Courtesy of Steve Turre
Photo By John Spragens, Jr.







Telarc

A FIRESIDE CHAT WITH STEVE TURRE


I am not a big fan of the recent Saturday Night Live casts. Ever since Eddie Murphy left and along with his departure, a lack of edgy comedy, I rarely watch. After all, in Los Angeles, the Howard Stern Show is on a competing network and who doesn't enjoy a good dwarf tossing or a segment of Who Wants to Be a Turkish Millionaire? But I catch myself every now and then switching over to SNL, not for the Tim Meadow's boring Ladies Man skit or the slightly interesting Weekend Updates, but to see a glimpse of trombonist Steve Turre (and Chris Kattan, who is hilarious). The bone man has been in the background of the SNL band for as long as I can remember and although it isn't what I would call a musically challenging gig, it affords Turre the luxury of being able to have the financial comfort to do what he wants as an artist. I think it was a steal for Telarc to have signed Turre after the whole Verve restructuring, because the trombonist has skills to spare. Just take a look at who guests on his new Telarc release (Ray Charles, Chucho Valdes). Turre sat down with me from his home to speak about his time on SNL, his new album, and his days as one of this music's finest bone men, as always, unedited and in his own words.


FRED JUNG: Let's start from the beginning.

STEVE TURRE: Well, I started playing the trombone in the school band in grade school. I started improvising in the school jazz band in junior high school and that is also when I started taking gigs in junior high, doing little dances and stuff like that around town and earning my little change. And of course, I played in high school. I'm originally from California. I went to the state of California's All-State Honor Band. I was just looking through some old records here and I just pulled up the record that the honor is on. It just came up as I said that, so it's funny (laughing). Anyway, my first big gig was with Ray Charles in '72 and it just goes on and on.


FJ: Let's touch on your time with Ray Charles.

STEVE TURRE: Oh, man, Fred, Ray is deep. You can't just pick one thing. It is the experience of being there night after night and playing with him and hearing him sing and play and you realize the technique serves the music. The music is first. It is not just about the technique. It is about the feeling and the music comes from the feeling and the technique is there to serve the feeling, rather than the other way around, and rhythm, the groove, being the in the pocket, the feeling in the pocket, and the blues, these are the things that really stuck with me from the experience of playing with Ray.


FJ: And your time with Rahsaan Roland Kirk.

STEVE TURRE: I played with him since I was eighteen, even before I played with Ray, but I didn't go on the road with him. It was just when he would come through San Francisco. I would work with him in the local clubs.


FJ: Here is a musician that was initially referred to as gimmickry or as a novelty act, and never received the respect or recognition he rightfully deserved until well after his death.

STEVE TURRE: Well, that is just the way life is. It didn't bother me. I knew what he was doing and I appreciated it. To me, he is still the greatest.


FJ: People are jumping on the bandwagon now.

STEVE TURRE: Yeah, they are starting to realize that he wasn't joking. And it wasn't just some gimmick he was doing to attract attention. He was blind. He didn't learn that stuff in the school. Nobody told him he couldn't do it. He just heard it and tried it and it started to happen and so he went with it. He was so creative and so diverse. He played the full spectrum of music that a lot people couldn't envision themselves being that awe-encompassing. They couldn't handle it (laughing).


FJ: Rahsaan was the one who introduced you to shells and you have included them into your repertoire since.

STEVE TURRE: Well, interestingly enough, after I played with Rahsaan, Rahsaan had a shell and he would just blow one note and he would do that circular breathing thing and it would just mesmerize the audience. And after the gig I asked him could I try, and he said, "Yeah." So I blew the shell and oh, man it got to me. I said, "Oh, man, I like this. Something happening with this." So I went out and got one and that was 1970, and then I just started experimenting with it and one thing lead to another. Over the years, especially when I play with Latin music, the shell and the hand drum had a real connection. Playing for people dancing is when the shells really came together. It is something that happened gradually. Playing for people dancing, rather than just going into the practice room and trying to figure out something to be different. That wasn't the motivation. At first, I was a little shy about it. But then, it came on in and I decided that I was going to do it and fortunately, everybody liked it.


FJ: How does one play shells in comparison to another brass instrument?

STEVE TURRE: Well, it is the same ombisure. You bunch your lips in it, just like a brass instrument. It is the roots of a brass instrument. I put my hand in it and it lowers the pitch. Basically, that is it. And then I get overtones. I get an overtone.


FJ: How about that Woody Shaw?

STEVE TURRE: Oh, man. I'm going to stick my neck out a little bit here, Fred. Some of my best friends have played on my records and I do love them and respect them, but I will have to say that I don't feel that I have heard any innovators on a trumpet since Woody Shaw. Now, there is a difference between being an innovator and a master, even a grandmaster. That means you master your instrument and you've mastered the music. An innovator is somebody that's created a new language. Woody has his own language. I haven't heard any innovators on the instrument since Woody Shaw. The history will tell. Obviously, somebody will come along , but as of now, for my ears, I haven't heard any innovators.


FJ: And someone who you have been collaborating quite extensively over the years, McCoy Tyner.

