"Lonnie's Lament" | Ravi Coltrane Quartet

elvin jones 4 tet jazzsession

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM MY FRIEND ELVIN'S STRONG SPIRIT!

A Little Bit About Master Dr. Marvin Smith & Max Roach

Steve Habib This was taken outside Max's dressing room at The Blue Note in NYC. Max didn't like the idea of Marvin hanging around and he asked me to wait for him till his set was done. He didn't want Marvin to sit in. Max loved Marvin but he knew that Marvin always wanted to play. I remember when Art Blakey was nervous about Marvin hanging around The Village Gate. Still, whenever Marvin appeared at a club that he was performing at, all the Masters were in the audience checking it out. I remember when we had the hit at Visiones in 1992, all the Cats who weren't working were there every night. The place was packed and Marvin was performing with Cecil McBee and Kirk Lightsey in his new group, THE EXPERIENCE. These are real stories that none of you would know about unless I told you, because I was there, just like I was there at most of John Coltranes hits from VanGelder Studios to The Half Note on Hudson St., to Birdland, to The Village Vanguard, to the session Trane did on 57th St. with Duke Ellington and Duke wrote a song about Stephen Daniel James, his nephew, called "STEVIE". Elvin was there with us and Steve's mother, Ruth Ellington, Duke's sister. Yeah, there are so many stories. Benny Golson's son, Reggie Golson(RIP) was with us at all these sessions and we were always around Elvin, his wife at the time, Shirley Jones and Jimmy Garrison. We used to annoy the shit out of PEE WEE, the door man and maitre d at Birdland. We were at the LIVE AT BIRDLAND SESSION with Afro Blue, Alabama, The Promise etc. We were only young tennagers at that time and Alvin Queen, who was a few years younger than us, always sat on Elvin's lap when he was playing between sets. I have some photos to post and I will make them available as I locate them, especially some at John's Huntington Long Island home where I used to go on many occasions with Elvin, Jimmy,Reggie and Johnny DeFranco an old friend of Elvin & Shirley's. The memories go on and on and THE HOLIDAY TIME helps to fuel them. I am BLESSED to have my long time friend Dr. Marvin Smith still here now during Christmas 2011 going into New Years 2012 and that fact that this LIVING LEGEND is available to the general public with his performances and over 1200 documented videos of his performances is so beautiful. Marvin will be performing at The Bull & Buddha in Poughkeepsie, NY Thursday Dec. 22nd and for his 62nd Birthday Celebration on Dec. 29th. His life story goes on "MOMENT TO MOMENT" and "BREATH TO BREATH" just like his music and his teachings. Witnessing the lives of so many Masters from John Coltrane,Elvin,Jimmy,Reggie Golson,Art Blakey,Max,Freddie,Archie Shepp and so many more, have all been such gifts for me. My efforts to present more of Dr. Marvin Smith to the younger players that never had the chance to meet and get to know other Masters, is one of the MOST IMPORTANT things that I'm doing today, in 2011 and hopefully through 2012 and beyond. I will make everyday a day to make people more aware of Marvin's contribution to The Art-Form and his efforts to bring educational TRUTH about The Music's Traditions to the general public. Love Always and Always Love...........HABIB

Elvin Jones/Jimmy Garrison Sextet - Half and Half

I was at that Session at VanGelder's with Reggie Golson,Elvin & his wife Shirley,Johnny DeFranco,Jimmy Garrison,Stephen Daniel James,Prince Lasha, and McCoy. This was a joint effort of Elvin and Jimmy as they shared the leadership on this and EJ wrote some of the music. There was a great Scottish type tune that I loved as they did about 5 or 6 takes on. After this session, Elvin,Steve,Reggie and I went to The Cottage Inn restaurant/dive across from the studio on rt 9W and had "dem greasy,dirty home fries" that the place was famous for. We always went there after Trane's sessions as well. Bob Thiel from ABC IMpulse was the producer of this session as he was for Coltranes sessions and he once told me that they took the opportunity to record Trane,Elvin,McCoy and Jimmy at all hours of the day or night as often as they could stretch the budget since ABC was one of those giant corporate things.George Benson had a home near VanGelder's in Englewood Cliffs and Marvin Smith and his brother Ear; "BUSTER" Smith lived down the hill. McCoy Tyner was living in Teaneck at the time where Thad Jones Family resided with Thad's son and my friend Bruce Jones. It was all happening in the Englewood/Teaneck NJ area."NUTTIN JONES" is a swinging tune. I always loved the way Elvin,McCoy and Jimmy grooved together. Shirley Jones, Elvin's wife, was a great person to hang around. Stephen Daniel James was Duke Ellington's neohew and Reggie Golson(RIP) was Benny Golson's son. I went to school and grew up with all these Cats!
LOVE ALWAYS and ALWAYS LOVE,
HABIB

