George Cables today

[brownie]

From the Mercury News today.

Health woes don't sap jazz pianist's musical spirit

GEORGE CABLES STAYS POSITIVE DESPITE SETBACK

By Andrew Gilbert

Special to the Mercury News

As modern jazz's definitive pianist of the 1970s and '80s, George Cables has had a high-flying career, touring and recording with masters such as Dexter Gordon, Art Pepper, Freddie Hubbard and Bobby Hutcherson. But since March 2003, when his failing kidneys could no longer sustain him, Cables has been tethered regularly to a dialysis machine.

At the keyboard, Cables is as effervescent as ever, a player who combines rhythmic power and a deep sense of the blues with a crystalline touch and captivating melodic sensibility. Away from the bandstand, he has adapted to the thrice-weekly dialysis treatments, and he maintains a positive outlook, though the medical routine has limited his ability to work.

``I'm not traveling like I like to,'' says Cables, 59, from his Brooklyn apartment, ``though a couple of weeks after I first started, I went right on the road for two or three weeks, and everything worked out fine. In the beginning, I'd get kind of wiped out on my dialysis days, and every now and then it still happens, but for the most part, I'm doing quite well.''

Cables makes his first Bay Area appearance as a leader in more than five years on Tuesday, opening a two-night run at Yoshi's in Oakland with a powerhouse quartet featuring bassist Eric Revis, drummer Jeff ``Tain'' Watts and alto saxophonist Gary Bartz, a colleague and friend of Cables' going back some 35 years. (Cables returns Aug. 22 to the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society in Half Moon Bay.) The band will focus on music from Cables' latest album, ``Looking for the Light'' (MuseFX Records), which also showcases Bartz's passionate alto work.

Cables composed the tunes on ``Light'' in the months before he started dialysis, when his health was failing and he felt awful much of the time. In the past, his most memorable pieces, such as his sublime ballad for his wife, ``Helen's Song,'' have been character studies. As he took stock of his medical situation, he decided to write a series of pieces dedicated to the people around him that he loved.

``I feel really fortunate being around great people, positive people who make a difference just by their presence,'' Cables says. ``At that time, I was concentrating on being positive, and I really wanted to record this music. Music is a spiritual thing for me. I do it because I love it.''

Longtime Bay Area jazz fans are well acquainted with Cables' passion for music. Born and raised in New York City, he moved to the West Coast in 1971, at first thinking he would settle in San Francisco.

``I used to be at home in New York watching `Ironside' just to see San Francisco,'' Cables says, recalling the old police drama starring Raymond Burr. ``And I thought, `If you really like it that much, why don't you just move there?' ''

San Francisco may have provided a steady income for television police detectives in the early '70s, but Los Angeles was a much better bet for a jazz musician, and Cables set up house there in 1971 while a member of Joe Henderson's band. Not long afterward, Freddie Hubbard decided on a Southern California lifestyle, and Cables ended up spending five years with the trumpeter when Hubbard was at the peak of his powers.

Cables' L.A. years were marked most deeply by his memorable association with resurgent altoist Art Pepper, a collaboration that produced a dozen albums for Contemporary and Galaxy, culminating in two classic duo sessions, ``Tete-a-Tete,'' and ``Goin' Home.''

As one of the house pianists at San Francisco's Keystone Korner, however, Cables spent so much time playing in the Bay Area that many people just assumed he lived here. His tenure at the club was immortalized in a three-volume, live Blue Note recording, ``Nights at the Keystone,'' which captured Cables, bassist Rufus Reid and drummer Eddie Gladden accompanying tenor great Dexter Gordon.

Cables finally moved to San Francisco in 1983, just in time to play Keystone's closing gigs. He taught at San Jose State University, working mostly with students one-on-one, and was a founding member of saxophonist Mel Martin's Bebop and Beyond. But work kept pulling him east, and he moved back to New York in 1989, just before the Loma Prieta earthquake.

Considering his stature, Cables has recorded few albums as a leader, though he has made each one count. His 1980 Contemporary disc ``Cables' Vision'' is his most celebrated, a classic that includes his oft-played tunes ``Morning Song'' and ``Inner Glow.'' ``Light,'' his first release under his own name in more than six years, features a rhythm section with consummate pros Peter Washington on bass and Victor Lewis on drums. For his Yoshi's engagement, Cables rounded up more than adequate replacements. Bassist Eric Revis has earned respect in Branford Marsalis' protean trio, a band that also features Tain Watts' catalytic trap work.

