Saga of the Book Tour
Part 2
Sophisticated Giant: The Life and Legacy of Dexter Gordon
January-March 2019
On January 17, 2019, I did a tv interview with Bob Herbert on his Op-Ed program on CUNY TV. Bob Herbert is the former columnist for the New York Times and an influential journalist and a jazz fan. The show went very well, and he had really done a close reading of the book and asked great questions. Thank you, Bob.
https://youtu.be/_wvr7rs444U CUNY OpEd
On January 25, 2019, I went to Hyannis to the Cape Code Writers Center where my Goddaughter Alyssa is on the Board. Nepotism at work there. I did an interview with teacher and author, Mick Carlon, author of Riding on Duke’s Train, Travels with Louis, and Girl Singer. I had met Mick at SatchmoFest in New Orleans and the interview was very good and I got to eat some fresh fish on the Cape and visit with Alyssa and Mark. 506 miles round trip.
https://youtu.be/ii2of8-JRBw Books and the World
Cape Cod, Massachusetts
On February 2, 2019, Cam Scott and I went to Bethany Baptist Church in Newark, NJ for the Book Club meeting there. My friend and brother, Obery Hendricks met us there to discuss the book along with Wayne Winborne, director of the Institute of Jazz Studies. The legendary Dorthaan Kirk organized the event. The members of the Book Club had read the book and they had very good questions and comments. They also served snacks and drinks which always makes the events even better. After the Book Club, we went upstairs to the chapel for a concert by Oliver Lake and his group, followed by more food served by the church. Any chance to go to Newark and see old friends makes for a very good day. Thank you Dorthaan, thank you Obery, thank you Wayne. 28 miles round trip.
On February 5, 2019, Sybil Cooksey, a friend and Professor at NYU, organized a book event with Danny Dawson and Brent Edwards discussing the book. I really didn’t have to do too much because Danny and Brent are so smart and so ready at all times and all I had to do was to show up. I met Sybil when we were graduate students together at NYU and now, she is a Professor there. I took so many classes at Columbia University with Brent Edwards that one day he said, “Don’t’ come back to campus until you finish your book.” That was very good advice. I like to think that I audited more classes than any other graduate student. I learned so much from the brilliant Brent Edwards. After the talk, he gave me a gift, wrapped in beautiful paper with a ribbon. He said he had been holding onto it for 10 years waiting for the book to be published. It was a recording of the Jazz Party at the White House in 1978 with Dexter and so many other great musicians, many of whom had passed since then. Danny Dawson is my friend and one of the foremost scholars on African religions, Brazil, Black photographers, and more. We have traveled to Yale together and he introduced me to Professor Robert Farris Thompson which, as many know, is a life changing experience. After the talk, we went to a very good restaurant and laughed about how our lives intertwine over the years. It was a memorable night. Thank you Sybil, Brent,and Danny.
Gallatin School, NYU
On February 6, 2019, I went to Pittsburgh, Pa, to have a book talk at City of Asylum. Please check out this remarkable organization. https://cityofasylum.org
“City of Asylum creates a thriving community for writers, readers, and neighbors. We provide sanctuary to endangered literary writers, so that they can continue to write and their voices are not silenced. We offer a broad range of literary programs in a variety of community settings to encourage cross-cultural exchange. We anchor neighborhood economic development by transforming blighted properties into homes for these programs and energizing public spaces through public art with text-based components.”
I stayed in one of the lovely homes set aside for endangered writers. The book talk with artist, activist Alisha Wormsley https://alishabwormsley.com who I first met in New York when she worked for the Romare Bearden Foundation. City of Asylum is a place where people love writers and books and have created a community that should be the model for so many other cities and towns. They also have a very good restaurant and bookshop and the audience was so knowledgeable and supportive of the book. Thank you, City of Asylum, thank you Alisha.
City of Asylum, Pittsburgh, PA
On February 7, 2019, I gave a talk at the Hillman Library at University of Pittsburgh with the fabulous David Grinnell, coordinator of archives and manuscripts at the University. I first met David when I received a research grant for the Erroll Garner/Martha Glaser Collection. Ed Galloway of the Library Collections said, at that time, that I should come back when my book was published to talk about it. Some people keep a promise and these great people are on that list. I love to go to Pittsburgh and visit the Carnegie Museum. On this trip, I met the artist Thaddeus Mosley. He knows more about Jazz history in Pittsburgh than anyone and is a world-famous sculptor and now a very good friend. https://karmakarma.org/artists/thaddeus-mosley/bio/ Roundtrip, 740 miles.
On February 11, 2019, I had a talk at the Langston Hughes Library in Corona, Queens (long before the virus of the same name made New York change forever). Ricky Riccardi, the undisputed genius Louis Armstrong expert, came there to discuss the book and help play music from Dexter’s period with Pops. My Queens friends showed up and the discussion was lively. I always like to have a book talk in a Library because that’s how I was able to write the book. Librarians are my heroes always. They always find things that are hidden from sight and help researchers like me find items that they had no idea were there. Before the talk, I visited the Louis Armstrong Collection at Queens College. I am forever grateful to Ricky Riccardi for his help with the Pops section of the book which he does in the spirit of Louis Armstrong. For the love of Pops. Roundtrip, 21 miles.
