Wilbur Ware Centennial: Dezron Douglas & Russell Hall Speak
Wilbur Ware
Back in January of this year, bassist Dezron Douglas was researching an old jazz record he had come across, and found the album credits on Wikipedia. He noticed that the bassist was Wilbur Ware—one of his favorites—and clicked on the link to Wilbur’s page. “Lo and behold,” Dezron remembers, “it said born September 8, 1923.” Realizing that this year would be Ware’s centennial, Douglas called up Jazz Gallery artistic director Rio Sakairi to book a celebration show for that day, even if he didn’t exactly know what he would do.
This weekend, The Jazz Gallery is proud to celebrate the enduring legacy of bassist Wilbur Ware with performances by Douglas on Friday, September 8, and by bassist Russell Hall on Saturday, September 9. Below, you can read Douglas’s and Hall’s thoughts on Ware and the importance of celebrating past jazz masters:
Dezron Douglas:
The first record I heard Wilbur Ware on was Sonny Rollins Live at The Village Vanguard with Elvin Jones. From that day, Wilbur was in my universe. When I was a sophomore in college, I read this quote from Barry Harris where he said that Wilbur was the only bassist that he followed, rather than having the bassist follow him. At the same, I was going out to look for obscure records. I came across Sonny Clark’s Dial S For Sonny and Wilbur was on it. I was blown away by his playing.
Some years later—this was 2009—I did a hit at Dizzy’s celebrating the music of Clifford Jordan with Eric Reid, Billy Drummond, and Seamus Blake. Sandy Jordan and Gloria Ware—Clifford’s and Wilbur’s widows—came out together for three or four of the nights. I became tight with both of them and a couple of years later, Gloria asked me to join the board of the Wilbur Ware Institute in New York.
At that time, I had probably heard about 20 records with Wilbur on them, but I had never heard his stuff as a leader. Gloria dropped this record on me called Super Bass that had gone unreleased until 2012. It was one of Wilbur’s last recordings and he plays some solo bass on it. After listening to that, my mind was completely blown. To hear Wilbur play solo is absolutely euphoric. If you know his playing as a sideman, you can appreciate him tenfold playing solo.
I’m still a student, and I like asking questions. I got a lot of information about Wilbur talking to people that he played with. I was blessed to be around Jacky McLean, and he talked about Wilbur. Cedar Walton talked about Wilbur. I got to ask Gloria about him. But not many people talked about Wilbur except for his peers.
I think now, more than ever, Wilbur needs to be celebrated. He’s no longer with us, but the memories and notes burn on. It’s hard now being at a point in time with technology and the human crisis of 2020 that it’s easy to focus on just what’s in front of us. There isn’t motivation to look back. I’m not a nostalgist at all, but I feel that celebrating and remembering the past affects the future.
When I studied with Jackie McLean, he told me and my classmates to play our own music while also learning as much as we could about the history. You can only push it forward by knowing everything about it. Explore as much as you can with truth and honesty and sincerity. This Friday, I’m hoping to find some notes I’ve never found before and see wherever those notes take me.
Russell Hall:
Like Dezron, Sonny’s Live at The Village Vanguard was my first Wilbur record. I heard it when I was fifteen. I’d say that record is still my favorite Wilbur to this date because the space of sax trio allows you to hear his mastery as an accompanist and as a soloist. He is the next evolution of bebop bass in line with Oscar Pettiford. His sense of melody and overall feel is reminiscent of reggae bass players I grew up hearing as a kid. His use of staccato notes is remarkable, especially when juxtaposed to Elvin’s wide beat. It creates this ultimately percussive but melodic sound similar to a talking drum in African music.
Drummer Tootie Heath has many stories about Wilbur, but one I find amusing is that Wilbur for some years didn’t own a bass. I always admired that Wilbur was always able to get that beautiful tone and feel regardless of if he was “home” or not.
The Jazz Gallery celebrates the 100th birthday of Wilbur Ware with performances by Dezron Douglas on Friday, September 8, and Russell Hall on Saturday, September 9, 2023. Douglas will be joined by Abraham Burton on tenor saxophone, Craig Taborn on piano, and Dan Weiss on drums. Hall will be joined by Mike Troy on saxophone, Esteban Castro on piano, and Matt Lee on drums. Sets are at 7:30 and 9:30 P.M. each night. $30 general admission ($15 for members), $40 reserved cabaret seating ($25 for members), $20 livestream access ($5 for members) for each set. Purchase tickets here.