Jazz drummer learned 'right way' in '40s

At 73 years old, world-famous jazz drummer Louis Hayes couldn't be faulted for wanting to talk about the album he recorded with John Coltrane or the times he performed with Joe Jones and Lester Young from Count Basie's band. Instead, he seems happiest remembering his early days as a musician in Detroit.

"The music was a very high level. ... It was teaching you the right way to approach this art form," Hayes said of the scene in Detroit in the 1940s.

Hayes will perform with his trio Tuesday at Doc Howard's in Old Town as a fundraiser for the Wichita Jazz Festival.

Born in 1937, Hayes grew up in a musical home and practiced with his friends in their basements during an era "before TV was really popular," said Hayes, "and most of them didn't have television anyway, but everybody had a piano."

Hayes played drums for street dances in the summer and by age 15, he was playing in clubs. "Eventually, I was playing in places that I shouldn't have been playing in" before he was 21, he said.

His family supported the music that he loved, he said, recalling that his mother drove him to and from performances late at night but still made it to work in the morning.

"She really encouraged me to play this art form," said Hayes, also remembering the time she took him to see Duke Ellington perform.

Hayes' early teacher was his cousin, Clarence Stamps, who worked as a mailman but also played drums professionally. However, it was group of musicians in Detroit that challenged Hayes to pursue greatness.

"Guys really tried to outplay each other," he said, "and when you couldn't keep up, you were looked at in a certain way."

Detroit's World Stage was a venue run by local musicians and if a young jazz student played well, he could perform with some of the famous musicians who came to town. Hayes said. "When the great artists came from New York to Detroit at that time, they had artists (who) would really challenge you."

In 1956, jazz pianist and composer Horace Silver invited Hayes to join his new quartet in New York City after hearing about Hayes from a friend.

"I used to dream about coming to New York," said Hayes, "because my heroes were here." He moved to 52nd Street and Broadway, just north of Times Square, across from the legendary jazz club Birdland, where he developed both personally and as an artist.

In 1959 Cannonball Adderley, who had been playing with Miles Davis, decided to form his own group and invited Hayes to join the quintet. Hayes played with Adderley for six years, calling it a "marvelous time in my life," before moving on to play in a trio with piano legend Oscar Peterson and Ray Brown.

Hayes said he enjoyed playing with Peterson in what was considered "the greatest trio at the time in the world" but said he had more control playing with Horace Silver and felt he was "more of an accompanist" with Peterson.

With a career arching over 60 years, Hayes has seen jazz change, noticing that there are fewer opportunities to perform but that each concert is "always a new experience."

If you go

Louis Hayes

What: Concert featuring the jazz drummer and his band

Where: Doc Howard's lounge, 252 N. Mosley

When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday

How much: Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for students

This story was originally published October 10, 2010 at 12:00 AM.