June 1, 2024 • 26 mins
Mission Statement
Some people consider Jazz as America’s classical music and rightly so. The roots of jazz run from the Deep South, particularly in New Orleans, the city of diverse flavors.
It was in the Crescent City that this art form developed in the early part of the 20th century. The evolution of jazz has its many contributors with worldwide appeal, love and admiration.Created in 2009, the Jacksonville Jazz Society (JJS) mission is dedicated to the preservation, promotion and presentation of tradition and contemporary jazz music.
We support live events, broadcasts and collaborate with various other jazz and educational organizations.
Vision Statement
The Jacksonville Jazz Society is committed to nurturing the next generation of jazz musicians and jazz music enthusiasts by networking with other cultural arts programs, colleges and schools throughout Florida.
Some people consider Jazz as America’s classical music and rightly so. The roots of jazz run from the Deep South, particularly in New Orleans, the city of diverse flavors.
It was in the Crescent City that this art form developed in the early part of the 20th century. The evolution of jazz has its many contributors with worldwide appeal, love and admiration.Created in 2009, the Jacksonville Jazz Society (JJS) mission is dedicated to the preservation, promotion and presentation of tradition and contemporary jazz music.
We support live events, broadcasts and collaborate with various other jazz and educational organizations.
Vision Statement
The Jacksonville Jazz Society is committed to nurturing the next generation of jazz musicians and jazz music enthusiasts by networking with other cultural arts programs, colleges and schools throughout Florida.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to community view Points and Shawneefeeling blessed and highly favored on this Sunday
morning. I have a legend ofmusic, a legend of radio. A
friend, Naim Rashid is here thismorning to talk to us about jazz.
We have been experiencing jazz downtown fromthe city of Jacksonville, but today Naim
Rashid is here as a jazz lover. Good morning, mister Rashid, Good
(00:24):
morning Shanni. How are you blessedto be able to talk to you on
this platform and give you back yourflowers as you instructed me when I first
started radio on how to speak andhow to deliver. So I wanted to
thank you first off for being amentor of radio and mentoring me when I
(00:44):
first started. So this is justlike a circle basic to speak with you.
Yeah, well, you know,it's a pleasure of being here with
you had doing this interview. It'sbeen a while to touching you. It's
got a year that allows for youat the festival and it's you know,
as far as let's start with radio, how I got involved with radio and
(01:10):
then you were working down working ondown to jazz and jazz had a lot
to do with that too. Earlyon in my in my life growing up
in North Philadelphia, in the neighborhoodin the corners of the whole Men,
we be playing jazz checkers in thecourse and they have their footable radios back
then, and they'd be playing jazzor not. They had the little bos
(01:32):
playing jazz, and at the firsttime I heard it, I said,
you know what's that? It's ajazz and boy, you haven't heard this
before. And it was Cold Tranethey were playing, and I said,
okay. It realized that Coltrane wasin Philadelphia at that time and had no
idea. And then as I gotolder, I started listening to more and
(01:53):
more jazz, shi tracking into thefact of listening to a photobudio. I
was intrigued, but the fact thata voice can come out of a box
and garnered them much attention that Isaid, oh, that's something I might
want to check out. I gotinto middle school, I stopped doing the
(02:14):
tape thing by my own high fivesystem, all real the reil of a
mic standing not being in the livingroom doing my thing and making tapes and
then taken to the radio station andhaving critique it. But before I got
took a chance to get to thedoor with the radio station. I used
to walk probably four and a halffive miles to get to the radio station
(02:36):
and just hang by the door untilsomeone saw me said what's going on?
I said, I want to seewhat's going on in there. So I
went inside and the guy and gaveme all the you know, the run
around, tell you what this isa studio, this is a turntable and
all that. But I said,I want to do this. He said,
well, I'll tell you. Ijust keep working on your voice and
we'll see what comes up. Sowhile I was working on my voice,
(02:57):
I also got a well of thew h at am in Philly who went
promotion. That's my first thing learningwas promotions. And back then in Phillip
we had a lot of dance halland we can go to on on the
weekends and I would work with toDJs putting posters up the hall over the
city. And finally I got mychance to sit behind the mic and Shanny,
(03:23):
I tell you the first time Iwas the light came on and telling
me to speak out froze. Theyhad the COMMERUSSI and get me out the
seat. I couldn't say nothing,couldn't do nothing. And I realized then
that there are millions of people listeningin Philadelphia to this radio station, so
I'd better learn how to get overbeing nervous and afraid to speak on the
(03:46):
mic. So I would go aroundspeaking out loud, just talking to people,
real loud, and finally I gota little part time position. But
by that time I finished high schooland l the SAM was calling, so
million nine was happening. So Iwent into the Navy, and with that
experience in Philly, I was ableto get with the American Forces Radio Television
(04:09):
Service. At my first duty stationout of boot camp was Kodiak, Alaska,
and up there we had a radiostation and a TV station. So
when I left Alaska after during ayear and a half there, I was
stationed to the USS Ranger, whichis an aircraft carrier, and we had
three radio stations and a TV stationthat I had to run. I was
(04:31):
what you call a Navy broadcast journalist, and my job then as we got
to via NA was just to makesure I keep them around going, so
I was able to find talent withinthe crew to work in. From my
radio shifts, we had the besttime. We had the best radio stations
of all all the aircraft carriers inthe area. And then I finished Vietnam,
(04:55):
came back on to San Francisco,got a little brief weekend thing at
Cage Azz Open, California, thencame back home and ended up getting a
job in my mother's hometown at Warsaw, Virginia. Too small at the time
for the very energetic young man likeme, so it lasted about six months.
