Veryl Oakland’s “Jazz in Available Light” — photos (and stories) of Mal Waldron, Jackie McLean and Joe Henderson

November 18th, 2019

.

.

.
…..Jazz in Available Light, Illuminating the Jazz Greats from the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s is one of the most impressive jazz photo books to be published in a long time. Featuring the brilliant photography of Veryl Oakland — much of which has never been published — it is also loaded with his often remarkable and always entertaining stories of his experience with his subjects.

…..With the gracious consent of Mr. Oakland — an active photojournalist who devoted nearly thirty years in search of the great jazz musicians — Jerry Jazz Musician regularly publishes a series of posts featuring excerpts of the photography and stories/captions found in this important book.

In this edition, Mr. Oakland’s photographs and stories feature Mal Waldron, Jackie McLean and Joe Henderson

 

.

.

All photographs copyright Veryl Oakland. All text excerpted from Jazz in Available Light, Illuminating the Jazz Greats from the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s

.

You can read Mr. Oakland’s introduction to this series by clicking here

.

.

_____

.

.

 

 

© Veryl Oakland

.

Quality Exports [Take Two]

Mal Waldron

Munich, Germany

.

.

 

…..Easily one of the most intriguing artists I ever met was Mal Waldron. During our first get-togethers in San Francisco and later, New York, the soft-spoken pianist always appeared so calm and at ease. 

…..It was only after visiting with Mal in his Munich third-floor apartment at Nietzschestrasse 26 that I realized his life was not at all as it appeared. Here was the true jazz world Renaissance Man: tireless, ever on the go, and always in search of fulfilling his next intellectual conquest, of which there were many. 

….. Mal Waldron personified the image of the inveterate international jazz figure, one constantly on the move across the globe doing festivals, club dates, and recording sessions. On the day of our meeting, he had just returned “home” from a date in London, but in less than 24 hours, would again be out the door and enroute by train to Paris to perform at a new club, Le Paname. 

…..Looking back on that summer day, I consider myself lucky to have interacted with him.

…..A voracious reader who was conversant in five languages, Waldron made his initial trek to Europe in 1965, first residing in Paris, next Italy, then a brief stay in Holland, followed by several cities in Germany before settling in Munich. By the time co-founders Matthias Winckelmann and Horst Weber launched Enja Records in 1971 – selecting Mal Waldron for their first pressing – the expatriate pianist had already laid claim as that city’s modern music idol.

 

…..As a player and composer, his goal line was purposely never in plain sight. Classically trained, Waldron listened early to Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk, but throughout his career thrived as an innovator in virtually every musical style. If the music was new, exciting, and challenging, he was all in. 

…..Waldron was committed to sharing his very special artistry with any and all who were interested in the experience. The ultimate testimony to this drive and devotion was made crystal clear when Mal described to me one of his most personally satisfying tours of Japan during which he played 86 concerts in 90 days, even reaching out to perform before audiences in small towns and fishing villages. It was no wonder his enduring base of Japanese fans held Mal Waldron in such high esteem.

…..Not surprisingly, Mal’s extended musical outreach to his many fans was always repaid in the form of personal, from-the-heart gifts and rewards. Displayed around his living room, for example – amidst stacks of books, record albums, and other media – was a variety of art pieces, wood carvings, photographs, and other mementos from dedicated followers of his music. 

 

…..Some of his other personal gifts were substantial. In 1967, Waldron was presented with a brass sculpture from the Dutch artist, Jan Schoonhoven, while performing at a jazz club in Delft, The Netherlands. The piece was awarded to Mal for being “Best Jazz Artist of the Year” in Holland. Similarly, in November of 1970, he was presented with a marble statue on behalf of the people of Sondrio, Italy.

…..Besides his insatiable reading, composing, touring, and performing, Mal was also recognized as a chess master. The day of our visit, he had two separate games going with himself: a standard board set situated on his balcony and another electronic version in the living room. 

…..Regarding southern Germany’s competition at that time, Mal told me, “Only one person (who he described as the Baron of Munchhof), can beat me regularly, and playing chess is all the man does.” 

 

…..Toward the end of our visit, which at the time seemed to be coming to a close almost before we had even gotten started, I was checking out, and photographing, an assortment of the pianist’s memorabilia mounted on his living room walls. I stopped to study a baby picture of Mal Waldron in the buff. 

…..When he saw me checking it out, he said, “Go ahead, you should shoot it. You never know, someone might want to publish that one day.” 