STEVE TURRE: Oh, well, McCoy is a spiritual force. He's a power in the music. It is obvious to me why Coltrane had him there. Before you know you are playing things that you didn't know you could play. He just draws it out of you. There is a couple of others though that I really want to mention. Art Blakey brought me to New York. He brought me to New York. Playing with him was school. That was university. That was the deep one. That was about swinging. That was about can you really hit? I don't know about hit hard, but it ain't no cocktail jazz. I'm talking about get down! You had the play the changes and all that stuff. There was another person that really touched me was working with Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Big Band. That was an incredible big band. I've never experienced anything like it since. Not only Thad's writing and everything, but I had the good fortune of sitting next to Quentin "Brother" Jackson and he's the one who showed me the Ellington approach to the plunger.


FJ: Having played with the legends of the music, what makes a player great?

STEVE TURRE: I guess anybody that is uninhibited enough can put their spirit in the room, but then having something to say (laughing). It has to be something that is going to heal people and bring them to another level of, you know, Fred, the one thing about jazz music that really attracted me in the beginning and still attracts me is it is kind of the original world music. It combined African and European music and when jazz is played right, it makes everybody feel good and it brings people together, all people. I think that is one beautiful thing about music, is that it brings people together. If people had that attitude to deal with politics in the world, I think this world would be a better place.


FJ: Let's talk about your self-titled album for Verve.

STEVE TURRE: Oh, Steve Turre, well, it has been about three years, four years, something like that. For me, it was a phenomenal experience, making the record because I got to stand next to J. J. Johnson (laughing), who was my guest on the album, but he stood right next to me while we recorded it. To just work with him, that was school there. That was grad school. That was my Ph.D. there, playing with J. J. Playing with Art Blakey, that was my bachelors and playing with McCoy and Dizzy, we forgot to talk about Dizzy, and Woody, that was the masters and J. J., that was the Ph.D. (laughing).


FJ: And your latest release on Telarc Jazz, In the Spur of the Moment. You play with three different rhythm sections, one with Ray Charles, one with Jack DeJohnette, and one with Chucho Valdes.

STEVE TURRE: Well, it is different sides of my personality because I don't play one way. In fact, all the people that I've really played with have been diverse in their whole outlook. Ray, obviously doesn't play one way. Rahsaan certainly didn't and McCoy doesn't either. I just did the Latin Jazz All-Stars with McCoy. That's me. I play a lot of different ways. It was just an expression of my musical personality in the quartet format. There is one rhythm section that I had lined up, but we ran out of budget and so I didn't get to do it and the record is long enough as it is, so maybe it's a future project. But I had Cecil Taylor, Reggie Workman, and Andrew Cyrille lined up. I ran out of bread. I used to play with Lester Bowie and the Art Ensemble and all them cats too. But I don't want to stay in just one area. I don't like to be pigeonholed. Well, you're a avant-garde, you're a Latin. I play music.


FJ: Your younger brother Peter plays drums on the album.

STEVE TURRE: Yeah, he plays drums with Ray. That was fun. That was the first time we played together. He's ten years younger than me. That was great and he did a good job too. I was really proud of him. He's my little brother. Peter Washington played his ass off. He played his behind off. Excuse me, I am washing my hands. Both Peters did a great job. They locked up too. They really had a tight groove. And it is three different feelings. Each rhythm section is dramatically different. I like that. It stretches me different ways and draws different qualities out of my playing, and my phrasing, and my timbres. It is just keeping myself interested in exploring what is out there. I like to be stimulated. It makes me grow. I don't want to just play one way. You kind of get stuck in a rut. You get comfortable. I've got to keep growing. I have to keep my juices flowing. You've got to take some chances and explore different territories. I like that spur of the moment vibe. That is why I called the album that.


FJ: How many years have you been a member of the SNL Band?

STEVE TURRE: Fifteen years. I get paid good money for doing little funk beats. That is all I got to do. I get more money doing that than playing with Dizzy. That is a statement about America right there. What is that? You make more money than any other instrumentalist in history including John Coltrane and Charlie Parker, you know, come on, give me a break! You know what is interesting, Fred. I've got to tell you this. I went to Cuba to the jazz festival in Havana. Because of the embargo, economically, they're struggling, but there is something about the culture down there. They give people respect because they are producing something that has quality and it's real. They give it up to people that create. Where in America, quality and creativity don't mean nothing. What matters is how much money you generate for some corporation. If as an artists, you generate big bucks, than you get respect. It is not necessarily about the quality or depth or real artistic integrity of what you are doing. Rahsaan is a perfect example of this. I think America got to get that together.


FJ: So where do you find motivation these days?

STEVE TURRE: Something real. I like groove. I like to groove too. I like music that's got rhythm. I like indigenous music. I like music that is created from people's spirits, the expression of their culture, rather than something that was created for the purpose of making money, just as a commodity. What they call smooth jazz, that is not on my agenda. Smooth jazz is really instrumental pop. They don't need to really have the word jazz is it. They used to call it instrumental pop. Now, they call it smooth jazz. If you like it, fine, but it ain't jazz.


Fred Jung is the Editor-In-Chief and the father of Britney's baby. Comments? Email Him.