Marty Hughley: Jazz connections

Jazz connections: Darrell Grant honors the great bassist Leroy Vinnegar
and builds a future for the music he loved

The late bassist Leroy Vinnegar left behind two great legacies. The one heard around the world is his distinctive, propulsively swinging "walking bass," a style that won the Indianapolis native a place in the music of innumerable greats, from Art Tatum to Chet Baker to Van Morrison. The one that's unmistakably local is the vital and central role Vinnegar played in the Portland jazz scene from the time he moved here from Los Angeles in the mid1980s until his death in 1999. Vinnegar was – is – revered in these parts, not just for his musical excellence but for the generosity of spirit with which he enlivened, educated and encouraged our jazz community. He's been honored in various ways, but pianist Darrell Grant has come up with perhaps the most fitting tribute yet: the Leroy Vinnegar Jazz Institute. Although Grant's been laying the groundwork since 2002, this week marks the public unveiling of the institute, a self-supporting organization housed within Portland State University's music department, where Grant is an associate professor. A series of bass-oriented performances Monday through Saturday nights at Jimmy Mak's is a fitting way to kick things off, with such exemplary Portland-based stars as David Friesen and Glen Moore, and an appearance by the legendary Dave Holland. Grant spoke recently about the institute, its philosophy of jazz, as a community builder, and the example set by the man known as "The Walker."

Q: How'd this all get started?

A: A while back I was offered the job as piano (department) chair at Berklee (College of Music). When I turned that down, I started thinking about why I really wanted to stay here and what I wanted to do. So I decided I wanted to try to connect the music more with the community. A lot of people around town are doing things related to jazz, and I thought if they had a central location, a focal point, it would help everybody accomplish things. So I started coming up with a plan for the institute. Ken Thrasher, a former exec at Fred Meyer, came forward and pledged a gift to get it started. And it's started!

Q: How are you going about starting programs?

A: Part of my intention, my goal, is that every project has to be a collaboration with somebody. For the New Griot Project we're working with the Boys & Girls Club, Portland Parks & Recreation and some people who really know the hip-hop community.

We're also going to do a Northwest jazz oral histories project. (Seattle jazz critic) Paul de Barros is going to come down and do the first set of 10 interviews with some of the old cats to get a real thorough history through their eyes. And we're going to work with the Jazz Society of Oregon and KMHD (the jazz radio station, 89.1 FM) on aspects of that.

Q: How much of your time is devoted to this?

A: All of it that's not spent teaching, performing or running my record label. I've always been looking for some way to bring all the different things I do together, kind of under one roof, and I think this does that. It's a platform for community outreach. It connects me to PSU and to outreach in area schools. ... There are so many things I can do through this. And I think I may end up performing less.

I love playing. I'm gonna play with Dave Holland - it doesn't get better than that' So, I'm certainly not gonna quit playing. But with these other projects, I feel like there's something that lasts. With a record, you leave something behind, but I find that what really lasts is making a contribution in people's lives, to see the growth of community over the years. Things like dealing with fourth- and fifth-graders, seeing them pick up instruments for the first time – man, that feels even better than playing.

Q: So even though you're at the center of this, it's not about your own artistic goals but about working with others?

A: Jazz is a bridge that connects cultures... For instance, the young hip-hop community here doesn't get respect from the city as a whole. And the more I learn about it, I reali7e that the big, mainstream stuff you hear on the radio has nothing to do with it. It's about being a griot (originally, a West African musician or storyteller who passed down the oral history of his people). Music, art, spoken-word – whatever it takes to get the message across. And if, through our griot project, we connect kids to that history, that moves the hip-hop community forward. And in turn, maybe it brings more people to jazz. Folks ask why are there so few young, black jazz musicians. Well, we're certainly not going to where they are.

And there are a lot of other connections to make. For the Portland Jazz Festival, we put together a jazz history program that was seen by 2,000 students in the schools here. Why not do a history of Latin jazz? Why not do a tribute to Jim Pepper and get the Native American community involved? How are you going to make a change? That's what I get excited about.

Oregonian - May 2, 2004