A Scholarship Concert Changed His Mind

Hamiet Bluiett, the musically named, New York-based baritone saxophonist best known as the anchor of the World Saxophone Quartet, admits he never had much respect for the West Coast jazz scene. “I had been to L.A.,” he says in a phone call from his Manhattan apartment. “I didn’t like anything that I heard. I didn’t think the musicians could really hit.”

But he changed his mind after turning up at last year’s Thurman Green Scholarship Jazz Concert, held at the Musicians Union in Hollywood. Bluiett was a longtime friend of the event’s namesake, who died in 1997, and had produced the trombonist’s last album, “Dance of the Night Creatures,” for Mapleshade Records.

His connection with Green, which stretched back to their days together at the Naval School of Music in 1961, drew Bluiett to Los Angeles to join in the fund-raiser.

And when he heard the local musicians in action, he changed his opinion. “These musicians were really soulful, really commanding,” says the WSQ founding member. “It felt so good. The Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra with people like Snooky Young--they were fabulous. Teddy Edwards, playing that down-home blues, he was fabulous. The Hispanic jazz bands were fabulous. I was thrilled to hear all of them.”

So thrilled was Bluiett that he’s returning for this year’s edition of the scholarship fund-raiser, to be held on the afternoon of Aug. 6, again at the Musicians Union. He’ll appear with pianist Lanny Hartley, who was also at the Naval School during Green and Bluiett’s tenure.

Also on board for this year’s performance is flutist James Newton and, in a nod to Green’s spiritual side, the Up Choir from Della Reese’s the Understanding Principles of Better Living Church.

“When I first heard I’d be working with Lanny and James,” Bluiett says, “I said, ‘They’ve got as many sides of Thurman’s personality together as possible--everything but a choir.’ Thurman was a very devoted person. And gospel music is making a big comeback. The separation is over. Jazz is coming back to the church and the church is coming back to jazz. Having a choir makes it perfect.”

Born in 1940, Bluiett grew up near East St. Louis, Ill., taking up the piano at age 4 and the clarinet a few years later. He discovered the baritone at 10 but didn’t begin playing it until he was 18. “When I first saw it, I had to ask somebody what it was. I just fell in love with the look of it,” he said.

After a stint with the Navy, Bluiett returned to St. Louis, where he was involved with a circle of musicians that included Joseph and Lester Bowie and future World Saxophone Quartet mates Oliver Lake and Julius Hemphill.

“It’s very important [to your musical development] that you be involved with other musicians,” he said. “In my day, guys grew up together, bands competed, there was rivalry. I had teachers who played with Billie Holiday and Count Basie and stayed close to the music. Great artists like Dinah Washington and Louis Armstrong came to our school. Today, kids don’t always have that kind of opportunity. There’s less community, less interest in the arts, and some of the promising musicians fall between the cracks.”

In the late ‘60s, Bluiett moved to New York and began to work with saxophonist Sam Rivers and, in 1972, with bassist Charles Mingus. His bandmates in the Mingus aggregation included such irrepressible personalities as pianist Don Pullen, saxophonist George Adams and drummer Dannie Richmond. In 1976, Bluiett joined with Hemphill, Lake and David Murray in what was to become the World Saxophone Quartet.

Bluiett says the WSQ, now including saxophonist John Purcell in place of the late Hemphill, is gearing up for a big push in 2001 with a new album on Justin Time records scheduled for the end of this year. In addition, Bluiett continues to lead his own groups, currently with emerging pianist D.D. Jackson.

Other recent Bluiett projects include his trio paying tribute to Nat Cole on the album “Makin’ Whoopee,” and his ambitious Baritone Nation ensemble that includes saxophonist James Carter.

Of the WSQ, one of the most respected and innovative ensembles of the last two decades, Bluiett says, “We’ve spent the last three or four years reinventing ourselves, working on our acoustic sound. Purcell is playing the saxello [a variation of the soprano saxophone dating to the 1920s] and I’m playing an 80-year-old baritone to get the sounds of our past. These are the Stradivariuses of horns. Now we’ve got the future and the past wrapped in one.”

* Hamiet Bluiett along with the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, the Buddy Childers Big Band, Billy Higgins, the Bobby Rodriguez Latin Jazz Group, Bonesoir and others appear at the Thurman Green Scholarship Jazz Concert, Musicians Union, 817 N. Vine St., Hollywood; Aug. 6, 2-7 p.m. (310) 636-7571, (323) 993-3171.

*

More Scholarships: The 10th annual Scholarship Awards Banquet and Concert of Dr. Art Davis’ nonprofit organization BASS (Better Advantages for Students & Society) includes appearances from saxophonist Charles Owens, L.A. Philharmonic pianist Zita Carno (whose jazz jams with bassist Davis are always a highlight of the event), composer, pianist and humorist Steve Allen and others. The event will be held Aug. 6 at Gustaf Anders Restaurant in Santa Ana. BASS gives scholarships to deserving students from a variety of musical and nonmusical fields of study. Information: (949) 646-1177.

Knit Update: Been holding your breath for the opening of the oft-delayed Los Angeles Knitting Factory? Responding to various rumors circulating about the club, Knitting Factory chief Michael Dorf, in a phone call from New York, says that after a “two-month hiccup,” the facility will open its doors for the first time Aug. 12 to host a private event for the Democratic National Convention. “We will have concerts in the month of August,” Dorf declares, “and some kind of grand opening event in September.” Stay tuned.

Book Signing: Buddy Collette will sign copies of his new book, “Jazz Generations: A Life in American Music and Society” (Continuum), on Sunday, noon to 2 p.m., at Lucy Florence Coffee House, 4305 Degnan Blvd., Liemert Park. Information: (323) 293-2395.