But they're begging me to stay,but I thought I got to kind
of go, and I headed toRichmond, Virginia, and I worked at
(05:17):
Richmond, and I worked briefly inDC at we A M. And then
from there I went back to Richmond. Then I went to Georgia, and
from Georgia, I went to NewOrleans. From New Orleans, I went
back to Georgia, and they're fromGeorgia. I went to Jacksonville Community.
If you're just tuning in the voiceof Naim Rashie, you've heard him on
(05:40):
this radio station as the smooth operatorat Knights and today we're talking to him
as we wrap up our weekend withthe Jacksonville Jazz Festival. He is also
here this weekend, so I thoughtthat I would get some of his history
and share him with you. Soyou landed in Jacksonville and you were on
(06:02):
the radio station talk to us aboutthe growth from Jacksonville into jazz. Doc
Wentter hired me to do the QuietStorm, which was a break from me
because I had an opportunity to playthe music that I wanted to play with
which someone programmed it for me,and I was able to incorporate, you
(06:23):
know, a club connection question andit became a very big thing. But
I also had that need to playsome jazz, and I told Jock.
I said, Doug, we needsome jazz on the radio station. He's
going to tell you what. Puttogether some information, some graphs, and
tell me some history and whatever.We'll take a look at it. I
put together something. He looked atit, he loved it. He said,
(06:43):
well, we're going to call itthat's about jazz compositions. He said,
no, I saw, how aboutjazz vibrations. He said, I
like that, So we did JazzVibrations. But I was able to take
all that information about what I learnedabout jazz at a younger age. But
during that time, I'm still playingjazz too, But I really got involved
when Alek count the opportunity to putit on the air, and that's when
(07:06):
I really really fell into jazz.Because jazz, to me, as people
say, it's a way of life. Some people like they say it's sophisticated,
you've got to be a certain kindof you know, like a bougie
type format a genre, but it'snot because it's created by African roots and
(07:28):
a lot of that happened right inNew Orleans and continues and it has gone
to Kansas City, Chicago, Philly, New but it's all over jazz.
Is put it this way, butif you go see a jazz performer,
he's going to play a song thenext If you go to see him the
next night, you don't hear thatsound. Yeah, but it's gonna be
totally different when you heard the nightbefore. Because musicians play jazz. Musicians
(07:53):
play like that, they get involvedinto the music, and when they stop
playing together, I'll also know howto when to come in and when to
come out of over a session.To me, it just it's my cup.
To me, it's something that thecity wanted to hear and it got
very popular, and then I startedworking with the city by doing mc like
(08:18):
you do at the Jazz Festival ona yearly basis. I started doing that
in nineteen ninety one up until Ileft Jacksonville, which is a long time.
And during that process, I alsostarted the Jacksonville Jazz Society with a
good friend of mine from out ofBrooklyn. His name was Wayne Barlow,
(08:39):
and I said, listen, there'sa lot of people would like jazz and
like a lot of people like tohang around and go to the different venues
and support the local musicians. Andthat's what we did. And then after
that we said, well, we'regoing to give some scholarships to students,
so we started giving scholarships that we'vebeen doing that for the last fifteen years.
Talk to us about the Wayne BarlowScholarship. I see it on the
website for the Jacksonville Jazz Society,and you know how people can actually help
(09:05):
donate pour into this scholarship. Howcame the community help. It's done every
year and what we normally do weput an application out on that our website
and students can go there and phillyapplication out or now sometimes we dropping them
off of the different schools. Wejust wanted to keep the Jacksonville Jazz Society
Jacksonville Jazz Society, we didn't wantto branch out, become a great,
(09:26):
big corporation or anything like that,just to take you to students in Jacksonville.
So we look at U and F, Douglas Anderson, and JU.
We were working with Edward Waters,but they don't have a jazz program per
se. And then we didn't wantto do fam you because that's Sallahassee,
not Jacksonville. So we try toconcentrate it right in Jacksonville. And U
(09:48):
and F had a jazz studies program, and so does JU. A lot
of our recipients come from those schoolsand even from Douglas Aunt Henderson. If
you want to help, you cango on the website and donate, or
if we have an annual Wayne Barlowfundraiser. Wayne Barlow was the co founder
of the Jacksonville Jazz Society and itbecame PILL and I told Wayne, I
(10:13):
said, to keep your legacy going. I'll be prefore we passed. I
said, we're going to do this. So we put it in his name
in honor of him. So everyyear we have students win scholarships in his
honor juniors to this day. Andif you're just tuning in, the voice
you're hearing is naim Rashid, legendaryin the jazz community here in Jacksonville.
(10:35):
Name talk to us about the accoladesthat you have been given. You are
a pillar here when it comes tojazz. This weekend has been a free
weekend. The city has put onan amazing show. So the reason why
I wanted to bring Naima on thisSunday is to hear the voice that actually
(10:56):
helps start jazz in this city.And also I'm sure you've seen him this
weekend, but also to understand thatthere are many jazz lovers that come back
to the city just to help ourcity present jazz, which is what you
do annually. It goes back toMayport when they first got started to Metro
(11:16):
Park and which I'm glad we're backthere now this year, which is great
because I've always loved it at thepark. But there's so many people that
come from from one coast to anotherto support the Jacksonville Jazz Festival. It's
a big thing and people don't realizeit's a free concert. It's a free
festival. You can pay VIP andpreferred seating if you would like. But
(11:39):
as far as the festival itself,it's a free festival. Some of these
other festivals you can spend a coupleof thousand dollars for the weekend Jacksonville.
