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A Tribute toRoy McCurdy

Roy McCurdy, drumsGilbert Castellanos, trumpet

Isaiah Collier, tenor saxophoneLarry Fuller, pianoMike Gurrola, bassJanis Mann, vocals

Rickey Woodard, tenor sax

Friday, November 18, 2016 at 8:00 p.m.

Artists subject to change

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Tribute Messages

“Congratulations, Maestro Roy! Growing up digging your joyous feeling with Cannonball stays with me every day. Thanks for your beautiful spirit and expression. I hope to play together with you at some point soon. Saludo!”

-Joe Lovano, saxophonist (New York)

“I’ve enjoyed Roy’s marvelous music for many years. Most notably with Cannonball Adderly. Nobody swings like him! I’m so happy to pay tribute to my wonderful friend, one of the all time great drummers--Roy McCurdy!”

-Buster Williams, legendary bassist (New York City)

“May 29, 1968, at the first Acapulco Jazz Festival in Mexico, the Cannonball Adderley Quintet performed to an appreciative, packed house. On that unforgettable evening, I became an avid fan of Roy McCurdy’s percussive art, his absolute time-sense, and muscular chops. Forty-eight years later, nothing’s changed. Roy is still amazing!”

-Jaime Valle, guitarist (San Miguel de Allende & San Diego)

“Roy is truly one of the all time greats, a musical powerhouse: an inspiration to all those who’ve had the good fortune to play with him. I’ve always said, ‘When I grow up, I want to be like Roy.’ May he thrive forever!”

-Grant Stewart, tenor saxophonist (New York)

“Roy McCurdy is one of my heroes. He is an inspiration both musically and professionally. His knowledge, authority, and personal example for younger musicians reach beyond music. I’m extremely happy (thrilled, in truth) to share a great night with a great man, a jazz master!”

-Isaiah Collier, tenor saxophonist (Dave Brubeck Institute)

“Roy McCurdy is a Jazz Master. Roy brings to every performance something from the great traditions of jazz drumming. Having had the pleasure of playing with Roy in various circumstances over the years, his sense of what to play comes through clearly for each soloist or ensemble from his long lifetime’s experience and dedication to the music.”

-Gary Foster, alto saxophonist (Los Angeles)

This tribute is to my oldest human associate who is not a family member, a dear friend: Roy Walter McCurdy Jr. We first met in November 1942 when I was four and he was almost six years old. We lived in the same duplex Victorian house at 135-137 Adams Street in Rochester, New York. My long-time, dear pal Roy McCurdy is a world-renowned jazz musician turning eighty years old on November 28. I am thrilled that this tribute is taking place. I’ll be at Soka to show my support! Hooray for Roy!

-Richard B. Boddie


“During the summer of 1962, I arrived from Detroit to New York City, eager to connect with my mentor, Sonny Rollins. I went to hear his trio at the world famous Five Spot Café. On bass was Detroit’s own Ron Carter and a fiery drummer who weighed no more than one hundred forty-five pounds. That was my first time hearing and seeing a very skinny Roy McCurdy. I was totally in awe of Sonny and his amazing trio. From that unforgettable night, Roy has amazed me with his uncanny ability to inspire a soloist to greater heights, by no means an easy task.

“Over the years, I’ve heard Roy with many of the greats, especially with the master alto saxophonist Julian Cannonball Adderley and also (of course)with the great diva Nancy Wilson. Roy’s playing has always been a perfect combination of power, sensitivity, and finesse. He has a special percussive magic that brings any band to life. In my mind, Roy ranks as one of the true masters of jazz drumming alongside Papa Jo Jones, Max Roach, Billy Higgins, and Philly Joe Jones, plus another of my great mentors, Roy Haynes.

“Since moving to Los Angeles, I’ve been fortunate to play with Roy. I’m also honored that he has given me special tips on workouts in Gold’s Gym. Roy’s totally buff, strong as a bull! Last, not least, we’re almost next door neighbors. It’s a great honor to sing Roy’s praises. He is a good friend, alive and well, living in Altadena. The essential fact is this: Roy McCurdy is a musical giant. Congratulations Roy!”

