Reuben Wilson and Me…

Music was around me growing up and there was a piano to play. I dug boogie woogie and began playing the piano at a young age.. Years later in my mid-teens at a music store, I saw an organ. I played around with it and got a good feeling. Seven or eight years later, I heard Jimmy Smith who just floored me. Soon thereafter, I got a gig where the owner asked me if I could play the organ. I practiced for two weeks and he said I was ready. At first, I was nervous, but eventually I got in the groove.
Reuben Wilson

***On Broadway (1968) signed by Reuben***

Actually, I went to see him in New York City around 1969. Between sets they were asking if anyone wanted to play the (Hammond) B3, so I said, what the heck. Afterwards Jimmy says, "You sound real good, let's go out and catch (organist) Don Patterson with Sonny Stitt." So I am in Jimmy's Mercedes driving around NYC. We get to the club, of course, everyone notices Jimmy. Patterson invites Jimmy to play with Stitt. Not taking anything away from Patterson, but Jimmy stole the show. It was like he had fifteen fingers, that is what it sounded like with all the sounds he got out of the B3. You know thinking back to when I heard "The Sermon", I used to think, I can't play like that. But I learned from Jimmy that night, seeing him perform taught me that I can do that, if I practice real hard.
Reuben Wilson on the towering influence of Jimmy Smith

***Love Bug (1969) signed by Reuben, George Coleman***

See I came up with this idea of playing pop music with jazz. I didn't think that they should be limited. In a lot of ways, it had already been done, but not necessarily given the appreciation. They used to have a lot of jazz musicians in Motown. They were background players. So instead of having them in the background, it was just a matter of bringing them to the foreground. When I went to Grant (Green) with these things that I wanted to do, he was just ecstatic. He was like, "Yeah man, let's go. This is hip. C'mon Ru, let's do this thing.”
Reuben Wilson

***A Groovy Situation (1970) signed by Reuben***

Actor, boxer, composer, musician and Godfather Of Groove, Reuben Wilson is a man of many talents. Born in Mounds, Oklahoma, Reuben and his family relocated to Pasadena, California when he was five years old. Surrounded by music as a child, Reuben recalled his early efforts on the piano in the liner notes on Love Bug, his masterful album released in 1969, "Except for a half dozen basic lessons with Austin McCoy, I was self-taught as a pianist. But before I could even get seriously involved with the piano, a friend introduced me to the organ, and I knew this was the direction I wanted to take."

***The Sweet Life (1972) signed by Reuben***

Before concentrating solely on music, Reuben's first profession was the Sweet Science. As a boxer, Reuben was quite successful, winning eleven of thirteen bouts, which led to actor Kirk Douglas purchasing his boxing contract. This led to Reuben's appearance as a boxer in the 1954 Otto Preminger film "Carmen Jones" which also starred Pearl Bailey, Harry Belafonte, Diahann Carroll and Dorothy Dandridge, a very impressive cast. Fortunately, his acting and pugilist careers were short lived, and Reuben focused his prodigious talents on his music which extends to the current day.

After honing his craft in Los Angeles nightclubs, Reuben took an ill advised gig in Las Vegas, a five month dour sojourn which he remembered, "Las Vegas was a big drag. There was nothing happening there musically, so I moved back to Los Angeles." Some truths, to be sure, remain resolute and inviolate whether it is Las Vegas in the 1960s or the 2000s! Fortunately, the Los Angeles jazz scene was quite fertile and Reuben said there was no dearth of influences upon his return, "Richard Groove Holmes was working around town then, and he became a big influence, though my original inspiration had been Billy Larkin of The Delegates. Later, I listened to Jimmy Smith and learned a lot from him, of course." Indeed, the fountainhead of all modern jazz organ is the brilliant and mercurial Jimmy Smith.

