An Oscar for Treadwell

Oscar Treadwell educated generations of Cincinnatians in the fine art of jazz. His rich voice would come on the radio, and we' d hear the genuine, unembellished stories of jazzmen and jazz women who created the music O.T. loved most. Even though he was from New Jersey -- Haddon Heights, right across from Philadelphia, he told me in an interview in February -- he became a Cincinnati icon, who knew the city well and knew its jazz players, black and white, even better.

His knowledge about jazz was vast and wide-ranging. His manner was gracious and generous.

I called O.T. in February, for what was to be one of his last interviews -- maybe the very last one -- to talk about the black jazz scene in Cincinnati. His views about Cincinnati were candid and not always flattering. He spoke by phone from his Anderson home, where lately he had been taping his show for WVXU.

After my story ran, he called me up to congratulate me. Then, ever gracious, he wrote a letter to the editor, copied to me, with a note: "Dear Janelle, It may never be printed, so I thought I’d send you a copy. Sweet love, Oscar."

Sweet love was the way he signed off all his shows.

Some of his remarks made it into my story. I thought you’d like to see more of O.T.'s elegant prose, below.

O.T. signed off for the final time on Saturday, at age 79. Let us hope that Cincinnati’s jazz history does not die with him. Do you have memories of Oscar Treadwell? Tell us below.

The interview:

"I grew up in New Jersey, Haddon Heights, right across from Philadelphia. I went to all the jazz clubs growing up. I was sure I was going to be a network radio announcer. I’d audition at CBS and NBC, and then go to the various clubs in New York. That was one of the dreams I had.

"Oscar Treadwell was the name I used for jazz. But I thought my real name, Art Pedersen, would be the announcer on news and sports.

"I arrived here in 1960. I had three jobs: representative for a major steel company, then did my radio program and commercials. I’ve been her for a long while.

"Our black brothers and sisters have had a major input into American creative music, or jazz, and this city should be proud of its contribution.

"Some of the greats were great before I even moved here. George Russell, for instance, is one of the most important composers in American creative music and also he is the only one I know of who conceived of a thesis to try to explain to black musicians how, under any circumstances, they can improvise in any key or various scales.

"He was my guest (on "Jazz with O.T." for WGUC) and we spent the whole afternoon talking about his book, "Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization." Is that a name and a half? Many players have told me this is a tough book, but it was instrumental in understanding some of the things Miles Davis was doing, and so many youngsters who were using scales that were popular. There’s a historical perspective that he has. In the second part of 20th century, he ranks with Duke Ellington, as far as composition and arrangement are concerned.

"He had some good bands, but he was a major contributor and a great force in jazz. To talk about George Russell is to talk about one of the major forces in our city. Then he did those remarkable arrangements for Dizzy Gillespie – "Cubano B, Cubano Bop."

"So Russell is a major early part of Cincinnati’s jazz life. But he’s not the earliest. Ragtime was very big in Cincinnati and there were many black practitioners of that art. The Cosmopolitan school, founded by Artie Matthews, produced a great number of outstanding players. Artie had a son, also Artie, a great pianist.

"Jimmy Mundy was a great arranger for the Benny Goodman Orchestra and many others, and a major contributor to good arrangements for the Benny Goodman style. Cy Oliver, who later joined the Tommy Dorsey orchestra as a singer and arranger, was a major force right from Cincinnati.

"There's even a bigger contribution from cities around us, like Covington, Newport and Dayton. But Cincinnati had a coterie of outstanding players. It’s much bigger than most Cincinnatians know anything about. Jazz has always been considered devil music, or the lowest rung on the musical scale, whereas I think it’s one of the most important and impressive contributions.

"It’s a tough situation for whites and blacks because of the situation that’s in our country. If we were all free not to be influenced one way or another, you could take my attitude, which is, I don’t care what his color is. If he’s playing well, and I want people to know about it, I put him on my program. But jazzmen are not getting the gigs they used to get, black and white.

"Our local union was clearly segregated right up until the 1960s, and black and white players couldn’t always play together. Or they had to get a special dispensation. There was a black musicians union, before Local No. 1."

Are jazz clubs segregated?: "Yes they are. Cincinnati of course, being a city right on the border and not knowing which way to go as far back as the Civil War, has not really come out of that. But it’s not just Cincinnati. Almost every city has the same problem.

"Money is the one thing that speaks. But jazz has a powerful drive behind that gives it a survival characteristic that’s rare. Benny Green, an alto saxophonist who lived in England, wrote a book called, "The Reluctant Art." Which is a great name to signify jazz, because most (musicians) are reluctant to get into the business ethics of playing that music.

"They’re also dealing with white entrepreneurs who own the place. So they’ve got this double whammy – (musicians) have to play to satisfy themselves. But if they just play to satisfy the listeners, which the white owners would prefer, then they have to forget all that they know and love, and play it for money.

"In other words, don’t be a creative musician. Be a follower and we can get you jobs. If you’re not, get out of the business.

"When I first moved here, in the 60s, there were several good clubs. At 79, it’s hard to pull the names up. There was the Cotton Club, of course, and there were other clubs all along Walnut Street. Great clubs.

"The first jazz I heard in Cincinnati was at a little club, by a tenor player named John Wright. He’s not too well known. He was a tailor who played every night at Herbie’s Bar and Grill, on Hackberry Street. It lasted up to the early ‘80s. He ran into this race problem more than everybody else, at a place where whites loved to come, but later didn’t.

"When people say they won’t go downtown, then jazz clubs have to re-evaluate. They either move farther out, or there are no clubs.

"Dayton answered this by bringing the black and white community together. It’s a remarkable city. They have jazz concerts all the time. They have a symphonic hall for jazz (Memorial Hall). Dayton survived with jazz and Cincinnati didn’t because there’s a hard feeling about jazz and improvised music generally.

"But Cincinnati was influential as far back as the 20s, and every major jazz player came through Cincinnati. There was a sad development when Cincinnati decided it didn’t want anything to do with the railroad. We turned down people who wanted to come to Cincinnati. That’s another big reason we fell behind. It did not become a major (railroad) hub that it could have been.

"Cincinnati is a beautiful city and more liberal than it wants to admit. My program has been on the air since 1960. People think of jazz as Benny Goodman and big band. But there are great players, and small groups. Look what we’ve produced in music: Jimmy McGary, Frank Vincent and great white players. Both blacks and whites have been ignored in our city.

"We’ve had periods like the 60s, that were exciting for a while, with young musicians playing avant-garde music. The 70s was sort of a lay back. The 80s was devastating. Nothing happened in the 80s. They were still breathing, but that’s about it.

"This has been a beautiful city and yet, it doesn’t have that status in the minds of jazz people. It’s like a hinterland. Dayton has a much higher status, and they bring big names into Dayton. We’ve tried, but we haven’t been all that successful. Dayton and Louisville are more open. And Cleveland certainly is. I don’t know what it is. We’re just like a hog city that hates to move.

"However, CCM has been a remarkable contributor. They’ve trained a great network of players who can’t find work here, and take off. They’re all over the country. The Cincinnati impulse is all over the country."