Bert Myrick, Detroit Drummer

[JSngry]

A good friend bought the Lp BERT MYRICK - ALIVE 'N WELL from Dusty Groove and sent me a burn. It's on the Strata (not Strata-East) label, and release date is not given, but the graphics suggest early/mid 1970s. However, it was recorded live on April 4, 1965.

The music is very good mid-60s post-Hard Bop, very much in the mid-60s Blue Note "conservative-progressive"bag. Although the album is under Myrick's name, the group seems to be what was actually, according to the liner notes, the George Bohannon/Ronnie fields Quintet, rounded out by Will Austin on bass and BN "cult hero" Kenny Cox on piano. Cox also wrote the liner notes and provided the source tapes. Why the album was released under Myrick's name is not explained.

A few questions about Bert Myrick (and Co.) for all the old Michigan vets:

• Is he still alive, and if so, is he still playing?
  
• Any rememberances of this particular group?
  
• What about Ronnie Fields?
  
• Is Bert Myrick any relation to Chicago altoist Don Myrick?
  
• How many other groups like this were active in Detroit at the time, and what type of local success did they have?
  
• Any idea why/how this Lp was released under Myrick's name?
  
• What else, if anything, did the Strata label release? The producer is listed as Bud Spangler. Any info about him?
  

As always, thanks in advance.

[Dan Gould]

this was provided to me by Jim Gallert, co-author of the "Before Motown" book. I included one track on my second BFT, in fact.

Was DG selling an original pressing or a reissue? Because Jim mentioned that Myric was reissuing the music and he (Jim) had written liners for it. If he doesn't see this thread I'll try to tug his sleeve toward it.

[wigwise]

"Is he still alive, and if so, is he still playing?"

Burt is very much alive and well. I know that whenever Barry Harris is in town, he usually plays with him. He also plays frequently with Donald Walden and his group. I've had the pleasure of watching him perform with both BH and DW a couple of times and really enjoyed his energy. From what I understand, he recently (within the last couple of years) moved back to Detroit from NYC.

Gallert can answer the rest of your questions.

[JamesJazz]

OH yeah, Bert is very much alive and well. I have a lengthy bio of Bert, will be happy to email copies to 'all interested parties'.

Wigwise is right, Bert is a fine drummer.

The LP mentioned earlier is really good - it captured the playing of Ronnie Fields, a little-known Detroit tenor man who died just a couple of years ago, and George Bohanon, Kenny Cox, and Will Austin. Bert wants to reissue the session, and add some unissued stuff, but the funds are not available at the moment...

My email is

JamesJazz@aol.com

[JSngry]

Dan, it was an original copy, none the better for the wear, but still listenable.

I also found your BFT selection whilst Googling. I remember liking that cut quite a bit. How soon we forget...

Jim, you got mail!

[Bill Fenohr]

Back in those days i used to see Bert alot at a regular Sunday night session at a place called Mr Kelly's, which was put on by legendary Detroit DJ Ed Love. There was a pretty large group of guys that made those sessions. Some of the guys i remember being there were Wendell Harrison, pianists Teddy Harris and Claude Black, Bohanon, and if he was home Roy Brooks. There were many others that i cant remember at the moment.

Most of the other clubs in Detroit were dark on Sunday nights, so whoever was in town used to come by and sit in. One night that sticks out in my mind was was an appearence by Arthur Prysock. It was'nt him so much that i remember, but the effect he had on the ladies in the audience. Had it been a rock show, im sure there would have been some undies tossed on the stage.

In answer to your queston on Bud Spangler. Bud went to school here at MSU and was one of the top drummers in town. He also did a weekly radio show at WKAR in East Lansing. After graduating he went back to Detroit where he worked at WDET, which is a public radio station.

He was, and still is pretty tight with Danny Spencer, the drummer with the Detroit Contemporary Five. So he hang out alot with Kenny Cox and co. at that time. I think he appeared on a Strata lp called Location by The Contemporary Jazz Quintet.

Bud then moved to the San Francisco area where he still lives and works. I cant remember the title, but he is on one of Jessica Williams albums and he did one or two dates with trumpeter Tom Peron.

The last time i talked to Bud was a few years ago. At that time he had a radio show which was kind of unique. He would go into the area clubs like Yoshi's and record whoever was there and then play the tapes on his show.

He also engineered most of the Maybeck solo piano series for Concord.

Well if i think of anything else, i shall return.

