My Interview With Roy Haynes

My phone interview with the great Roy Haynes
Posted in Current favorites, Current News on December 21, 2011 by Tim Daisy

I had the absolute honor to speak with legendary drummer and composer Roy Haynes by phone on December 6th, 2011.
The article appeared in the December 8th issue of the Chicago Reader. Some of the interview was edited out for the Reader article. Below you will find a less edited version of our phone conversation. (Some of what we talked about did not make it into the trancript!) Enjoy! TD

Tim Daisy speaks to Roy Haynes

RH – Have I met you before?

TD -Yes, many, many years ago at the jazz showcase. And I’ve also heard you play before at Symphony Center a few years before that.
RH -That’s cool. When am I gonna hear you play?

TD -You’re welcome to Chiacgo any time.
RH -I know I’m welcome to Chicago, I just wanna hear you play!

TD -We can make arrangements.
RH- Okay
.

TD -Oh man, wow, what a pleasure to get a chance to talk to you. You are among the most recorded drummers in the history of music, a career spanning more than 60- years. You’ve performed with an astonishing number of musical innovators across an extremely wide spectrum of improvisation. How have you been able to maintain such a consistently high level of creative energy on the drums throughout your career?
RH -Thank you for trhe complement, it feels good to hear that now. I’ve been playing since I was a teenager, I’m now in my teenager. It feels good! What can I say about it? I’m thankful.

TD -Have you still been discovering new ideas during performances?
RH -Of course! Sometimes during a performance, definitely. If I didn’t. I would give up.

TD -What are some of the ways Papa Joe Jones has influenced your work?
RH -That’s gonna take me back a long time. I’m now in my 80s. When I was a teenager and I was checking out the Basie band and listening to this great man on the drums, he influenced me a lot. For one thing, that swing thing, which they told me I had when I was very young—when I started out, a lot of the older players liked to play with Roy Haynes, so they would say. I was listening to the recordings that Papa Joe made with the Basie Band and checking him out in person when I did get the chance and so that was part of it. I had that feeling to play like that anyhow. Dang-dee da-dang-dee da-dang-dee da-dang, that type of thing.

TD -Were there any other drummers in the early part of your career, in New York or elsewhere who are lesser known and you were interested in checking out live. That you would enjoy listening to.
RH -Yes, but I can’t think of the names right off hand. I’m well in my 90s now and we’re going back a long way. What I was listening to was most of the players, whether they had big names or had recorded or whatnot, and I’d listen to them, specially if they could swing, which was one of the main things I was into, from that Papa Joe, [Big Sid] type of style.

TD -Bass players. Throughout your career, where there any in particular that really stood out, who you felt you had a special connection with? I know you played with a lot.
RH -Name a couple of them, bring me back.

TD -What about Paul Chambers.
RH -Yes. Yes. He had that thing, that thing that I like. He was definitely on top of that.

TD -Larry Ridley.
RH -We had played together a lot early. Paul died at a very young age, and you named Paul and then go to Larry, you should go to Larry then go to Paul.

TD -You played with Ron Carter quite a bit.
Yeah, I did a bit with Ron. That was also something to have been very happy about.

TD – Out of all the many fantastic pianists that you’ve played with and recorded with, two are perhaps the most legendary are Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk. Each one of them has instantly recognizable sounds yet were quite different players, right? What was it like working with these two giants of modern music? How were they different and what kind of demands did they place on you musically?
RH -You’re talking about many many years ago, Monk lasted a little longer. Bud and I were the same age, so we had that. Monk was a little older than me, a little before me, but that hasn’t that much to do with who you enjoyed playing with. I enjoyed both of them. Bud, I wish he was around longer. I’m very fortunate to still be around playing. Most of the people you named have left. But the beat goes on.

TD -You did a lot of recordings with Eric Dolphy in 1960-61. If I got this correct, in 1960, you recorded three records with Eric as a leader: Outward Bound, Out There, and Far Cry. Could you talk about your relationship with him a little bit?
RH -You are aware that I have played with Charlie Parker. The subject you’re now talking about, Eric, he loved Charlie Parker, but I guess I was closer to Charlie Parker than with Eric Dolphy. He was even much younger than myself. During those days, you’re talking about a genius, Charlie Parker, man, he was to me more of a genius than probably any other saxophone player that I can think of off-hand, that I played with or was associated with. We can just leave it there.

TD -You made a 1962 record as a leader, Out of the Afternoon with Roland Kirk, Tommy Flanagan and Henry Grimes , I understand that’s not your first record as a leader, but I wanted to ask if this was your first record that has your original compositions recorded?
RH -No, it was not the first one. When you say original, you’re talking about something that I had supposedly written right? That was not the first. I think the first that I recorded was something made somewhere in Europe, in Stockholm I think. I did some of my own material.

TD -You were in Sweden when you did that session, were you playing with the Lionel Hampton orchestra?
RH -I was not a member of the Lionel Hampton Orchestra, even though I think I did a recording with them later or something.

TD -Well maybe we can talk a little bit about what’s happening these days. You’re current lineup with the Fountain of Youth Band. You’re going to be playing in Chicago on the ninth of December, right? Obviously you’ve played in Chicago many times. Is this the first time this lineup is playing here?
RH -I believe so.

TD -Are you guys currently on a tour?
RH -No we haven’t been traveling together. David Wong has been with me, but Roy [Hargrove] just does certain projects, he has his own project that he’s doing and that’s one of the ones that we’ll be doing together.

TD -Has this lineup recorded?
RH – I have a new recording coming out, and I think yes, some of the same people that will be recording with me, plus Roy, are on some tracks that are on the new record that’s coming up.

TD -Well, it’s an absolute pleasure once again to get to talk to you.
RH -Well thank you so much.