``One of the things I've learned is to have the good sense to get the best guys you can,'' Cables says. ``The drums are really important to me and to my music. I've had the good fortune to play with some of the greatest drummers -- Art Blakey, Max Roach, Philly Joe Jones, Kenny Clarke, Tony Williams, Elvin Jones, Billy Higgins, Victor Lewis, you name 'em. And I think Jeff Watts has a very special talent.

[B. Goren.]

Sad news. I wish him good health and all the best.

[robviti]

i recently saw george cables with lew tabackin and randy brecker during the jvc festival in new york. despite his frail appearance, he played wonderfully and was quite engaging after the show.

[mikeweil]

It was great too see this heavily Hancock-influenced player develop into his own personality during his tenure with Dexter Gordon - his playing on Manhattan Sinfonie is beautiful. He's what I would call a "B+ player", but I always liked him a lot - sad to hear this. All the best, Mr. Cables!

[Bright Moments]

any update on his health?

[JSngry]

I ws just listening to Cables the other day on Curtis Fuller's CRANKIN', and that, along with recent time spent with the Joe Henderson Lighthouse stuff, brought it home how he was one of the first "inside" players to really get something out of the electric piano that treated the instrument on its own terms, exploiting the intrument's natural traits instead of treating it like a poor substitute for a "real" piano.

How "important" a contribution that is will no doubt depend on how you feel about the electric piano in the first place, but I like it when it's played well, and Cables was one of the first to play it really well.

[jlhoots]

I saw him a few months ago playing acoustic piano with Frank Morgan in Albuquerque.

He played well & seemed energetic.

[Eloe Omoe]

any update on his health?

I saw George a couple of weeks ago in Bollate, a small town near Milano, with Essiet Essiet, Victor Lewis and guest Piero Odorici, a very good Italian tenor player. Excellent concert (but the band was just in the middle of a 15-date Italian tour, so their interplay was really high by then).

George is amazing. He has to undergo dialysis every second day (and in Milan he had to to do that just before the concert) paying huge sums of money every time, but he's in high spirits anyway (and he plays great).

The concert has been recorded. There's talk of releasing it on Red Records, We'll see.

Luca

[Cali]

George Cables is an "A+" player in my book.

[CJ Shearn]

well said, Cali

[ghost of miles]

He sounds pretty A+ on that Dexter Mosaic Select... that's where I've been digging him lately. First heard him when I got into late 70's Art Pepper and immediately felt that this must be one of the "unsung" guys who probably never gets the credit that he deserves. Best wishes to Mr. Cables.

[marcello]

Here is a photo of George ( on the far right) with ( sorry I can't remember the bass player!), Gene Jackson and Joe Locke from this fall from a concert of the Joe Locke Quartet at the American Museum of Natural History; the "Starry Nights" concert series that is sponsored bt WBGO.

Edited April 16, 2005 by marcello

[sidewinder]

Always really liked his playing with Woody Shaw, especially the Contemporary date 'Song of Songs'. The Japanese date 'Why Not' for that same label is really nice too, as is the CBS work with Dexter. 'Manhattan Symphonie' is a particular favourite (what a great album that is), Cables is superlative on 'As Time Goes By'.

Edited April 16, 2005 by sidewinder

[jlhoots]

Blackstone Legacy

[Peter F]

Art Pepper used to refer to George Cables as "Mr. Beautiful". He was referring to his piano playing.

Cables put out a CD this past year on the Muse FX label called "Looking For the Light". it has Gary Bartz, Peter Washington and Victor Lewis as sidemen.

George has CDs out on a number of labels such as Concord, contemporary, DIW, Meldac(Japanese),

Groove, Dan(Japanese),Trio(Japanese). On the Steeplechase label he has nine CDs including one solo, one quartet, and the rest trio dates.

Peter F.

[SGUD missile]

In addition to being a wonderful pianist, George is one sweetheart of a guy to hang with.

I worked several of the Bud Shank Clinics in Port Townsend WA with him, and no matter what health issues he was dealing with, he was always cheerful and fun to be around.

I sure hope this latest setback is only a passing one ..

( I just looked and hes still listed as faculty for this years Centrum clinic, so hopefully, he'll be well enough to participate )

[James]

In addition to being a wonderful pianist, George is one sweetheart of a guy to hang with.

I recall talking with (bassist) Bob Magnusson about his tenure with Art Pepper, and he *raved* about what a great musical talent George is, and what a magnificent human being he is. The deep affection in his voice was contagious. I just got off the phone with my best friend who saw George in Boston a couple of years ago and got the same "glow" going after a conversation with him after the performance. It seems as though to know George (or to just talk to him) is to love George.

I've always been a big fan of his playing. His duos with Art are just beautiful.