I have to confess my ignorance of Khalil Shaheed prior to hearing this story. But I feel like I know the guy, because he reminds me of some amazing musicians that inspired me as a kid – not just because of their musical performances, but also because of their hands-on involvement in the community. There are lots of great players out there, but only a special few for whom passing on their knowledge is important. These are people that understand the therapeutic effect of practicing and playing music. I’ve never met Shaheed, but I think I have a pretty good idea of what sort of a human being he is. I wish I could be in the Bay Area this coming week to attend the benefit show for Shaheed at Yoshi’s in Jack London Square. Keep on Keepin’ on, Khalil.
As the Oaktown Jazz Workshop’s rhythm section, made up of boys and girls ages 9 to 17 and three adult instructors, vamps on the Charles Lloyd tune “Sombrero Sam,” director Khalil Shaheed blows the opening phrase of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “The Sound of Music” on trumpet and asks alto saxophonist Sade Kammen, 13, to repeat what he’d just played. She flubs it on the first try but nails it on the second. She and Shaheed then play it in unison as a riff while the others groove.
“You have to be able to read, and you have to be able to pick it up by ear,” Shaheed, 61, tells the class when the song ends. “This music was originally passed on by oral tradition.”
The after-school class at Oakland’s Dimond Recreation Center in many ways resembles an old-school jam session. While Shailla Head, 11, delivers Nat “King” Cole’s 1946 hit “The Frim Fram Sauce” with the confidence and flawless timing of a professional vocalist, Shaheed and Kammen riff behind her. They sway together from side to side as they blow, much as he did in the 1970s when he toured the world as a member of singing drummer Buddy Miles’ horn section.
The trumpeter’s obvious joy in teaching jazz to young people, as well as the warmth of his tone and the clarity of his improvised solos, has remained undiminished since he was diagnosed in December with lung cancer. Other than having dropped four of his 13 private students, for whom he says he was “basically just doing day care,” he maintains a very busy schedule.
Via: SFGate
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