About 9:00pm, the band arrives and begins to set up. In walks Alex Brooks, the drummer of the quartet, who 20 years ago was one of my jazz tutors in a summer program. I noticed that he still has the habit of setting up each drum in his set, which only includes four drums for tonight's set, individually and tunes each one. I also remember that you never bother him when he is setting up or taking apart his drums, but I did manage to interview him after briefly re-acquainting myself with him, between sets.
TW: This is Terrill Wyche for OpenAir, today we have...
AB: My name is Alex Brooks, and I know all the world's greatest drummers. I studied with all of them. I knew Buddy Rich. I knew Dennis Chambers. I know Harvey Mason (of the Herbie Hancock Group, during the 70s) and all the greatest drummers in the world.
We're all friends, one, big, happy family.
TW: Now you know you and I go back to Northern High School about 20 years ago, you were one of my teachers, so tell us what has happened in the interim between '86 and now. What have you been doing?
AB: There has been a lot going on because we all believe in sharing with each other. I lost a lot of people and that made me real serious about playing music. I just believe that I'm going to play this music the rest of my life, and I'm dedicated to it because people have taught me how to be dedicated to it such as Larry Smith, Sam Sanders, Wendell Harrison, Donald Waldon, especially Donald and that's all I have to say about that.
TW: Have you got any CDs out?
AB: Yes, I do, as a matter of fact. I just didn't bring any with me. I might find one in my trunk. Tupac used to sell his CDs out of his trunk.
TW: It works.
AB: Yeah, it works.
TW: What's it entitled?
AB: Classic Acts.
TW: What do the fans have to forward to on this one?
AB: Real smooth, nice, listening jazz and the audience ought to be educated about this music, and it was good that we could do that.
TW: Are you still doing any educational instruction. You know tutoring, etc.?
AB: Yeah, every once in a while. I place where I had been was Jacksonville, Florida. A friend of mine, Keith Jarvers, a piano player, had me to help his students out, and it worked out. The students liked me, and we're friends right now still.
TW: Well that's a rap. Thanks a lot.
From left to right. Judge Leonard Townsend, piano, Frank McCullough, trumpet, Greg Cook, bass, and Alex Brooks, drums.
However, as the night progressed, the band seemed to grow. Right now, I will introduce one of the quartet's additions: Mr. Charles Holsey.
TW: This is Terrill Wyche for OpenAir, and tonight we have...
CH: Charles Holsey, vocalist. I've been around a long, long time, singing around Detroit when they had Dummie George, Down at Kline's on 12th street, and I'm trying to come back and do a few things, kick it around a little bit. I was down at Bert's the other night singing, and Frank asked me to come down here tonight and do something. I told him I'd come down.
TW: Are you currently working with any groups?
CH: No, not right now, not a permanent group. I was down here with the piano player about a year ago, and then I was down here with another group about a year ago, but I usually go in and sit in. I was down at Baker's. Mainly I'm at Bert's on Wednesday or Thursday night. I did a thing with Rod Hicks. So, I'm still feeling myself, seeing if I want to come back, or doing what I've been doing which is being retired. What I'm doing is feeling the way and seeing what's happening right now.
TW: Well, I'm not going to hold you. I know you want to get your pipes loosened up for the next set. So, I'll cut it short.
The next member of the quartet whom I interviewed was Justice Leonard Townsend. He is an amazing story. He has played the piano for over 60 years and has played with the greatest musician's in jazz. However, he never played professionally. When he arrived, he began warming up by playing Thelonious Monk, whom no one attempts to play, at least seriously. I was sure that this man was some itinerant, jazz legend whom I either had heard of or should have, but to my surprise, he was a recreational piano player. However, he plays better than many jazz pianists who are half his age and who play for a living.
TW: I'd like introduce, Mr...
LT: Leonard Townsend.
TW: Tell us a little bit about your musical journey, when it started and some of the highlights.
LT: I started taking music lessons in 1943. I've been playing since then. My first professional gig was when I was 15, and I've been playing since then for anyone who would call me.