All you need is just bring achair and that's it. An agreed at
it. Some of the great artistslike this weekend. You know they've got
Kenny Barron goes way back and playingthe piano off hand, Liz Right,
(12:01):
you know, she's a preacher daughterfrom out of Atlanta. Great jazz voice
and Gostel Voice. There's so manygreat musicians the city of Jacksonville has presented
to the city each and every year. And the undertaking that takes to put
all this together, it begins assoon as the festival is overware they're preparing
for the next year. So Ilike to think all the people continue to
(12:24):
follow every year coming to the JacksonvilleJazz Festival. It's a great event.
It's free, you can have alovely time. And also the jazz the
jazz piano competition at the Florida theatthat's just kicked off on Thursday nights.
Every year it's on Thursday, sowhy not come out and enjoy yourselven.
This is a great weekend. Theweather's great and I'd like to see your
(12:46):
face in the place, as Iwould say, no name. One of
the things about the Jacksonville Jazz Festivalis just a variety of artists that are
presented on two stages take on,you know, having two stages, having
a variety of artists free and thecity is able to just come together.
(13:07):
It's amazing that a city can offer. That is what I'm saying to the
city. To me, the cityhas made a commitment, but they're going
to do They're going to do thisevery year, and I'm thankful. You
go to some cities, you know, if it's not doing well for you,
they might fall off for a coupleof years and then bring it back.
But Jacksonville has been very consistent,and they have been very consistent of
(13:28):
improving every year. And nothing's alwaysperfect, but if you look at it
as a whole, it's a verysuccessful festival. You have so many people
coming in. We've got so manygreat artists. You know, johsh Stone
is coming. I mean, BrianCulberson, who really lights up any event
he goes through and he works theMark and he works the circuit of almost
(13:50):
all the festivals on the course ofa year. We lost the great person
this past week who was here Ithink last year or year before last.
David Sanborn played saxophone, and it'sfrom the Tampa area and Florida itself got
some of the great musicians, andso does Jacksonville. You know John Lumpkin
Junior, Josh Bowlish of Scott Gidten'sown guitar, my brother from out of
(14:15):
family as a teacher, the LondonNew Parsons, I mean, the list
goes, and then the people inthe past, Peddy Washington, I mean,
Martin von Barlow, just to namea few local people. Al Waters
who played saxophone for the incredible GreatCharles Band back in the day, right
from Jacksonville. So there's some historyin the city and it continues and it
(14:37):
flows with the Jacksonville Gianz Festival.And you, sir, if you would
talk to us about your accolades,you were provided a legendary award. Yes,
I was inducted into the Jacksonville JazzFestival Hall of Fame and twenty ten,
which was a great honor from mywork working with the city constantly with
(14:58):
the city and also still doing andsupporting jazz in the community. I remember
when my sister from out of Philly, the Jeffers, came to me and
she wanted to start a jazz club. When we sat down and discuss that
and she got that going. Tolook at her now, she's doing it
every every week and specially doing theJazz Festival. She does something special for
(15:20):
the Jazz Festival every year. Sothose are the things that to me,
that means to me, means agreat, great deal for me to see
how people are still keeping jazz alivein our city, especially for the Jazz
Festival, and especially with the JacksonvilleJazz Society. We have little events listening
parties at our members' homes. Weget together, we cook, we listen
(15:43):
to music, we enjoy each otherand fellowship. We talk about jazz.
We have jazz education within our meetingsto discuss jazz because there's so much to
learn. And if you think aboutgoing way back and the history of some
of these great musicians, it wasdifficult for them, you know, they
still had They couldn't go to thefront door and they had to go for
the back door. So just taketime and research the history of jazz,
(16:07):
especially individually the musicians themselves, andsome of the trials and tribulations they had
to go through in order to justto do their craft, to do their
creativity with an instrument. That tome, I never get bored listen to
jazz. And we're losing all likegreat folks like Nanthew Wilson, I mean,
Bramby Lewis. All these folks havepassed on recently. So the thing
(16:29):
is to preserve it as the bestway we know how it is to go
ahead and keep it going and canalso promote it, which is why I
wanted you on the show today.Today is the last day of the Jacksonville
Jazz Festival, so we have onemore day of two stages great jazz,
and I wanted the people to understandthat you are in the city, You
are one of the voices. Youare a pillar of jazz in this city.
(16:51):
How can they become a member ofthe Jacksonville Jazz Society, Okay the
society, like I said, goto the website to jackson Jazz Society dot
org and you can find out allthe information you want to do right there.
That's the best place to get started. And if you want, you
can write me my my email addresseshere dot on dot jazz at gmail dot
(17:18):
com, and I can stereo towhat any direction that you want. What's
the future for jazz with us losingthe legendary jazz artists, What is the
future of What could be the future? I think the future is this scholarship,
the Wayne Marlowe Scholarship, point intostudents who are getting who is getting
a degree in jazz. I thinkthat could be a great future. We'll
(17:41):
see. That's great because we've gota lot of students that leave in Jenks
are going to go into Julliard andsome of these great schools just continue to
studies. But jazz, the genreitself is really fading a little bit,
doesn't have the presence like it usedto because kids coming up now the music
has changed. Even R and Bisn't like R and B used to be.
(18:02):
Music is all over it, andjazz has got a little, small,
little little section that is not asbig as it used to be because
people don't listen to it. Peoplehaven't learned to listen. You have to
learn to listen to jazz. Yougot to learn them as the instruments.
What you're listening to That's the firstthing I tell anyone. If you listen
to jazz, put on a jazzrecording and listen to them instruments. First,
(18:27):
get familiar with the instruments, andthen listen to the songs and listen
to how they were the rips andhow they come in and play, and
then they set a mood for youwhile you're listening. It's incredible. Man,
How important is live music? Livemusic keeps this world going. You
(18:48):
got to have love music. Themere fact that we have a festival of
the year is why people there's ahunger for love music. You go any
place and whether it be a jazzfestival or blues festival, people love to
hear a lot of music. It'snice to listen to you know, your
system at home, but it's somuch nice to be in the surrounding,
in the setting where people are performingin front of you, so you're gonna
(19:08):
actually see these musicians perform and getto know the musicians. That's the thing
and happening when you have that contactwith right right up in front of the
face, you can see how theyperform instead of listening to the music.
