Mulgrew - “You gotta bass?”
Mulgrew Miller was a gentle giant, or a ‘grinning bear’ as I like to think of him. When you got the opportunity to speak with him, he listened with his eyes wide open but, if you know him long enough, you know it’s really his heart that is open. Without judgement, Professor Miller offered his students advice on their playing, ways that they could improve, and words of encouragement. I used to stay after our ensemble class to just sit and listen to him play piano and he would talk to me during as if he wasn’t playing at all. We both adored Art Tatum so I would ask if he remembered the introduction to certain songs and he generally would, or at least could fake it! I asked him if he could play the intro to “Begin the Beguine” off the 20th Century Piano Genius recording…he got through it! He once told me, “I won’t stop until I can play like Art.”.
Fast forward a few years, and I was working at the club. Mulgrew was slated to play trio with drummer Rodney Greene and Ivan Taylor on bass. Ivan had dropped his instrument off at the club on the night prior to the start of the gig because he had to adjudicate students at a university all day and knew he would be running late. I arrive around 5pm to the club to get things ready, prepare the house, check my list of reservations, etc. Soundcheck flew by and there was no Mulgrew or Ivan. The doors opened up to the public and there was still no sign of Mulgrew or Ivan. Again, we knew they were cutting it tight because both of them had the juries all day and had probably just hit some traffic. The first showtime was at 7:30pm and, wouldn’t you know it, even at 7:29 there wasn’t any sign of Mulgrew or Ivan.
Sure as can be, Mr. Miller walked down the stairs grinning widely. I said loudly, “Professor! You want a cranberry juice?” (Mulgrew didn’t imbibe…nor curse!) He looked at me and asked, “You gotta bass?” When I told him that Ivan had left his here the night prior all he said was, “Get it ready”. 7:45pm rolled by and it became clear that Ivan was delayed significantly so Mulgrew asked me to play with his trio. I couldn’t believe it! I had played with Mulgrew only in the ensemble setting just running tunes but certainly he had never hired me to play (it was a dream of mine!). He started calling off a few of his classic standards and I knew them. “If I were a bell?,” he asked. “F?” (meaning in F major) I asked and he nodded yes before launching into action. I played on three songs before Ivan finally arrived. Mulgrew was announcing the band and said sitting in that I “did a fine job.” He then announced Rodney saying, “He’s wanted as a drummer all over the world and he makes a lot of money…and his last name tells the story! Rodney Greene!” I was grinning and laughing so hard I couldn’t contain myself. Stepping off the stage Rodney said, “Welcome to the trio!”
I was on cloud 9 getting of the stage. I was actually at work but my managers were thanking me for saving the day! Incredible. After the trio finished the first set, Mulgrew walked up to me and said, “Rob!” smiling widely as he often did. He palmed me a $100 bill and I immediately pushed it back at him. He resisted:
“Rob, I don’t know about those OTHER guys but when you play with me you get PAID.”