grant and lee

Lou Donaldson - the real deal

Lou near the Brooklyn Bridge during the shooting of this film.

Without question, alto saxophonist Lou Donaldson is the man who was most responsible for bringing Grant Green to the attention of  Blue Note Records. I appreciated Lou's down to earth ways during interviews for the film and book on Grant's life, which were done separately over a period of several years. I never for a moment thought he'd ever say anything he didn't mean. If anything, he'd say nothing at all. He's a classy guy (and a U.S. Navy veteran who studied at A & T State University in his native North Carolina, something I did not know for years).

One of my most vivid memories was visiting his home and hearing his wife say that he loved to give away their records. Sounds familiar as in my present household we tend to give away ours, too. May be a sign of how much we love sharing this incredible music.

thank you, Jan and John

I was touched  by the chance today to "attend" Jan Van Dyke's memorial service at UNC-Greensboro via a live stream.  Here's a vintage clip of Jan performing with my MA in Dance  & Related Studies (Film, Theatre and History) advisor John Gamble. Van Dyke also served on my committee. Without question, I thought of everything they taught me about choreography as I approached the editing of this documentary on my former father-in-law Grant Green. I did not know then how valuable the instruction in capturing, editing and using video in dance at UNCG would be even after I went on to continue my doctoral work in History. I often use video as a tool for teaching and even historical research at the University of Alabama. Jan and John, thank you for taking a chance on a mid-career journalist who wanted to go back to school 13 years ago. You continue to inspire.

he knew what to say and when to say it

Saxophonist Eli Fontaine is one of several musicians in this documentary who help us learn more about the special qualities of Grant Green's skills as a guitarist. A lot of what he and others had to say concerned Grant's phrasing. In other words, many agreed that Grant knew when to play, not just how to play.

I think this idea has resonance with Fontaine himself.  Listen to him on the film's trailer . While editing the film, I was struck again by how Fontaine has such a lovely speaking voice. Every word he said  was worth waiting for.  His horn-playing was something else, but so was the way he painted a picture by simply speaking.

What a human being. Session musicians like him in and outside of Detroit are worthy of their own documentaries. I am grateful for the time he shared with us twenty years ago.
Now, many of us "know" Fontaine because of his solo at the beginning of Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On."  In this documentary on Grant Green, Fontaine talks briefly about his days of being on the road with Gaye.

One aside: The video posted here is one I show in two of my classes addressing urban history in America. The video presents Gaye's "What Going On" and "What's Happening Brother" under a videoscape of black Chicago, circa 1970s. That urban decay that became synonymous with black life in America is also visible in the documentary. It's never in your face, but I wanted to be sure that the viewer understood that this part of American history has a soundtrack that includes Grant Green's music - his Blue Note moments, but also that critical shift he made in the late 1960s to his death when he and other jazz  musicians, and this country, were trying to find their way through a lot of change. Some of them did better than others, a point this project emphasizes.

"I had a nice body"

Without question, one of the most colorful moments in this documentary center around the time spent with Lottie "the Body" Graves, a former exotic dancer who, "co-starred," as she once said, with many musicians for Motown and jazz performers in and outside of Detroit, among them Grant Green.

 

I had heard the name Lottie "The Body" before we met her at Bomac's Lounge in Detroit in 1995 while shooting the film. I just didn't know it. She is the Lottie "the Body" to which Fred Sanford referred in his hit show "Sanford and Son." Born in Syracuse, New York, Graves' family relocated to New York City where she learned modern dance and ballet, among other types of styles. 

How did she get the name? As Ms. Graves  - who was still beautiful at the time of our meeting -  told Grant Jr., a male dance classmate recognized her curvy appeal (said Lottie, "I had a nice body"). He named her "The Body," deciding that he would also add "Lottie" to the title. The name stuck.

Ms. Graves first met Grant Green, the father, in the 1960s at the Champagne Supper Club in San Francisco, an after-hours spot that found artists fellowshipping while dining over great meals that included lobster. They crossed paths more often in the 1970s after Grant relocated from New York to Detroit, his final home (he is a native of St. Louis). I won't say too much more as she says it all in the documentary, but know that she found him to be an incredible human being. 

For more on Ms. Graves, see this writing.

I recently sent a letter to Ms. Graves and everyone still living who appeared in this film, which, again,  was shot 20 years ago and is only now being completed. I wanted to share the news that the film is finally almost done. One letter has already been returned.

I hope that I will be able to meet some of the folks we met years ago in the near future. I am also trying to find some members of the film crew. If you participated on this project, please email me. 

Ollie Matheus, another one gone too soon

The late Ollie Matheus, former owner of the short-lived The Holy Barbarian nightclub, a beatnik hang-out in St. Louis, is one of the real heroes of this film. In the late 1950s, Matheus boldly put black and white musicians onstage and paid a heavy cost.

As he liked to say when we first met him in 1994, he went on to fight for freedom in Mexico and later, in Haiti. He was some kind of guy. In one of the photos below, he is pictured with his brother John, and Virgil, the latter who was pretty special, too. On the eve of starting my doctoral work, Virgil and his wife, Joan, graciously agreed to do a swing dance demonstration in a lesson I was teaching on the influence of Africa on American vernacular dance.

Olllie Matheus, rebel with a heart.

The Matheus Brothers during filming.

Ollie in front of his car. Check out the license plate.

