Bob Green was truly an elder statesman of jazz in Fort Wayne.
Bob was one of those special people with a presence. And, he had a deep, commanding voice, powered by a professional salesman's confidence in his product that made him standout in a conversation-just like his tall, Dexter Gordon-like posture, saxophone grasped gently, but firmly in hand, made him stand out on the bandstand.
He was from that old school, the Gene Ammons, Houston Person school of big, soulful and bluesy tenor playing. And, he knew that you had to do more than blow-you also had to entertain and make people feel good. He liked picking popular tunes, pretty tunes that people would relate to get their attention. Yes, he would play the standards and bop pieces like Miles' "Four" or Bird's "Yardbird Suite," but he loved pulling out pieces like the Beatles "The Long and Winding Road," Peabo Bryson's "Can You Stop the Rain?" or the Crusaders' funky little "Way Back Home." He delivered them his own way and with his signature sound-that big, round tenor tone drenched in rich reverb, a sound that became uniquely Bob Green's in these parts. In recent years, he moved to another musical love-the organ, even bring one of his favorite B-3 masters to Fort Wayne-the acclaimed Tony Monaco.
The bottom line was producing soulful sounds. As Bob once explained to me, there was a surefire way to know if you were doing the right thing on the bandstand: Look under the tables at the feet of the audience, and if they're patting their feet, you're playing the right stuff, Bob explained, teaching me a lesson I've never forgotten.
Over the years, he earned a name for himself and was the go to guy for many, performing thousands of gigs in the area. And, he got some choice, very hip gigs. I know, because Bob gave me the opportunity to play on a number of them.
For example, I got the opportunity to play in Washington, D.C., for the U.S. Conference of Mayors because of Bob Green. He also took a number of us to Muskegon Heights, Mich., to play for the inauguration of that city's first black mayor.
Because of Bob, I got the opportunity to play a set with the great Chuck Mangione, open up for Ronnie Laws, play at the famed Rusty's jazz club in Toledo and subsequently become a member of the late, great guitarist Leon Cook's Cookin' band with son Damon Cook and the late Grammy Award winning Tony Ben, as well as with a number of incredible pianists.
That's just a very small part of Bob Green's story as a musician- the small part I know firsthand. He was at it long before I picked up an instrument. I remember watching him rehearse with my cousins Stan and Tony Robinson over at Stan's apartment years ago. Again, I was wowed to see these brothers conjure up those sounds as if by magic. I'm sure they, along with guys like some of Bob's long time musical compatriots including Howard Gaulden, Glenn Mullins and Al Stiles; others including Jim Steele, Todd Harrold, George Ogg, Todd Phillips, Lee Lewis, Bob's niece Vanessa Givands, Kenny Flye, Cliff Webb, and friends such as Dan Jones and all the folks at American Legion Post 148, where he was a very active member, could help fill in the story.
You also could take a trip down to the African/African-American Historical Museum at 436 E. Douglas Ave., in Fort Wayne and visit their exhibit on local musicians. There's plenty of material there chronicling Bob's career.
Or you could ask a number of pastors around here about his service to the church as a musician. I'm sure all of them would tell you he was there at a moment's notice, horn in hand, whenever you needed him.
Al Stiles' son Ronnie also could tell you a lot.
"Bob was my cousin and when I was going through my divorce he was my mentor," explained Ronnie Stiles, an accomplished local drummer and guitarist. "Bob and I hooked up in the '70s and we formed a band. Bob was more into the jazz than I was. I played jazz when I was on the road, but I was kind of young. He brought more of an understanding of jazz to me. He taught me more about jazz. Bob was aware of jazz. He kept jazz on his stereo all the time.
"He just kind of freed my mind because I was going through some rough things. We stuck together in that band for about 10 years," said Stiles.
"We worked together off and on at different times."
Stiles said he also learned a lot about how to make people feel good.
"One thing Bob would always say was that you can play a lot a notes, but if you can play one note with feeling, it meant more than 50 notes," said Stiles. "One of his favorite sayings was, 'Let's go make a little noise even if it's wrong.' He was one of the best horn players I've ever heard as far as his tone and intonation. He wasn't a real schooled musician but he was very technical about his sound."
"People are going to miss Bob because he was one of the people who kept jazz going, up until he died, whether he was promoting other artist or playing himself. Jazz people will miss him very much," said Stiles.
Bob's Green passing has left a vacuum in this world. I know his loving family already is missing him tremendously. But, Bob also belonged to the community, largely through his music. They, too, will miss him.
I'm not going to lie-I don't think he was always appreciated by folks the way he should have been, even by me. Too often, many of us see playing as "just another gig." But, Bob never saw it that way. To him, it was always a big thing, because music is magical. And, that's the way it should be. He would want us to remember that.
It's just not going to be the same around here without his soulful sounds drifting through the air. But, he too is playing for another bandleader- the Most High-and that's one heck of a very special gig.
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