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BILL CROW continued from page 14
In 1954 Crow joined the Marian McPartland Trio (with Joe Morello on
drums) at the Hickory House in New York City.
It was funny; I didn’t drink at that
time. I was just standing around
and Charlie [of Charlie’s Tavern]
would kind of look over my head
and not pay any attention to me.
When I started earning a little
money and I could afford to stand
at the bar and share a drink with
somebody, then he had me in
focus. But it wasn’t until I came
in with Stan Getz and we both
ordered Armagnac that he
suddenly knew my name.
Saturday night.” I would take the job. I’d run down
to Noah Wulfe’s on Sixth Ave. and rent an old beatup
bass that was always available for five bucks for
the weekend. Then I’d rent a tux for another five
bucks. The job only paid 15 or 20 dollars but I could
live on that extra because food was cheap and I
was living in a very cheap furnished room. So I
gradually eased into the business that way.
I eventually found a guy that had a plywood Kay
bass that he was willing to sell for $75. I gave him
five dollars, which was all I had, “Will you hold it
until I can get you the rest of the money?” It took
me a few months. One of the ways I raised the
money was this job that John Benson Brooks got me
with Mike Riley; just a trio doing comedy routines
and playing a little Dixieland. I was the drummer and
boy singer. I finally owned my own bass and started
getting calls for jam sessions, rehearsals and stuff
like that. That was where I was learning. I used to
go to jam sessions where there was one rhythm
section and 10 horns. The bass player would get
tired pretty quick so I could jump in and play on his
bass. When I finally had my own instrument I could
go to jam sessions and really hang out.
Teddy Charles was one of the first guys that got me
into an organized group. He had a trio with a guitar
player named Don Roberts. Don and Teddy taught
me chords. They were into be-bop and Teddy knew
all of Monk’s tunes. He was working out arrangements
on the piano that were very hard for Don
because you can play close harmony on the piano
but it is hard on the guitar. If you want a note that
is right next to the one you are playing on one
string you’ve got to reach way over on the next
string to get it. So Don was figuring out all these
hard grips and Teddy was pushing him to play
hipper voicings. It was very interesting, but of
course there was very little money in it.
We had an agent that was trying to book us into
rooms that previously had funny hat groups. We
did a little humor, but it was more like Chubby
Jackson’s humor. You had to be a New York bebopper
and it would help if you were Jewish to
understand the material. But through that group I
improved my jazz chops and I met Jimmy Raney.
Don Roberts left and Jimmy was at liberty because
he’d been working with Stan Getz, but Stan had
gone to the coast by himself. So Jimmy spent that
summer playing with us. Jimmy had a broad range
of interests. He liked to go to museums and look at
the paintings. I learned a lot about Paul Klee and
some of the modern artists that I wasn’t familiar
with. He even took up the cello for a while just for
his own amusement. He never played it out in
public. Then in the fall Stan called him and said,
“I’ve got a week in Boston. Roy Haynes wants to
make it and I’ve got a piano player; so get a bass
player and come on up.” So Jimmy said, “Do you
want to do it?” I said, “Sure.” He said, “You’re
hired.” So Jimmy really hired me. [Chuckles] That
was my first big break.
JJ: OK, how did you feel walking in to work
for Stan when he hadn’t hired you?
BC: Oh I was scared, of course. I was really on my
toes trying to make sure that I was playing well
enough for Stan’s approval. The very first tune was
an up tune and my D string broke. It takes maybe
10 minutes to change a string and the D is in the
middle. You can’t play around it. I saw another bass
under the piano that belonged to the house band
bass player. I figured he wouldn’t mind, I’ll just miss
a couple of bars and switch basses. I grabbed his
bass and started playing. [Chuckles] It was a lefthanded
bass, strung up in the opposite direction.
I probably played more wrong notes on that tune
then I ever did in my life. Then I got the string
changed and the rest of the set was so much better
that I guess Stan figured I was all right. [Laughs]
I thought I’d just have that week, but we came to the
end of it and Stan said, “Well, do you want to stay
on?” [Laughs] I said, “Of course.” He said, “Well,
we’ve got a week in Birdland coming up.” So I went
down there and found that Roy Haynes, who lived in
Boston then, and Jerry Kaminsky, a wonderful piano
player, had not stayed with us. Our new piano player
was Duke Jordan and new drummer was Frank Isola.
I knew Frank from jam sessions and hanging out
around town. We played well together. I loved Duke
and thought he was a spectacular musician. Right
away, I was in the major leagues; played Carnegie
Hall on the same concert that Bird was on. I couldn’t
believe it. It was a jump into the water every night
with a new lesson. I was trying to stay up with these
guys. Jimmy was very kind. He showed me all the
changes he was using and Duke also.
JJ: Did you ever get nervous playing in a
venue like that and with artists of that caliber?
continued on page 18
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__________________________________ May 2010