Because you know, in this dayand age of computers, and back then
them guys and have computers know allanalog. So now things that you hear
(19:30):
on the radio, from some ofthe to today's music, some of that's
generated by computers to I'm just beinghonest, even some voices. AI is
coming in now. So it's reallyscary. But when you talk about jazz,
true jazz, it's strictly guys performingand knowing their instrument and knowing their
craft and knowing the music and creatingsome great compositions. Jazz itself, it's
(19:56):
it's about guys writing music and puttingon on tape and listen. You can
listen to what's going on, butthey created. Like I said, if
you go to hear a musician playthe first time, you go back to
the next night, you can hearsomething different. That's the part of jazz
that I love. It's nothing that'sconcrete. It's not gonna be the same
thing. Some R and B artists, you're gonna hear him sing the same
(20:17):
song over and over again. Butwhen you get to listen to some jazz,
these guys get carried away and wecan be playing to be jamming.
It's the best feeling, the bestsound you ever want to hear, but
go and support it in person,you can really truly appreciate it. I
love the Jazz after Dark every yearwith the Jacksonville Jazz Festival, the Jazz
(20:37):
after Dark, that's when you seethe artists just you know, just ad
lib around music, ad lib aroundtheir craft, just go off with a
totally different person that they never playedwith. But that is the greatest sound.
Oh yeah. And the thing thatI like to see that the city
is doing is the fact that itgives the jazz musicians more opportunity to put
(20:59):
them music out in the public becauseif you look across the country, a
lot of the jazz stations are gonebecause it's hard to sell in comparison to
today's music. When you see amusician or you see a festival going on,
go support them. That's loud music. That's a person who's all they
want to do is create their ownmusic and perform for you. And that's
(21:22):
the best feeling in the world becausethey want to be appreciated. That's their
artist. They create music, theyput it all together, and to be
able to read that and then transformit into a sound, Wow, you
can't beat it. You can't beatit community if you're just tuning in Shawnee
speaking to legendary jazz lover Naim Rashitalking to us about his love for music,
(21:45):
how he empowered our community through jazz, and how he is still doing
that through the Jacksonville Jazz Society keepingjazz alive. Today is the last day
for the Jacksonville Jazz Festival. Iwant to thank the City of Jacksonville,
all the vendors, everyone that haspoured into this event since Thursdays, and
the volunteers, Yes, everyone thathas poured into this event, and you
(22:10):
name you still coming back to thecity making sure that you are here,
your face is here, and thelove of jazz is here. Well,
a lot of people haven't known thatI have moved and relocated to Louisiana,
right outside of New Orleans. Mywife is losing a vision to clock Cooma,
(22:30):
so I decided to come back toher home and retire. You know,
I met her at Wylb in NewOrleans back in the seventies, So
we just decided to bring it backhome and that's what we do. But
I have not lost my track inmy connection with Jacksonville. Never will I
have a lot of friends, alot of musicians friends, and a lot
(22:52):
of members of the Jacksonville Jazz Societythat I talked to almost every day.
So it's still it's still my citywhere you were in Jacksonville for promptly thirty
one and a half years and it'sbeen the best route of my life.
Some of the best people I've Igot a chance to meet, including you,
Shohanny. It's been a blessing forme and my family. Well,
(23:12):
thank you name Rashid for blessing me. That is one of the reasons why
I wanted to call you back intohere and talk to you on this platform,
to give you your flowers, toprovide you that love that you showed
me, and also to allow thecommunity to hear your voice and the passion
(23:33):
behind jazz. So last question,what would you say to someone who wants
to start jazz but they don't knowhow or where? When you start to
play jazz? Yeah, artists,an artist that wants to play jazz,
would they try to volunteer at theJacksonville Jazz Festival? Do they need to
get a group together? How canthey get connected to be selected? First
(23:56):
of all, I'd tell any musicianyou go learn to read music, read
and write music. That's the firstthing, because that what's going to get
you over to hump because if youcan't read music, then you can't play
jazz. Just that important that youlearn it. And I went to FUCJ
(24:17):
to learn music out myself and intriguingme because it's such a universal language.
Music truly is. But if youwant to become a musician, trou chad
musician, learn to read and writeit and then get yourself a band together,
and then go to school, beeducated by some professors who have been
out there teaching and playing the wholelives to help these students come along the
(24:38):
way and then to take them higherwhen they go to Julliard and these other
great institutions of music. And yousaid something name music is universal. So
that's another thing about this weekend isevery shade, every color, every people
are here loving jazz, listening tojazz. And I commend the city for
putting that out on a free platformso that we can all come together as
(25:02):
a diverse group. But to lovejazz, that genre of jazz. Oh
yeah, well, thank you forthe accolacture gaving me Shawney, because I
really appreciate it. But it's allabout the people. It's all been for
me. It is all about thelisteners. The listeners are the ones they
tune in to listen to you.They listen to you. Shanny know who's
like in my credit to my listenersmade me and even with the Jacksonville Jazz
(25:26):
Festival. Is a sister who usedto work at at the Wretch Theater.
Her name is Denise Williams. She'sthe lady who puts all this stuff together.
My props go out to her too, because she does this every year.
She and she reaches out to thefellow hall of famers with the Jacsual
Jazz Festival to find out something great, great people to bring in. Every
(25:48):
year she calls me, we talk, we have meetings, and that's how
she puts it together. And I'mthankful for her because she's dead fans and
making sure she does the best andproduce to the best festivals you can each
and every year. But for students, stay in school, learn music,
start a group, go to school, learn it and before community if you're
(26:11):
just tuning in Shawnee speaking to jazzlover legend Naim Rashid keeping jazz alive.