-Bennie Maupin, tenor saxophonist and bass clarinetist (Los Angeles)

“I met Roy McCurdy shortly after he left upstate New York to settle in Manhattan. He was a clean-cut, talented young man armed with a special talent bent on moving ahead. He played the heck out of his drums. I don’t remember precisely when and where I first heard him, but I do remember hearing exactly what he did when he dug in on his drums.

“Art Farmer and I had a group then, the Jazztet. Personnel changes are often made for one reason or another during the life of any group. This was such a time when we were looking for a new drummer. We welcomed Roy with much anticipation. Quickly, he shifted us into high gear and stayed with us until we disbanded the group. He soon joined Sonny Rollins. That high status was followed by many other notable associations.

“I moved to Los Angeles and began writing for various TV shows. Voilà! Roy McCurdy eventually showed up when he also moved west. He also brought his well-trimmed athletic body. Roy was in the habit of working out daily. I always wished I did that, too. He looked like he could put a hole in his bass drum (or many other things) at will. When I put together a west coast quartet, who do you think became my drummer? Although I was not fully pushing that quartet, because my writing assignments for TV shows were time consuming, we worked occasionally and Roy was always there supporting me to the hilt.


By then he was not only a fantastic drummer, he had become my dear friend whom I could depend on for anything.

“But I must speak more about the depth of his unusual talent. Roy was always intuitive about any prevailing groove. He does all sorts of percussive things that greatly add to whatever is happening musically at any moment. For example, if I take a breath while improvising, he takes that opportunity to set me up with something dazzling that inspires me as I continue. In a sense, he makes the players surrounding him want to play their hearts out to a maximum. It seems his drums are directly connected to his intellect and his greatly motivated, truly uplifting heart. He ‘speaks’ volumes when he plays. That is no easy accomplishment. One never gets enough of Roy McCurdy when he is animated, head to foot, and everything surrounding him becomes his possession. Mercifully, Roy shares his great abundance.

“Here we are tonight, remembering with great acclaim, the fantastic and magical touch of Roy McCurdy yesterday and today. ‘What about tomorrow?’ you’ll ask. I know that tomorrow has Roy’s name etched on its breastplate as day and night contend for domination of the sky. What would this music we lovingly call jazz do without the likes of Roy McCurdy? We’d all be poorer. Roy, we offer you stentorian applause. We heartily, appreciatively chant your name! Roy McCurdy is very special to me, a special musician and a special man who I’m lucky to know as a dear friend of long years.”

-Benny Golson, legendary composer and tenor saxophonist whose recent autobiography, Whipser Not, has been published at Temple University Press, co-

written with Soka’s professor and director of our Jazz Monsters series, Jim Merod

“I met Roy McCurdy in 1972 at Donte’s great jazz club on Lankersham Boulevard in North Hollywood. I’d just moved down from Stanford. I was teaching at UCLA. We were both thin, mean, and lean back then. Roy still is.

“I was taken by his cheerful quietness, as if he knew something other folks overlooked. Across the intervening decades his already high stature as a premier jazz drummer has steadily escalated to its now ineradicable legendary status. I’m not alone to recognize, with solid evidence, that Roy enjoys a remarkable (enviable) place of universal admiration within his wide cohort of professional musicians. Very few players ever enjoy such acclaim and warm feeling. Roy is universally respected as a jazz percussionist extraordinaire, universally loved (also) as a glorious man.

“I’ve often teased him that he’s only had two real gigs across the span of nearly fifty years: seventeen with Cannonball Adderley and thirty-one with Nancy Wilson. My ruse is preposterous, of course, Roy has played with virtually every great jazz musician congruent with his lifetime, and recorded with a significant portion. When you overhear jazz drummers talk about their favorite percussion mates, Roy’s name circulates immediately and often. I can


attest to the fact that pianists and horn players regularly inquire if Roy can be included in their events.

