Calvin "Cal" Massey (January 11, 1928 – October 25, 1972)
Early life
Born in
Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, United States,
Massey studied trumpet under
Freddie Webster, and following this played in the
of
Jay McShann,
Jimmy Heath, and
Billie Holiday. After that he mainly worked as a composer.
Growing up, Massey had two cousins in the Philadelphia area who were, like him, interested in jazz and the arts. Massey's cousin Bill Massey, also a jazz trumpet player, composed music for and played on several
Prestige Records recording sessions for alto saxophonist
Sonny Stitt in the early 1950s. His cousin Calvin L. Massey (1926–2019), brother of Bill Massey, was also known professionally as Cal Massey and worked as a jazz pianist in the 1960s before becoming a visual artist. Calvin L. Massey worked as monument designer (with sculptures at
Valley Forge and
Ellis Island) and illustrator at
Marvel Comics, and later was an independent painter and sculptor.
Career
In the mid-1950s, Massey led an ensemble in Philadelphia with
Jimmy Garrison,
McCoy Tyner, and
Tootie Heath.
On occasion, guests including
John Coltrane and
Donald Byrd played with Massey's group. According to jazz researcher
Fred Ho, after his move to
Brooklyn, Massey put together a new group. Tenor saxophonist
Roland Alexander told Ho that the group included Alexander and Massey on saxophone and trumpet, with
Sadik Hakim on piano, Roy Standard on bass, and Scoby Stroman on drums. "The band worked such Brooklyn clubs as the Moulin Rouge, The Turbo Village, and The Coronet. The band never worked outside of Brooklyn, according to Alexander. Massey in this period would occasionally do concerts with Sonny Stitt and Coltrane in Philadelphia. Alexander believed that the Brooklyn quartet worked for two or three years." However, Ho writes that according to Massey's wife Charlotte, "they often lived at the edge of poverty. Massey earned most of his money not from performing but from the many arrangements he wrote for local bands and singers."
In the 1950s, he gradually receded from active performance and concentrated on composition; his works were recorded by Coltrane, Tyner, Freddie Hubbard, Jackie McLean, Lee Morgan, Philly Joe Jones, Horace Tapscott and Archie Shepp. Massey played and toured with Shepp from 1969 until 1972. He also performed in The Romas Orchestra with Romulus Franceschini.
Massey died from a heart attack at the age of 44 in New York City, New York.
Political life
Massey's political standpoint was radical and his work is strongly connected with the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and '70s. The Black Panther Party were an inspiration for
The Black Liberation Movement Suite which he created with Franceschini. The
Suite was performed three times at Black Panther benefit concerts. Massey's ideology resulted in him getting blacklisted (or "whitelisted" according to Fred Ho) from major recording companies and only one album was recorded under his name.
Compositions recorded by other artists
The following is a partial list of Massey compositions recorded by jazz musicians during Massey's lifetime. It is not a comprehensive list of recordings of Massey's works.
Recorded by John Coltrane
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"Bakai" - Coltrane
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"Nakatini Serenade" - The Believer
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"The Damned Don't Cry" - from Africa/Brass sessions
Recorded by Freddie Hubbard
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"Assunta" - Here to Stay
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"Father and Son" - Here to Stay
Recorded by Lee Morgan
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"These Are Soulful Days" - Lee-Way
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"Nakatini Suite" - Lee-Way
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"The Cry of My People" - The Sixth Sense
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"A Pilgrim's Funny Farm" - The Rajah
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"A Baby's Smile" - Caramba!
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"Taru, What's Wrong with You?" - Taru
Recorded by Cedar Walton
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"Lady Charlotte" - Spectrum
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"Quiet Dawn" - Soul Cycle
Recorded by Jackie McLean
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"Message from Trane" - Demon's Dance
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"Toyland" - Demon's Dance
Recorded by Archie Shepp
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"Pitchin' Can" - Pitchin Can
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"What Would It Be Without You" - For Losers
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"Dr. King, The Peaceful Warrior" - Things Have Got to Change
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"Things Have Got to Change" (parts 1 and 2) - Things Have Got to Change
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"Good Bye Sweet Pops" - Attica Blues
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"Quiet Dawn" - Attica Blues
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"A Prayer" - The Cry of My People
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"The Cry of My People" - The Cry of My People
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"Bakai" - Kwanza
Others
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"Fiesta" - Charlie Parker, The Genius Of Charlie Parker, #6 - Fiesta /
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"Trinidad" - Herbie Mann and Charlie Rouse, Just Wailin'
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"Fiesta" - Philly Joe Jones, Blues for Dracula
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"Funky London" - Houston Person, Blue Odyssey
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"I Thought I'd Let You Know" - McCoy Tyner, Expansions
Music written for theatrical productions
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Lady Day: A Musical Tragedy, a musical play, several songs (Massey's last work)
Tribute album
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The Music of Cal Massey: A Tribute, recorded by Fred Ho, Quincy Saul and the Green Monster Band
Recordings by Cal Massey
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Blues to Coltrane, recorded by the Candid Records label on January 13, 1961 at Nola Penthouse Sound Studio in New York City. First released in 1987, and again in 2006, features Massey on trumpet. All the compositions on the album are by Massey; it was the only album recorded under Massey's name.
Other musicians on the album are:
Further reading
External links