Understanding that the jazz genre is fadingslightly, but Jacksonville is not going to
allow that to happen with the festivalthat happens every Memorial Day weekend. So
Naim, thank you so much forjoining me today. Thank you for your
(26:34):
words. Thank you for being apillar of strength when it comes to jazz
and keeping it alive here in Jacksonville. Thank you, thank you, appreciate
you, my sisters, thank youfor listening to Community View Boys each week.
We hope to engage in power andenlighten. Have a blessed day.
Welcome to community view Points and Shawneefeeling blessed and highly favored on this Sunday
morning. I have a legend ofmusic, a legend of radio. A
friend, Naim Rashid is here thismorning to talk to us about jazz.
We have been experiencing jazz downtown fromthe city of Jacksonville, but today Naim
Rashid is here as a jazz lover. Good morning, mister Rashid, Good
(00:24):
morning Shanni. How are you blessedto be able to talk to you on
this platform and give you back yourflowers as you instructed me when I first
started radio on how to speak andhow to deliver. So I wanted to
thank you first off for being amentor of radio and mentoring me when I
(00:44):
first started. So this is justlike a circle basic to speak with you.
Yeah, well, you know,it's a pleasure of being here with
you had doing this interview. It'sbeen a while to touching you. It's
got a year that allows for youat the festival and it's you know,
as far as let's start with radio, how I got involved with radio and
(01:10):
then you were working down working ondown to jazz and jazz had a lot
to do with that too. Earlyon in my in my life growing up
in North Philadelphia, in the neighborhoodin the corners of the whole Men,
we be playing jazz checkers in thecourse and they have their footable radios back
then, and they'd be playing jazzor not. They had the little bos
(01:32):
playing jazz, and at the firsttime I heard it, I said,
you know what's that? It's ajazz and boy, you haven't heard this
before. And it was Cold Tranethey were playing, and I said,
okay. It realized that Coltrane wasin Philadelphia at that time and had no
idea. And then as I gotolder, I started listening to more and
(01:53):
more jazz, shi tracking into thefact of listening to a photobudio. I
was intrigued, but the fact thata voice can come out of a box
and garnered them much attention that Isaid, oh, that's something I might
want to check out. I gotinto middle school, I stopped doing the
(02:14):
tape thing by my own high fivesystem, all real the reil of a
mic standing not being in the livingroom doing my thing and making tapes and
then taken to the radio station andhaving critique it. But before I got
took a chance to get to thedoor with the radio station. I used
to walk probably four and a halffive miles to get to the radio station
(02:36):
and just hang by the door untilsomeone saw me said what's going on?
I said, I want to seewhat's going on in there. So I
went inside and the guy and gaveme all the you know, the run
around, tell you what this isa studio, this is a turntable and
all that. But I said,I want to do this. He said,
well, I'll tell you. Ijust keep working on your voice and
we'll see what comes up. Sowhile I was working on my voice,
(02:57):
I also got a well of thew h at am in Philly who went
promotion. That's my first thing learningwas promotions. And back then in Phillip
we had a lot of dance halland we can go to on on the
weekends and I would work with toDJs putting posters up the hall over the
city. And finally I got mychance to sit behind the mic and Shanny,
(03:23):
I tell you the first time Iwas the light came on and telling
me to speak out froze. Theyhad the COMMERUSSI and get me out the
seat. I couldn't say nothing,couldn't do nothing. And I realized then
that there are millions of people listeningin Philadelphia to this radio station, so
I'd better learn how to get overbeing nervous and afraid to speak on the
(03:46):
mic. So I would go aroundspeaking out loud, just talking to people,
real loud, and finally I gota little part time position. But
by that time I finished high schooland l the SAM was calling, so
million nine was happening. So Iwent into the Navy, and with that
experience in Philly, I was ableto get with the American Forces Radio Television
(04:09):
Service. At my first duty stationout of boot camp was Kodiak, Alaska,
and up there we had a radiostation and a TV station. So
when I left Alaska after during ayear and a half there, I was
stationed to the USS Ranger, whichis an aircraft carrier, and we had
three radio stations and a TV stationthat I had to run. I was
(04:31):
what you call a Navy broadcast journalist, and my job then as we got
to via NA was just to makesure I keep them around going, so
I was able to find talent withinthe crew to work in. From my
radio shifts, we had the besttime. We had the best radio stations
of all all the aircraft carriers inthe area. And then I finished Vietnam,
(04:55):
came back on to San Francisco,got a little brief weekend thing at
Cage Azz Open, California, thencame back home and ended up getting a
job in my mother's hometown at Warsaw, Virginia. Too small at the time
for the very energetic young man likeme, so it lasted about six months.
But they're begging me to stay,but I thought I got to kind
of go, and I headed toRichmond, Virginia, and I worked at
(05:17):
Richmond, and I worked briefly inDC at we A M. And then
from there I went back to Richmond. Then I went to Georgia, and
from Georgia, I went to NewOrleans. From New Orleans, I went
back to Georgia, and they're fromGeorgia. I went to Jacksonville Community.
If you're just tuning in the voiceof Naim Rashie, you've heard him on
(05:40):
this radio station as the smooth operatorat Knights and today we're talking to him
as we wrap up our weekend withthe Jacksonville Jazz Festival. He is also
here this weekend, so I thoughtthat I would get some of his history
and share him with you. Soyou landed in Jacksonville and you were on
(06:02):
the radio station talk to us aboutthe growth from Jacksonville into jazz. Doc
Wentter hired me to do the QuietStorm, which was a break from me
because I had an opportunity to playthe music that I wanted to play with
which someone programmed it for me,and I was able to incorporate, you
(06:23):
know, a club connection question andit became a very big thing. But
I also had that need to playsome jazz, and I told Jock.