TW: Who are some of the bands and musicians for whom you've played?
LT: Oh man, everybody. Everybody, Marcus Belgrave, Donald Waldon, Donald Byrd, Paul Chambers. You know. You name it: Ray Mc Kinney. Just about everybody.
TW: Have performed on or recorded any albums?
LT: No, no, no, I just do it part-time.
TW: Wow! So if you did this part-time, what was your 'day job', as they say?
LT: Well, I was a lawyer for 18 years, and I was appointed to the circuit court and have been a judge since then, so that's my bread-and-butter job. So, I play part-time.
TW: Wow, from what I'd heard, I just knew that I was listening to some jazz legend whom I was supposed to know, who had played on a dozen or more albums, with a discography that is longer than I am tall. So this is a labor of love?
LT: Yeah, well naturally there are more musicians than there are jobs, so I play whenever I can.You can't really (make a living in music). If I'm not working, I'll sit in with other people, but I don't make a living at it. I do it for the love, and I've been doing it a long time.
TW: From what I heard, I would beg to differ, but every artist has his own opinion about his art. But as I was listening, I said, "Wow!"
LT: Thank you very much. I appreciate the compliment.
TW: What are some future plans that you have musically?
LT: I continue to study and learn from other cats and play whenever I can, so that's what I'm going to do.
TW: This has been Terrill Wyche for OpenAir. Thanks.
Finally, I managed to interview the man of the hour, Mr. Frank Mc Cullough. I met him this past Wednesday, and his experience is vast. His pedigree is impressive, and his playing is dynamic. When you can hear three or four different styles of playing in one man's style, it's safe to say that you're listening to a unique musician. Frank is such a musician. Introducing, Mr. Frank Mc Cullough.
TW: This is Terrill Wyche for OpenAir, and today we have Mr...
FM: Frank Mc Cullough.
TW: Tell us a little bit about your sojourn in music.
FM: Basically, I'm Detroit-born and bred. I come from musical family. My father is one of The Funk Brothers, a Motown trumpeter. Essentially, I've been blessed enough to work with some of the bigger names in show business at a young age.
TW: Such as...
FM: I played for Wild Cherry, that was my first tour...
Writers Note: Wild Cherry is the 70s band that wrote and performed the hit 'Play That Funky Music (White Boy)'.
big-named group back in 1976. Also after that, I played for Michael Henderson. I played for the Four Tops. I played for The Dramatics. I'm the drummer and the trumpeter for Was Not Was's first three albums...
Writer's Note: Was Not Was is the 70s and early-80s band that wrote and performed the dance hit 'Out Come the Freaks.'
It just goes on. I could go on all day on that. Other groups I've played for: Chubby Checker, etc., different things like that.
TW: So when you play, who would you say are your biggest influences?
FM: My favorite and who I would say I try to pattern myself after is Lee Morgan. I'm a Lee Morgan fan. He was my hero, that's who I pattern my style after.
TW: Do you have any CDs that are available?
FM: It's in the works right now. I'm in the studio, right now as we we're talking. I've got a CD coming out. It's on the ground floor right now, but it should be out by June, July, or August.
TW: What is it called?
FM: My single will be called 'Urban Blue.' I have other compositions that I have not named yet, but it will be comprised from anywhere between 4 to 8 tunes on my CD.
TW: All right, we'll be looking forward to it. It looks like the band is beginning to start. I appreciate you. Thanks a lot. This has been Terrill Wyche for OpenAir. Thanks.
FM: Thank you for interviewing me, sir.
The next 'addition' to the group is an interesting man. His name is Bob Wolkowski, a. k. a., 'Banjo Bob.' He started playing the banjo last year after a tragic wrist injury. He was originally a guitarist, but after shattering his wrist, he learned and is still learning the banjo. He, now retired, also works as a glass-blower's apprentice in Ferndale.
Bob Wolkowski, 'Banjo Bob', soloing.
