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WBGO Archive: For Clark Terry's Centennial, Gary Walker's 2014 interview with Quincy Jones about 'Keep On Keepin' On'

WBGO's Gary Walker and Quincy Jones
WBGO
WBGO's Gary Walker and Quincy Jones in 2014

NOTE: This article below first appeared on the WBGO website in 2020. Quincy Jones died on Sunday, November 3, 2024 at the age of 91. Gary's interview with Quincy Jones took place in 2014 when the "Keep on Keepin' On documentary was released.

Clark Terry, the matchless trumpeter and flugelhorn player, was born 100 years ago today.

Trumpeter Clark Terry with pianist Justin Kauflin in a still from 'Keep on Keepin' On'
C/O of the artist
Trumpeter Clark Terry with pianist Justin Kauflin in a still from 'Keep on Keepin' On'

An ingenious improviser who brought his ebullient spirit to every bandstand, Terry achieved a rare degree of pop-culture recognition with Mumbles, a comic character based on his https://youtu.be/AxLy4_7Ig1M" target="_blank">novelty tune. He also earned acclaim in the NBC studio orchestra, and the ranks of big bands led by Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Gerry Mulligan and Quincy Jones.

Terry died in 2015, and was justly hailed as a monumental figure in the music. The previous year, he’d been the subject of an acclaimed documentary film, Keep On Keepin’ On, which chronicles his mentorship of a blind young pianist, Justin Kauflin, just as Terry himself is losing his sight. The film also features extensive interviews with Quincy Jones, who still considers Terry his guru.

“He was my idol, man,” Jones says in an interview with WBGO’s Gary Walker. “I was hellbent on just being around this man, to hear whatever he had to say.” Walker spoke with Jones as well as Kauflin and the filmmaker, first-time director Alan Hicks, for this special episode of The Checkout.

Watch Keep on Keepin’ On today for free, courtesy of IMDb TV.

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In jazz radio, great announcers are distinguished by their ability to convey the spontaneity and passion of the music. Gary Walker is such an announcer, and his enthusiasm for this music greets WBGO listeners every morning on Daybreak. He's the winner of the 1996 Gavin Magazine Jazz Radio Personality of the Year Award and the recipient of the 2021 Marian McPartland-Willis Conover Award for Career Achievement in Broadcasting from the Jazz Journalists Association. Gary hosts the morning show each weekday from 8am til noon. And, by his own admission, he's truly having a great time.
A veteran jazz critic and award-winning author, and a regular contributor to NPR Music.