***The Cisco Kid (1974) signed by Reuben***

At the end of 1966, Reuben moved to New York City, "I soon noticed that there was a different approach to music. The way of life affects your playing. In New York, you really have to get your thing together." Reuben was signed to Columbia Records by John Hammond, a descendent of the gilded Vanderbilts who is undoubtedly the most famous producer/talent scout in the history of recorded music. Aretha Franklin, Billie Holiday, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen are just a few of the artists that John "discovered." Sadly, the Wilson record remains unreleased but Reuben did sign with the exalted Blue Note record label and produced five acclaimed albums from 1969-1971.

Reuben remembered his Blue Note recordings fondly in a 2004 interview with The Irish Times, "At Blue Note, we were free to play pretty much what we wanted because the label was all about finding something fresh. They accepted what you were going to do and they didn't dictate anything. I think the only dictation I got from them was they didn't really want me to record any blues, but that was alright with me because I had another thing in mind anyway. I wanted to take straight ahead Jazz and mix it with Pop." It helped enormously that Reuben had impeccable jazz accompanists on these seminal soul jazz vinyls: Grant Green and Melvin Sparks on guitar, George Coleman on saxophone, Lee Morgan on trumpet, and Idris Muhammad and Bernard Pretty Purdie on drums, all jazz leaders with their own impressive discographies.

***Got To Get Your Own (1975) signed by Reuben***

***Got To Get Your Own (1975) back cover, living the dream!***

The vicissitudes of the music industry and the waning interest in Jazz forced Reuben to retire from music in the 1980s. Fortunately, hip hop artists like A Tribe Called Quest, Brand New Heavies, Nas and Us3 began to sample his songs and rekindled interest in his funky beats. As Reuben said, "Sampling was a big thing for me because it brought new interest and a new audience for me. I don't think people knew so much about the original artists such as myself who were on those records, but it did kind of put the name back out there at the time for people who knew about it in the past."

***Organ Blues (2002) signed by Reuben***

I was blessed to see Reuben twice, once at S.O.B.s in New York City in the late 1990s with the Godfathers Of Groove (Grant Green Jr. on guitar and Bernard Pretty Purdie on drums) and recently at the Jazz Forum in Tarrytown, New York with Paul Bollenback on guitar and Carmen Ettore on drums. At the Jazz Forum, it was a classic Hammond B3 trio, or in this case a Roland VK7 trio, which was Reuben's instrument of choice. They opened with the blues chestnut "Kansas City" then Stanley Turrentine's soul jazz classic "Sugar." Paul Bollenbeck played fluid, glistening.runs on guitar while Carmen Intorre supplied a stolid back beat with crisp drums and snares, and Reuben offered tasty organ fills. "On Broadway", culled from his first Blue Note release in 1968 opened with some extended organ comps followed by the furious funk filth of guitarist Paul Bollenbeck. Other highlights included "Misty", a beautiful ballad with exquisite brush work by Carmen Ettore, and the finale was "Orange Peel", a Wilson original, a slow, bluesy, and languid burner. It was an exceptional evening of virtuoso playing.

Reuben Wilson Jazz Forum, Tarrytown NY 2019

Paul Bollenbeck with Reuben Wilson and Carmen Ettore at the Jazz Forum 2019

Now it was time to visit with Reuben. He was in great spirits as he signed the vinyl. "Oh man, Wilis, I loved him. As soon as he heard me, I was in his band. We really had fun," he said as he signed Funky Reggae, an album Willis Jackson helmed in 1974. I mentioned that I loved his version of "On Broadway" which he just played. "Thank you, that's a great song and this album is really important to me," he said as he signed his first Blue Note release. Next came Boogaloo To The Beastie Boys, a 2004 release which featured Reuben and his colleagues covering Beastie Boys classics, quite a rare reversal from hip hop artists who usually sampled Reuben. Akin to a father sampling his children’s tunes, it is stunning in its simplicity and grooves, I asked Reuben whose idea it was to cover the Beasties? "Oh they were around, and I liked them so I was happy to do the record," he replied modestly. He laughed when he saw Got To Get Your Own, "This record became a hit all over again. I was playing with the Fatback Band in Europe in the 80s and it was being played all over." Yes, it just proves that great music always finds a way into you soul, no matter the age or genre. I thanked Reuben for his time and especially his music.