JACK MCDUFF:A Career That's Been A Whole Lotta Fun!!

by P-Dub

I've been talking to Jack quite often since we decided to see if he would headline this year's Blowout. Much of this article comes from the notes taken during the course of conversations on booking, travel arrangements, band personnel, and several other topics we have covered in the past five or six months.

Jack McDuff was born in Champaign on September 17, 1926. He left for the US Navy in 1943. In 1947 he was discharged and moved to Gary, Indiana where he started his professional music career. Although he has spent much of his professional life in Chicago, New York, and lately Minneapolis, he has still come back home to play a fair amount of time.

Jack told me about some of his experiences from the early part of his career including C-U, Chicago, and New York in a most light-hearted and amusing tone. He started touring with a drummer called Count Demon, about whom I had previously heard Russell Cheatham and Jelly Hines talk. They used to play at Katsina's until around 11:45pm, then move over to the Rich Cafe, a restaurant that served drinks in tea cups because they weren't licensed to sell alcohol.

The Rich Cafe, by the way, was owned by Jack's father. A few other places around town that Jack remembers playing at were Bud's Place (Buddy's on North First), Poplar Street (I'm not sure if it was a club or a house), and AMVETS. AMVETS was owned by George Tinsley and he would put on a show called Blue Monday, which was a jam session that ran really late (or really early, depending on your perspective). Jack said the Bridgewater's house was right across the street from AMVETS and that Ron and Cecil weren't old enough to go, but they could lay under the bedroom windows to listen.

While in the Chicago area he started playing with a horn man called Little Wash and a drummer named Duncan. Willis "Gatortail" Jackson was in town and in need of a band so he picked them up, and later moved them to New York with him. But while in Chicago McDuff worked and recorded with Roland Kirk (not yet called Rahsaan). "Playing with and just being around Kirk was too much fun." Jack tried to pass off a one dollar bill to Kirk saying, "Give me two tens for this twenty." Kirk held the bill for a few seconds then said, "Do I look like Ray Charles to you?" In return Roland would try tripping band members with the hook of his cane. McDuff can be heard on the 1961 release by Roland Kirk "Kirk's Work"(OJC 459).

Later McDuff moved to New York as a member of Willis Jackson's band. They were playing only 2-3 nights a week, so the rest of the band (minus Willis) went out as a trio and got gigs of their own to fill out their time. The band was McDuff, Al Johnson on drums, and Bill Jennings on guitar. [Jennings was a lefty. He and his right-handed brother learned to play while sharing one guitar. He simply turned the guitar upside down and strummed and picked in the opposite direction,to avoid restringing the guitar all the time. Jennings continued to play that way his entire career (an early influence on Jimi Hendrix perhaps?)] This unit became so good that they didn't need Willis Jackson's lead to get jobs after a while.

The main impression that I got from every conversation with McDuff is that his "career has been a whole lotta fun." He's always had the good fortune to be surrounded with great players and I'm sure you'll enjoy the band with him at today's performance: Ron Bridgewater/tenor, Dane Bays/alto, Kevin Turner/guitar & bass, and Kevin Hart/drums. Kick back and enjoy the show. Jack's been psyched about it since we first talked back in September and he's been looking forward to coming to the party.

The following is a small selectportion of McDuff's discography which contains over 75 recordings - some of which are sadly out of print.

!! ALL CONCORD JAZZ CDs ARE ON SALE DURING THE BLOWOUT!!

And there is a new one on the way that Jack can't quit talking about, so keep your ears open for that some time around mid-April!

Jazz & Blues News

Volume 6, Number 2
March/April 1997