Drummer #28 is Majid Shabazz. My experience to see and hear Majid was also in the 1972 period. From my hanging out with Orlando musician friends, Ron Hefner and Glenn Lee, I was searching for new sources of music. I was still a basic rock drummer working and commuting between Orlando, Saint Petersburg and Clearwater, Florida.
I had recently discovered Tony Williams, purchased his records. These include Emergency, Turn It Over and Ego. How could he play so great and be that young, in his 20s?
Since the early 70s, when drummers discover the sound of those “jazz drummers” they get the bug to imitate their sound. This includes Gretsch drums and old K Zildjian cymbals. I caught the bug myself in 1972, ordered my first set of Gretsch.
It was around this time I bought the Elvin Jones record, Live at the Lighthouse. Elvin’s band included: Dave Liebman, Steve Grossman and Gene Perla. Hearing that kind of drumming was completely against all forms of commercial music that kept me employed.
My solo practice routine in the wood shed went from playing Gene Krupa four on the floor, back beat 4/4 beats to free style open time improvisation. Discovering this music and style was a blessing and a curse. My traditional drum sound with Ludwig and Rogers became a search to play commercial Top-40 with my newly purchased Gretsch drumset. The bandleader I was working for began to question the crazy music he heard from my record player.
At a Saint Petersburg music store, I ran into guitarist Charlie Robinson. I knew Charlie from Orlando. Charlie told me about a place called Open Letter. They had afternoon Saturday – Sunday jam sessions.
I found the address of the venue. It was an isolated industrial area in Saint Petersburg. Going inside, I was greeted by the proprietor, Majid Shabazz.
I had been to jam sessions before. This was complelely different. The inside was a rectangle shaped warehouse with an elevated bandstand. On the bandstand was a 4-piece Gretsch drumset. I think it was, bring your own bottle (byob) and you could pay for “set ups” of soda, etc.
Being a newcomer to this venue, not really a Jazz musician, I was happy to wait and observe what would happen. Then I heard Majid play. This was the first time I heard a live drummer play like that. He had a similar style and sound to what I’d been listening to on the Elvin Jones records. (His Gretsch drums, cymbals, rolling triplet approach to swing was amazing to my ears) He was playing improvised emotion, a rhythmic stream of consciousness.
Before moving to Florida, Majid Shabazz had been performing and recording with Pharoah Sanders and Alice Coltrane. My belief is, he decided to leave New York City and do something else. He was creating a 70s Florida style performance gallery. This kind of thing was happening in NYC at Sam Rivers Studio Rivbea.
I seem to remember (1972) Majid was working construction to support his outreach. I only attended the jam session. There were also formal performance dates at The Open Letter. These events were documented on hand drawn flyers. The flyers included musician’s names that attended regularly. Many of the musicians were in the bands of Count Basie, Ray Charles and Duke Ellington. Majid seemed to be the only musician from the avant-garde genre.
As a young drummer, the seasoned Jazz musicians on the bandstand treated me kindly. They knew I was a rookie and accepted me into their world. That was 1972. I would not hear another drummer play like Majid Shabazz, until I met and studied with Elvin Jones, in 1984