Remembering Roy Haynes (1925-2024)

Roy Haynes, the last drummer of the Bebop Era, died at the age of 99

On Tuesday, Roy Haynes, the last drummer of the Bebop Era, died at the age of 99. The percussionist played alongside numerous well-known artists, such as Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and John Coltrane.

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Roy Haynes (March 13, 1925, Boston, Massachusetts, United States – November 12, 2024), had the kind of apprenticeship that would be the dream of any modern musician: sitting down in the position of drummer and accompany the great Charlie Parker. Now, fifty years later, and after having played with all the greats of jazz: Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, or Bud Powell, he still places his recordings at the top of the lists of specialized jazz magazines.

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This veteran drummer began his professional career in the big bands of Frankie Newton and Louis Russell (1945-1947) and the next step was playing between 1947 and 1949 with the tenor sax maestro, Lester Young. Between 1949 and 1952, he was part of Charlie Parker’s quintet and from that privileged stool he saw the great figures of bebop pass by and learn from them. He accompanied the singer Sarah Vaughan on the jazz circuits in the United States between 1953 and 1958 and when his work ended he recorded with Thelonious Monk, George Shearing and Lennie Tristano among others and occasionally replaced Elvin Jones in John Coltrane’s quartet.

He participated in directing the Original Soundtrack of the film “Bird” directed by Clint Eastwood in 1988 and still active today, Roy Haynes is a real bomb on stage as we were able to personally see in one of his last concerts held in Spain and more specifically in Seville in 2000. In 1994, Roy Haynes received the Danish Jazzpar award, which is awarded in Denmark. In the late ’90s, Haynes formed a trio with pianist Danilo Pérez and bassist John Pattitucci, and they recorded an album: “The Roy Haynes Trío featuring Danilo Pérez & John Pattitucci”, which appeared on Verve in early 2000. In In 2001 he released his album: Birds of a Feather: A Tribute to Charlie Parker.

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In 2003, Love Letters was released, and in 2004, he released two more albums: “Quite Fires” and “Fountain of Youth.” Apparently the family jazz tradition is guaranteed given that his son, Graham Haynes, is today an excellent cornetist. In the fall of 2000, the members of Apoloybaco were fortunate enough to attend an extraordinary concert by Roy Haynes, within the framework of the University Jazz Festival that year.

Sarah Vaughan with Clifford Brown

Personnel:

Sarah Vaughan – vocals…. Clifford Brown – trumpet…. Paul Quinichette – tenor saxophone…. Herbie Mann – flute…. Jimmy Jones – piano…. Joe Benjamin – bass…. Roy Haynes – drums

Ernie Wilkins – conducto

Recorded – December 18, 1954.

Sarah Vaughan was missing. Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Shirley Horn, Nina Simone and Carmen McRae had already passed through this corner of our album of the month and no more time could pass without the beloved and admired “Sassy” appearing brilliantly in these areas of our recommended albums; the “Divine Sarah”, the jazz singer with the most vocal faculties in history.

The capacity and extension of his register was capable of covering four types of voices: baritone, alto, mezzo-soprano and soprano. But unlike classical music singers, the use and exploitation of her resources did not come from any singing teaching or learning in any conservatory; His school was the great jazz instrumentalists, from Charlie Parker to Dizzy Gillespie, from Miles Davis to Clifford Brown, and the most amazing thing of all is that his voice did not deteriorate over time. Neither alcohol, tobacco nor drugs affected him.

To put it graphically, if in the fifties, the recording date of this album that we recommend, his singing was light and bright like a fine and careful wine, from the sixties his voice was as robust as a brandy of great tradition.

This album that we recommend produces upon hearing it the unmistakable sensation of plenitude, of a rounded album, of a masterpiece of jazz singing as soon as the bars of the first song begin, a definitive version of the wonderful standard “Lullaby of Birdland”, a song that Sarah sang as nobody.

The amazing rapport between the singer and the soloists: Herbie Mann on flute; Paul Quinichette on tenor sax and Clifford Brown on trumpet make sense of the divine adjective with which her colleagues honored her. Before Sarah Vaughan, some singers tried to bring their phrasing closer to that of saxophones and trumpets, but she was the only one who cherished the miracle of merging with them.

In this album, without a doubt one of the great jazz albums of all time, Sarah Vaughan joyfully projects the sonorous column of her voice, doses her warm vibrato at will and swings comfortably in the nuances of a unique vocal timbre. . He plays with time, accents and harmony, and if that were not enough, the accompanists reach a level that is difficult to match on a vocal jazz album.

Although the trumpeter Clifford Brown puts his signature and the legendary seal as soloist in this historic session, both the master of the tenor sax, Paul Quinichette, and the great Herbie Mann on the flute, always find a way to get it right. And if in the winds and brass, the work is extraordinary, in the rhythm the master Roy Haynes’ brushes, and above all the spectacular contribution of the great Jimmy Jones on the piano, are sublime.

Sarah Vaughan reached her peak as a vocalist in the fifties and this album is a masterpiece without a doubt. He was 30 years old when he signed with the Mercury label and his successes were immediate.

His first great album and worthy of being in the recommended album of the month, is his extraordinary “Swingin Easy”, leading a trio that records one of his most accomplished albums in the studio. Then came this album with Clifford Brown on trumpet and from then on his career always oscillated at a very high level of quality.

Even today, to speak in vocal jazz of elegance, vocal mastery and musical technique, is to speak of Sarah Vaughan, a singer who, with a very personal style, marked the path along which the young jazz singers who proliferate in the fields of jazz still walk. Enjoy this beautiful album now that autumn makes the sunsets beautiful.

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