Grady Tate RIP

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

The hugely respected drummer (and respected singer), Grady Tate died on Sunday 8 October. He was 85. I know him chiefly through Jimmy Smith, Kenny Burrell, Duke Pearson, Dizzy etc but he was on a mass of records as a first call inventive studio drummer. A craftsman. He was also (unknown to me) a singer of regard, and started out that way.

BN.

[Ian Thumwood]

I was reading about him over the weekend so it is a bit sad that he has passed away. I must admit that when I was growing up in the 1980's Grady Tate was one of those musicians whose name would always attract me to records. I first heard him playing with Lionel Hampton in a record my Dad had in his collection and as a teenager anyone who played with Hampton was automatically raised to "legend status." There were many records made in the 1970s that featured Tate as the "go to" drummer and his ability to transfer his talent to a variety of contexts from Benny Goodman to Roland Kirk always ensured that the respective bands went up a gear or two. For me, Grady Tate was one of the true greats and the kind of player who, like Roy Haynes, just made the bands he played with sound much better. I had always associated Tate with Lionel Hampton more than any other player simply because of the records he made with Hampton at a time when swing-bop styles of jazz were not fashionable and jazz had yet to enjoy it's 1980's rediscovery.

Everything Tate played on was enhanced by his presence but the weirdest record I ever encountered him performing on was by singer Julee Cruise who was used extensively in the music that accompanied the TV sdries "Twin Peaks." There is an odd album she produced at the time which is heavy in synthesizers put also features some rather cool clarinet. However, the most remarkable musician on the record is Grady Tate who supplies the drums to the studio session. It is not a record I have listened to for years ( I think it is lost and I have no idea what happened to Julee Cruise) but Tate's drumming was mesmerising in this context. Working as a studio player, Tate was somewhat overlooked yet he is a drummer who rarely disappoints and there are some terrific records with him on including the LP with Goodman jamming with George Benson which is pretty incredible. There is a tendency to write Goodman off post-bop as if his music all of a sudden became irrelevant (!!) but if he was largely bored and uninterested by much Modern Jazz, there were plenty of more modern musicians like Tate, Benson, Corea, Hancock , Tadd Dameron and Zoot Sims whose presence crops up in Goodman's discography from time to time as a consequence of the clarinetist's enthusiasm. The greatness of players like Grady Tate was that the could fit comfortably into a range of styles and not hung up by the prejudices in the music that dominated pre 1980's.

[Alyn_Shipton]

Lovely man. Interviewed him for Radio 3 - can it really be 23 years ago!! http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/ea924432a...3d866d77d098af