R.I.P. Willie Tee

[rpklich]

Sad news from the Times Picayune (New Orleans). Keyboard player Willie Tee died. His brother Earl Turbington played with Joe Zawinul on Joe's record on Atlantic. Don't confuse this Willie Tee with the swamp pop Willie Tee. The Wild Magnolia sides referred to below are being reissued. Anyone interested in New Orleans funk should check them out.

From the Times Picayune:

Early ambassador for N.O. funk, soul

Thursday, September 13, 2007

By Keith Spera

Music writer

Keyboardist, songwriter, producer and arranger Wilson "Willie Tee" Turbinton, an early architect of New Orleans funk and soul, died Tuesday of colon cancer at Touro Infirmary. He was 63.

Mr. Turbinton secured his place as a New Orleans music legend by arranging, co-writing and leading the band on the Wild Magnolias' self-titled 1974 debut album. That landmark recording and the subsequent "They Call Us Wild" record introduced the Mardi Gras Indians' street-beat funk to the world.

"Willie was a warm and wonderful man, a charmer, a character, a natty dresser, an avid golfer, a doting grandpa, a real Runyonesque figure," said producer and longtime friend Leo Sacks. "He was also one of the most unheralded musicians on the planet.

"In a city of treasures, he was rich in taste and tradition. The depth, breadth, scope and command of his piano-playing were profound. He helped shape the sound of New Orleans for more than four decades."

Mr. Turbinton and his older brother, modern jazz saxophonist Earl Turbinton, who died last month, grew up in the Calliope public housing complex alongside the Neville brothers. His earliest influences ranged from the raucous rhythm and blues of Professor Longhair to the bebop jazz of John Coltrane.

He made his first recordings for the local AFO Records in 1962 while still a teenager. Three years later, he cut "Teasin' You," a soulful, mid-tempo composition with a laid-back, instantly memorable hook, for Atlantic Records. His "Walking Up a One-Way Street" and "Thank You John" were also popular.

In the late 1960s, Willie Tee & the Souls performed everywhere from the Apollo Theater in Harlem to the Ivanhoe on Bourbon Street. After hearing the band at the Ivanhoe in 1968, jazz musician Cannonball Adderley encouraged Mr. Turbinton to record an instrumental album. The album was never released, but the master tapes were recently rediscovered in the vaults of Capitol Records, Sacks said.

"His pop was expressive, his funk was ferocious and his jazz was like mirrors in a prism," Sacks said. "And he was a monster on the B-3 organ."

His early recordings, many of which were reissued by New York's Tuff City Records, found fresh life as source material for rappers. Houston's Geto Boys sampled "Smoke My Peace Pipe," a song Mr. Turbinton wrote for the Wild Magnolias. Sean "Diddy" Combs borrowed riffs and grooves from the Gaturs' "Concentrate" for the 1997 album "No Way Out."

More recently, New Orleans rapper Lil' Wayne sampled "Moment of Truth," a song from Mr. Turbinton's 1976 album "Anticipation," for "Tha Mobb," the opening track on Lil' Wayne's multimillion-selling "Tha Carter II."

Mr. Turbinton remained active as a producer, songwriter, performer and session musician. His collaborations with his brother Earl included 1988's "Brothers for Life." He contributed to Dr. John's 2004 album "N'Awlinz: Dis Dat or D'Udda" and appeared briefly in the Oscar-winning movie "Ray."

In October 2005, Mr. Turbinton accepted a job as a visiting lecturer in the music department at Princeton University in New Jersey. He spent the next four months working with music students there. In January 2006, he returned to Louisiana and settled in Baton Rouge.

His cancer was diagnosed four weeks ago.

Survivors include his wife, Marilyn Martin Turbinton; a daughter, Racquel Turbinton Bruno; a sister, Joyce Turbinton Gill; and two grandchildren.

A Mass will be said Sept. 22 at 11 a.m. at Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church, 1835 St. Roch Ave. Visitation will begin at 9 a.m. Burial will follow in St. Louis Cemetery No. 3.

Wilson 'Willie Tee' Turbinton

[GA Russell]

I had the pleasure of meeting Willie T at a press conference for the first New Orleans Jazzfest in 1968. Nice guy.

He told me that he was sorry that he had recorded Teasing You, which was a hit in New Orleans, because it interfered with his getting jazz gigs.

At the press conference, Willie and his brother Earl and their group played a couple of modern jazz modal things - much more modern than what New Orleans was used to at the time. I noticed how small his hands were on the piano keyboard.

Sometimes I hear Thank You John on the radio here. It is a standard of the Carolina beach music scene. It is the same song as Teasing You with slightly different lyrics.

[Noj]

Damn, that Gaturs stuff is funky. RIP, Willie Tee.

[JSngry]

The Wild Magnolia sides referred to below are being reissued. Anyone interested in New Orleans funk should check them out.

Indeed they are:

Highly recommended.

[ValerieB]

eerie that willie tee and joe zawinul, who were such good, longtime friends, died within hours of each other.

[7/4]

eerie that willie tee and joe zawinul, who were such good, longtime friends, died within hours of each other.

And Jaco was beaten on the same day that Joe died (20 years later).

[ValerieB]

eerie that willie tee and joe zawinul, who were such good, longtime friends, died within hours of each other.

And Jaco was beaten on the same day that Joe died (20 years later).

oh, wow, i didn't realize that! jaco was like a son to joe.

[7/4]

yep. 9/11.

spooky.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

RIP.

MG