Remembering Jerry Fuller
When drummer Jerry Fuller didn't show up for a gig at the Rex in Toronto on Saturday, July 13, a check of his home found that he had died, apparently in his sleep.He was 63, born in Calgary, Alberta on April 5, 1939. I have many fond memories of him, beginning in 1962 when I was 27 and began hearing a pair of visitors from the Canadian West – new arrivals on a healthy Montreal jazz scene. Jerry and P.J. Perry, (the other exciting newcomer), were soon working with Maury Kaye, one of the finest musicians in Canadian jazz history, at the Penthouse, on the corner of Peel and Cyrus, a spot that was a jazz haven for many years. A spot where the likes of Paul Bley, Bill Evans, Eddy Louiss, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Art Farmer, Jim Hall, Steve Swallow, Blakey's Messengers, Herbie Spanier, John Warren, Buddy Jones, Nelson Symonds, Sal Salvador, Charlie Biddle, Gary Peacock, Prince Lasha, and Mike White worked beginning back in the early 50s. In early 1963, I vividly recall traveling to the city's northeast end with drummer Spike McKendry to attend and take photos at Jerry's wedding. The reception featured music supplied by the guests who included P.J. and Wimp Henstridge.
Jerry came from a musical family, his father Jerry was a saxophonist who led a big band at the Palliser Hotel in Calgary from 1937 through 1944. The family then moved to Vancouver and his dad became the leader at the Cave from 1944 into 1947. There Jerry, who had begun to take drum lessons in Calgary from Bruce Bristowe, his dad's drummer, continued his studies with the noted drum teacher, Jim Blackley. It was then on to L.A. for studies at Westlake College in 1958-59. In the late 50s, like many a young Western musician, Fuller worked with the band of Paul Perry, P.J.'s dad, at Sylvan Lake, a summer resort described as being half way between Edmonton and Calgary.
The senior Perry's band had been the senior Fuller's rival in Calgary and it was here that the two sons hooked up musically. At the Cellar in Vancouver, Jerry and P.J. along with multi-instrumentalist Don Thompson and Dale Hillary, another fiery alto player, were the local "hard bop" heavies. From Montreal, Jerry and his new wife moved on to Toronto in 1963 and by the end of that decade Fuller had worked at George's Spaghetti House, in the studios with Rick Wilkins and recorded a Ron Collier project that had Duke Ellington guesting on piano.
Jerry, beginning with Bourbon Street in 1973, got to play with many a touring American heavy – Pepper Adams, [who he had played with at Loyola College in Montreal with Maury Kaye and Fred McHugh] Zoot Sims, Paul Desmond and Lee Konitz among them – in a succession of spots including "The Toronto Alive!" broadcasts from the Trader's Lounge of the Eaton Centre with pianist Ian Bargh and Jim Galloway, the Montreal Bistro and the Top O' The Senator.
Jerry returned to Montreal on occasion: in 1967, just prior to the Ellington sessions in Toronto, he appeared at the Canadian Pavilion of Expo 67 with the Ron Collier Ensemble, in December 1988 he did a Jon Ballantyne session at Studio Tempo in Pte. St. Charles, in early 1997, he was at Boomers in Pte. Claire, recording live with Dave Young in guitarist Greg Clayton's trio and in the late 90s with the Chris Mitchell combo that took the grand prize in the Montreal International Jazz Festival Concours and later for the recording and subsequent launch of the resulting CD.
Also: Len traces Jerry Fuller's Recordings
There will be visitation at the Trull Funeral Home, 111 Danforth, Toronto, Ontario on Thursday, July 18, from 2-4 pm and from 7-9 pm and again on Friday, July 19, 1-2 pm, followed by a service at that location. Family and friends will be gathering at the Top O' The Senator following the service and a memorial evening will be held at a later date.
The Dobbin's Den program on CKUT, 90.3 FM will present a two hour memorial salute to Jerry Fuller on July 28th, 11 am-1 pm
[ photo of Jerry Fuller - from the Roadhouse Records site ]
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