Jimmy Lewis:

Played Bass with Wardell Gray

Abraham:
You were going to start with the question about Count Basie?
Jimmy Lewis:
Yeah.
Abraham:
O.K. And then, what recollections do you have of those sessions, what other recollections you have of Wardell, what kind of person, and what was it like playing with Wardell? O.K. Are you going to include that story about when his wife came into the club? What was her name, Dorothy?
Jimmy:
Yeah, that's right.
Abraham:
Are you going to include that?
Jimmy:
Yeah, I guess so, yeah.
Abraham:
O.K. The only other thought I had was, where was it that I wrote it down, maybe when we finish these, I just want to know, since that film, what happened to Freddie Green?
Jimmy:
He died too.
Abraham:
Yeah, and then what happened to Helen Humes?
Jimmy:
Oh, she's dead
Abraham:
I know, but do you remember when and how?
Jimmy:
Wardell, was such a nice guy to get along with in the band. He always kept everybody happy. You know? He liked to tell jokes. But he was very tender hearted, he would cry in a minute, you know? Little things could upset him. He was very serious about all his music too, he was, he liked everything to be just right, you know. And when he'd come on the bandstand, it was all business that's one thing. Before he'd come on the bandstand, he'd keep everybody happy telling jokes, you know, and ..but when he'd get to the bandstand, he was very serious about his music. That's what I found out about him, you know? Now I don't know what else I can say about it at that point.
Abraham:
That's good. O.K. You want to give me a slap, a little higher, a little higher. Good. O.K.
Jimmy:
O.K. now you want to know about Wardell Gray. His playing ability, he was a very relaxed player, he always knew where he was going. His tone, was very melodic, most of the time, unless he was playing something very fast or something like that. He used to seem to create as he went along, you know?, on his solos. You can always tell when something new pops into his mind while he's playing, because he'd always smile, you can see him smiling while he's playing his horn.
(Silence.)
You know I'd like to see him featured in a film, where he could really show off his talent. Really show it off, say, it was just the band playing in the background, and put him out front. I think, when I was with Basie in his big band, and Wardell was featured on a tune, Wardell he gets out and he plays the first chorus, and right in the middle of the thing he says, come on, let's play, let's play now. Now this is right while the recording was going, and he played that thing, he played his heart out man, he just played and it looked, he gave the whole band a lift because he had so much to offer you know? He tried to put everything in his tunes, so Basie would say let him go, he wasn't supposed to have maybe one or two choruses and he ended up playing five or six choruses of the same tune you know? Basie would call a tune, and he would listen to the tune, Clark Terry or somebody would be playing a solo, and he'd listen to the tune and then he'd come in with his interpretation of that tune and it would be altogether different. And most saxophone players used to follow him, you know. They'd say, well he's got such a good sound and he's this young, let's see what this guy has. So they'd always try to copy his style you know. Nobody really got to it, at that time.