On February 14, 2019, Bob O’Meally organized one of his over the top, bring in the best musicians, have great food and wine, have the best speakers, get a grand piano, events at Columbia University. When Bob has an idea, just get out of his way and do what he wants, or you will be rolled over. Bob always wanted to have an event for the Dexter book and on Valentine’s Day, we surely had a party. He invited George Cables, Dexter’s pianist and my brother, George Cables played My Funny Valentine and spoke about Dexter. The always brilliant Dwight Andrews gave a talk entitled “The Red Thread.” He talked about Dexter being the link from Coleman Hawkins to John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins. I hope he will publish that talk so it can be shared. Tenor saxophonist Salim Washington came from South Africa to play and talk about Dexter’s influence. Farah Jasmine Griffin was her beautiful self, holding it all together and shining her light on the event, as well as her funding from IRAAS I imagine. Yulanda McKenzie organized it all, took care of the food, and the many details that go into an event at Columbia in her inimitable way. It was a raucous and joyful evening. The Jazz Study Group at Columbia is the place I learned how to organize ideas and information about Jazz into a form that became the Dexter book. I was welcome there long before I was ready, but I have been supported by those great scholars and I remain eternally grateful. Bob O’Meally and I have given talks together in Paris and in Istanbul. I know when he says he wants to do an event that we will be talking about it for years to come. Thank you, Bob.
On February 18, 2019, I was at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, Wyoming. Yes, folks, Laramie, Wyoming. Jazz is alive and well there because the Professor who teaches Jazz Studies there is Ben Markley. He is writing a biography of Cedar Walton and he invited me to the University for a book talk with his students. It was FEBRUARY and I didn’t really think it through. I flew to Denver, Colorado and then took a bus to Laramie. It was 2 degrees. Yes, 2. I saw more than one moose, yes MOOSE, from the bus. The driver said if they get loose, they can knock over the bus.
Ben was very kind and hospitable, and the students were eager to learn but if I ever have an idea like that again, I hope someone with more sense than me will suggest that February is not the right time to go to Wyoming.
From Laramie, I took that same bus back to Denver and then took a flight to Detroit on February 20, 2019. My friend Camille is living there, and she had a book party at her home for me with all the very special Detroit Jazz fans. I had a book talk at the Detroit Public Library with some older Jazz fans who knew everything about Jazz in Detroit and shared some great stories. On February 21, there was a tribute concert at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s BlackBox Theatre and a book talk. Chris Harrington organized it and Kris Johnson performed with students who were swinging and excellent. Detroit is a place I always want to go back to. We have breakfast at the Clique where they make the best grits and biscuits and have the most fabulous staff. There is Gus’ fried chicken in Detroit and Camille’s guest house is like a home away from home. I got to go back to Detroit for the Jazz Festival on Labor Day but that part comes later in the Saga. After so many years on the road, I am always happy to go back to Philly and Detroit. They are real Jazz towns and the people know how to treat a girl from New York. Thank you, Detroit. The New York to Laramie, Wyoming to Detroit, Detroit to Oakland and San Francisco and back to New York is a mini saga within the saga.
From Detroit, I flew to Oakland on February 23, 2019 where I stayed for 10 days. I started out at Mills College in Oakland where I met the President Beth Hillman who does everything that we have all wanted to do and also plays the tenor saxophone. She has become a lifelong friend. That is something that happened on this book tour. I met people who I should have met years ago who seemed as if I had known all my life. I met old friends who joined the tour and were there to sell books, watch my back, find the best restaurants, figure out transportation, and just be there with me because they knew that’s what we do for each other.
Mills College has a tribute to Dexter on his birthday on February 27, 2019, with a great band and a discussion with Ricki Stevenson and other noted Oakland personalities. The event was organized by Pierre Loving who made it a fundraiser for the Mills College Alumnae Committee. When the President of the College sat in with the band, the place went wild. I was also honored with a Proclamation from the Mayor of Oakland organized by Sandra and Kit Floyd. I loved being there and invited myself back which happened. More about that later in the Saga.
On February 28, 2019, I went to the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco with a talk with tenor saxophonist Lyle Link. After the talk, there was a performance by a band from the Oakland Public Conservatory of Music. If you ever have a chance to visit the Museum, please do. They have exceptional exhibitions and the staff is very knowledgeable and welcoming. The event was organized by Robin Bates and Constance Bryan of Maison Noire Americaine. https://maisonnoire.org I had met Robin in Paris and she had the idea for the book talk even before the book was published. Thank you Robin and Constance.
