Francis X McTamney

I was first exposed to jazz as a grown man in my 30s through a very good friend. He had an extensive collection of jazz CD'S and had been listening, following and collecting for years. He's an artist and often listened to jazz in his studio while he worked. I often hung out with him there and sometimes he would educate me on art and talk in depth about the music and how it often transported him and inspired him to paint. His enthusiasm was so contagious that it peaked my own curiosity. I think my real indoctrination began with "A Love Supreme" by John Coltrane. I grew up in Philly so I connected with him in that way. From there the whole scene exploded into my consciousness. Bird, Miles, Sonny Rollins, Keith Jarrett, McCoy Tyner, Elvin Jones, Jimmy and Percy Heath, Philly Joe Jones, The Jazz Messengers, Horace Silver, Dizzy, Django Reinhardt, Stephane Grappelli, Milt Jackson, Tony William's, Mingus, and on and on. We were blessed with a 24 hour jazz radio station in those days, Temple University's WRTI, which now shares 12 hours a day with Classical programming. We became regular show goers and frequently traveled to New York to the Blue Note and the Village Vanguard as well as Philly clubs that were thriving at the time. I was blessed to see Miles twice in Philly, Milt Jackson, Odean Pope, Elvin Jones, Frank Morgan, Dizzy Gillespie. The night we saw Dizzy at the Blue Note he was featuring a young trumpet player who turned out to be none other than John Faddis. Also in the house that night were Mr. Ellis Marsalis and Mr. Count Basie! I was taken aback from my first jazz performance at how the musicians are often very accessible to their fans. After 35 years, I still find that especially endearing. Today, Jazz music is often my spiritual refuge, having been born in the roots of a deep friendship and beautiful art being made before my eyes, it always conjures up those memories for me. Memories of an exciting new discovery passed on to me through a rich, abiding friendship mixed with the privilege of being a witness to one artist's intimate creative process almost daily. Jazz has become a retreat for me and I go there often these days.