“Our overdue but heartfelt tribute to Roy McCurdy here at Soka gives full acknowledgement to one of the nicest men anyone can ever know. He is a ‘gentleman’s true gentle man.’ He is always fun to be with and he gives encouragement to everyone within his orbit. Most of all, Roy allows his artistry to talk eloquently when language often fails. If it were possible to honor a great musician, simultaneously a profoundly great person, over and over again, we here at what we hope is Roy’s ‘other home,’ would amuse ourselves and embarrass him again and again.

“This night is, and will always be, Roy McCurdy’s--in its own way as distinct as a fourth of July. Roy’s fireworks occur anytime he sits behind his special tom-toms. His jubilance, like a birthday kid with his pals in a candy store, takes us along to celebrate his happy lead.” -Jim Merod, Director, Jazz Monsters

ROY MCCURDYDrums

Roy McCurdy will probably always be best known for his important contributions to Cannonball Adderley’s Quintet (1965-1975), but he has been a tasteful and stimulating participant in many other sessions throughout the years. Early on, he worked with Chuck and Gap Mangione in the Jazz Brothers (1960-1961). McCurdy gained recognition for his playing with the Jazztet (1961-1962), Bobby Timmons, Betty Carter (who was fairly obscure during his stint with her in 1962-1963), and Sonny Rollins (1963-1964), before joining Adderley. The supportive drummer was flexible enough to evolve with Cannonball’s popular group during the decade of change. After Adderley’s death, McCurdy relocated to the Los Angeles area, where he has played and recorded with the top local musicians ever since.

McCurdy remembers playing around with his own home-built drum sets at age six and he started formal drum lessons at eight. He attended the Eastman School of Music from ages sixteen to eighteen and was playing professionally in local clubs at sixteen. Famous trumpeter Roy Eldridge heard him at this point; he played with Eldridge at sixteen and with Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson at seventeen. In 1960, he joined the Art Farmer Benny Golson Jazztet and remained for two years.

Biographies


McCurdy counts among his influences Louie Bellson, Shelly Manne, Sam Woodyard, Buddy Rich, “Papa” Jo Jones, Philly Joe Jones, and the bands of Duke Ellington, Jimmy Lunceford, and Lionel Hampton. He has performed on approximately two hundred recordings. The list of greats that McCurdy has played with includes Count Basie, Wes Montgomery, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, Carmen McRae, Joe Williams, Herbie Hancock, Milt Jackson, Oscar Peterson, and Bud Powell. McCurdy has also played with Art Pepper, John Heard, Ron McCurdy, Jackie Ryan, Joe Zawinal, and Blood, Sweat & Tears.

GILBERT CASTELLANOSTrumpet

Gilbert Castellanos is the leading top-call jazz musician, band leader, composer, producer, and educator on the local and international circuit. Zan Stewart of the Los Angeles Times says Castellanos “plays with élan, evincing a more individual, ever-large sound offering hard swinging, often ear-grabbing solos...[proving] that music with deep roots in jazz’s glorious ‘50s and ‘60s can sound completely contemporary today.”

Recognized as a new American master by Downbeat magazine, Castellanos is also a strong advocate of promoting and educating various communities about jazz, “America’s classical music,” as he calls it. Castellanos takes pride in being a member of the prestigious Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, working with one of his mentors, the great John Clayton. He has recorded and performed with a multitude of world-renowned musicians from Dizzy Gillespie to Michael Bublé and Willie Nelson, and even did a stint on American Idol for millions of listeners. On one memorable occasion, his “Star-Spangled Banner” on solo trumpet opened a San Diego Symphony Star Spangled Pops concert. He was a 2012 San Diego Music Awards Artist of the Year honoree.

