Roy Haynes has a soft spot for sweet rides: a '98 custom Cadillac El Dorado, '74 Bricklin, '02 Mercedes and '05 Dodge Magnum have all been in his collection. Lucky for him the cars destroyed in his latest project only existed in the virtual world.
The 83-year-old Roxbury native known as the father of modern jazz drumming recently parlayed his legend status into one of his most unusual gigs ever: He's a jazz DJ in the hottest game in the video industry, Grand Theft Auto IV. Turns out that the father of one of GTA's soundtrack supervisors was a Haynes fan and suggested they snag the drummer for the role.
The millions of game players who've bought the latest edition of GTA can hear Haynes introducing classics by Ellington, Coltrane, Basie - and Haynes, too - as they tool around GTA's action-packed world and listen to the radio.
“I have a granddaughter who was so excited when she came to my house and I gave her a copy of the game," Haynes said from his Long Island, N.Y., home. “Some of her friends said to her, 'Hey, your grandfather's in here! That's cool.' “
The 83-year-old Roxbury native known as the father of modern jazz drumming recently parlayed his legend status into one of his most unusual gigs ever: He's a jazz DJ in the hottest game in the video industry, Grand Theft Auto IV. Turns out that the father of one of GTA's soundtrack supervisors was a Haynes fan and suggested they snag the drummer for the role.
The millions of game players who've bought the latest edition of GTA can hear Haynes introducing classics by Ellington, Coltrane, Basie - and Haynes, too - as they tool around GTA's action-packed world and listen to the radio.
“I have a granddaughter who was so excited when she came to my house and I gave her a copy of the game," Haynes said from his Long Island, N.Y., home. “Some of her friends said to her, 'Hey, your grandfather's in here! That's cool.' “
For more information contact All About Jazz.
