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Roy Haynes gigged as a young man with Lester Young and Charlie Parker and today, age 82, leads his own band. This part of the documentary features a short drum solo Roy did about 20 years ago and a current performance by his band.
He tells great stories about playing for Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, and John Coltrane. Also says that Jimi Hendrix showed up and came up on the bandstand the first time he led his own band in the late 60's.
At the end of the concert clip he stands up walks away from his drum kit and subtly accompanies the end of the tune by playing the long bell timeline pattern, well known in Latin, Haitian and African music, using only his drum sticks.
I love these interview videos, because they give fascinating insights into the music and the musicians themselves. I keep trying to find good ones, but they seem so rare.
I love how he drops the names we all revere so much with a casual and sort of off-handed familiarity. Amazing.
How old was he when this interview was done, you know?
Roy spent a lot of the time on the bandstand with all of them. With that much experience, you know their souls.
It was released last October, so the last year or two is my guess. I've never seen him before, but I'm pretty sure the soprano saxophonist on the concert track is Marcus Strickland who's in his current band.
Here's a link that tells more about the film.
Thanks for the link - All About Jazz is one my favourite haunts.