One of Castellanos’s newer projects is the curation of the Young Lions series, a program (currently presented weekly at Balboa Park’s Panama 66 restaurant) that showcases what young, blooming jazz artists (ages eleven to eighteen) can do. Other passionate ventures include being artistic director for the International Academy of Jazz, as well as presenting jazz masterclasses and performances all over the world. Castellanos is series curator for both of the San Diego Symphony’s jazz series: Jazz @ The Jacobs (Jacobs Music Center) and Thursday Night Jazz (Embarcadero).


ISAIAH COLLIERTenor Saxophone

A graduate of Chicago High School for the Arts and first-year student at the Brubeck Institute in Stockton, California, saxophonist Isaiah Collier has been turning heads in Chicago since his parents encouraged him to learn to read music and play instruments fluently. Collier won the Kiewitt-Wang Award (2013) from the Jazz Institute of Chicago and has toured with Bobby Watson in Texas. He has played with Carmen Branford, Benny Maupin, Charles Heath, Jeff Parker, Victor Goines, Marquis Hill, Bobby Broom, Willie Pickens, Robert Irving III, and the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians in venues such as the Jazz Showcase, the Hyde Park Jazz Festival, Chicago Jazz Festival, the White House, Andy’s, Room 43, Operation Push Convention, and recently at the Monterey and Brubeck Jazz festival. Collier has played at the Jazz Showcase with the Thelonious Monk Institute National Performing Arts High School All-Star Jazz Quintet led by saxophonist Antonio Hart, receiving praise from Chicago Tribune writer Howard Reich as “the standout.”

LARRY FULLERPiano

Larry Fuller is a world-class pianist rooted in the hard-swinging tradition of mainstream jazz who summarizes the history of jazz. The Critical Jazz website aptly noted that Fuller “swings like a beast!”

Raised in Toledo, Ohio, Fuller began his musical studies at age eleven, immediately showing a talent for jazz. At thirteen, Floyd “Candy” Johnson, a veteran of the Count Basie and Duke Ellington orchestras, took Fuller under his wing, hiring him for regular paying gigs. In his early years, Fuller became a regular on the Midwest jazz circuit, performing frequently in Detroit and Ann Arbor. From 1988 to 1993, Fuller worked with vocal great Ernestine Anderson, and moved to Seattle as her pianist and musical director. He performed and recorded with Anderson, including on her Grammy-nominated CD, Now and Then.

In 1994, Fuller joined the trio of world-renowned drummer Jeff Hamilton (a twelve-year associate of the Ray Brown Trio and member of the bands of Gene Harris and Oscar Peterson). Fuller performed with and recorded numerous Jeff Hamilton Trio classics, including Live!, It’s Hamilton Time, and Live at Steamers. In 2000, Fuller joined the Ray Brown Trio. Brown’s place in jazz history is well known, from the days of Dizzy Gillespie’s big band to his long-


standing association with Oscar Peterson. Fuller had the honor of being Brown’s last pianist. From 2005 to 2013, Fuller performed with guitar and vocal great John Pizzarelli, touring and recording as part of the John Pizzarelli Quartet. Recordings include With a Song in My Heart, Double Exposure, and Rockin’ In Rhythm. The International Review of Music recognized Larry’s contributions on Rockin’ in Rhythm: “pianist Larry Fuller’s brilliant work throughout – especially the buoyant stride solo – nearly steals the record.”

Fuller has also performed with Harry “Sweets” Edison, Stanley Turrentine, Phil Woods, Clark Terry, Herb Ellis, Marlena Shaw, Kevin Mahogany, John Clayton, John Heard, Benny Golson, Emily Remler, Jimmy Witherspoon, Eddie Harris, Anita O’Day, Steve Allen, Regina Carter, Nicholas Payton, and John Legend.

Today, Fuller performs as band leader. His latest, self-titled album dropped on September 16, 2014, and received consistently exceptional praise. All About Jazz says: “Chops, class, and in-the-pocket ensemble playing are all on full display. There’s plenty to marvel at.”

