Aaron Graves
piano; interviewer
Pianist who as a young man travelled from Washington, DC to Barry’s Jazz Cultural Theatre and stayed at Barry’s house, and who in 2010 conducted Barry’s Smithsonian Jazz Oral History interview.
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- recordings
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- Barry speaking
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What Barry says
At the end of the oral history Barry turns to his interviewer: a young pianist used to come to the Jazz Cultural Theatre, and Barry did not know who he was until he learned it was Aaron Graves, coming from Washington and going back every night.
Barry told him not to make that night trip home again, so from then on Graves stayed at Barry’s house and might go back in the morning. Barry found it a lovely thing for a pianist to do.
He names Rich Clements as another like Graves, who follows him all the way, to choir rehearsal and to class, and says he is lucky that at least a few people who can play come to his classes.
When Graves asks after his arm, and whether the swelling on his elbow is why his arm went up with the hand drawn into a fist, Barry laughs that it was Graves’s remark that caused it.
Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶394Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶395Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶396Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶397Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶399
In his own words
One day I found out his name was Aaron Graves and I found out that he was coming from Washington and going back at night.
So from then on he would stay at my house and he might go back in the morning
But I didn’t just like the idea, I thought it was beautiful for a pianist to do that, you know.
Every mention
0 moments in the recordings, 0 of them Barry speaking. Each says who is talking.
In the interviews and notes
The oral history names Graves as interviewer, with Ken Kimery as recording engineer; Graves opens it by giving the date, 20 August 2010, and the place, the University of the Streets.
Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶4Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶5
Barry recalls the young pianist who travelled from Washington to the Jazz Cultural Theatre and back each night, and how he insisted Graves stay at his house instead.
Barry compares Graves with Rich Clements, who follows him to class and choir rehearsal, and says he should really be teaching teachers rather than students.
Panken’s post points readers to the Smithsonian oral history that Graves conducted after Barry became an NEA Jazz Master.
De Lima lists Graves’s 2010 interview among the in-depth interviews with Barry that he studied, with those by Victor Schermer and Ted Panken.