I said, Doug, we needsome jazz on the radio station. He's
going to tell you what. Puttogether some information, some graphs, and
tell me some history and whatever.We'll take a look at it. I
put together something. He looked atit, he loved it. He said,
(06:43):
well, we're going to call itthat's about jazz compositions. He said,
no, I saw, how aboutjazz vibrations. He said, I
like that, So we did JazzVibrations. But I was able to take
all that information about what I learnedabout jazz at a younger age. But
during that time, I'm still playingjazz too, But I really got involved
when Alek count the opportunity to putit on the air, and that's when
(07:06):
I really really fell into jazz.Because jazz, to me, as people
say, it's a way of life. Some people like they say it's sophisticated,
you've got to be a certain kindof you know, like a bougie
type format a genre, but it'snot because it's created by African roots and
(07:28):
a lot of that happened right inNew Orleans and continues and it has gone
to Kansas City, Chicago, Philly, New but it's all over jazz.
Is put it this way, butif you go see a jazz performer,
he's going to play a song thenext If you go to see him the
next night, you don't hear thatsound. Yeah, but it's gonna be
totally different when you heard the nightbefore. Because musicians play jazz. Musicians
(07:53):
play like that, they get involvedinto the music, and when they stop
playing together, I'll also know howto when to come in and when to
come out of over a session.To me, it just it's my cup.
To me, it's something that thecity wanted to hear and it got
very popular, and then I startedworking with the city by doing mc like
(08:18):
you do at the Jazz Festival ona yearly basis. I started doing that
in nineteen ninety one up until Ileft Jacksonville, which is a long time.
And during that process, I alsostarted the Jacksonville Jazz Society with a
good friend of mine from out ofBrooklyn. His name was Wayne Barlow,
(08:39):
and I said, listen, there'sa lot of people would like jazz and
like a lot of people like tohang around and go to the different venues
and support the local musicians. Andthat's what we did. And then after
that we said, well, we'regoing to give some scholarships to students,
so we started giving scholarships that we'vebeen doing that for the last fifteen years.
Talk to us about the Wayne BarlowScholarship. I see it on the
website for the Jacksonville Jazz Society,and you know how people can actually help
(09:05):
donate pour into this scholarship. Howcame the community help. It's done every
year and what we normally do weput an application out on that our website
and students can go there and phillyapplication out or now sometimes we dropping them
off of the different schools. Wejust wanted to keep the Jacksonville Jazz Society
Jacksonville Jazz Society, we didn't wantto branch out, become a great,
(09:26):
big corporation or anything like that,just to take you to students in Jacksonville.
So we look at U and F, Douglas Anderson, and JU.
We were working with Edward Waters,but they don't have a jazz program per
se. And then we didn't wantto do fam you because that's Sallahassee,
not Jacksonville. So we try toconcentrate it right in Jacksonville. And U
(09:48):
and F had a jazz studies program, and so does JU. A lot
of our recipients come from those schoolsand even from Douglas Aunt Henderson. If
you want to help, you cango on the website and donate, or
if we have an annual Wayne Barlowfundraiser. Wayne Barlow was the co founder
of the Jacksonville Jazz Society and itbecame PILL and I told Wayne, I
(10:13):
said, to keep your legacy going. I'll be prefore we passed. I
said, we're going to do this. So we put it in his name
in honor of him. So everyyear we have students win scholarships in his
honor juniors to this day. Andif you're just tuning in, the voice
you're hearing is naim Rashid, legendaryin the jazz community here in Jacksonville.
(10:35):
Name talk to us about the accoladesthat you have been given. You are
a pillar here when it comes tojazz. This weekend has been a free
weekend. The city has put onan amazing show. So the reason why
I wanted to bring Naima on thisSunday is to hear the voice that actually
(10:56):
helps start jazz in this city.And also I'm sure you've seen him this
weekend, but also to understand thatthere are many jazz lovers that come back
to the city just to help ourcity present jazz, which is what you
do annually. It goes back toMayport when they first got started to Metro
(11:16):
Park and which I'm glad we're backthere now this year, which is great
because I've always loved it at thepark. But there's so many people that
come from from one coast to anotherto support the Jacksonville Jazz Festival. It's
a big thing and people don't realizeit's a free concert. It's a free
festival. You can pay VIP andpreferred seating if you would like. But
(11:39):
as far as the festival itself,it's a free festival. Some of these
other festivals you can spend a coupleof thousand dollars for the weekend Jacksonville.
All you need is just bring achair and that's it. An agreed at
it. Some of the great artistslike this weekend. You know they've got
Kenny Barron goes way back and playingthe piano off hand, Liz Right,
(12:01):
you know, she's a preacher daughterfrom out of Atlanta. Great jazz voice
and Gostel Voice. There's so manygreat musicians the city of Jacksonville has presented
to the city each and every year. And the undertaking that takes to put
all this together, it begins assoon as the festival is overware they're preparing
for the next year. So Ilike to think all the people continue to
(12:24):
follow every year coming to the JacksonvilleJazz Festival. It's a great event.
It's free, you can have alovely time. And also the jazz the
jazz piano competition at the Florida theatthat's just kicked off on Thursday nights.
Every year it's on Thursday, sowhy not come out and enjoy yourselven.
This is a great weekend. Theweather's great and I'd like to see your
(12:46):
face in the place, as Iwould say, no name. One of
the things about the Jacksonville Jazz Festivalis just a variety of artists that are
presented on two stages take on,you know, having two stages, having
a variety of artists free and thecity is able to just come together.