MIKE GURROLABass

Born in Redwood City, California in 1991, bassist Mike Gurrola began his musical journey studying and playing violin in his elementary school orchestra in La Crescenta, California. In his early teenage years, an interest in rock and blues guitar led him to learn guitar on his own at home; meanwhile he had switched from violin to bass in his middle school orchestra.

Gurrola’s interest in jazz developed because of his desire to attend the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts where the school day was split equally between academics and the pursuit of the student’s art. He auditioned successfully on upright bass and began a fruitful period of rapid development in jazz knowledge and skill, while winning group and individual awards at competitions at the Berklee College of Music and Monterey Jazz Festival annual school competitions, including a scholarship to Berklee’s prestigious five-week jazz workshop led by critically acclaimed drummer Terri-Lynne Carrington, and a seat two times as bassist in the Monterey Jazz Festival’s Next Generation Jazz Orchestra, playing at the North Sea and Monterey Jazz festivals, as well as the Kennedy Center.

Gurrola supplemented the opportunities and training he received at LACHSA with private lessons from local jazz bassists and classical lessons at the Colburn School of Music in Los Angeles. In his senior year he was the recipient

of LACHSA’s first Ray Brown Scholarship, which was presented to him by Ray Brown’s widow Cecilia. The scholarship was for lessons with John Clayton, famous jazz bassist and former protégé of Ray Brown. Gurrola continued taking taking lessons from and established a lasting relationship with John Clayton for the following few years.

Gurrola’s professional performing career also began in his high school years when he started going to and playing at jam sessions in Los Angeles clubs at night. Eventually, he began gigging as a side man and leader, making a name for himself on the Los Angeles jazz scene. By the end of high school, he had become so busy as a professional jazz bassist that he opted not to accept scholarships to attend prestigious music conservatories. His professional resume includes playing and/or recording with Eric Reed, Mary Stallings, Jeff Hamilton, Houston Person, Benny Green, Pharaoh Sanders, Harold Mabern, Larry Goldings, Willie Jones III, Joe Farnsworth, Harry Allen, Ralph Moore, Brian Lynch, Jane Monheit, Russell Malone, Kenny Burrell, and many more.

JANIS MANNVocals

Award-winning vocalist Janis Mann is described by critic Andrew Gilbert as “brilliant,” and by critic Don Heckman as “one of the Southland’s finest jazz vocal artists.” Her warm alto voice imbues each choice song she sings with cool but concentrated emotion.

In addition to working with the great Roy McCurdy on three outstanding recording projects, Mann has performed with Diane Schuur, Roy Haynes, Kenny Werner, Terrell Stafford, Dave Frishberg, Jack Sheldon, John Clayton, Eric Reed, the Caribbean Jazz Project, Roberta Gambarini, and many other jazz luminaries.

Mann is based in Los Angeles and performs often in New York, notably at the Blue Note and the Kitano. Her recent touring includes New York, San Francisco, Seattle, and Portland. Her latest CD, Celestial Anomaly with pianist Kenny Werner, followed in the path of her previous two releases by charting at the top of the national jazz radio charts.

JazzTimes writer Christopher Loudon says, “Mann is not only one of the most skilled vocalists around, but one of the most alluring as well.”

RICKEY WOODARDTenor Saxophone

Rickey Woodard is a vibrant and forceful saxophone soloist, his tenor saxophone styling hinting at an affection for the work of Wardell Grey, Dexter Gordon and, especially, Hank Mobley. For all such stylistic mentors, however,



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Woodard is very much his own man and this, allied with his playing skills and an engaging personality, ensures him a continuing welcome at jazz venues at home and abroad. Born in Nashville, Tennessee, his musical travels led him to tour with Ray Charles, joining classic band the Juggernauts and the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, and recording for Concord Records.

