, and with Anita
0 'Dayplayedall over Europe, constantly honing
his elegant style, increasing his musical
vocabulary and "still just learning to play the
piano."
During the decade of the 1980's, Merrill
could be heard behind the white baby grand at
Casablanca, a late night restaurant on Polk
Street where singers such as Margie Baker,
Barbara Lashley, Madeline Eastman, Tressa
Lewis, Cookie Wong and Mary Stallings
dropped by to sit in with him. If you missed
"Anita O'Day was right...his
piano is a symphony.
Hoover there, you can catch his world class
piano at Bix's on Gold Street in San Francisco
every night but Sunday.
Bix's is a reunion showcase for Hoover
and Stallings four nights a week. Having known
each other for 30 years, this is their first
opportunity to play together regularly. "We're
augmenting our book. We had a handful of
songs and a few tapes over the years but now we
can really go. I love working with her, she has
great tonality and feeling."
Mary's new CD, "Fine and Mellow" on
Clarity Label is available at Tower Records,
with Merrill on piano, Jeff Chambers on bass,
Gaylord Birch on drums and Noel Jewkes on
saxophone, clarinet, flute and percussion. But
if it's at all possible, don'tmiss theoppornmity
to hear these wonderful musicians live, because
you never know who's going to drop in. Maybe
tenor saxophonist Bennie Miller who was
formerly with Ellington, or Bassist Jeff
Chambers, John Goodman of L.A., or Bull
Ruther, Vernon Alley, or a European artist, or
any of the Bay Area musical giants we so
casually take for granted. It's worth the trip
even if Merrill plays solo. His harmonies are
swinging, subtle and magnificent. AnitaO'Day
was right ...his piano is a symphony.
I