.

.

 

© Veryl Oakland

 

Malcomb Earl (Mal) Waldron – piano, composer

Born: August 16, 1926

Died: December 2, 2002

 

.

Listen to “La Gloire Du Noir,” from Maldron’s 1971 album Black Glory (Enja)

 

.

.

.

_____

.

.

.

© Veryl Oakland

Closing the Circle

Jackie McLean 

Telluride, Colorado

.

.

…..On this day, in this most remote, out-of-the-way retreat, I got to share the excitement first-hand. That’s what made it all so fulfilling.

…..For a multitude of reasons, I never had an earlier opportunity to catch one of the premier bop-inspired pioneers of the alto saxophone in the flesh. Who would have guessed that I would finally cross paths with Jackie McLean at an outdoor jazz festival in the “one-way-in, one-way-out” ski village of Telluride (population 2,500), nestled at the base of the 13,000-foot San Juan Mountain range in the Colorado Rockies?

…..As jazz festivals go, I thought Telluride represented a kind of oddity. It was well off the beaten track, but the festival promoters nevertheless consistently booked a notable cross section of top-name players. There weren’t sufficient accommodations to accept the thousands who inevitably made the trip, so many camped out instead, rain or shine. The music was certainly worth it, even though – when the heavens opened – some of the fans looked pretty miserable. 

 

 

…..Here it was, the summer of 1980, almost three decades removed from the young man’s historic breakthrough recording date featuring the all stars Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, and Art Blakey. It was momentous for me to finally witness and photograph McLean in such fine form, now heading a quintet featuring trumpeter Woody Shaw and trombonist Steve Turre. But as solid as that group played together, capturing their performance did not prove to be my highlight of the weekend. 

…..As the festivities were winding down, I learned that Jackie needed a ride to the airport. Getting to Denver and then back home to New York meant driving more than an hour to Montrose, where he could make his puddle-jumper connection to the Mile-High City. Just how great would it be, I thought, if I could spend some time up close with the man. I immediately offered to give him a lift. 

…..Once on our way, I couldn’t help but notice McLean was in a great mood. He was upbeat, almost excitable. Right away, he began talking about having been named “Founder of the Department of African-American Music” for the Hartt School of Music in Hartford, Connecticut. The start of this new decade was pivotal for him because it signified a sort of official validation point for all of the years he had invested at the school as a jazz educator.

…..Long a champion of giving back when it came to preaching the jazz “gospel,” McLean had begun his association with Hartt as a teacher in 1968. During our ride, he filled me in on how meaningful his many experiences had been with both students and faculty over his years with the school. I understood the man had clearly paid his dues. He was now ready to take on greater responsibilities and to further expand his influence. 

…..A thoroughly animated Jackie McLean made our trip just fly by.

…..Through research of Jackie McLean’s life some time later, what stuck in my mind were all the hard knocks he had endured along the way. While just 20 years old when he gained the notoriety of performing with Miles and other such luminaries, that period in his life was hardly the “days of wine and roses.” His early leader was actually one of Jackie’s harshest critics. In his autobiography, Miles, the trumpeter told how he frequently upbraided Jackie for his laziness and not wanting to learn certain standards like “Yesterdays.” 

…..Miles explained that all of his heavy criticism of McLean only made him that much better, an eventual master who could play anything. He wrote, “After awhile, when they asked him where he studied music, he’d tell them, ‘I studied at the University of Miles Davis.’” 

…..Despite all of his early trials as a player – or maybe because of them – Jackie McLean only continued studying and improving. It did not go unnoticed. From fledging player, to understudy and woodshedder, to master performer and teacher, Jackie McLean had closed the circle. 

.

…..Note: In 2000, the Hartt School of Music’s Department of African-American Studies was renamed the “Jackie McLean Institute of Jazz.” Recognized over the years as one of the nation’s top institutions, the program has featured master classes by a myriad of jazz greats, including pianists Hank Jones, Randy Weston, Barry Harris, and Cedar Walton; saxophonists Jimmy Heath, Yusef Lateef, and Cecil Payne; trombonists Curtis Fuller and Slide Hampton; and trumpeters Eddie Henderson and Wynton Marsalis. 

.

.

© Veryl Oakland

.

John Lenwood (Jackie) McLean – alto saxophone, flute, composer, educator

Born: May 17, 1931

Died: March 31, 2006

 

 

.

.

Watch a 1986 performance of Jackie McLean and Mal Waldron playing “Left Alone”

.

