Another Solid Week of Musical Offerings

9th January 2017   ·   0 Comments

By Geraldine Wyckoff
Contributing Writer

“Willie is the truth,” saxophonist Donald Harrison Jr. declares. “As (saxophonist) Lou Donaldson said to me, ‘Willie Pickens is one of the last great bebop pianists.’”

Pickens, 85, a Milwaukee native and longtime stalwart on the Chicago jazz scene makes a very rare appearance in New Orleans to perform with Harrison’s quartet on Saturday, January 14 and Sunday, January 15, at Snug Harbor. Actually, Pickens was also in town just last week as the re-cipient of the Donald Meade Jazz Griot award.

“I hang around Willie a lot because I am a student of bebop,” says Harrison who, for the last 10 years or so, has teamed with Pickens whenever the saxophonist lands in Chicago. “He really know what the music is and it nurtures my understanding of it. Every time you get around a master of bebop, it enhances the understanding of it.”

“Certain people just click with each,” says Pickens of his and Harrison’s compatibility. “There is a certain empathy or vibe that seems to come about. You kind of feel each other. So he has me as a special guest with his group and I had him here for the festival (Chicago Jazz Festival) once too. We also played with the Chicago Symphony and did the ‘The Three Black Kings.’”

His extensive and impressive resumé includes five years on the road with drum legend Elvin Jones and four albums with saxophone wizard Eddie Harris – “he was so inventive” – as well as a realm of other notable artists. Each New Year’s Eve, saxophonist, UNO professor and former Chicagoan Ed Petersen reunite at the Windy City’s Green Mill. “To me, he’s one of the best in the world,” Pickens exclaims. “You can hear him evolving while he’s playing – he’s not stringing together a lot of licks.”

Like Petersen and Harrison, Pickens has continued to be involved in education. Just last year he retired from teaching at Northern Illinois University where he’d held a position since 1995. He is still active with the Ravinia Festival’s educational program.

Harrison is known for teaming with knowledgeable veterans and creators of the music as well as reaching out and including young musicians to reap the benefits of his and the masters’ experiences. Rounding out the Snug Harbor gigs are bassist Max Moran, a former Harrison student, and drummer Brian Richburg, a high school student who is currently studying with the saxophonist at the Tipitina’s program.

“I try to put them together,” says Harrison of mixing up the generations. “I know those are the experiences I had with so many people – Art Blakey, Roy Haynes, Miles Davis. I was the baby in those bands. They tried to share with me their expansive knowledge of what music is. When you play with those older guys, you realize you’ve got a lot of work to do. It changes your life. These experiences are a bridge to really understanding the music.”

Pickens’ approach to the piano and jazz emulates his warm, easy going personality.

“I’m very happy with my life,” Pickens offers. “I have a peaceful attitude in my head. That’s where I’m coming from. I was never worried about being a star. What I did worry about was being the best I could be. All the jobs that I had came to me. I never had a manager. God is my manager.”

Danny Barker Festival – More than Just Great Music

Just as Danny Barker was more than just a great guitarist, banjoist, vocalist, composer and author, the Danny Barker Festival (Thursday, January 12 – Saturday, January 15, 2017) stands as more than simply concerts and club dates. In putting together the event, producer Detroit Brooks wanted to make sure that folks young and old got to know Barker’s importance beyond the bandstand.

There’s something for everyone to enjoy and learn from at the third annual Danny Barker Festival – school clinics, panel discussions, films, a second-line parade and, of course, concert and club performances. A few highlights include the second line on Saturday afternoon that starts at noon at the Old U.S. Mint, stops by Barker’s childhood home on Chartres Street, heads to the Backstreet Cultural Museum and ends at Bullet’s Sports Bar, 2441 A. P. Tureaud. The music continues there with some of New Orleans finest – trumpeters Gregg Stafford and Leroy Jones, drummer Herlin Riley among others – leading their own bands. For the complete schedule, go to www.dannybarkerfestival.com.

This article originally published in the January 9, 2017 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.