Jimmy Cobb.In 1959, Miles Davis released Kind of Blue, the pinnacle statement of the cool jazz era and arguably the most celebrated jazz recording of all time. Davis assembled a lineup of musicians who would each go on to become giants in their own right. John Coltrane, “Cannonball” Adderley, Bill Evans and Davis himself were able to create their inspired improvisations in part because of the unobtrusive and steady cushion that bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Jimmy Cobb provided. Unfortunately, with each passing year there are fewer and fewer players left from those bygone days, and Cobb is the last surviving musician from that legendary session. Those seeking a connection to that classic period in jazz history will have an opportunity to establish one this weekend at the historic Bohemian Caverns, where Cobb will lead a quartet.
Cobb’s relaxed feel and understated style have served him well through a career that stretches back over 60 years. His list of credits reads like a “who’s who” of vintage jazz, and includes Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington, Billie Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie and many, many more. In addition to the hundreds of recordings upon which he has appeared as a sideman, Cobb has long been active as a band leader. He has performed around the world and continues to play regularly. This illustrious career earned Cobb the title of NEA Jazz Master in 2009.
There are other reasons why this weekend’s performances are sure to be special, not the least of which is that Friday’s sets coincide with Cobb’s eighty-third birthday. Also, Cobb was born and raised in Washington, D.C., so this is a homecoming of sorts. Given this auspicious aligning of events, DCist jumped at the chance to ask Cobb some questions about his days in D.C., his career and the upcoming shows.
How long did you live in D.C.?
I lived there 21 years. I lived in D.C. from the time I was born until I was 21 years old.
I want to ask a couple questions of what the city was like back then. Most of DCist’s readers are in their 20s and 30s and may not be aware of what D.C. was like back in the ’30s and ’40s.
When I was growing up it was a southern prejudiced town. It was the seat of the capital so it was really hard to understand why that was happening, but that’s what it was. Between Maryland and Virginia, it was just the same as Maryland and Virginia. You know what black people went through. So, I went through that, not being able to go certain places and do certain things. I grew up into that.
How did you get into drumming?
When I was in my teens I got interested in trying to play the drums. There was a guy in my neighborhood and he used to come by my house. We used to hang out and play jazz records, and beat on the sides of tables with our knuckles or something to the rhythm of the thing.
Eventually, I used to pass a place downtown at 13th and G Street, there was a place called Herman Ratner’s Music Store. He had an advertisement with Gene Krupa in the window advertising Slingerland drums. I went inside and I asked him how much the drums were, and he told me and asked me if I wanted to buy them. I told him yes and he asked me if I had the money there and I said no. He asked me if I had a job and I said, “Yes, I’ve got a job.” So we made an arrangement where he said if I brought him some money every week he would put it in a little drawer there behind the counter. When I got enough money, he’d give me the drums.
What was the music scene like then? Where would you go to listen to jazz?
It was great. There was a lot of music in the ghetto, a lot of clubs, and the Caverns was there too then.
Did you go there when you were a teenager?
After I got to where I could play, I played there. It was run by Cab Calloway‘s sister when I first played there. Her name was Blanche Calloway. They used to have small shows down there, like variety kind of things, and she was the manager for Ruth Brown. She brought in Ruth Brown to sing and I played behind her. I played another time with Leo Parker.
Who were some of the other people you played with when you were coming up?
So there were a lot of guys around town that I played with. I went to school with Bill Hughes, who wound up later playing in Count Basie‘s band, and another piano player named Ellsworth Gibson. Buck Hill was there. A lot of guys — Maurice Lyles, a drummer I know. “Fats” Clark was there. Buddy Mac Simpkins was there. We all went to the same school and we would hang out and play a lot.
Do you remember your first gig?
After I could play a little bit I made my first gig on my grandfather’s tobacco farm down in La Plata, Maryland. You know, they had a thing where after they cut all the tobacco they would play baseball out in the field that they had there and then at night they would have a little music. He knew I was interested in music so he had me bring a little band down there. The band was two of the guys I just mentioned. Buck Hill was the saxophone player and the piano player was Ellsworth Gibson. We went and played the little gig and got five dollars, that’s how small the money was back then.
What other clubs were around town back then?
The Howard Theatre was there, up and running. Right around the corner from that, there was a place called Jean Clara’s. It was a restaurant and she had a little place upstairs where she would bring bands in, like trios or something. When the guys in the theater got off, they could come and jam up there, so she would just hire a trio and then have the guys come by and play.
As far as the style of music you were playing, was it straight-ahead bebop, or did D.C. have a sound of its own?
It’s kind of all of that. Bebop came around about that time, so we were into bebop. There was rhythm & blues. There were times, you know, where if guys played saxophone, they were looking for you to walk up and down the bar. It was an Illinois Jacquet kind of a style.
But [D.C.] had its own sound because we had a few guys who were prominent musicians that had been in some bands. They had John Malachi, who had been in Billy Eckstine‘s band. There was a drummer who had been with Louis Armstrong, I think. He was probably the best all-around drummer who was there at the time.
There was a lot of guys, man, but it wasn’t like Philadelphia or Detroit or something like that where they had a lot of guys who came out and got very famous in other places. There was an alto player named Rick Henderson, who could write compositions and arrangements and stuff, and who had a band around town. Occasionally, I used to play with him. Charlie Rouse was there. I was in a band with Charlie Rouse on U Street between 13th and 14th called Republic Gardens. The owner asked Rouse to bring a band up there. He said we could work six days a week and play anything we want. I had an opportunity to learn all the bebop tunes from Rouse because he had been in Dizzy Gillespie‘s big band. There was a lot of guys around then that you could learn stuff from, so I soaked all of that up.
Did you ever take lessons?
For a short while, I had a teacher. He was the youngest member of the National Symphony Orchestra, he was a percussionist. His name was Jack DeNee. We made an agreement that he would teach me if I brought him some more students. We did that for a little while and I learned a bit about the snare drum and stuff like that, but we didn’t do it for too long.
What brought about the decision to leave D.C.?
I had a friend who used to come down from Poughkeepsie, New York and play at that place I just mentioned that was around the corner from the Howard Theatre. He was a bass player named Keter Betts. We got to be friends and he came to town with Earl Bostic‘s band and he told me that they needed a drummer, and if I wanted to take the gig and go on the road. I said, “Of course!” So I left when I was 21-years old. I met the band up in New York on 125th Street and St. Nichols Avenue and we went on from there.
Now I’d like to switch gears and talk about the performance coming up. First of all, it’s your birthday. What’s it like coming to your hometown and playing in a club that you grew up going in?
It’ll be a pleasure because I don’t really go down and play there that much. There’s not a whole lot of clubs you can play in, and since my mother died, I don’t have too many reasons to go down there much.
Who is going to be playing with you this weekend?
We’ve got George Cables on piano, we’ve got John Webber on bass and Javon Jackson on saxophone.
So let’s say someone knows your name because there’s a copy of Kind of Blue lying around somewhere, and they only know you from that. What do you want that person to walk away with after seeing your show?
I just want them to walk away liking what we did. Some of the tunes might even be from that album, who knows? We have occasion to do that sometimes. So it’s possible that we might do one or two of those tunes, or even some of the early Miles tunes from before I even got in the band.
Jimmy Cobb & Friends will be performing 8:30 and 10:30 p.m. sets on Friday and Saturday at Bohemian Caverns. $30.
