A worthy life, deserving of re-consideration.

December 29, 2007 10:10 PM

"At age 21, Eric Kamau Gravatt was McCoy Tyner's drummer, one of the most coveted jobs a jazz musician could hope to get. After 20 years of working as a prison guard, he's back behind the kit again as Tyner's drummer."

"Long before beginning work in a prison, Gravatt developed a hardened outlook on a musician's life. He remembers playing in clubs where owners stowed away the Steinway and brought in a Baldwin piano whenever black artists performed. He had to move his drums through riotous streets the night Martin Luther King Jr. was shot.

None of that accounts for his moody interior and steely exterior, which to this day intimidate or ward off some of his peers.

"I can play music with you, but it don't mean I have to drink with you or laugh at your silly-ass jokes," he says, pausing for a moment to reflect on his musical relationships.

"I alienated a lot of people -- been doing that since I was a kid," he says. "I don't have too many friends, but I'm fine with that. People's feelings bruise easily, and sometimes I forget that."

posted by paulsc (9 comments total)

Wow wow wow! That's great news! I LOVED his drumming on Weather Report's Sweetnighter. That was my all time fave WR album, and it had a LOT to do with his drumming. And, damned if I didn't sometimes wonder what had happened to that guy! Can't wait to read through these various links. Thanks for this great post!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 10:42 PM on December 29, 2007

I'm not exactly adding anything to/enriching the conversation, but I've read thru yr links and, in a year where so many jazz greats moved on to teach angels, this is excellent news and a most delightful post. Thanks...
posted by dawson at 10:57 PM on December 29, 2007

Not to rain on anyone's parade, but he's getting pretty poor reviews from people who've seen him since his comeback. Not that he won't get back up to speed in time, but I've heard he's lost a step during his time off, which of course is totally understandable given the length of time and the circumstances.
posted by thedanimal at 11:16 PM on December 29, 2007

"... he's getting pretty poor reviews from people who've seen him since his comeback."

Maybe. But, you'll pardon me, I hope, if I trust Tyner's ear...
posted by paulsc at 11:24 PM on December 29, 2007 [1 favorite]

I'd trust Tyner's ear, but I'd also imagine that Gravatt may not be the well-oiled rhythm machine that he was in his youth, cause hey, the guy has been away from it for quite a while, after all. I don't actually know any personal details, but it may well be that Tyner is bringing an old friend back into the musical fold that even he knows isn't necessarily 100% up to snuff yet. It may be that Tyner's willing (and happy) to play with the man again while he gets his chops back into shape. Because he knows the man's potential, and his musicality.

Or, he might be totally killing on the drums, and whoever he's getting "poor reviews" from don't know their ass from a hole in the ground!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 12:43 AM on December 30, 2007

Excellent news. Thanks for the links, paulsc.
posted by goo at 5:07 AM on December 30, 2007

This is great news, thanks for passing it on! As flapjax almost said, check out the beat on 125th Street Congress from the aforementioned Sweetnighter. You may recognise it.
posted by Wolof at 7:01 PM on December 30, 2007

No informed comment on his drumming skills, but the stories of talented jazz musicians (as well as other artists) giving up on their art in order to raise a family are a sadly under-reported phenomenon.

Comebacks are always appreciated.
posted by kozad at 10:02 PM on December 31, 2007

This is a really great post, paulsc. Trying to read the details, and at the same time remember just who Eric Gravatt is (it's been awhile since those long-lost glory days of early Weather Report, Mahavishnu Orchestra, etc.), I thought you were saying he'd been in prison for 20 years. Which reminded me of Frank Morgan, who in 1985 made his own remarkable return to jazz from decades in prison — in his case, behind bars, not working there.

Good for Gravatt, to be able to take care of his kids and then get a chance to return to playing, at the highest levels, the music he loves. It's something to think of a jazz great making good for so long in what, in your last link, Gravatt himself refers to as 'middle management.'
posted by LeLiLo at 10:30 PM on December 31, 2007