Grady Tate (1932-2017) Wes Montgomery – Jimmy Smith
In March 1968 (Spring Break) I was playing a gig with The Blenders in Key West. I write about those crazy 4 weeks in my book “Notes of a Young drummer 1966-1969”
Our late night hookah parties included listening to Frank Zappa, Jim Hendrix and The Doors. I was also “turned on” to the records of Wes Montgomery. They included the 1967 album A Day in the Life and Jimmy & Wes: The Dynamic Duo. Jimmy would be Jimmy Smith playing Hammond organ. (Wes Montgomery, guitar.
“A Day in the Life’ reached number one on the Billboard Jazz album chart. The single “Windy” was a popular radio hit. Playing drums on those 3 records was Grady Tate. That was my introduction to Grady Tate. A Day in the Life record was arranged and conducted by Don Sebesky. Recorded at Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey by Rudy Van Gelder.
Hearing popular Beatles music like that was new. (Strings-Woodwinds-Brass and a drummer) (The same drummer, Grady Tate playing all of those styles. It was much later that I heard Grady was also a great singer.
I witnessed the drumming and vocalizing of Grady Tate in Orlando at The Beacham Theatre. The band was known as the New York Jazz Quartet. It included Piano – Roland Hanna / Bass – George Mraz / Flute, Tenor Saxophone – Frank Wess / Drums Vocals – Grady Tate.
Grady Tate’s relaxed physical control of the drumset reminds me of Bernard Purdie.
Both drummers made it look easy. It was a rare privilege to see this quartet.