Last night, July 25th, the Lord Rhaburn Jazz Fest was held at the Bliss. My wife and I have been part of every one of these Jazz Fests since they began. Diana couldn’t make it this year because of medical problems, but I did, and you know what the problem is? I got so wired that I would love to do it again tonight, but the economics of music in Belize make that just wishful thinking, not reality!
I came to Belize, my father’s birthplace, at the absolute end of 1970. That’s another story in itself, but at some point I walked into a club date where the late Glenn Bood’s band was working. I asked to sit in and finished the next couple of sets as a “guest artist.”
As soon as the band was done, Glenn grabbed me and said, “Come with me!” He took me to Continental, “The Big C,” where Lord Rhaburn’s band held the home stage! He asked Lord Rhaburn to let me sit in, and that was the beginning of my musical relationships with: Lord Rhaburn, guitarist Chet Solis – one of the best ever, tenor player John “Sparrow” Locario, Pablo Clark, Pete Matthews, Bill Belisle, Harry Shaw, Junie Crawford, etc.
I met my wife Diana on the stage at El Patio on Queen Street. The late Nelson Diamond had his Hammond B3 parked there and held down a weekly gig. Whenever he heard a musician whom he liked, he invited that person to come by and sit in whenever possible. He had given that invitation separately to me and to a young singer by the name of Diana Henkis. I walked in one night. Diana was on stage and the power of her voice, along with the creative interpretation of her songs, just blew me away!
I asked Nelson, “What’s her name?”
He said, “Oh, she’s crazy.”
I said to Nelson, “I didn’t ask you for a f——g psychiatric report. What’s her name?”
Well, going on 34 years later; it’s history! And by the way, she is far from “crazy.” That’s still a tag Belizeans try to put on any creative person whom they can’t understand.
The sad thing about last night is that Belizean jazz musicians, those who live here and of course those who live in the States, are getting way out there, but they are hardly recognized in the country they were born in, nor do they have much of an opportunity to earn a living here! Ronnie Clarke, Pablo Clarke’s son, is beginning to approach monster status on tenor sax! He has studied with the late Bob Berg and with Charles McPherson. This brother is one baaad dude!
I first hooked up with Professor Luciano Rosado 10 years ago in 1998 when he came back to Belize to teach a few classes. He is presently teaching at Northern Illinois University. Ten years ago he was having problems with his lip, the bane of trumpet players. He doesn’t have lip problems now: he is playing his ass off! I’m starting to refer to him as “Lucky Luciano!”
I have listened to Junie Crawford for many years. Junie is now as baaad a keyboard player as anyone, anywhere! I am trying to figure out how we can record together. I was complimenting him on his left-hand bass lines. He said, “C’mon man. You were playing left- hand bass and Jimmy Smith lines almost 40 years ago!” That’s Junie. He is “Mr. Humble.” That part of his personality helps to make him so good. When you begin to realize what you are doing, you realize that all of us are just passing through! None of us owns this music, therefore we all have the responsibility to share it with anyone who seriously cares to learn.
Chris Bradshaw is going abroad to pursue further studies. He has found out that teaching, as important as it is, can make it difficult for you to make progress on your own instrument. The workloads given teachers here will eat you alive! When you get home at the end of a day, you are so tired that practicing is out of the question. Besides, even if you are teaching music at the secondary school level, the students are really primary school students in terms of ability and knowledge.
And now for the singers! When Tanya Carter and Jackie Castillo started to experiment with jazz vocals a few years ago, they were beginners. They are far from beginners now, no longer “girl singers” but young women who are in the process of developing their own styles and preferred choices of songs. There are no “pitch problems” – musicians use the term “intonation” which means playing or singing in tune – any more, and their performances at this show were out there, way out there!
It’s a damn shame that people who were born here, who live here and who are in the process of doing the hard work that is required to become true artists, have to struggle or migrate if they want the opportunities that their efforts justify…
Between the end of the last paragraph and the beginning of this one, Gerald Rhaburn and I had a two-hour conversation. The conversation dealt primarily with our desire that music education could be offered to every Belizean child who is interested and what we could do to make that possible. Our discussion, unfortunately, had to take into consideration the political gamesmanship that seems to affect everything in Belize. As much as I criticize the States, there is one big difference. People like Lord Rhaburn, me, Diana, Luciano Rosado, Ronnie Clarke, Junie Crawford, etc. find it easy to “fly under the radar” over there. Politicians leave us alone because we don’t get involved in their play, which goes for far larger stakes than what we do! Everything you try to do here in Belize is noticed and scrutinized by politicians and if they can’t use you, they screw you regardless of what you could do for the country!
In today’s world, music and art classes are the first to be sacrificed when budgets get tight, as if these skills are the least important. Do you seriously want to reduce crime? Give every child an opportunity to create regardless of family income or supposed social status. Don’t tell us that creativity is meaningless. If you don’t believe it, let’s debate these issues on radio and TV, if you dare!
When I signed on to this gig, I hadn’t picked up my horn for 7 months! The reason? Diana needs a keyboard player, not a horn player. I did voice a bit of concern, but she told me, “You have been studying music since you were 5, playing horn since you were 13 and besides, all that midnight oil that you have been burning on the keyboard will translate over to the horn.” Guess what, she was right again.
Richard Exall, a baaad ass tenor sax man from England who made several appearances here when Caesar’s Place was in its heyday with Mango Jam, had a number of conversations with me about practice and progress. There was this brief glorious period in my distant youth where for one year, I practiced 8 hours a day, gigged six nights per week and brought in the morning sunrise at after hours New York City jazz clubs. He had similar experiences in London, but like me, has never been able to put in those kinds of hours again. Can anyone say, “Raising a family?” He firmly believes that what each of us learned in those all too brief periods of complete concentration has served us well up to the present time. Today he works as a full time horn player but 95% of those gigs are reading charts as part of horn sections in the London musical theater world. He gets about one jazz gig a month and has to make the most of it.
Not every person wants to be a master musician, painter, sculptor, designer, writer, poet etc., but everyone should have the opportunity if that’s where they want to go. Some people are satisfied to appreciate art: to others, 24 hours per day to create isn’t enough time. Gerald “Lord” Rhaburn is no longer just the leader of some of the best bands Belize has ever produced; he is now a visionary who will do everything he can to open up opportunities for young Belizeans. He has no political agenda; neither do I! We have a musical and creative agenda. So be it!