Emmanuel Riggins, 1942-2015

Earlier this week, I spoke to Calvin Brooks, a guitarist who appears in the documentary. Formerly of Detroit, Brooks now plays and lives in Las Vegas. Brooks shared the May 28 passing of Emmanuel Riggins, keyboardist on Grant's Green Is Beautiful (1970), Visions (1971) and Shades of Green (1972) albums. Riggins, a native of Ohio, apparently had diabetes. I signed his funeral guest book which is still online.

While reading his obituary, I learned a lot more about Emmanuel than he shared in his interview for the book or the film. Like me, he appears to have grown up in the church. I also learned that he served in Vietnam.

Rest in peace, Emmanuel.

During our time with Emmanuel in his Michigan home in 1995, he shared stories about how, among other things he and Grant were very close as they were Muslims, but often fell out partly owing to how often musicians had to wait to be paid by shady nightclub owners. Although Emmanuel was impatient, Grant always wanted him to come back and play. Emmanuel even shared how Grant had to essentially ask his father if he could even leave his Ohio home for New York to perform with Grant. It was the late 1960s. Social unrest was commonplace. Emmanuel's father wanted Grant to assure him that his son would be safe.

The late 1960s was also a difficult moment for jazz. Musicians often resorted to funkier playing to sell records and as the documentary reveals, it was often that very music that was sampled by hip hop artists and pop musicians from the 1990s to the present day.

Emmanuel appears about 34 seconds into the trailer.  As he says in the film, he and Grant eventually settled in Detroit, Grant's last home. It was clear from the stories Emmanuel shared that he and Grant often had a good time on and offstage.

Notably, he's the son of Karriem Riggins, a talented drummer who has performed with everyone from Diana Krall, Hank Jones, Ray Brown, Oscar Peterson, Milt Jackson, Donald Byrd, Cedar Walton to Bobby Hutcherson, Kenny Burrell, Benny Green, Mulgrew Miller, Ron Carter, Gary Bartz, Common and Erykah Badu.

His father's passing was hard to hear as he joins a list of people with whom I've crossed paths since work on this documentary began: greater St. Louis disc jockey Leo Chears, Cornelius Watts, owner of Detroit's historic Watts Club Mozambique, which was recently destroyed in a fire; Ollie Matheus, St. Louis nightclub owner who put blacks and whites onstage in his The Holy Barbarian club, angering many; Ollie's brother Virgil, a Ohio businessman who has distributed recordings made in the Barbarian; St. Louis drummer Joe Charles; organist Jack McDuff; saxophonists Stanley Turrentine and Joe Henderson; Ruth Lion, widow of Alfred Lion, founder of Blue Note Records, the label on which Grant was the house guitarist in the early 1960s; and Bruce Lundvall, former president of Blue Note when it was relaunched in the mid-1980s. I could go on and on. May they all rest in peace.

One aside: I have started reaching out to people who appear in the film and worked on the film to let them know that it is finally in post-production. It would have been great to share as much with Emmanuel.

story behind the film's title track

Lacy James' "Today in the City" energizes opening and closing credits.

One of my biggest joys while editing this film has been listening to the lyrics in Lacy James’ “Today in the City,” the song heard at the beginning and during the scrolling credits at the end. I first met Lacy when I was a graduate student at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (believe it or not, I ended up at that school not only because it had one of the best dance programs in the country, but because it was in a city with the name “green” in it). 

The towers had recently fallen. I was living in New York City. I decided if the world was coming to an end, I wanted to have fun so I pursued an MA in Dance and Related Studies (Theatre, Film and History). John Gamble and the recently departed Jan Van Dyke served on my committee. I am honored to have worked with them and others.

While at UNCG, I learned how to edit using Final Cut. And while there, I met Lacy, one of the graduate students with prior dance training. She was also a musician, something I did not learn until after I graduated and went on to continue my graduate work in Illinois. 

 

See her blog entry to learn more about how she came up with the inspiration to write “Today in the City.” I was drawn to it for a number of reasons among them her initial mention of seeing a “friend.” This is said alongside of other things that suggested loss, even loss experienced when the Twin Towers fell.

When Grant, my former husband, interviewed alto saxophonist Lou Donaldson in 1995 under the Brooklyn Bridge, you can see the towers still there. I could feel multiple layers of a narrative in her song and most especially the loss of Grant Green, the father. I’ll leave it there for now. 

Please check out her song which is a jazz tune she had not planned to write or perform. Her line up of musicians include saxophonist Tom Tallitsch whose sound has been compared to Blue Note’s tenor saxmen Wayne Shorter and Joe Henderson who passed away just a few months before the towers fell. I love that Tallitsch's horn takes the film to the very last scrolling credit. I am no music critic, but his sound captivates as one sees the words "for Joan" at the very end. This is the name of dear friend who passed away in 2013. Like Jan, she was a huge inspiration. Also performing on this track: Charles Patierno on drums, Jeff Hiatt on double bass and Tony Mascara on vibes and percussion.

One aside: given my love for the Philly soul sound, I was intrigued to learn about Lacy’s recordings in Philadelphia in the Gamble-Huff studios. Jim Gallagher, the co-producer for her first album, was Philly International's main engineer. She later found out that the Jackson 5 had probably recorded on the very same mixing board.

Finally, I am also working to secure the rights to use one of Grant's songs. More to come.