pJIlues and Jazz headliner Turrentine will be missed ARTS The Michigan Daily - Friday, September 15, 2000 - 11 The Washington Post Stanley Turrentine, the original Mr. T, was a jazz paradox: a bluesy player who could bop with the best of them shout the blues if a song warranted it. He also attached himself to some of the music's most embarrassing lunges for pop success. Turrentine, who died Tuesday at 66 after suffering a stroke over the week- end, could laugh off the howlers - such as a 1976 jazz interpretation of "Stairway to Heaven," with strings, a recording that prompted guffaws even then. (Turrentine's performance at the Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival - originally slated for Saturday night - was cancelled after the announcement of his stroke. A replacement has not yet been named.) Turrentine knew how to survive even when the music was flailing about, ashamed of its tradition. Turren- tine had no patience either for the des- peration that surrounded jazz in the '60s and '70s or for the curatorial whispers that enveloped the music in the Wynton Marsalis-led back-to- basics movement of the '80s. "I stay out of what's popular or who's a jazz purist," he once said. "That's for critics and writers. I don't have any favorite kind of group. I just like playing. It doesn't matter what the context is." Turrentine just kept on doing what he did - playing a rollicking tenor sax, showing his best in small settings, doing whatever it took to keep his sounds in the bins of the record shops. From the start, Turrentine would not join any jazz church. Born in Pitts- burgh, he attributed his passion for the blues to his mother, a stride pianist. By high school, Turrentine had his own band, Four Bees and a Bop, which played the hard stuff but was commer- cial enough to get prom jobs. Turrentine toured with bluesman Lowell Fulson, did a stint with the Army and its band, backed Ray Charles, and in 1954, replaced John Coltrane in Earl Bostic's jazz band. His sharpest recordings date from the early 160s, when he added polish to his pow- erhouse tone and thrived especially when driven by a Hammond organ, whether played by his former wife, Shirley Scott, or by jazz organ pioneer Jimmy Smith. But as jazz struggled for attention and a new direction in the face of the pop revolution. Turrentine went where he had to. There were disco-tinged cuts and fusion fiascos in the '70s, an entire album of Stevie Wonder tunes in the '80s, and a '90s turn into the "Quiet Storm" sound. You can sift through those albums and find egregious stuff, but you can also find real passion, a lush tone and almost always a devotion to adding edge to even the most sac- charine of music. Turrentine was unashamed to pro- duce make-out music, some of it over- ly produced, but some of it taking you back to the roadside blues joint where you first danced with the one you love. To the end, Turrentine was not afraid to work up a sweat in his music. He was never one for radicalism; experiments with time were not his bag. He had a weakness for sweets, whether candied ballads such as "What the World Needs Now" or his '70s standard "Sugar," which presented the Turrentine philosophy: "When the world is not at your feet / It won't have to be like bitter defeat / Reach for the taste of something sweet / Come to sugar." Through the sugary daze, Mr. T kept his foundation in good shape - a strong vibrato; a hu 0e sound modeled after his mentor, Illinois Jacquet; and a surprisingly delicate way of dancing around a melody. Courtesy of Allmusictcom Vley Turrentine, 66, died Tuesday after s ring a stroke over the weekend. LINEUP Continued from Page 8 in March of this year. And just for diversity's sake. Milton will be pre- ceded by tromboniist Jimmy Bosch and his trademark brand of "salsa di ," an amalgam of Ruben Blades infhuenced tropicalia and jazz-based improvisation. Blues heroes the Robert Cray Band will headline Sunday's Gallup Park shows, which will be kicked off by the UM Faculty Jazz Ensem- ble and bluesman Hubert Sumlin. Sunday's bill also includes two New Orleans acts, the Zydeco accordion- ist Rosie Ledet and Kernit Ruffins k" a Barbecue Swingers, a hand W which Special- 71izes in a laid- back blend of Ann Arbor Crescent City jazz. blues and Blues and soul. Jazz Festival The Grammy Gallup Park Award-winning Federal-Mogul believes it takes well-educated, challenged employees to achieve real corporate success. This is why F-M places college graduates joining our team into exciting positions within a growth-focused work environment based upon our Core Values of teamwork, mutual respect and trust. It's also the reason we offer exceptional employee training, competitive benefits, a progressive work/life balance and business culture designed to promote success on the job and throughout your personal pursuits. Career Fair Thursday, September 14th and Friday, September 15th. Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. MOGUL Let's succeed together BEFORE THE GAMES I DOWN UNDER BEGIN... 1: ;;;> I ___ ~ I ' .,;> r > ay Sd g 97SEE ANDPE 1OSCORE /AN i I i i I Saturday and Sunday at Noon 1960s. Like his Cray has made a name for him- self with several widely popular albums that fre- quently remind listeners of classic Mem- phis soul records of the albums, Cray's live "; T : ; : : ::