Memories Of Times Past & Notes About Things Present

Memories Of My Earlier Life and Friends/ Notes About My Current Life And Friends by Steve Habib on Friday, December 16, 2011 at 10:48pm I am so happy to be a musician. I want to continue to try and help people through music, which I believe can unharness an individual's healing capabilities. I am grateful to be alive. I remember being at John Coltrane's home in the Dix Hills section of Huntington, Long Island and he was telling me about "THE FATHER, THE SON and THE HOLY GHOST" a song he was working on. He had just moved into his new home that year and several times a week, we talked and Johnny DeFranco who lived in Elmont, used to pick up Elvin in The City then drive to my house not far from Farmingdale, then we would all hang out in Trane's den/music room and listen to silence,sometimes for an hour or two and he would always enjoy smoking that cigar of his. Sometimes Jimmy Garrison was with us. He had a place in what is now SOHO in NYC. Elvin was married to Shirley Jones at the time and John was just becoming a father for the first time. I believe John, Jr. was born first, then came Ravi a year later and another child was born the same year he died in 1967. It all happened so quickly over a very short period of time but it was a time period I will never forget. My childhood friends, Reggie Golson(RIP), and Stephen Daniel James were also close friends of both Elvin and John. We all knew how special Trane,,Elvin,Jimmy and McCoy were at the time and how special McCoy is today as a living legend. I am grateful to have another friend who is alive and well today, in 2011/2012, Master Dr. Marvin Smith, a 42 year friend of mine and a LIVING LEGEND that I feel everyone should pay attention to and honor. His Birthday is December 29th,2011 and he will be 62. There will be a special perfomance at The Bull & Buddha on Main St. in Poughkeepsie, NY December 29th to honor this MASTER DRUMMER who played with Sun Ra, Archie Shepp and so many others. He has his own record label, Bumar Records and his own 48 track studio. This performance starts at 9pm and I hope that all the people that know him show up and that all of you that never met him also show up. Marvin has recorded on over 1200 videos and most of those videos will be available on his Bumar Label for folks that do not have a chance to come to his live performances because of geographics. Marvin is also appearing at The Bull & Buddha on December 22nd, a week before his Birthday Party Concert. I am over joyed to be a part of his life for 42 years and I still feel the presence og my other childhood friends that have passed: Elvin Jones, John Coltrane, Jimmy Garrison, Reggie Golson,Kenny Kirkland and Michael James, Stephen Daniel James brother and the sons of Ruth Ellington,Ruth Ellington,Mercer and Duke, Willis Conover, and Walter Booker, Jr. DR. MARVIN SMITH also known as "BU GA LU" is here with us now. I ask that those of you who have access to the NYC to Hudson Valley New York area, come and enjoy this LIVING MUSICAL GENIUS and MASTER EDUCATOR. LOVE ALWAYS and ALWAYS LOVE, HABIB

I Hope To Make A Difference In Your Life!

I HOPE THAT MY WORDS AND MUSIC TOUCH YOUR INSIDES DEEPLY, BECAUSE YOU ALL ARE WHO I TRULY CARE ABOUT, MY FAMILY, MY FRIENDS AND ALL THE MUSICAL ARTISTS OF THE WORLD, SPREADING, THE MESSAGE OF GIVING, NOT TAKING, AND RECEIVING JOY KNOWING YOU'VE MADE OTHERS HAPPY! LOVE ALWAYS and ALWAYS LOVE, I AM GRATEFUL FOR ALL OF MY FRIENDS, HABIB

Steve Habib Interview Dr. Marvin Smith part 2