Keeping One Beat Ahead of Tragedy

On the same June day that MARCUS CAMPBELL, 17, had a dream come true--to play drums alongside legendary jazz vibraphonist Lionel Hampton--his world came crashing down around him. His father, Andrew Campbell Jr., fatally stabbed Marcus’ mother, Yolanda Haynie Campbell, and then was killed by police when he tried to escape by commandeering a patrol car and ramming it into another police car. Marcus is about to start his senior year at George Washington Preparatory High School, where he is a member of the nationally recognized jazz band. He spoke with MAKI BECKER about his passion for jazz, how music has helped him cope with tragedy and his aspirations for the future.

I have been playing drums for 13 years, jazz for two years. Certain kids are able to practice at home and have a drum set or studio but I wasn’t that fortunate. I had nothing to practice on. So what I did, I’d either beat on my leg or get a pillow or something.

I actually like old-time jazz. The old time’s got that dom-dom-dom--the bass sound. With the modern, you get all the tricky stuff. I’m an old-time fellow.

It’s something about hearing that bass, that acoustic bass in your ear. It gives me a feeling of relaxation. It gives me a real feeling, not exactly spiritual.

I wanted to get to know more about our [African American] history. By playing jazz, I’m sort of carrying on the torch. I really take jazz seriously. It’s not something to just go play. I feel it. I really feel the jazz. I feel energized by it. I close my eyes when I play sometimes. It’s like I am jazz. It’s like I’m a part of it.

I used to live with my mom and dad. My dad was out of my life for 13 years. We went back to him because my mother wanted me to have a father figure. I had a real bad situation with them, not as far as me being bad, but as far as my dad really beating on me, stealing from me. Not just money, either--clothes and materials. And not just from me but from the rest of the family. He’d take it to the pawn shop, but he’d say we were robbed. But we all knew that he did steal from us. He used to beat my sister with a weight belt. It was just horrible.

But all this time, my mom was behind me and my jazz 100%. She said go ahead and do it. But I couldn’t really focus on my music. I couldn’t practice. I needed to go and move out.

So one day, after my dad beat me I went to school and told police and they took care of him. That’s when I started living with my grandmother.

The day that my mom and father died was the day that I played with Lionel Hampton. I found out [about the deaths] the day after the incident. A whole day. It happened Sunday morning. That was when he stabbed her. He got killed at 11 in the morning.

On Monday, I was told to come to the [school principal’s] office and we went straight home. They didn’t tell me what had happened. I kept thinking that my mom had been in an accident. I kept thinking, “My mom, my mom, my mom.” And lo and behold, they said my dad killed her and he was dead, too. My auntie told me.

It makes me angry that she died alone. All that time her family not being contacted. We were not contacted until the next day. It’s just real hard.

My mom. That was everything. At least I have my grandmother. She’s been helping me through it. Every now and then we pray.

But each time I play now, I play better and better because I’m doing it for my mom. I have to try and be the best for my mom. I know I’m doing the best I can do. She is my goal. She is the one. I know she is telling me, “You can do it.” I don’t want to let her down. I want her to know that when she left this Earth she didn’t leave a loser, that she left a winner, a striver, a leader. When I played at the Playboy Jazz Festival, I played for my mother.

My goal is to do much better than perfect in my school and my grades. I want to graduate and have the opportunity to go to a four-year college. I want to go to UC Berkeley. They have a real good program. Maybe I’ll go to Cal State Northridge now and later on go to Berkeley or Berklee College of Music in Boston. But going out of state, that’s going to cost a lot of money. I want to pursue a music career. Or be a chef; I’m a really good cook. I know how to cook Chicken Divine. I know how to make soul food. I can bake too--German chocolate cake, carrot cake, banana bread, rolls and biscuits and waffles.

My mother said, “You can’t always depend on a woman to cook for you. You need to learn how to cook for yourself.”

If I were to give advice to people in the same situation as me, I’d say never give up. Always seek the stars. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do it. Anybody that has an incident like this, use it as a stepping stone to get to a higher step. If you strive and you are determined to do something, then you can do it. Just never give up. If anything comes in your way, anything blocks you, step over it. Nothing can stop you if you have a strong mind.

I used to think that I couldn’t do certain things. I know that I can do it because after what I’ve been through, I don’t sit around the house and mope. I think my mom would like it that way. I have the talent to get higher so I’m going to keep striving. I have learned to bypass any negative remarks and bad situations. That’s what I’ve learned.