Musicians - Wardell Gray

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	Musicians - Wardell Gray

Wardell Gray (1921-1955) was one of the foremost jazz tenor saxophone players of his generation.

He possessed a highly fertile imagination which enabled him to produce an unceasing flow of ideas, expressed with a beautiful light tone; his relaxed style generated enormous swing. He straddled both the swing and the bebop eras and, while heavily influenced by Lester Young, was able to absorb the influence of Charlie Parker without fundamentally altering his style. At his best in a jam session context where he was able to stretch out in extended solos, his finest recordings were made in California in the late 1940s. In addition, he read widely and had many interests beyond jazz; because of the maturity of his outlook and the sound advice he was able to give, he was greatly respected by his fellow musicians. Wardell was a marvellous musician who, although definitely not forgotten, has been unduly neglected as a result of his early death in 1955 at the age of only 34.

Biography

Wardell Gray was born in Oklahoma City on 13 February 1921, the youngest of four children. His early childhood years were spent there but in common with so many others at this time, his family moved north in search of work and a better life. In 1929 they settled in Detroit.

In early 1935, Wardell started attending Northeastern High School but, the following year, he transferred to Cass Technical High School, deservedly famous for the number of jazz musicians that it produced; amongst others, Donald Byrd, Lucky Thompson and Al McKibbon were alumni. However it was less the quality of teaching than the high standards demanded of pupils before they were admitted to the Music Department, and the wide range of instruments that students needed to study, which made it so effective. Wardell's school records do not show him to have been a particularly assiduous pupil, and he left in 1936 without graduating: he had realised very quickly that it was jazz that he wanted to play. Advised by Junior Warren, his brother in law and a noted Detroit musician, he started on the clarinet, but when he heard Lester Young on record with Count Basie, he was inspired to switch to the tenor saxophone.

His first musical job was in Isaac Goodwin's little band, a part-time outfit that played local dances. When auditioning for another job, he was heard by Dorothy Patton, a young pianist who was forming a band in the Fraternal Club up in Flint, Michigan, and she hired him. After a very happy year there, he moved to Jimmy Raschel's band (Raschel had recorded a few sides earlier in the 1930s but did not do so again) and then on to the Benny Carew band in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It was at around this time that he met Jeanne Goings; together they had a daughter, Anita, who was born in January 1941.

Wardell's next move was to return to Detroit. In 1940, Stack Walton handed over leadership of the house band at the Congo Club to Johnny Allen, with Wardell taking his tenor chair. The Congo Club, in Detroit's main black entertainment area, was a popular night spot with a well-regarded band which, at one time or another, included such fine musicians as Howard McGhee and Teddy Edwards.

Just up the road from the Congo was the Three Sixes; in the chorus line was Jeri Walker, a young dancer from New Jersey. Wardell and Jeanne were splitting up, and he and Jeri were soon together. Jeri knew Earl Hines, and when the Hines band came through Detroit in late 1943, she persuaded Earl to hire Wardell - on alto, since there was no tenor vacancy at the time.

This was a big break, as the Hines orchestra was not only nationally-known, but it had also acted recently as a nursery for some of the emerging bebop musicians, including Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. Although most of these had left by the time Wardell joined, playing with the Hines band was still a marvellously lively and stimulating experience for the young Wardell. They toured all over the USA, and it was when they were in California that Wardell met Dorothy Duvall: they were immediately attracted to each other. Dorothy was married but, although the marriage was on the point of collapse, an unfortunate intervention by a 'friend' led Wardell to believe that this was not so, and he returned to Jeri; they were married in Chicago in September 1945.

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