.

_____

.

.

.

.
© Veryl Oakland

.

Jazz’s Foremost Interpreter

Joe Henderson 

San Francisco, California

.

.

 

…..To my mind, he was one of the more complex creative artists I ever encountered. Yet, for every example I could offer of his complexity, he could have just as easily proved its simplicity. Because to Joe Henderson’s way of thinking, making the complex seem simple was, as much as anything, largely a matter of being prepared for whatever came his way. 

…..Preparedness for Joe came early and often. Growing up in a family of 15 children, Henderson heard and listened to everything around him. Among his siblings, their personal choices in music ranged from opera to Bo Diddley, from country/western to Charlie Parker. His first tenor saxophone influences were Ben Webster, and especially, Lester Young. In school, if he wasn’t deciphering how the sounds of a John Philip Sousa march all fit together, Joe was studying the works of such classical composers as Bartok, Stravinsky, and Schoenberg.

…..All of these wide-ranging musical influences were paramount in his evolvement of becoming one of jazz’s most complete and well-rounded tenor saxophonists. Being fully at ease, playing in virtually any musical style with the most divergent of musical minds, was just as natural for Henderson as learning another language. 

…..It was in May of 1981 that I met with Joe Henderson for a photo session in his home at 616 Los Palmos Drive near Mount Davidson in San Francisco. When not on tour, Joe was enjoying a period in his life where he was parlaying his many learned skills as a lifelong “jazz student” into that as an inspirational jazz teacher – giving private lessons at home, as well as conducting clinics at various universities. 

…..If you were one of his fortunate students, forget charts. He taught improvisation. You learned everything by rote. Typically, he would play a few bars on the piano; your task was to commit it to memory and play it back on your horn. After another four bars, repeat until memorized. And so on. 

 

…..For Joe, sharing knowledge in his own special way became a source of great pride; many of his students would go on to land gigs with well-known bands, or become leaders of their own groups. 

…..The word Henderson liked to use to describe what made him, his playing, and the way he led his life unique, was Interpreter. Among other things, I was intrigued by what I had heard about Joe’s multilingual capabilities (he was fluent in five languages, including being able to carry his own weight in Japanese) When I asked him about it, he said, “For me, it’s simple. You play it back, you interpret what you’re hearing, you form your words in response…suddenly, it all make complete sense.

…..“It’s like listening to new music that you haven’t heard before,” he continued. “You interpret how the sounds all fit together. What you play just becomes a natural extension of what you’ve already heard.” 

…..Near the end of our shoot, Joe glanced out his front window and ran over to his telescope where he witnessed a dangerously low-flying aircraft over the South Bay whose pilot had appeared to have flown off-course.

…..Recalling that event sometime later, I thought how the pilot – in that single instance – did what my host that afternoon had to do each and every day of his career: Improvise to survive.

.

.

© Veryl Oakland

.

Joseph A. (Joe) Henderson – tenor saxophone, composer, educator; also flute, soprano saxophone

Born: April 24, 1937

Died: June 30, 2001

.

.

Joe Henderson on saxophone, in a filmed performance with McCoy Tyner and Freddie Hubbard

.

.

 

_____

.

.

.

Click here to read the edition featuring Stan Getz, Sun Ra and Carla Bley

Click here to read the edition featuring Art Pepper, Pat Martino and Joe Williams

Click here to read the edition featuring Yusef Lateef and Chet Baker

Click here to read the edition featuring Mal Waldron, Jackie McLean and Joe Henderson

Click here to read the edition featuring violinists Joe Venuti, Stephane Grappelli, Jean-Luc Ponty, Zbigniew Seifert, and Leroy Jenkins

Click here to read the edition featuring Frank Morgan, Charles Lloyd/Michel Petrucciani and Emily Remler

Click here to read the edition featuring Dexter Gordon, Art Farmer and Johnny Griffin

Click here to read the edition featuring Thelonious Monk, Paul Bley and Cecil Taylor

Click here to read the edition featuring drummers Jo Jones, Art Blakey and Elvin Jones

Click here to read the edition featuring drummers Buddy Rich, Louie Bellson, Tony Williams and Shelly Manne

.

Click here to read the edition featuring Monk Montgomery and the jazz musicians of Las Vegas

Click here to read the edition featuring Sarah Vaughan and Better Carter

Click here to read the edition featuring Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Quincy Jones and Toots Thielemans

.

.

.

