Diva Zone ™ Magazine DZ_NovDec2017_Mag_Final_Printer_Version

November/December 2017 The Jazz Life with Bradford Hayes BY NAJIYYAH BROOKS ‘School is in session’ would be a more than appropriate subtitle for this interview. The wisdom, passion, talent, and knowledge of Saxophonist, Bradford Hayes or ‘Uncle Bradford’ – my new nickname for this powerhouse - made our two-hour conversation ﬂ y by so fast. I have been mesmerized by the beautiful live music of The Bradford Hayes Quartet and if you are planning to join us on Saturday, December 9, 2017 in New Jersey for The DIVA Zone’s, A Jazzy Wonderland party, let me be the ﬁ rst to tell you that you are in for a treat! From start to ﬁ nish, if you love real jazz, you will ﬁ nd a new favorite in Bradford Hayes. For more information, visit the website www.divazonemagazine. com/events As a true jazz lover, I am always interested in those who not only love the genre of music, but dedicate their life’s work and livelihood creating it; and in ‘Uncle Bradford’s’ case; defending it. There is something special about individuals who live their convictions out loud and inspire so many while doing so. This interview is about much more than the beautiful music he creates, but, an exploration of his take on manhood, marriage, family, and faith. Welcome to an abbreviated inside peek of what ‘The Jazz Life’ with Bradford Hayes is all about. DZ: Thank you for taking time to talk to me this evening. I am a true fan of yours. ‘The Jazz Life’ is in heavy rotation in my life. I listen to it while I cook, clean, and write. It has a mellow and happy tone from the ﬁ rst tune until the last. I’m grateful for this time to share with our audience. BH: Thank you so much. It’s my pleasure! DZ: How long have you been playing the saxophone? BH: I started playing when I was 11-years- old. I recently turned 58. So, I’ve been playing most of my life. I played in school bands, played in college and after graduation I became a music teacher. I taught for 31 years until I retired. I also played professionally outside of the classroom. DZ: Whose music inspires you most as an artist? BH: Well, I didn’t start playing jazz until I was 20-years-old. I grew up in the south in Dinwiddie, VA on a farm and the only music I was exposed to as a youth was white music. Any African American music I heard was either brought down to us from my relatives up north, or the artists who crossed over and became mainstream. Other than that, I didn’t have access to other music. I didn’t know about John Coltrane until I was 20. If I had grown up in the northeast, it would have been a different story as this area has always been saturated with great music. Some of my biggest inﬂ uencers have been Woody Shaw (a native of Newark, NJ) who passed away in 88. My saxophone teacher at NC A&T took me to ﬁ rst jazz concert in a little whole in the wall in Winston Salem, NC. He also exposed me to John Coltrane, Grover Washington, Jr., Jackie McQueen, Dexter Gordon, Charlie Parker, and Joe Henderson; but there have been many more. Grover’s music was mainstream enough that even if you were not a jazz fan, you heard Mr. Magic and other recordings from the 70’s, so his contribution was big to me. 17 schooled basically. A good friend of mine who is my drummer now, Greg Searvance, took me to a jam session in Bloomﬁ eld, NJ in a basement, his brother had a recording studio in the living room. A famous African musician was upstairs recording and they invited me to record with them after he inquired about who was playing the saxophone downstairs. After we met that night and a season of waiting forever, one day out of the blue, I got a call at my job. I got someone to cover the classroom, took the call, got the news that I made the band and the rest was history. We stayed on the road and played in the city a lot too. We traveled to Africa and Europe in the summers. I played with him for 15 years. My love for music kept me motivated to work full time and travel. I know I was blessed to be able to still teach music while pursuing my dream. I played with The Temptations, The Dells, Jerry Butler and these relationships came by Teddy Powell, a guy I met at the Peppermint. DZ: What inspires you as an artist? BH: The ability to move people emotionally. Over all these years I have often wondered why our audience is primarily non-black and brown people. I love all people and I am grateful for the love and support, but I mean, jazz is our heritage. I feel we should support it more. It’s our story. Our experience and yet there seems to be a disconnect. DZ: You mentioned playing professionally outside of the classroom. How did you get your break? DZ: How important is it for the Arts to be part of elementary education? BH: I used to go to jam sessions at WBGO. I met the widow of B. Roland Kirk. They took a liking to me at the station and started letting me hang out and it was there that I began to meet people. I used to hang at the Peppermint Lounge in Orange, NJ and get exposure, make my mistakes and get BH: It’s integral to a complete education. It’s a slice of the pie. It helps make complete people. The exposure matters. When I came to NJ few schools had sound music education programs. I established the band at the school where I worked for Newark Public Schools. Now only 10% of

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