Roland Kirk on TV
Ira Chineson
Roland Kirk and the Jazz and People's Movement.
Stopping the white wash
By DAVID HINCKLEY
Tuesday, April 13th, 2004
Just about the time the cameras started to roll for the regularly scheduled
nightly taping of Merv Griffin's show on Friday, Aug. 27, 1970, the phone
rang in the television department of the Daily News.
An anonymous woman said that a group called Black Artists-Musicians of New
York, of which no one had previously heard, was planning a nonviolent
disruption of the Griffin taping to dramatize its demands that black artists
get some of the television exposure given so copiously to derivative white
artists.
Had someone made a similar call to Griffin, perhaps he would have been less
startled when about 35 minutes into the taping at the Cort Theater on W.
48th St. a group of between 60 and 80 demonstrators sure enough did stand up
and make it quite impossible for Griffin to continue.
The demonstrators, who included well-known jazz artists Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Lee Morgan and Andy Cyrrile, blew wooden whistles and played various sounds
on flutes and other instruments they had smuggled in under their coats. Soon
they moved forward to take over the stage, waving signs that read "Stop the
Whitewash!" and "Tom Jones rose to fame singing black songs!"
Griffin, who had just introduced Larry Kert, star of the Broadway show
"Company," shook his head and walked off.
The CBS cameras continued to roll as the studio audience sat fascinated,
wondering what would happen next.
As it turned out, not much. When the protesters announced they would remain
until they could talk with someone in authority, Griffin came back and
announced that taping was done for the day. Since this Friday tape wouldn't
air til Monday night, it had been decided to finish the last hour over the
weekend.
By now a dozen police had entered the theater. As the only apparent damage
was to the taping schedule, no arrests were made - and, even as the audience
was starting to trickle out, producer Walter Kempley and associate producer
Andy Smith were talking with Black Artists-Musicians of New York, who had
suddenly changed their name and now told reporters just to call them Lovers
of Music.
Their complaint, heard for neither the first nor last time in the music
world, was that the "roots" artists of American music - jazz, blues, gospel
and so on, a disproportionately black group - deserved mainstream media
exposure on national shows like, say, Merv Griffin's.
While jazzmen played 200-seat clubs, they argued, white "jazz-rock"
musicians who had clearly gone to school on those jazzmen's records were
cleaning up from recordings and concerts in much larger places - abetted
immeasurably by all that free media exposure and promotion.
The protesters also warned that paying all this attention to
later-generation white artists distorted history because it crowded out the
real, undiluted music.
These complaints echoed arguments made by respected musicians in many
fields, though the Griffin demonstrators got something of a "fringe" tag
largely because of the prominence of Kirk, a brilliant musician who
distinctly marched to his own muse.
Blinded in a childhood accident, Kirk formed his first band at 14. In his
early 20s, he began to experiment with his sound, at first by playing
several horns at the same time, then by rediscovering forgotten instruments,
like the stritch and the manzello, then by inventing others, such as the
trumpophone, which was a trumpet with a saxophone mouthpiece. He was well
respected for his skills, and his presence guaranteed that the Griffin
protesters would be heard, not merely tossed out on their ears.
When they did leave, after talking with the producers, they said they
expected a spot for jazzmen on a prime time CBS show. They also mentioned
they might visit other shows on other networks.
Sure enough, on Oct. 13, now calling themselves the Jazz and People's
Movement, they dropped in on Dick Cavett at ABC.
This time the disruption lasted about an hour, ending when the Cavett people
agreed Cavett would have Movement spokespersons on his Oct. 22 program.
Meanwhile, they had also worked out a deal with CBS: Kirk would be a guest
on "The Ed Sullivan Show."
A widely circulated story has it that Kirk was the last guest on the last
Sullivan program, and that this final segment ended with Godfrey Cambridge
sneaking up behind Sullivan and putting an Afro wig on his head, crowning
him an "honorary Negro." Actually, Kirk played the show Jan. 28, 1971, two
months before Sullivan stopped doing live shows.
Nonetheless, it was a memorable night. Kirk invited Charlie Mingus and
Archie Shepp to play with him and announced they would play Stevie Wonder's
"My Cherie Amour." In fact, they largely improvised for 5 minutes, weaving
in and out of Mingus' "Haitian Fight Song." It was instantly controversial:
fascinating to jazz fans and widely considered impenetrable to almost anyone
else.