Woodard picked up early experience playing in a family band. After studying saxophones under Bill Green and majoring in music at Tennessee State University, from 1980 Woodard spent seven years with the Ray Charles band. Woodard has recorded with Frank Capp, and was also a member of Jeannie and Jimmy Cheatham’s Sweet Baby Blues Band. In 1988, he moved to Los Angeles and then recorded (both as a leader and as a sideman) for Concord Records, has led quartets, and been a member of the Juggernauts and the Cheathams, in addition to making guest appearances. In 1993, he embarked on a series of yearly visits to the Peterborough Jazz Club in England, billed with veteran British jazz musicians such as Dick Morrissey, John Burch, and Tony Archer.

Mostly playing tenor saxophone, he established a solid if localized reputation in the United States before venturing onto the international jazz festival circuit. By the ‘90s Woodard was fast becoming a popular visitor to Europe. Playing alto and soprano saxophones in addition to tenor, he also plays clarinet, flute, and guitar.


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Mongorama is a Latin-jazz ensemble formed by KJazz 88.1 radio personality José Rizo (host of Jazz on the Latin Side). The Grammy-nominated group explores the early Mongo Santamaria charanga-jazz material of the 1950s and early 1960s, and refreshes it with a modern perspective. They recently performed at the Havana International Jazz Plaza Festival in Cuba.

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Maria Schneider Orchestra Tues . Feb . 21 . 2017 . 8 PM

Recipient of two Grammy Awards in 2016, Schneider’s music has been hailed as evocative, majestic, magical, and heart-stoppingly gorgeous. Blurring the lines between genres, Schneider’s long list of commissioners quite varied, from Jazz at Lincoln Center, to the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, to collaborating with David Bowie.


Soka University of America Board of Trustees:Steve Dunham, JD, ChairTariq Hasan, PhD, Vice ChairYoshihisa Baba, PhDMatilda BuckLawrence E. Carter Sr., PhD, DD, DH, DRSMaria Guajardo, PhDClothilde V. Hewlett, JDLawrence A. Hickman, PhD

Soka University of America Administration:Daniel Y. Habuki, PhD, PresidentEdward M. Feasel, PhD, Vice President of Academic Affairs & Dean of FacultyArchibald E. Asawa, Vice President for Finance and Administration & CFOTomoko Takahashi, PhD, Vice President of Institutional Research and Assessment & Dean of Graduate SchoolWendy Harder, MBA, APR, Director of Community RelationsKatherine King, PHR, Director of Human ResourcesHyon J. Moon, EdD, Dean of StudentsAndrew Woolsey, EdD, Director of Enrollment Services

We would like to thank our Board of Trustees and our Administration for their extraordinary support of Soka Performing Arts Center

With deepest gratitude to the donors who made Soka Performing Arts Center possible.

www.performingarts.soka.edu | (949) 480-4278 | [email protected]

Kris Knudsen, JDKaren Lewis, PhDDaniel Nagashima, MBAGene Marie O’Connell, RN, MSDavid P. Roselle, PhDYoshiki TanigawaShunichi Yamada, MBA

Soka Performing Arts Center Staff:David C. Palmer, General ManagerRebecca Pierce Goodman, Marketing and Administrative ManagerShannon Lee Blas, Patron Services ManagerSam Morales, Technical Services ManagerSteve Baker, House Manager; Lindsey Cook, Stage Manager; Marcia Garcia, Production Coordinator; Kay Matsuyama, Sound & Video Technician; Ray Mau, Lighting Technician; May Nakatsuka, Stage TechnicianJim Merod, Director, Jazz Monsters Series and Soka University Jazz FestivalStudents of Soka University of America who serve as patron and technical services crew, as well as marketing assistants. Citizens of Aliso Viejo and surrounding communities who volunteer their service as ushers and hospitality aides.

Our Sponsors and Partners:The Orange County Register, KJazz 88.1, KUSC 91.5, California Presenters, and California Arts Council.

a tribute to roy mccurdy 12 pages - soka university of ... tribute to roy mccurdy roy mccurdy, drums...

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