Earl May, RIP

[Ed Fuqua]

Lost another veteran , here. I got to meet Earl a few years back at St. Peter's at a benefit for Cobi Narita's organization. What a kind beautiful SWINGING guy, he was performing with Junior Mance's trio.

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/news.php?id=16615

The link is mostly about Irene Reid, who died the same day, but this is all I could find on-line.

[milomo]

Originally Posted by Ed Fuqua

Lost another veteran , here. I got to meet Earl a few years back at St. Peter's at a benefit for Cobi Narita's organization. What a kind beautiful SWINGING guy, he was performing with Junior Mance's trio.

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/news.php?id=16615

The link is mostly about Irene Reid, who died the same day, but this is all I could find on-line.

Earl and Irene on the same day, that sucks double for me. I can second Ed on what a great guy Earl May was. I saw Earl with Junior (he introduced me to Earl) and Barry Harris in New York several times. But I saw him most often out here in Jersey. Earl lived in South Orange, and for a few years I did as well, and I would sometimes get off the train and see Earl sitting in his station wagon waiting to pick up his wife. He always had his fiberglass trunk in the back of the car. Once I had my bass with me, and he waved me over and starting talking to me. He was a real gentleman in the truest sense of the word, and a great (left handed) bass player. And I worked with Irene a lot in the late '90's when I was playing tenor with Charles Earland. He engineered her comeback from almost total obscurity, and she wouldn't work with anybody else. We traveled a lot, mostly the the east coast (she and Charles were huge in the "neighborhood") and a couple of jazz cruises, and I was lucky enough to be on one of her CD's. Even though the money was kind of sad, it was a lot of fun, and I miss those times a lot. R.I.P. Earl May and Irene Reid.

[Valerus]

Rest In Peace, Mr. May.

[MR PC]

While playing with Dr. Billy Taylor in the early ‘50s, May wasn’t yet satisfied with his playing (I still gripped the top of the bass like older bassists”), so Taylor told him: “I think you need study with Charles Mingus.”

May: “Mingus was a genial man of good humor. And he was a great teacher. He taught me how to break up one hour of practice into quarters. First, finger exercises for 15 minutes. Then scales for fifteen, then reading. Lastly, learn a tune or play with records or write out a solo. Once, when I played with Bags [Milt Jackson] and Dizzy in the South of France, Mingus was standing in the wings looking on with pride. He told them, ‘He’s my student!’”

[Phil Rowan]

I got to see Earl a few times with Barry Harris at the Vanguard, and I remember meeting him one of those times. He was so kind, and offered a few good words of advice. The first time I heard him was on Coltrane's album "Lush Life", and from that first time I knew I found another "cat" to dig on. Little did I know he played the bass left handed with a string set up still meant to be played by a right hander!

Thank you Earl, for blessing us all with your music and you kindness!

[bassman1489]

Wow...Last year Earl came in to my high school english class to talk about his life growing up in Harlem (we were reading a book about Harlem during that time period), and he brought his bass and a sax player. He had told my english teacher that he was willing to play with any/all of the musicians in the class. Of course I brought my bass, and a friend of mine brought his electric violin. We played C Jam Blues, and jammed for a good 10 minutes until the bell rang. He was a great speaker, a ton of fun to play with, and extremely complimentary about my playing afterwards. I'm glad I was able to have that experience with him.

[Ed Fuqua]

A short bio with some links...