The Illustrious Mr. Potter

Most jazz fans know Chris Potter. Whence did the wonder boy come? While I was teaching at the University of South Carolina and playing second trumpet in the USC Left Bank Band, there was a kid playing lead tenor. It seems it was Chris Potter. He was maybe 13 at the time. Rumor had it he picked up an alto saxophone and a few short months later he was playing like Bird. Chris, unlike most of the students in the band, all ready was a seasoned musician and improviser. Talent like that knows no boundaries for key signatures, transpositions, and playing in various styles. There is just something there that allows him to do all those things. After I started my own Jazz/Fusion band, Chris was the only logical choice to play saxophone. I was writing all my own tunes, and they were not always easy for the tenor player. I wrote with different grooves and in different tonal centers. Chris was the only one that could handle the material and make it musical. I’m not sure he enjoyed playing in the band that much, but he did it. His father would drive him around, even when he was sick. We played the Main Street Jazz Festival, the Harbison Jazz Series, and the variety of clubs in Columbia. Chris was under the tutelage of Dr. John Emche, who was the Coordinator of Jazz Studies at USC. He had gotten his doctorate in composition at Ohio State, and that is the sole reason I went there later. John could play good-feeling jazz piano. He was personable, laid-back, and everyone liked him. He was the perfect example of what major universities want in their professors. There is a considerable degree of personality involved with being a jazz instructor. He had a great influence on Chris, and his mentoring I’m sure helped Chris become the player he is today. I entered my band Quintessence in the Hennessy Cognac Jazz Search. We had to have a studio recording, so I paid the guys to go into Eddie Wooten’s house and record three of my tunes. I sent the tape to Hennessy, and a few weeks later I got a call from an elated women wanting us to travel to New Orleans and compete with Doc Severinsen as a judge at Storyville. We went and won and later flew to California to compete in the finals for an appearance at the Playboy Jazz Festival. Our Jazz/Fusion mix did not sit well with the mostly Hennessy- employed patrons at the competition. Also we had to perform first, because our bassist had a fear of flying and had to make his train. That hurt us, and we lost to a very entertaining straight-ahead jazz group from the area. I knew instinctively that this was the time to record an album. I arranged six more tunes and brought the guys back into the studio. It, like most studio work, was a hassle. Eddie’s parent’s house smelled like burnt pot roast. His dad would often wander into the living room and interrupt our sessions, but Eddie had an accurately equalized control room. I knew our final mix would be right on, so it was worth putting up with the hassle. It took about 2 years and 5 grand to finish the recording, of which I am extremely proud. It was completed in l991, so at sixteen it is an interesting representation of Chris Potter's playing at age fifteen. Our rhythm section in particular played well on Crystal Raindrops, and the tunes are all varied and unique in groove. One day maybe the world will get to hear it.