Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture > Video Oral History Gallery

Video Gallery Clip Transcript: Tommy Torrentine (with Jimmy Owens)

TT: The way he had the band phrasing, man, it was all together different from the any band I ever played with.

JO: How?

TT: Well, the way you would attack your note, the way you phrase the line, you know.

JO: Could you sing something, give us an example?

TT: [demonstrates], you know.

JO: Whereas other bands would be doing how?

TT: Or else you have a slur [demonstrates]; you would finger it, [demonstrates]; you know, down the chromatic, you play the chromatic scale real fast [demonstrates]; you know, things like that.

JO: And other bands were doing what?

TT: You know, the conventional slide you know, you wold cork your valve and slide, [demonstrates]. A lot of things Dizz did, you know had the band playing, well, he had that fall off, you know, he would finger it [demonstrates]

JO: And then the phrasing you just mentioned?

TT: [demonstrates] It was different, the other bands that I played with didn't phrase the way Dizzy's concept was, it was mean.