Unlike many non-traditional instrumentalists, Bob plays like a jazz guitarists, using the same accompaniment and soloing techniques as jazz guitarists. He uses them on the banjo. Introducing Bob Wolkowski, a. k. a., 'Banjo Bob.'
TW: This is Terrill Wyche for OpenAir, and tonight we have...
BW: Bob Wolkowski, a. k. a. 'Banjo Bob.'
TW: All right. How long have you been playing?
BW: The honest truth, the banjo just since October.
TW: No.
BW: Yes, what happened was that I used to be a jazz guitarist, and in July I shattered my wrist. I can't play guitar anymore, so I had to pick up banjo. So I started playing just after the first surgery, and I started picking up the banjo a little bit and applying jazz principles from guitar to the banjo. After my second surgery in October, I started to get a little more serious because I could move, just applying jazz theory to banjo, a little classical stuff, jazz stuff to banjo.
TW: How does that work exactly? I know how a guitar is strung? Is the banjo similar?
BW: Not at all.
TW: So you just had to learn this all over again.
BW: Yes, it's starting from scratch. All my chords are from the beginning, basically starting from a complete novice, and I'm still moving up slowly, applying the theory. Starting all over, you have to listen, learn the distinction between listening and hearing.
TW: That's something I heard Delfeayo Marsalis mention to me in a previous interview. Have you done any recording?
BW: I have a lot of recording at home, but unfortunately, none that I am on.
TW: So this is a labor of love.
BW: Yes. One of the roughest things was being out of the doctor's office, looking at these big pieces of metal coming out of my hand and wondering if I would ever play again. And I gave up, but the music didn't give up on me.
TW: Wow.
BW: Thank you.
TW: Thank you.
BW: You're welcome.
Now the bassist is another incredible musician. I think he is actually the best pure musician in the group. I have heard jazz bassists, and except for Stanley Clarke, no one could do anything that this next man could do. His name is Greg Cook and that is exactly what he did all night from 9:30pm until 1:30am.
TW: This is Terrill Wyche for OpenAir, and today we have...
GC: Gregory Cook.
TW: Now, how long have you been playing bass?
GC: Too many years.
TW: Too many years? How could it be too many years? You don't look like you could be more than 27, 28 years old?
GC: Well, I really appreciate that. I count my blessings but that ain't so, and I thank you for that.
TW: Tell us a little about your experiences with the bass and your training.
GC: Well, I've studied with a lot of the local experienced bassists like Ray Mc Kinney, Ollie Jackson. One of the principal bassists for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Bob Gladstone, who passed a few years ago. I studied with Don Mayberry and just by playing.
TW: Who are some of your favorite jazz bassists that you've patterned yourself after?
GC: I'd like to think legends like Ron Carter, Ray Brown, Stanley Clarke, Eddie Gomez, just all the legends, you know, Pattitucci, all of those guys. Gary Peacock.
TW: Do you have any CDs?
GC: I've done a lot of demos, nothing like an album per se. Recently, I did WDET live with Mr. James Tatum and that turned out really well. So that's all I can say right now.
TW: That's amazing, with your chops and facility, I thought you had a discography. You're the third guy tonight that said he didn't have any recording you sound like he really ought to. You sound like you ought to be on somebody's something, somewhere.
GC: I appreciate that. I'd like to think of myself as a late-bloomer.
TW: What are some of things that you plan to do with your music?
GC: Either record and be able to do my own self, or just get myself a 9 to 5 and call it a day.
TW: Well, personally, if I had chops like yours, I don't know if I'd be working a job. I'd be playing, but I'm going to cut this interview short. I know you have to warm back up again for the last set. This has been Terrill Wyche for OpenAir. Thanks.
GC: Thank you.
The Frank Mc Cullough Quartet often plays on Fridays and Saturday nights at the Harlequin Caf, located at 8047 Agnes, two blocks north of E. Jefferson, and one-half block east of Van Dyke in the Parkstone Apartment Building.
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