(13:07):
It's amazing that a city can offer. That is what I'm saying to the
city. To me, the cityhas made a commitment, but they're going
to do They're going to do thisevery year, and I'm thankful. You
go to some cities, you know, if it's not doing well for you,
they might fall off for a coupleof years and then bring it back.
But Jacksonville has been very consistent,and they have been very consistent of
(13:28):
improving every year. And nothing's alwaysperfect, but if you look at it
as a whole, it's a verysuccessful festival. You have so many people
coming in. We've got so manygreat artists. You know, johsh Stone
is coming. I mean, BrianCulberson, who really lights up any event
he goes through and he works theMark and he works the circuit of almost
(13:50):
all the festivals on the course ofa year. We lost the great person
this past week who was here Ithink last year or year before last.
David Sanborn played saxophone, and it'sfrom the Tampa area and Florida itself got
some of the great musicians, andso does Jacksonville. You know John Lumpkin
Junior, Josh Bowlish of Scott Gidten'sown guitar, my brother from out of
(14:15):
family as a teacher, the LondonNew Parsons, I mean, the list
goes, and then the people inthe past, Peddy Washington, I mean,
Martin von Barlow, just to namea few local people. Al Waters
who played saxophone for the incredible GreatCharles Band back in the day, right
from Jacksonville. So there's some historyin the city and it continues and it
(14:37):
flows with the Jacksonville Gianz Festival.And you, sir, if you would
talk to us about your accolades,you were provided a legendary award. Yes,
I was inducted into the Jacksonville JazzFestival Hall of Fame and twenty ten,
which was a great honor from mywork working with the city constantly with
(14:58):
the city and also still doing andsupporting jazz in the community. I remember
when my sister from out of Philly, the Jeffers, came to me and
she wanted to start a jazz club. When we sat down and discuss that
and she got that going. Tolook at her now, she's doing it
every every week and specially doing theJazz Festival. She does something special for
(15:20):
the Jazz Festival every year. Sothose are the things that to me,
that means to me, means agreat, great deal for me to see
how people are still keeping jazz alivein our city, especially for the Jazz
Festival, and especially with the JacksonvilleJazz Society. We have little events listening
parties at our members' homes. Weget together, we cook, we listen
(15:43):
to music, we enjoy each otherand fellowship. We talk about jazz.
We have jazz education within our meetingsto discuss jazz because there's so much to
learn. And if you think aboutgoing way back and the history of some
of these great musicians, it wasdifficult for them, you know, they
still had They couldn't go to thefront door and they had to go for
the back door. So just taketime and research the history of jazz,
(16:07):
especially individually the musicians themselves, andsome of the trials and tribulations they had
to go through in order to justto do their craft, to do their
creativity with an instrument. That tome, I never get bored listen to
jazz. And we're losing all likegreat folks like Nanthew Wilson, I mean,
Bramby Lewis. All these folks havepassed on recently. So the thing
(16:29):
is to preserve it as the bestway we know how it is to go
ahead and keep it going and canalso promote it, which is why I
wanted you on the show today.Today is the last day of the Jacksonville
Jazz Festival, so we have onemore day of two stages great jazz,
and I wanted the people to understandthat you are in the city, You
are one of the voices. Youare a pillar of jazz in this city.
(16:51):
How can they become a member ofthe Jacksonville Jazz Society, Okay the
society, like I said, goto the website to jackson Jazz Society dot
org and you can find out allthe information you want to do right there.
That's the best place to get started. And if you want, you
can write me my my email addresseshere dot on dot jazz at gmail dot
(17:18):
com, and I can stereo towhat any direction that you want. What's
the future for jazz with us losingthe legendary jazz artists, What is the
future of What could be the future? I think the future is this scholarship,
the Wayne Marlowe Scholarship, point intostudents who are getting who is getting
a degree in jazz. I thinkthat could be a great future. We'll
(17:41):
see. That's great because we've gota lot of students that leave in Jenks
are going to go into Julliard andsome of these great schools just continue to
studies. But jazz, the genreitself is really fading a little bit,
doesn't have the presence like it usedto because kids coming up now the music
has changed. Even R and Bisn't like R and B used to be.
(18:02):
Music is all over it, andjazz has got a little, small,
little little section that is not asbig as it used to be because
people don't listen to it. Peoplehaven't learned to listen. You have to
learn to listen to jazz. Yougot to learn them as the instruments.
What you're listening to That's the firstthing I tell anyone. If you listen
to jazz, put on a jazzrecording and listen to them instruments. First,
(18:27):
get familiar with the instruments, andthen listen to the songs and listen
to how they were the rips andhow they come in and play, and
then they set a mood for youwhile you're listening. It's incredible. Man,
How important is live music? Livemusic keeps this world going. You
(18:48):
got to have love music. Themere fact that we have a festival of
the year is why people there's ahunger for love music. You go any
place and whether it be a jazzfestival or blues festival, people love to
hear a lot of music. It'snice to listen to you know, your
system at home, but it's somuch nice to be in the surrounding,
in the setting where people are performingin front of you, so you're gonna
(19:08):
actually see these musicians perform and getto know the musicians. That's the thing
and happening when you have that contactwith right right up in front of the
face, you can see how theyperform instead of listening to the music.
