Belgrave first learned the trumpet because of his father, but in many other respects, their relationship was quite difficult. Unfortunately, Jones clearly but diplomatically suggests this became a recurring theme in Belgrave’s life, with his own children. Touring was partly to blame. When Belgrave first hit the road with Ray Charles’ band, those southern swings were brutal. That is one of the reasons Belgrave eventually settled down in Detroit.
Detroit was not New York, but it had a reputation as a musical city. Notably, Motown regularly hired Belgrave for work during its hit-making peak. It was there that Belgrave also co-founded the AACM-like musical collective The Tribe. You better believe it, because one of Jones’s experts on the Detroit scene is none other than Ray Parker Jr.
In Detroit, Belgrave also embraced his new teaching role, as a way to give back to his adopted community. His alumni truly represent an honor roll of musicians who greatly shaped jazz in the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s, including Kenny Garrett, James Carter, Regina Carter, Robert Hurst, Theo Croker, and the late (still so tragically hard to believe) Geri Allen. Belgrave further helped mold late 20th Century jazz as one of the veterans Wynton Marsalis recruited to launch the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra.
And Damn, He Could Play is the sort of doc that will satisfy regular jazz listeners, while giving newcomers an inkling that they might be missing something. In the case of Belgrave, he wasn’t a big bestseller, but an awful lot jazz folks knew he was important. Now the rest of you can catch up. Highly recommended, And Damn, He Could Play screens again in-person today (11/14) at DOC NYC and it will be available via their online platform through November 29th.