While I was in Oakland, my friend Johnetta and I went to meet the folks at the University of California Press office. They had all been working on the book from the beginning, but it was the first time I met Alex Dahne, Cris Cooke, and my editor Raina Polivka. We had a very pleasant reunion and now I could put a face to the many emails and calls that had been going on for months.
We also went to the Oakland Senior Center for a book talk and to meet some very kind and supportive local people. We had our posse as you can see below. The days in Oakland were full to say the least but we also went to a Vegan Soul restaurant and another very good Black-owned restaurant for fried chicken. I will discuss the fried chicken story at the end of the Saga.
Johnetta, Me, Denise, Ricki, Dedie at the Senior Center
On March 1, 2019, I had a book talk at the legendary Marcus Books, the oldest independent Black-owned bookstore in the country. This family owned bookstore is legendary and I had always wanted to be there. Their original store in San Francisco was in the same location as Jimbo’s Bop City where Dexter hung out and played. Having my book sold at Marcus Books is an honor. Karen Richardson, one of the daughters of the original owners of Marcus Books brought my book to sell at my talk at the African American Museum and Library in Oakland. It is a beautiful library with a great audience of enthusiastic Dexter fans and very smart people. Oakland was unforgettable in every way.
Marcus Books with my West Philly Sister Denise King in the front row and Angela and Gina right behind her
On March 3, 2019, I had a book talk at Piedmont Piano in Oakland. The best part of the event was the appearance of Torben Ulrich and his wife Molly Martin. Torben was Dexter’s very good friend in Copenhagen. http://www.torbenulrich.com/index.htm Torben was a very famous professional tennis player and is the father of Lars Ulrich, drummer with Metallica who is Dexter’s Godson. Torben was very helpful to me in writing about Dexter’s life in Copenhagen and he spoke to the audience at Piedmont Piano on that Sunday about Dexter’s influence on Danish Jazz musicians. A very good local band played and there were books to sell and sign. My time in Oakland was memorable, filled with music, laughs, and friends.
NYC to Wyoming to Detroit to Oakland to NYC, 8,359 miles roundtrip.
On March 10, 2019, I went to Seattle, Washington for two events. First, I gave a talk at Elliott Bay Books, a great independent bookstore and then there was a concert tribute to Dexter and his friend Hadley Caliman at the Royal Room. Ahamefule J. Oluo and I had a discussion about the book and then a very good band performed. Hadley had helped me write the section of the book on the 1950’s, the years Dexter was not going to include in the book because they were so terrible. Hadley helped me understand what was happening with them and drugs and prison in those years and wanted me to tell that story. I am so sorry he never got to see the book, but I remain grateful to him for his help in completing it.
From Seattle, I flew to New Orleans and on March 14, 2019, I had a book talk at Octavia Books with Fred Kasten. Lots of very kind people came out and of course we went to a great restaurant after the event. I never tire of chargrilled oysters and New Orleans is a place I visit every year. The music, the people, the food, the place seem to be its own world. I first went there when my good friend Herman Leonard invited me after 9/11. He was right about how once I went there, I would always want to go back.
The next day, I gave a talk at NOCCA (New Orleans Center for Creative Arts) with students who played Second Balcony Jump in honor of Dexter. They asked some great questions and were inspiring with their talent and enthusiasm for the music. Many of them were already working professionally while still in high school. That’s New Orleans. Loved every moment of the trip. NYC to Seattle to New Orleans to NYC, 6,731 miles.
Café du Monde, New Orleans
On March 19, 2019, I had a book talk at the Performing Arts Division of the New York Public Library. This was a big event for me since I am New York born and had spent years working in the Library in one of their writer’s rooms. The NYPL is a gift to the world and I kept renewing my time there and no one asked when I would finish the book. I love librarians (which I have said before) and libraries and to have a talk at the NYPL was a thrill. As always, friends turned out to support me and make it a great evening.
On March 27, 2019, I took a bus to Princeton, New Jersey for a talk at Labyrinth Books, a well-known independent bookstore in Princeton. The book talk was organized by Jazz journalist Vic Shermer who came prepared with difficult but thought-provoking questions. Dexter fans came from Philadelphia and Jill Goodwin, wife of Phil Woods and her brother, the drummer Bill Goodwin were there. We all went to a great restaurant after the talk and then I took a bus back home.
Thus, ends The Saga of the Book Tour, Part 2. There is a Part 3 that begins with Paris beginning in April. I wanted to write this Saga to remember where I had been and to thank all the people who made the Book Tour possible. As I was writing this, while on the Virus lockdown and stay at home order, I realize how fortunate I was to be able to travel, see friends, have great meals (too much fried chicken if there is such a thing), and basically be back on the road. It is a time I will never take lightly. I am grateful to so many people and it is actually remarkable that I finished the book, had it published and then went on the road to support it. It was something I promised to do, fulfilled the promise, and then did what we always did—take it on the road.
Thank you for making the trip with me.