Because you know, in this dayand age of computers, and back then
them guys and have computers know allanalog. So now things that you hear
(19:30):
on the radio, from some ofthe to today's music, some of that's
generated by computers to I'm just beinghonest, even some voices. AI is
coming in now. So it's reallyscary. But when you talk about jazz,
true jazz, it's strictly guys performingand knowing their instrument and knowing their
craft and knowing the music and creatingsome great compositions. Jazz itself, it's
(19:56):
it's about guys writing music and puttingon on tape and listen. You can
listen to what's going on, butthey created. Like I said, if
you go to hear a musician playthe first time, you go back to
the next night, you can hearsomething different. That's the part of jazz
that I love. It's nothing that'sconcrete. It's not gonna be the same
thing. Some R and B artists, you're gonna hear him sing the same
(20:17):
song over and over again. Butwhen you get to listen to some jazz,
these guys get carried away and wecan be playing to be jamming.
It's the best feeling, the bestsound you ever want to hear, but
go and support it in person,you can really truly appreciate it. I
love the Jazz after Dark every yearwith the Jacksonville Jazz Festival, the Jazz
(20:37):
after Dark, that's when you seethe artists just you know, just ad
lib around music, ad lib aroundtheir craft, just go off with a
totally different person that they never playedwith. But that is the greatest sound.
Oh yeah. And the thing thatI like to see that the city
is doing is the fact that itgives the jazz musicians more opportunity to put
(20:59):
them music out in the public becauseif you look across the country, a
lot of the jazz stations are gonebecause it's hard to sell in comparison to
today's music. When you see amusician or you see a festival going on,
go support them. That's loud music. That's a person who's all they
want to do is create their ownmusic and perform for you. And that's
(21:22):
the best feeling in the world becausethey want to be appreciated. That's their
artist. They create music, theyput it all together, and to be
able to read that and then transformit into a sound, Wow, you
can't beat it. You can't beatit community if you're just tuning in Shawnee
speaking to legendary jazz lover Naim Rashitalking to us about his love for music,
(21:45):
how he empowered our community through jazz, and how he is still doing
that through the Jacksonville Jazz Society keepingjazz alive. Today is the last day
for the Jacksonville Jazz Festival. Iwant to thank the City of Jacksonville,
all the vendors, everyone that haspoured into this event since Thursdays, and
the volunteers, Yes, everyone thathas poured into this event, and you
(22:10):
name you still coming back to thecity making sure that you are here,
your face is here, and thelove of jazz is here. Well,
a lot of people haven't known thatI have moved and relocated to Louisiana,
right outside of New Orleans. Mywife is losing a vision to clock Cooma,
(22:30):
so I decided to come back toher home and retire. You know,
I met her at Wylb in NewOrleans back in the seventies, So
we just decided to bring it backhome and that's what we do. But
I have not lost my track inmy connection with Jacksonville. Never will I
have a lot of friends, alot of musicians friends, and a lot
(22:52):
of members of the Jacksonville Jazz Societythat I talked to almost every day.
So it's still it's still my citywhere you were in Jacksonville for promptly thirty
one and a half years and it'sbeen the best route of my life.
Some of the best people I've Igot a chance to meet, including you,
Shohanny. It's been a blessing forme and my family. Well,
(23:12):
thank you name Rashid for blessing me. That is one of the reasons why
I wanted to call you back intohere and talk to you on this platform,
to give you your flowers, toprovide you that love that you showed
me, and also to allow thecommunity to hear your voice and the passion
(23:33):
behind jazz. So last question,what would you say to someone who wants
to start jazz but they don't knowhow or where? When you start to
play jazz? Yeah, artists,an artist that wants to play jazz,
would they try to volunteer at theJacksonville Jazz Festival? Do they need to
get a group together? How canthey get connected to be selected? First
(23:56):
of all, I'd tell any musicianyou go learn to read music, read
and write music. That's the firstthing, because that what's going to get
you over to hump because if youcan't read music, then you can't play
jazz. Just that important that youlearn it. And I went to FUCJ
(24:17):
to learn music out myself and intriguingme because it's such a universal language.
Music truly is. But if youwant to become a musician, trou chad
musician, learn to read and writeit and then get yourself a band together,
and then go to school, beeducated by some professors who have been
out there teaching and playing the wholelives to help these students come along the
(24:38):
way and then to take them higherwhen they go to Julliard and these other
great institutions of music. And yousaid something name music is universal. So
that's another thing about this weekend isevery shade, every color, every people
are here loving jazz, listening tojazz. And I commend the city for
putting that out on a free platformso that we can all come together as
(25:02):
a diverse group. But to lovejazz, that genre of jazz. Oh
yeah, well, thank you forthe accolacture gaving me Shawney, because I
really appreciate it. But it's allabout the people. It's all been for
me. It is all about thelisteners. The listeners are the ones they
tune in to listen to you.They listen to you. Shanny know who's
like in my credit to my listenersmade me and even with the Jacksonville Jazz
(25:26):
Festival. Is a sister who usedto work at at the Wretch Theater.
Her name is Denise Williams. She'sthe lady who puts all this stuff together.
My props go out to her too, because she does this every year.
She and she reaches out to thefellow hall of famers with the Jacsual
Jazz Festival to find out something great, great people to bring in. Every
(25:48):
year she calls me, we talk, we have meetings, and that's how
she puts it together. And I'mthankful for her because she's dead fans and
making sure she does the best andproduce to the best festivals you can each
and every year. But for students, stay in school, learn music,
start a group, go to school, learn it and before community if you're
(26:11):
just tuning in Shawnee speaking to jazzlover legend Naim Rashid keeping jazz alive.
Understanding that the jazz genre is fadingslightly, but Jacksonville is not going to
allow that to happen with the festivalthat happens every Memorial Day weekend. So
Naim, thank you so much forjoining me today. Thank you for your
(26:34):
words. Thank you for being apillar of strength when it comes to jazz
and keeping it alive here in Jacksonville. Thank you, thank you, appreciate
you, my sisters, thank youfor listening to Community View Boys each week.
We hope to engage in power andenlighten. Have a blessed day.
Popular Podcasts
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com