"The purpose of the Jazz and People's Movement was to make everyone aware
there wasn't enough jazz on television," said critic Dan Morgenstern, "and
now they clearly proved the reason why."
But many fans said that even though the Jazz and People's Movement soon
drifted into history, it had at least made major TV networks aware of an
important issue.
Still, there was a long way to go. Another widely circulated story has Kirk
asking Sullivan backstage why the late John Coltrane had never played his
show, and Sullivan replying, "Does John Coltrane have any records out?"
As for the Merv Griffin incident, it wouldn't be many more years before TV
producers realized disruption isn't a problem. Packaged properly, it's a
commercial gold mine.
Skip Elliott Bowman
"Ira Chineson" <irach...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:faSec.28464$467.5...@news4.srv.hcvlny.cv.net...
> Here's an interesting long article from the NY Daily News about Rahsaan
> Roland Kirk and the Jazz and People's Movement.
>
> Stopping the white wash
>
> By DAVID HINCKLEY
> Tuesday, April 13th, 2004
<snip>
Michael Laprarie
So, where's the video?
I realize that this isn't as commercially appealing as The Beatles or The
Doors on the Sullivan show, but we have so little of Kirk on video that jazz
fans would probably make good sales for a video with Kirk's Sullivan spot
added as a bonus item - particularly with the added presence of Mingus.
I don't expect it to show up on the repackaged Sullivan shows currently
being shown on PBS.
Hello, Joel Dorn or Rhino Video, are you listening?
Mike
____________________________________________
"Ira Chineson" <irach...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:faSec.28464$467.5...@news4.srv.hcvlny.cv.net...
Glenn Wilson
Sheldon played on the show and there were other jazz musicians in the house
band for many years. Were they all white? I wonder how they reacted?
Glenn-
www.jazzmaniac.com
"Ira Chineson" <irach...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:faSec.28464$467.5...@news4.srv.hcvlny.cv.net...
Ira Chineson
> Ira - do you know who was in the house band at that point? I know Jack
> Sheldon played on the show and there were other jazz musicians in the house
> band for many years. Were they all white? I wonder how they reacted?
>
> Glenn-
> www.jazzmaniac.com
Sorry I don't know much about the house band except that it was called
the Ray Bloch Orchestra. Some research on the net shows that in the
50s at least the band contained such jazz/big band musicians as Chris
Griffin, "Toots" Mondello, Johnny Guarnari, and Bernie Leighton. They
were veteran studio musicans and I believe that most studio musicians
of that period were white men. I suppose it changed a bit by 1971 but
someone with more knowledge than me will have to answer those
questions.
Jack Woker
news:3oVec.25509$F9.2...@nwrddc01.gnilink.net...
> Sheldon played on the show and there were other jazz musicians in the
house
> band for many years. Were they all white? I wonder how they reacted?
Griffin's house band in the 1970's included Jack Sheldon, Richie Kamuca,
Frank Rosolino, and Ray Brown.
jack
Ira Chineson
"Jack Woker" <ste...@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:io9fc.35028$xn4.88589@attbi_s51...
When Griffin did his show from NYC in the 60s Bob Brookmeyer and Jim Hall
were in the house band. I remember reading somewhere on Brookmeyer's
website some harsh criticism of Griffin for his attitude toward musicians.
Michael Laprarie
rapport similar to Johnny Carson and Doc Severinsen or Tommy Newsome. Jack
is quite a comedian and I'm sure he helped make some priceless moments.
> When Griffin did his show from NYC in the 60s Bob Brookmeyer and Jim Hall
> were in the house band. I remember reading somewhere on Brookmeyer's
> website some harsh criticism of Griffin for his attitude toward
musicians.
That's interesting, considering that Merv started out as a big band singer -
either Freddy Martin or Kay Kayser. I can't remember which. (I always get
Merv and Michael Douglas - also a former singer - mixed up.)
Mike
"Ira Chineson" <irach...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:hEbfc.38904$467.9...@news4.srv.hcvlny.cv.net...
Michael Fitzgerald
<moc....@nosliw.nnelg> wrote:
>Ira - do you know who was in the house band at that point? I know Jack
>Sheldon played on the show and there were other jazz musicians in the house
>band for many years. Were they all white? I wonder how they reacted?
Art Davis was the bassist in the band - he talks about the scene in a
Cadence interview (9/86).
