Their breath has grown silent, but their music lives on

14th January 2019   ·   0 Comments

By Geraldine Wyckoff
Contributing Writer

Alvin Fielder

“When I hit the bandstand, everything is serious – even my silence is serious. Silence is part of the music,” declared drummer Alvin Fielder in a 2017 interview. A pharmacist by trade, Fielder was widely heralded for his unique approach to his instrument and as a founder of Chicago’s Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) and co-founder, along with saxophonist Kidd Jordan, of the forward-thinking Improvisational Arts Quintet. Alvin Fielder, who was born in Meridian, Mississippi, died in Jackson, Mississippi where he resided on January 5, 2019 at the age of 83.

New Orleanians knew Fielder best laying down the rhythm with Jordan and the IAQ that the two like-minded musicians formed in 1975. The ensemble’s last performance was at the 2018 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival where, as usual, it opened up ears to jazz’s unrestrained possibilities. Fielder and Jordan are also teamed with longtime pianist Joel Futterman and guest trombonist Steve Swell on a release, Masters of Improvisation that would stand as the last album on which the drummer was captured. It was recorded live in New Orleans at the Old U.S. Mint. Fielder’s initial venture into the recording studio was in 1966 playing with saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell on his album, Sound.

“He keeps the motion in the music,” Jordan observed in a pre-Jazz Fest interview. “We’ve been playing together for so long that I can just relax and do what I want to do and he’ll compliment what I’m doing or what the band is doing.”

“The first time Kidd and I played together in 1974 it was like instead of a kinship it was a twin-ship,” Fielder once said.

Fielder spent some time in New Orleans in the early 1950s while studying pharmacy at Xavier Univer-sity. He took this opportunity to seek out instruction from master drummer Ed Blackwell. It was a relationship and friendship that would last a lifetime. “I learned a whole lot from him – musicality, technique and somewhat of a sense of humor,” Fielder said. “Blackwell was probably the most important drummer in my life personally. I probably studied with Blackwell until he died because I was always talking to him on the phone. I have his ashes, clothes and teaching books.”

Fielder transferred to Texas Southern University to continue his studies and in 1959 headed to Chicago where he became deeply involved in the progressive jazz scene drumming behind notables like saxophonist Fred Anderson and pianist Sun Ra. After spending almost a decade in the Windy City, Fielder returned to Mississippi to take over the family pharmacy. Isolated from the exploratory jazz scene he had enjoyed, Fielder found a way to bring creative artists like bassist Malachi Favors, clarinetist Alvin Batiste and saxophonist Dexter Gordon to Mississippi by establishing the Black Arts Music Society (BAMS).

Alvin Fielder was inspired to play drums on hearing the legendary Max Roach on saxophonist Charlie Parker’s Savoy album, Ko-Ko. Fielder, who was encyclopedic in his knowledge of jazz, could amaze in his explanation of the lineage of jazz drummers. “I’m sure there was a part of Kenny Clark in Max and a part of Big Sid Catlett in Kenny. If you’re around somebody and you’ve heard them, listened and studied them, all of that is part of your DNA.”

Nationally, Fielder’s passing has been acknowledged with the JazzTimes magazine’s headline reading, in part, “He helped push jazz’s rhythmic limits for six decades.” When he once was asked about his creative approach he answered simply, “I have Max Roach dancing in my head.”

Todd Duke

While in recent years, guitarist Todd Duke was, rightfully, most recognized as the tasteful guitarist with vocalist John Boutte’s band, the New Orleans-born artist enjoyed a rather stylistically diverse career. His resume includes playing rhythm and blues with Yufus Hawkins at Basin Street’s Colt 38 in the early 1990s and recording with the renowned vocalist Germaine Bazzle on her 2017 release, Swingin’ at Snug. “Jazz guitar really bit me,” Duke remembered in a 2009 interview when he was inducted into New Orleans magazine’s Jazz All-Stars. The well-loved and highly respected Todd Duke died on January 6, 2019 at the age of 48.

Duke’s interest in music was sparked by his parent’s record collection that ranged from Fats Domino to the great Bobby “Blue” Bland and the modern jazz of trumpeter Miles Davis. He took up the guitar, naturally going the rock and roll direction of the time. “I liked the sound of the guitar and thought it looked cool and like a lot of fun,” he once said.

It was during his tenure at Slidell High School and while attending the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts (NOCCA), where he studied with guitar master Hank Mackie that Duke’s interest turned to jazz. The discovery of such guitar greats as George Benson and Kenny Burrell sealed the deal.

The guitarist gained greater recognition when he began playing at the now defunct Donna’s Bar & Grill. Duke was onboard at drummer Bob French’s popular Monday night sets and it was at the club that he met and eventually performed with musicians including trumpeter Leroy Jones and drummers Shannon Powell and Bunchy Johnson. Through Johnson, he was introduced to bandleader and composer Wardell Quezergue that led to a spot in his big band.

It was 20 years ago that Boutte met Duke through one of the guitarist’s student. It was a relationship that took the two around the world and led to Duke’s fine guitar on some five of the vocalist’s albums.

“I loved his musicality and versatility,” Boutte offers. “Todd wasn’t stuck in one style because he couldn’t do that with me. The first thing I told him was ‘Man, you have to listen to some Danny Barker.’ He adhered to Danny Barker’s advice: ‘Keep all your pockets open.’ That’s your gospel pockets, your jazz pockets, bebop and country western pockets. He was just able to switch over where some guys are just like, ‘I’m not playin’ that.’”

Todd Duke was truly a humble man who knew how to listen and let all those around him and the music shine.

This article originally published in the January 14, 2019 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.