TERRY GROSS, HOST:
This is FRESH AIR. We're going to remember drummer Roy Haynes. He died November 12 at the age of 99. He was one of the most in-demand drummers in jazz, working with Lester Young, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, Stan Getz, and Sarah Vaughan, and many others before he turned 30. And later with Gary Burton, Chick Corea, and Pat Metheny. Jazz historian Kevin Whitehead calls him a powerhouse who liked to prod his fellow players.
(SOUNDBITE OF STAN GETZ'S "I'M LATE, I'M LATE")
KEVIN WHITEHEAD, BYLINE: Drummer Roy Haynes with saxophonist Stan Getz in 1961. Haynes was on one of his several hot streaks in the early '60s, enlivening a few classic records with drum intros that grabbed your attention and sparked the action. Here's Roy Haynes kicking off a tune by Oliver Nelson.
(SOUNDBITE OF OLIVER NELSON'S "CASCADES")
WHITEHEAD: And one by pianist Andrew Hill.
(SOUNDBITE OF ANDREW HILL'S "LAND OF NOD")
WHITEHEAD: And one more - Eric Dolphy's "G.W."
(SOUNDBITE OF ERIC DOLPHY'S "G.W.")
WHITEHEAD: Behind the drums, Roy Haynes displayed power and intelligence. He was a quick and highly interactive listener who knew when to support a soloist and when to provoke them. He grew up in Boston, picking up the sticks around age 7, and started playing professionally before he even had a full drum set. His parents were from Barbados, and a variety of Anglo and Latino Caribbean rhythms would inform his phrasing.
On a 1951 Charlie Parker record date with a Latin flavor, Haynes on drum set seamlessly blends with Afro-Cuban conga and bongo players. Then swings and straight jazz time on his own, moving easily from one groove to the other.
(SOUNDBITE OF CHARLIE PARKER'S "WHY DO I LOVE YOU")
WHITEHEAD: You can often spy syncopated Afro-Cuban beats in Roy Haynes' music as on a 1959 version of "Caravan" with pianist Phineas Newborn's trio.
(SOUNDBITE OF PHINEAS NEWBORN JR'S "CARAVAN")
WHITEHEAD: Roy Haynes had moved to New York as World War II ended, soaking up the music uptown and down. He landed a choice two-year gig with saxophonist Lester Young in 1947, and by the early '50s, leaders were vying for his services. Haynes left Miles Davis to join Charlie Parker. He did a season backing Ella Fitzgerald, then five years with the even more acrobatic singer, Sarah Vaughan. IDing the members of her trio on stage, Vaughan took to giving him an introduction fans would echo ever after.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SHULIE A BOP")
SARAH VAUGHAN: Roy Haynes. (Scatting).
WHITEHEAD: He liked smart clothes, fast cars and staying in shape. Roy Haynes prided himself on his fluid beat. He wasn't one for practicing the rudimental exercises drum students learn early. Like other heavy swingers at the drums, he'd give two-beat patterns a triplety three-beat feel for tumbling headlong momentum. Haynes could be crafty, playing behind Thelonious Monk live in 1958 - sometimes matching the piano's intransigence with a bit of his own.
(SOUNDBITE OF THELONIOUS MONK QUARTET'S "EVIDENCE")
WHITEHEAD: In the early '60s, Roy Haynes subbed in John Coltrane's quartet when Elvin Jones was unavailable. A few years later, he connected with a young pianist whose father he'd known in Boston - Chick Corea. His trio album, "Now He Sings, Now He Sobs," with Miroslav Vitous on bass, was an instant classic that'd spawn a few sequels. Check out Roy Haynes' creative work on cymbals, hi-hat and snare drum on "Matrix." He's a sleek, modern designer in sound.
(SOUNDBITE OF CHICK COREA'S "MATRIX")
WHITEHEAD: Roy Haynes at age 43, 1968. In the '70s, jazz got louder and he bashed a bit more, joking later that his sticks resembled baseball bats.
(SOUNDBITE OF ROY HAYNES' "EQUIPOISE")
WHITEHEAD: By the 1990s, Roy Haynes was a widely respected jazz elder known for his unfailing good taste. He was choosy about who he recorded with - not just anyone who had the money. Besides leading his own bands, he'd reunite with former comrades like Chick Corea, Sonny Rollins and Pat Metheny and connect with young bloods like Christian McBride, Joshua Redman and Roy Hargrove. In the new century, Haynes assembled a so-called Fountain of Youth band, which featured a series of up-and-coming players. That band's last release session comes from 2011, when Roy Haynes was 86 - capping a 65-year recording career studded with more jazz classics than we have time to even hint at. He was a heavy hitter whose limber beat could lift a bandstand.
(SOUNDBITE OF ROY HAYNES' "GRAND STREET")
GROSS: Kevin Whitehead is the author of "Play The Way You Feel: The Essential Guide To Jazz Stories On Film," "Why Jazz?" and "New Dutch Swing," which has just been reissued. Tomorrow on FRESH AIR, for Thanksgiving Day, we feature one of our favorite interviews of the year, with the beloved cellist Yo-Yo Ma. He brought his cello to the interview and played music that's inspired him from his childhood to today. I hope you'll join us. Our technical director is Audrey Bentham. Our engineer is Adam Staniszewski. Our digital media producers are Molly Seavy-Nesper and Sabrina Siewert. Thea Chaloner directed today's show. Our co-host is Tonya Mosley. I'm Terry Gross. All of us at FRESH AIR wish you a Happy Thanksgiving.
(SOUNDBITE OF ROY HAYNES' "GRAND STREET") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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