=====
The sad thing about it is all of these people knew me - I had recorded
with them - and did not let me know in advance. Which, in a sense,
hurt me, because I wouldn't have gone and told and said, 'They're
gonna do this and I don't want any part of it, God help me.' I was on
one of Kirk's first albums, We Free Kings, and I recorded with Lee
Morgan. All those people knew me, so it wasn't a case of not knowing
me. But I was portrayed as the organizer. Isn't that great? I was a
powerful person. so what happened after that was a sort of slide,
going downhill.
[Did Merv fire you after that?]
Well, it was very sophisticated. We heard that he was going to go to
California, moving the band; however, certain musicians remained here.
And that was the whole idea, as I was told by a certain musician that
remained here, that the orchestra had to take certain people and to
leave certain people here because of Davis. We know Davis would sue.
Those musicians, however, got jobs. They were placed in the network.
One person was on ABC. Another one got Broadway shows. They were
placed in work.
[So staying in New York meant that you were out of the Merv Griffin
Show.]
Exactly. Since I wasn't asked, Merv avoided me. I supposed to be the
good little boy since I had a job working; I'm supposed to keep my
nose clean. I'm not supposed to do as I felt that if others don't have
work, I shouldn't just be the onliest one, as Muhammad Ali said. I did
not like that position. Although many other people enjoy that position
of being the onliest one, but it wasn't me. So in a sense, I was being
made an example of. When that happened, everybody else closed ranks
and I was what I call 'Whitelisted.'
=====
(interview continues)
Mike
fitz...@eclipse.net
http://www.eclipse.net/~fitzgera - Gigi Gryce book - ARSC award winner!
http://www.JazzDiscography.com
Michael Fitzgerald
<moc....@nosliw.nnelg> wrote:
>Sheldon played on the show and there were other jazz musicians in the house
>band for many years. Were they all white? I wonder how they reacted?
Here's the band lineup as of about 1966 when they made a record for
Dot - "Merv Griffin Presents Mort Lindsey And His Orchestra" - don't
know how things changed after that up to 1970.
Roger Pemberton, Shelly Gold - aka Shelly Russell (f, cl, as), Dick
Hafer (ob, cl, ts), Richie Kamuca (enh, cl, ts), Bill Berry, Danny
Stiles (t), Bob Brookmeyer (vtb), Mort Lindsey (p, a, con), Art Davis
(b), Jake Hanna (d)
Ira Chineson
> either Freddy Martin or Kay Kayser. I can't remember which. (I always get
> Merv and Michael Douglas - also a former singer - mixed up.)
>
>
I wasted too many hours of my formative years watching both shows not
to remember that Griffin once sang with Freddy Martin and Douglas
with Kay Kyser. They both mentioned this fact frequently on their
shows, usually when complaining about the lack of opportunity for
young singers of the day (the 1960s) to hook up with big bands. Of
course nearly all the young singers of the 60s didn't want to come
within 100 miles of big bands.
When I was about 10 I once stood outside the stage door of "The Little
Theatre in Times Square" where Griffin taped his show and got an
autographed photo from Jackie "Moms" Mabley as she left the theatre.
Mabley was a veteran of the black comedy circuit but she often made
the rounds of the television talk and variety shows, so that even a
suburban white kid knew who she was. I remember being amazed that she
got into a chauffeur driven Cadillac, since I thought of her as the
poor old woman she portrayed in her comedy act.
Jan Winter
<laprarie@sbcglobal-dot-.net> wrote:
>I realize that this isn't as commercially appealing as The Beatles or The
>Doors on the Sullivan show, but we have so little of Kirk on video that jazz
>fans would probably make good sales for a video with Kirk's Sullivan spot
>added as a bonus item - particularly with the added presence of Mingus.
What *is* there of Kirk on video? Yesterday night Dutch television, in
a series called Jazz in the Dutch TV Archives, broadcasted one title
(Bag's Groove) of a session Kirk did in 1964 in Amersfoort, with Georg
Gruntz, Guy Pederson and Daniel Humair. He made a European tour with
this trio and I was at their Concertgebouw, Amsterdam gig. Before
intermission: the same rhythm section with ..... Dexter Gordon. Who
also was recorded for tv at the same Amersfoort location.
-----
jan winter, amsterdam
email: name = j.winter; provider = xs4all; com = nl