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Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture > Video Oral History Gallery Video Gallery Cataloging Data: Grady TateLocation Schomburg-MIRS Call # Sc Visual VRA-198 Service copy. Sc Visual VRB-2031 Original of: Sc Visual VRA-198. Author Tate, Grady, interviewee. Title Oral history interview with Grady Tate, 9 August 1994 [videorecording] / interviewer, Warren Smith. Imprint 1994 Description 1 videocassette (1 hr., 21 min.) : sd., col. : 1/2 in. ???????? Note Title supplied; duration: 1 hr., 21 min. Credits Produced and directed by James Briggs Murray. Note Recorded on August 9, 1994, at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Louis Armstrong Jazz Oral History Project. Summary The oral history interview with Grady Tate, jazz drummer and vocalist, begins with his childhood in North Carolina. Born and raised on a college campus in Durham, North Carolina, Tate recalls always having music in the house. Both parents enjoyed singing and took Tate (age 5) to an amateur show sponsored by RC Cola at North Carolina Centeral University wher he saw a drummer playing a set of drums for the first time. Tate describes how he began playing drums without ever studying formally; played in a thythm band at age 5, played in the high school band, went to Morgan University one year on a music scholarship but left after discovering the night life in Baltimore. Tate then joined the airforce, was sent to band school (San Antonio), then to home base (Waco) to join a 21-piece show unit. Here he learned big band drums, how to read and arrange music, all in preparation for a professional music career. Tate describes the sensitive racial atmosphere on the base at that time. After Tate left the airforce he stopped playing drums (around 1956) and went back to school in North Carolina where he studied industrial psychology and theater, then started teaching. He got married and moved from Durham, N.C. to Washington, D.C. where he met some good musical friends such as Hershel McGinnis and John Malachi; he started doing some singing with them. In 1959 Tate accompanied Hershel McGinnis to an audition at The Cavern and recalls having several drinks and asking for a turn to play the drums. The following day Tate received a call from Davis offering him a job, the next day Tate didn't return to his teaching job and left for Pittsburgh with the band to play at Birdie's Hurricane Lounge. He describes the feeling that his life opened up then and ended up staying on the road with Davis for three years. Tate says he considers himself to be very lucky and fortunate. He tells how Billy Eckstine was his first mentor and hero; he describes how Louis Armstrong was the mover of everything jazz musicians do today--all the music and all the rhythms. Tate expresses his admiration for Wynton Marsalis and his family and compares him to Armstrong. Tate's first recording was with Bill Davis on My Fair Lady album, the second was with Melba Liston, and he has done numerous recordings with Quincy Jones and other musicians. He describes the difficulty of recording in the studio in the beginning but is more comfortable now in front of a mike than on stage; he has spent 32 years of his 35 years in the music business in the studio; however in the last four years he has played more live engagements than all the years put together. He relates a story about a session with Wes Montgomery that illustrates Montgomery's infectious optimism and sunny personality. Tate describes how and why rhythm sections burn out faster than other musicians; and how as a percussionist one has to stay abreast of the ever changing rhythmic patterns. Tate describes his versatility in that he manages to play with folk, rock, and jazz musicians; he calls his style nonspecific. He tells how he replaced Roy Haynes on the album Sweet Rain and his playing couldn't be distinguished from Hayne's. Tate is in his third year of teaching at Howard University. He calls himself a rhythm section advisor, not a drum teacher; he advises pianists, bass players, drummers, and has been working with singers. Tate stresses how important it is to be able to play with other people. Tate talks about his travels in his career and explains how jazz and its musicians are appreciated more outside the U.S. Tate expresses his viewpoints on why the Afro-American musician has gotten separated from the Afro-American audience, and on why the availability of jazz music and its airplay have been limited by the dominant culture. He feels jazz musicians are a very exemplary group of people. Tate explains that he never wanted to record as a leader. He is doing quite a bit of singing and has recorded 16 to 17 albums as a vocalist. He comments on the press' treatment of political unrest in African countries compared to that in European countries. Tate concludes the interview by expressing his satifaction with teaching at Howard University and being around students. Note Reproduction. Originally produced. New York, N.Y. :Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library, 1994. 1 videocassette ; 1/2 in. (MII). VHS. Use terms Permission required to cite, quote and reproduce; contact repository for permission. Biography/History Grady Tate is a drummer, singer, and teacher. Born in Durham, North Carolina, Tate began playing drums at age 5 and continued into high school and the airforce where he learned to read and arrange music. He has performed and recorded extensively (with Quincy Jones, Melba Liston, et al) and is known for his versatile and adaptable style (jazz, rock, and folk). He currently teaches at Howard University and continues to perform and record. Note Forms part of: Louis Armstrong Jazz Oral History Project. In Louis Armstrong Jazz Oral History Project. Subject Armstrong, Louis, 1900-1971 -- Influence. Davis, Wild Bill, 1918- Eckstine, Billy -- Influence. Jones, Quincy, 1953- Malachi, John. Marsalis, Wynton, 1961- -- Influence. McGinnis, Hershel. Tate, Grady -- Interviews. Tate, Grady -- Journeys. Afro-American college teachers. Afro-American musicians. Drummers (Musicians) -- United States -- Interviews. Jazz audiences -- Japan. Jazz audiences -- United States. Jazz musicians -- United States -- Interviews. Jazz singers -- United States -- Interviews. Percussion music (Jazz). Percussionists -- United States -- Interviews. Form/genre Biographies. Interviews. Additional name Smith, Warren, interviewer. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Louis Armstrong Jazz Oral History Project. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Donor The Louis Armstrong Jazz Oral History Project was funded by the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation, Inc. |