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Believes in Groove and Necessary Conversations
Wynton Marsalis once introduced his friend and jazz orchestra drummer Herlin Riley to an audience as, "A master of the New Orleans drum cadence, tambourine, washboard, cowbell, and many other things that can be hit and grooved upon."
And that is certainly a fitting description. Because to Riley-who has been playing drums since he was three years old and has been a professional musician and a member of Local 174-496 (New Orleans, LA) for 45 years- playing with confidence and with intensity is all a part of being creative.
Almost everything can be a percussion instrument; if it has a sound and has a timbre when struck, you can create music with it," he says. "I often play a local club called Snug Harbor, and there's a four-inch pipe that has resonance in the corner of the stage where the drums setup. I always play the pipe in my performances, and my audiences have come expecting me to hit it in my shows. I've been known to hit music stands, mic stands, and any other object that has a sound and is in range of my drumsticks."
"The essence of improvisation is being creative and uninhibited," Riley continues. "It's the same creative and uninhibited expressions I see when I watch people of color dancing to samba, salsa, rhumba, or a Second Line groove on the streets of New Orleans. The integrity ofthe art form ofjazz revolves around being creative, freedom of expression, and utilizing whatever objects or sounds that are available to aid in the creative process. That's the true essence of jazz music."
And, man, has he made some jazz music through the years.
Riley is best known as a member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, led by Wynton Marsalis, of Local 802 (New York City) and of Marsalis' small groups. But Riley's story is much more than that.
He grew up in New Orleans inside a musical family. His grandfather, Frank Lastie, played drums with Louis Armstrong. Frank had three sons who were also musicians (and AFM members): Melvin (trumpet), David (saxophone), and Walter (drums), who played in a combo as well as individually with musicians such as Fats Domino, Little Richard, and King...