[sheldonm]

I don't really know him but have spoken to him a couple times and photographed him at Baker's 70th; nice guy!

Mark

[jazzbo]

I had a really good friend who passed away nearly three years ago now named Freddie Myrick.

Everytime I see Bert Myrick, I think of Freddie, who until he came down with cancer was the warmest and most smiling person I ever knew. I miss him!

Wasn't a musician. . . but he loved music. Especially gospel music.

[sheldonm]

I had a really good friend who passed away nearly three years ago now named Freddie Myrick.

Everytime I see Bert Myrick, I think of Freddie, who until he came down with cancer was the warmest and most smiling person I ever knew. I miss him!

Wasn't a musician. . . but he loved music. Especially gospel music.

[jazzbo]

It's alright Mark. You know the last year and a half or so I think of my pal Freddie and I smile. I miss him, but I smile because he was a great person and a joy in my life, and I know he wants me to think of him that way.

[RickPawlowski]

I've been looking for a copy of Alive 'N well for a long time now.... Ronnie Fields was my cousin...... I would really appreciate getting a burn of the album...............

rickpawlowski@yahoo.com

[Mark Stryker]

In case folks didn't know, Bert Myrick passed away this past summer at the age of 80.

[Peter Friedman]

I was living in Detroit back in the late 50's and early 60's. Heard the George Bohanon / Ronnie Fields Quintet play quite a few times.

I recall drummer Bert Myrick as a solid player. If I remember correctly (?) that group played for quite a while at a club called The Congo Lounge.

Reading about this brings back many memories of listening to live jazz regularly back in that period in Detroit.

[Mark Stryker]

I found a sealed (!) copy of this record today at a used store in Detroit. Very excited to finally have this piece of local history. I too wonder why it was released under Bert's name. I'm hoping Kenn Cox's widow, with whom I'm close, might be able to answer, and I also have a contact for George Bohahon so I can check with him too. Would also like to find out exactly at what club it was recorded. This is a particular gem -- not only for the quality of the playing, which as Jim suggests above, is in a mid '60s Blue Note post-bop bag, where hard bop meets modal ideas and structures -- but it's also important because there are very few pure documents of the sound of the Detroit jazz scene in this particular era. 

I'll report back when I learn more.

Edited July 10, 2017 by Mark Stryker

[Dan Gould]

On 4/19/2005 at 0:00 PM, Dan Gould said:

this was provided to me by Jim Gallert, co-author of the "Before Motown" book. I included one track on my second BFT, in fact.

 

Was DG selling an original pressing or a reissue? Because Jim mentioned that Myric was reissuing the music and he (Jim) had written liners for it. If he doesn't see this thread I'll try to tug his sleeve toward it.

Amazingly this was finally issued on CD:

https://www.dustygroove.com/item/842131?sf=bert+myrick&incl_oos=1&incl_cs=1&kwfilter=bert+myrick&sort_order=artist

 

[Kevin Bresnahan]

6 hours ago, Dan Gould said:

Amazingly this was finally issued on CD:

https://www.dustygroove.com/item/842131?sf=bert+myrick&incl_oos=1&incl_cs=1&kwfilter=bert+myrick&sort_order=artist

 

It's too bad that the reissue wasn't able to add the extra tracks that were mentioned above. I wonder who has the master tapes now that he's passed?

[clifford_thornton]

Huh.

Missed the original thread but I too found a sealed original some time ago. It's a really nice record. Recommended.

[mjazzg]

On Spotify in the UK

[Mark Stryker]

I checked in last night with Barbara Cox, the widow of pianist Kenn Cox, who was also a co-founder of the Strata organization. I learned the following:

1. The music on "Live 'n Well" was most likely recorded at a club called the Village Gate on 2nd Ave. (I think) in the Cass Corridor neighborhood (now re-branded on as Midtown). The Bohanan/Fields Quartet was working regularly at this club when during the period in which this music was recorded in April 1965.

2. As to why the music was released under Myrick's name, it seems Bert had a lady friend at the time who was championing him and pushing him to record under his own name, but he had (a) no band of his own and (b) no material or even really a concept to build upon for a recording. But Kenny had this label (Strata) and there was this 1965 tape around, though it's not clear who exactly had possession of the tape. Nor was it immediately clear to me if Bert's lady friend helped finance the project to get it released.  

 

[clifford_thornton]

ah, interesting, thanks -- so it's most likely a George Bohanon session under Myrick's name.