Jazz great is sent off in style

Friday, August 22, 2003
Edition: METROPOLITAN,
Section: METRO, Page B1
Byline: STEVE PENN

It's never too late to honor a jazz legend with a memorial jam session.

Especially when that jazz great was Harold Ashby, one of the finest saxophonists ever to come out of Kansas City .

Ashby died in June in New York . But earlier this week, Ashby's distinctive sound, his favorite music and his musical accomplishments were recalled one more time in his hometown.

In an age-old tradition, fellow musicians crammed into the Blue Room at 18th and Vine streets to swap stories, play Ashby's favorite tunes and hoist a few drinks in his honor.

Born here in 1925, Ashby went on to first play with the Duke Ellington orchestra in 1960 as a substitute. He finally joined the band full time in 1968, serving as the featured tenor saxophonist well into the 1970s and even after Ellington's death in 1974.

Singer Luqman Hamza was the first to speak.

"I loved Harold," Hamza said. "It was so much fun to be a part of all that with him. It was inspiring."

Saxophonist Ahmad Alaadeen spoke next, telling the audience that he heard about Ashby's robust sound well before he met him in the 1970s.

"Before I met him, I knew him mostly through his music and that famous picture of him playing next to Ellington," Alaadeen said.

Adolph Roulette, a local drummer, said, "Harold was my first cousin. So naturally, we grew up together musically and otherwise."

Even when Ashby moved to New York , Roulette and Ashby kept in touch.

"He showed me around New York one time," Roulette said. "He took me to all the spots. I couldn't have lived there. But it was the best place for musicians."

Family friend Elizabeth Blanton, 97, helped raise Ashby. She stopped by to pay her respects.

"I was the mom he needed," Blanton said. "All he did was sit in his room and play that horn. Sometimes he wouldn't come out to eat."

Blanton became emotional.

"It hurts me," she said. "I was like his mother. I'm very proud of him. I'm thankful to be here."

Doug Tatum, executive director of the Folly Theater, hired Ashby several times to play. The last time was in September for a concert dubbed "The Duke's Men."

After the concert, Ashby became ill. When Tatum went over to the hotel to pick up Ashby, Ashby was too sick to travel. He told Tatum that he needed a day to rest.

"A few minutes later, he had a heart attack," Tatum said. "He ended up staying here 2 1/2 months."

Ashby eventually made it back to New York , where he died in June. But Ashby left something behind - his music.

During his visit, Ashby brought boxes of his compact disc, "The Harold Ashby Quartet Plays Duke Ellington," with him.

Before he left for New York , Tatum reminded Ashby that he still had them. "He told me he would let me know when he wanted me to mail them," Tatum said.

Ashby died before making that request. Ashby's relatives agreed to donate the compact discs to the Coda Jazz Fund , which was established to assist with burial and funeral expenses for jazz musicians.

Recorded in 1998, the compact disc features Ashby performing Ellington's tunes as well as a few of his own. "I was very fortunate to have played with Duke," Ashby wrote on the compact disc. "Every day was a beautiful day."

The compact disc is on sale for $15 at the Swing Shop at the American Jazz Museum , 1616 E. 18th St .

Kansas City has a long history of sending its noted jazz musicians off in style. The memorial jam session for Ashby was yet another example.

The tribute was a necessary send-off for a local jazz legend who honed his skills here before going on to make history playing next to jazz royalty.