Ruth Brown
vocals
Rhythm and blues singer; one of Barry’s first jobs away from Detroit was on the road with her and saxophonist Willis ‘Gator’ Jackson.
- mentions
- 2
- recordings
- 2
- Barry speaking
- 2
What Barry says
Barry names Ruth Brown among the first people he played with: he left town with her and Willis ‘Gator’ Jackson.
Piano Jazz with Marian McPartland7:16Interview: Detroit and after13:17Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶145
Asked where that first job took them, he answers Gary, Indiana, and adds that he joined the musicians’ union through a guitarist, Emmitt Slay, went to Cleveland, and went out with Ruth Brown, playing shows and music for shake dancers.
Asked what she was like to work for, he says she was very nice.
Asked whether that kind of work was beneath him, Barry says no: you had to play a bit of shuffle, that was how you made it, and you would be surprised, because you learn from that too.
Interview: Detroit and after13:17
In his own words
I left town with Ruth Brown and Gator Tail. You know, Willis Jackson and we played someplace.
You had to play that shuffle rhythm and stuff. That’s how you made it. Plus, you’d be surprised, you learned from that too, you know.
I went out with Ruth Brown, and we played shows and we played for shake dances.
Every mention
2 moments in the recordings, 2 of them Barry speaking. Each says who is talking.
Piano Jazz with Marian McPartland
- 7:16
Among the first people he played with: he left town with Ruth Brown and Gator Tail Jackson.
Interview: Detroit and after
- 13:17
One of his first gigs was with Ruth Brown and Willis Gator; you learn from that shuffle work.
In the interviews and notes
Barry tells Aaron Graves that one of his first gigs was with Willis ‘Gator’ Jackson and a singer transcribed as ‘Lewis Brown’, very likely Ruth Brown, whom he names a moment later. He joined the union, went to Cleveland, and went out with her, playing shows and shake dances.
Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶145Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶147
Asked what Ruth Brown was like to work for, Barry says she was very nice, then turns to the older musicians who helped him then, such as a tenor player who showed him the proper form of I Got Rhythm.
Method ideas nearby
Ideas of the method taught in the classes where they come up, with how many mentions fall in each.