Five-man band lets music do the talking
In his senior year at Champaign High School, Bridgewater,
who was born in 1942, was a high jumper. In the last meet of the season, against
Urbana, the coach had him entered in other events, for which he'd had no
training.
The day exhausted him and when it was his turn in the mile
relay, he took Champaign's lead and gave it to Urbana.
"After that, this became my friend," he said Tuesday, patting
his ax.
Bridgewater was being modest' before he entered the UI in
1960, he trained with a UI professor, and played in his uncle's band.
He's most famous as trumpeter with the Max Roach band.
His appearances this week are part of the Krannert Center's
Jazz Threads program, which brings its sounds into schools, bars and workplaces
this school year. According to the Jazz Threads Web site, Bridgewater remembers
hearing Louis Armstrong at Huff Gum with his father.
After the UI, he moved to Brooklyn, where he has played with
Roach Horace Silver and the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra.
He has a relaxed unpretentious style, using his hand as a
mute in "Take The A Train," and a generosity to his fellow musicians. After
getting a request for "Stars Fell On Alabama," Bridgewater told the Y crowd,
"You don't have to know everything. I'm going to sit down in the front row and
enjoy the music."
Which he did.
Bridgewater will perform in Saturday's Java and Jazz concert
at 10 a.m. in the Tryon Festival Theatre, and may well perform in Thursdays'
Jazz Crawl, which moves from the Iron Post to Krannert's Tryon Festival Theatre
to the Canopy Club to Zorba's to finish at 11 p.m. in a jam session with LaMonte
Parson's Experience at Cowboy Monkey, 6 Taylor St., C.
Bridgewater also will perform in concert at 7:30 p.m. Sunday
in Krannert's Tryon Festival Theatre with guests Clark Terry, Ron Bridgewater
and the UI Concert Jazz Band.
