I Called Him Morgan Page #2

where Art Blakey was.

And Art said to me, "Do you

want to play in my band?"

He had that voice.

[imitating] "You want

to play in my band,

with the Messengers?"

I said, "Yeah."

[jazz music playing]

[announcer]

Ladies and gentlemen, we are

now beginning the third set

with the terrific Art Blakey

and his Jazz Messengers

from the jazz corner

of the world.

Lee Morgan on trumpet,

Wayne Shorter on

the tenor saxophone,

Bobby Timmons on the piano,

Jymie Merritt on the bass.

Soul brothers

on this scene now.

Really do a cool one for you.

[jazz music playing]

[Wayne] I was always known

as a lone wolf.

But with Lee,

Lee was the friend.

And he and I would

like to have a debate

about different things,

politics.

He wanted to know everything.

I went to Europe

for the first time with them.

And sometimes when

we were playing,

and Lee would be

playing a solo,

and Art would be yelling

to Lee, "Talk to the people,

talk to the people.

Tell them your story,

tell them your story."

He knew how to

tell a story musically,

you know?

[jazz music playing]

[LOUD HIGH PITCHED BACKGROUND

NOISE]

[Helen] Well, I lived for

most of my part now,

53rd Street.

Not far from Birdland

between 8th and 9th.

Ride around, they all ride

around in the circle there.

I could always fit in

because I was a talker.

And I got a job.

And then I begin to

meet other people.

I started going

uptown to clubs.

That's when you would

really hear music,

the jam sessions, you know?

And I would be invited

to the after-hour joints.

Helen was a hero

in my neighborhood

because she came up

from the south.

And she was a woman

that had to struggle

because she didn't want

to work for anyone.

So she wanted to

be her own person.

When she walked down

the block in the neighborhood,

the men and the women

paid attention.

Especially the men, because

she wore provocative clothes.

She wore are a lot of those

A-line type dresses and suits.

Everything fitted her because

she was built very nice.

And on Friday, she would

change her outfits

and come downstairs

when all the guys

got off from work.

And they'd be shooting crap,

you know.

And she'd go across the street,

and she would shoot with them.

She didn't talk a lot about

her background or home

or anything like that.

She only sort of fit

into conversations

when she felt it was necessary

to correct something.

That something was said

that was not correct,

that she felt

uncomfortable with.

That's the only time she

would really say anything.

[Helen] I will not sit here

and tell you that

I was so nice,

because I was not.

A woman that would cut you.

I was sharp.

Yeah.

I had to be.

Had to be.

I was sharp.

And I looked out for me.

[jazz music playing]

[man] That's him.

Oh, he could be a showman.

He had his little style,

you know. Be stylin'.

He had a nice laugh too.

[Lee] I'm not gonna

stand too close when

we play the ensemble.

I might, you know,

take my solo.

Yeah, well, I'll step back.

I can't be very loud.

[indistinct chatter]

[jazz music playing]

Every time we went to record,

Alfred Lion and Frank Wolff,

the owners of Blue Note,

would bring boxes and boxes

of food and everything.

It was like a party.

And there was always a record

that came out of those six,

seven-hour recording sessions.

With that group, we had a lot

to do with developing

what was called

the "Blue Note sound."

[Jymie] Here was

these two guys

who seemed to be

as involved as the players

themselves, you know.

The guys used to call them

"the animal brothers."

[laughs]

You know,

the lion and the wolf.

And I'll never forget

Frank Wolff,

the whole time,

he would be taking pictures.

He took some

remarkable pictures.

[jazz music playing]

[Wayne] He wrote music that

came from his youth.

In Search for the New Land,

he was actually digging back

into his roots in history.

And what could be

achieved with freedom.

I wish the world

was like this.

I wish--when we did record,

there was always

the thought that

this is going to be forever.

What we choose is

going to be forever.

[Helen] My apartment

was that open house.

Was always beans cooking,

always cooked, from to dinner.

You eat, "go by Helen's house."

My house at 53rd Street

was the place.

[Al] The first time I met

my mother, I was 21.

I went to her house,

to her apartment.

And strange enough,

when I knocked on the door,

she said "Come in."

And the door was

open, not locked,

and I went in.

And there was three women

at the table.

And I immediately

recognized Helen,

first time ever

seeing her, because...

I guess you could say

the family resemblance to her.

And we greeted each other.

And here she is, 35 or

something like that.

And, wow, you know.

"That means that you was 13

when I was born."

It didn't take long for me

to latch on to her,

because she was

quite interesting.

She worked at

an answering service.

And they was pulling and

pushing cords in order

to make connections.

It was a means of

making it in New York.

And being a woman,

being a black woman,

there wasn't a whole

lot of jobs for you.

[Ron] Everyone knew Helen

because she could cook.

And I used to go by

and a lot of the musicians

would be there.

She would always say,

"Listen, if you're ever

in my neighborhood, stop by.

I like to cook."

And they would say, "Okay,

I'm in her neighborhood.

Let's see what

she cooked today."

Helen would say,

"Are you hungry?"

And you said, "Nah,

just, you know, maybe

a little snack or something."

She say, "I'm gonna

fix you somethin'."

She'd be out in the kitchen,

doing a roast pork or a turkey.

And you're like, "Whoa,

this is going to be great!"

And when she put

the food on the table,

she might have a pie

or a cake or something.

This is within an hour or two.

Two this woman was fantastic

when it came to the kitchen.

[jazz music playing]

She always had

some good music playin',

I remember that.

Always good jazz music playing.

I remember once, a party.

I mean, it was a small place,

but people from

all walks of life.

Most of her friends

was gay or lesbian or--

"People are people,"

she'd say.

[Ron] I remember this.

Helen was washing up some

dishes from a great meal

that we all had had.

And I had my camera with me.

And I said, "Can I

take your picture?"

She said, "No, I

don't like pictures."

She wouldn't let people

take pictures of her.

But I wanted to get

a picture of her.

So I said something slick.

I don't remember exactly

what I said to her.

But when I said it,

she turned around.

And when she turned

around, I said "Pop!"

And I caught it.

As advertised, we're

going to be introducing,

in just a moment,

one of the top jazz groups

in the world,

on the Blue Note label.

These fellows have been

playing together since 1955.

And now, as I say,

one of the top jazz groups

in the whole world--

they play all around

the world too.

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