Alex Henderson

 

Encore

Hal Singer

by Alex Henderson



At 92, Hal "Cornbread" Singer has seen a great deal of jazz history first-hand. The veteran tenor saxophonist still has vivid memories of the months he spent in Duke Ellington's orchestra and of his friendships with legends like Billie Holiday, Dexter Gordon and Dizzy Gillespie. And after all these years, Singer continues to perform and record. As recently as 2010, he recorded an album in France (his adopted home since 1965) that prominently features fellow tenor man David Murray.

Singer and Murray might seem an unlikely combination; Singer came out of the Swing Era, whereas Murray is an inside/outside musician with strong avant-garde credentials. But, in fact, the two of them proved to be quite compatible on Singer's album Challenge, which favors a passionate blend of post-bop, hard bop and soul-jazz.

"I had never worked with David at all before this record," Singer explains. "We have two different styles and come from two different eras of the music. But we tried to make it as interesting as we could in our respective ways and it worked out OK. I think that some of the younger guys are realizing that they have to go back and respect some of the past."

Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Oct. 8th, 1919, Singer has been active in the jazz world since the '30s. The saxist, who moved to New York City in 1943, built an impressive résumé as a sideman for Jay McShann, Roy Eldridge, Hot Lips Page and other swing giants. In 1948, Singer recorded his debut single as a leader, "Fine As Wine"/"Rock Around the Clock," for Mercury, waxed the hit instrumental "Cornbread" for Savoy and spent several months in Duke Ellington's orchestra.

"To hear Cootie Williams, Lawrence Brown, Harry Carney and Jimmy Hamilton was just mind-boggling," Singer says of his time with Ellington. "Every night, I was going to work and it was like I was on a cloud. It was just a beautiful thing. And what happened was that I had made some records for Savoy; one was named 'Cornbread', which swept the country at that time. Different people were telling me to get out of Duke Ellington's band and start out for myself, and Sonny [Greer] and Johnny [Hodges] were telling me the same thing. They were saying, 'Get your own group.' So that's the way it happened, but other than that, I think I would have been with the Ellington band until it broke up or something."

Singer's first recordings as a leader made him a prominent figure in the early R&B market and, arguably, helped pave the way for the birth of rock 'n' roll in the mid '50s. "Rock Around the Clock" (not to be confused with Bill Haley & the Comets' famous 1954 recording) isn't quite rock 'n' roll in the Little Richard/Chuck Berry/Elvis Presley sense, but it definitely rocks hard for 1948.

Rock & roll eventually influenced him, as did post-bop and modal. Although Singer's roots were swing, he kept an open mind to post-swing styles of jazz. Hard bop jazz. "I was fortunate enough to have come through the big band period and to have witnessed the changing of the styles into bebop and into what they call free jazz," Singer notes. "Some of it I didn't think would fit me as a person, but that didn't mean I couldn't associate with some of the guys, talk with them and try to understand where they were trying to go."

About half of Singer's life has been spent in Paris. Singer might have moved back to New York, but after marrying a French woman (his wife Arlette) and having two daughters with her, he ended up staying permanently. Asked what some of his fondest memories of his pre-Paris days are, Singer responds: "Oh, working with Henry 'Red' Allen, working with Hot Lips Page, working on 52nd Street with Don Byas and having Count Basie up the street at the Famous Door and having Stuff Smith across the street. Roy Eldridge here, Coleman Hawkins there. As I look back on it now, it was a lovely period of my life."

And when Billie Holiday's name comes up, Singer remembers: "Billie was, for me, a very, very beautiful lady. When I was working at the Famous Door with [drummer] Big Sid Catlett's band - we were the intermission band - I would take her dog for a walk sometimes. Billie had a dog named Mister. Just to be able to say I worked in the same club where Billie Holiday worked is really something. People in the club would be rowdy before Billie came on and when she would sing, the club would get quiet."

But as many happy memories as Singer has of his youth, one won't hear him complaining about the jazz scene of 2012. In fact, Singer is quite optimistic about jazz' future in both the United States and Europe.

"When I was coming up," Singer asserts, "all the jazz books and jazz education like you have today didn't exist. People who really want to play jazz now are making a living teaching these kids jazz and the musicianship in jazz is so high now. It's a wonderful thing."

Recommended Listening:

• Hal Singer - Rent Party (Savoy, 1955-56)

• Hal Singer - Blue Stompin' (with Charlie Shavers) (Prestige-OJC, 1959)

• Hal Singer/Milt Buckner - Milt & Hal (Black & Blue, 1968)

• Hal Singer/Jef Gilson - Soul of Africa (Chant Du Monde, 1975)

• Hal Singer - Senior Blues (Carrere, 1991)

• Hal Singer - Challenge