All photographs copyright Veryl Oakland. All text and photographs excerpted with author’s permission from Jazz in Available Light, Illuminating the Jazz Greats from the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s

.

You can read Mr. Oakland’s introduction to this series by clicking here

Visit his web page and Instagram

.

.

.

Share this:

Comment on this article:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

A Letter From the Publisher

An appeal for contributions to support the ongoing publishing efforts of Jerry Jazz Musician

In This Issue

The Modern Jazz Quintet by Everett Spruill
A Collection of Jazz Poetry — Summer, 2023 Edition

A wide range of topics are found in this collection. Tributes are paid to Tony Bennett and Ahmad Jamal and to the abstract worlds of musicians like Ornette Coleman and Pharoah Sanders; the complex lives of Chet Baker and Nina Simone are considered; devotions to Ellington and Basie are revealed; and personal solace is found in the music of Tommy Flanagan and Quartet West. These are poems of peace, reflection, time, venue and humor – all with jazz at their core. (Featuring the art of Everett Spruill)

The Sunday Poem

photo by William Gottlieb/Library of Congress
“Fledging” by John L. Stanizzi

Interview

photo courtesy of Henry Threadgill
Interview with Brent Hayes Edwards, co-author (with Henry Threadgill) of Easily Slip Into Another World: A Life in Music...The author discusses his work co-written with Threadgill, the composer and multi-instrumentalist widely recognized as one of the most original and innovative voices in contemporary music, and the winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Music.

Poetry

painting by Henry Denander
A collection of jazz haiku...This collection, featuring 22 poets, is an example of how much love, humor, sentimentality, reverence, joy and sorrow poets can fit into their haiku devoted to jazz.

In Memoriam

Fotograaf Onbekend / Anefo, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
A thought or two about Tony Bennett

Podcast

"BG Boogie’s musical tour of indictment season"...The podcaster “BG Boogie” has weaponized the most recent drama facing The Former Guy, creating a 30 minute playlist “with all the latest up-to-date-est musical indictments of political ineptitude.”

Interview

Chick Webb/photographer unknown
Interview with Stephanie Stein Crease, author of Rhythm Man: Chick Webb and the Beat That Changed America...The author talks about her book and Chick Webb, once at the center of America’s popular music, and among the most influential musicians in jazz history.

Community

FOTO:FORTEPAN / Kölcsey Ferenc Dunakeszi Városi Könyvtár / Petanovics fényképek, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
.“Community Bookshelf, #1"...a twice-yearly space where writers who have been published on Jerry Jazz Musician can share news about their recently authored books. This edition includes information about books published within the last six months or so…

Short Fiction

photo vi Wallpaper Flare
Short Fiction Contest-winning story #63 — “Company” by Anastasia Jill...Twenty-year-old Priscilla Habel lives with her wannabe flapper mother who remains stuck in the jazz age 40 years later. Life is monotonous and sad until Cil meets Willie Flasterstain, a beatnik lesbian who offers an escape from her mother's ever-imposing shadow.

Poetry

Trading Fours, with Douglas Cole, No. 16: “Little Waltz” and “Summertime”...Trading Fours with Douglas Cole is an occasional series of the writer’s poetic interpretations of jazz recordings and film. In this edition, he connects the recordings of Jessica Williams' "Little Waltz" and Gene Harris' "Summertime."

Playlist

photo by Bob Hecht
This 28-song Spotify playlist, curated by Jerry Jazz Musician contributing writer Bob Hecht, features great tunes performed by the likes of Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Sarah Vaughan, Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, Bill Evans, Lester Young, Stan Getz, and…well, you get the idea.

Poetry

photo of Wolfman Jack via Wikimedia Commons
“Wolfman and The Righteous Brothers” – a poem by John Briscoe

Jazz History Quiz #167

GuardianH, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Before becoming one of television’s biggest stars, he was a competent ragtime and jazz piano player greatly influenced by Scott Joplin (pictured), and employed a band of New Orleans musicians similar to the Original Dixieland Jazz Band to play during his vaudeville revue. Who was he?

Short Fiction

photo via PIXNIO/CC0
“The Sound Barrier” – a short story by Bex Hansen

Short Fiction

back cover of Diana Krall's album "The Girl in the Other Room" [Verve]
“Improvised: A life in 7ths, 9ths and Suspended 4ths” – a short story by Vikki C.

Interview

photo by William Gottlieb/Library of Congress
Long regarded as jazz music’s most eminent baritone saxophonist, Gerry Mulligan was a central figure in “cool” jazz whose contributions to it also included his important work as a composer and arranger. Noted jazz scholar Alyn Shipton, author of The Gerry Mulligan 1950s Quartets, and Jerry Jazz Musician contributing writer Bob Hecht discuss Mulligan’s unique contributions to modern jazz.

Photography

photo by Giovanni Piesco
Giovanni Piesco’s photographs of Tristan Honsinger

Poetry

Maurice Mickle considers jazz venues, in two poems

In Memoriam

David Becker, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
“Tony Bennett, In Memoriam” – a poem by Erren Kelly

Poetry

IISG, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Ella Fitzgerald, in poems by Claire Andreani and Michael L. Newell

Book Excerpt

“Chick” Webb was one of the first virtuoso drummers in jazz and an innovative bandleader dubbed the “Savoy King,” who reigned at Harlem’s world-famous Savoy Ballroom. Stephanie Stein Crease is the first to fully tell Webb’s story in her biography, Rhythm Man: Chick Webb and the Beat that Changed America…The book’s entire introduction is excerpted here.

Feature

Hans Christian Hagedorn, professor for German and Comparative Literature at the University of Castilla-La Mancha in Ciudad Real (Spain) reveals the remarkable presence of Miguel de Cervantes’ classic Don Quixote in the history of jazz.

Short Fiction

Dmitry Rozhkov, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
“A Skull on the Moscow Leningrad Sleeper” – a short story by Robert Kibble...A story revolving around a jazz record which means so much to a couple that they risk being discovered while attempting to escape the Soviet Union

Book Excerpt

Book excerpt from Easily Slip Into Another World: A Life in Music, by Henry Threadgill and Brent Hayes Edwards

Short Fiction

photo via Appletreeauction.com
“Streamline Moderne” – a short story by Amadea Tanner

Publisher’s Notes

“C’est Si Bon” – at trip's end, a D-Day experience, and an abundance of gratitude

Poetry

photo by William Gottlieb/Library of Congress
A Charlie Parker Poetry Collection...Nine poets, nine poems on the leading figure in the development of bebop…

Contributing Writers

Click the image to view the writers, poets and artists whose work has been published on Jerry Jazz Musician, and find links to their work

Interview

Photo of Stanley Crouch by Michael Jackson
Interview with Glenn Mott, editor of Victory is Assured: The Uncollected Writings of Stanley Crouch (photo of Stanley Crouch by Michael Jackson)

Interview

photo of Sonny Rollins by Brian McMillen
Interview with Aidan Levy, author of Saxophone Colossus: The Life and Music of Sonny Rollins...The author discusses his book about the iconic tenor saxophonist who is one of the greatest jazz improvisers of all time – a lasting link to the golden age of jazz

Art

Designed for Dancing: How Midcentury Records Taught America to Dance: “Outtakes” — Vol. 2...In this edition, the authors Janet Borgerson and Jonathan Schroeder share examples of Cha Cha Cha record album covers that didn't make the final cut in their book

Pressed for All Time

“Pressed For All Time,” Vol. 17 — producer Joel Dorn on Rahsaan Roland Kirk’s 1967 album, The Inflated Tear

Photography

© Veryl Oakland
John McLaughlin and Carlos Santana are featured in this edition of photographs and stories from Veryl Oakland’s book, Jazz in Available Light

Coming Soon

An interview with Judith Tick, author of Becoming Ella Fitzgerald: The Jazz Singer Who Transformed American Song; A new collection of jazz poetry; a new Jazz History Quiz; short fiction; poetry; photography; interviews; playlists; and lots more in the works...

Interview Archive

Eubie Blake
Click to view the complete 22 year archive of Jerry Jazz Musician interviews, including those recently published with Richard Carlin and Ken Bloom on Eubie Blake (pictured); Richard Brent Turner on jazz and Islam; Alyn Shipton on the art of jazz; Shawn Levy on the original queens of standup comedy; Travis Atria on the expatriate trumpeter Arthur Briggs; Kitt Shapiro on her life with her mother, Eartha Kitt; Will Friedwald on Nat King Cole; Wayne Enstice on the drummer Dottie Dodgion; the drummer Joe La Barbera on Bill Evans; Philip Clark on Dave Brubeck; Nicholas Buccola on James Baldwin and William F. Buckley; Ricky Riccardi on Louis Armstrong; Dan Morgenstern and Christian Sands on Erroll Garner; Maria Golia on Ornette Coleman.

Site Archive