Eddie Gale’s Spiritual Jazz
July 25, 2020
by Valerie Mih
I first met Eddie Gale over 20 years ago, in the late 1990’s, through a moment of “random” synchronicity: as I was driving and listening to the jazz radio station KCSM, I heard an interview with Eddie talking about his Jazz Jam Workshop at the Black Dot in Oakland. It was open to all, on Monday nights. He talked about “jazz with a purpose,” and it struck a chord. I had been searching for a way to get involved again in jazz music, after having put it on the back burner for several years. So the next Monday night, I showed up at the Black Dot. With his characteristic welcoming nature, Eddie made me and the other new musicians (it was a drop-in jam session) feel right at home. Coming from a more stuffy, “academic”-oriented jazz background, Eddie’s jazz workshops were a revelation. He used an expansive, free jazz approach to help us all grow as expressive musicians. He showed us how to form a direct connection to the sounds and musicians present in the room.
Many musicians attended the workshop, which was always free of charge, supported by a California Arts Council grant. Friendships and collaborations sprouted in this supportive creative environment. For several glorious years, through this weekly meeting ground Eddie created a thriving jazz music scene in the Fruitvale district of Oakland alongside the Black Dot and Eastside Arts Alliance. His generosity of time and wisdom was phenomenal. He even organized music camping retreats, where 20+ musicians of all ages, along with their friends and partners, would drive to up Clear Lake and play music in nature, next to a babbling brook. While not playing music, we spent precious moments hearing stories, cooking at a the campsite and just enjoying the time together.
Years later, when I traveled with Eddie to New York for a series of performances, he reminisced about Sun Ra's regular Monday night gigs in the East Village. Back in his old stomping ground, as we walked through the neighborhoods, Eddie shared so many stories. He talked about Sun Ra's influence on his life and music, and how the consistency of performing together every week gave the music space to develop in new ways. I suddenly understood the underlying intention behind his weekly Monday night jam session at the Black Dot and its lineage to the free spiritual jazz of Sun Ra. I learned from Eddie that Sun Ra created a family of musicians, and Eddie embodied that ethos by creating a family of musicians and supporters wherever he went. His musical orbit was expansive, inclusive and supportive. Many times in my experiences with Eddie, I've been overwhelmed with gratitude to be in the orbit of such an expansive, warm and supportive mentor and human being.
Another quality of Eddie's that I always admired is his optimistic outlook and vision. He was never cynical or curmudgeonly. He was about as anti-cynical as anyone could get. I remember one December, with all the onslaught of Christmas marketing and Christmas carols, he suddenly commented, "I don't care what anyone says, I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!" He never lost his love of gatherings, celebrations, holidays and everyday miracles. Not out of naivete, but rather out of a deep spiritual awareness of the miracle of our spiritual-human experience. Through songs like "It's a Holiday," "Children of Peace," and "Here Comes Another Miracle," he focuses our attention on the miraculousness of life and the world around us.
Eddie hosted Annual Concerts for World Peace. When Eddie planned things, he planned BIG - leading an Inner Peace Orchestra of many musicians around the theme of Peace. At his side and organizing all the many details was his wife, Georgette. They were the dynamic duo bringing to fruition many charitable concerts for music education, peace education and musicians’ healthcare, alongside Eddie’s many supporters. Eddie would get the same gleam in his eye when he spoke of his next jazz performance (on many stages large and small), or of his next community-oriented initiative, like the children’s Peace Poetry contest he ran in association with the City of San Jose and the San Jose MLK Library. One of the most moving experiences was seeing the children reading their poems while their proud families watched during a large public gathering at the Library; it was priceless to see the excited expressions on the young poets' faces as they received public validation and appreciation of their work.
Nobody asked Eddie to do these things - these projects were self-initiated and came directly from his heart. Eddie was connected to an ever-flowing River of Creativity that expressed itself through many forms - music, song, education, community events - all with the same source in the Ultimate. Eddie's Spirit will continue to live on through all he touched in his overflowing and exceptionally beautiful life.
Many musicians attended the workshop, which was always free of charge, supported by a California Arts Council grant. Friendships and collaborations sprouted in this supportive creative environment. For several glorious years, through this weekly meeting ground Eddie created a thriving jazz music scene in the Fruitvale district of Oakland alongside the Black Dot and Eastside Arts Alliance. His generosity of time and wisdom was phenomenal. He even organized music camping retreats, where 20+ musicians of all ages, along with their friends and partners, would drive to up Clear Lake and play music in nature, next to a babbling brook. While not playing music, we spent precious moments hearing stories, cooking at a the campsite and just enjoying the time together.
Years later, when I traveled with Eddie to New York for a series of performances, he reminisced about Sun Ra's regular Monday night gigs in the East Village. Back in his old stomping ground, as we walked through the neighborhoods, Eddie shared so many stories. He talked about Sun Ra's influence on his life and music, and how the consistency of performing together every week gave the music space to develop in new ways. I suddenly understood the underlying intention behind his weekly Monday night jam session at the Black Dot and its lineage to the free spiritual jazz of Sun Ra. I learned from Eddie that Sun Ra created a family of musicians, and Eddie embodied that ethos by creating a family of musicians and supporters wherever he went. His musical orbit was expansive, inclusive and supportive. Many times in my experiences with Eddie, I've been overwhelmed with gratitude to be in the orbit of such an expansive, warm and supportive mentor and human being.
Another quality of Eddie's that I always admired is his optimistic outlook and vision. He was never cynical or curmudgeonly. He was about as anti-cynical as anyone could get. I remember one December, with all the onslaught of Christmas marketing and Christmas carols, he suddenly commented, "I don't care what anyone says, I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!" He never lost his love of gatherings, celebrations, holidays and everyday miracles. Not out of naivete, but rather out of a deep spiritual awareness of the miracle of our spiritual-human experience. Through songs like "It's a Holiday," "Children of Peace," and "Here Comes Another Miracle," he focuses our attention on the miraculousness of life and the world around us.
Eddie hosted Annual Concerts for World Peace. When Eddie planned things, he planned BIG - leading an Inner Peace Orchestra of many musicians around the theme of Peace. At his side and organizing all the many details was his wife, Georgette. They were the dynamic duo bringing to fruition many charitable concerts for music education, peace education and musicians’ healthcare, alongside Eddie’s many supporters. Eddie would get the same gleam in his eye when he spoke of his next jazz performance (on many stages large and small), or of his next community-oriented initiative, like the children’s Peace Poetry contest he ran in association with the City of San Jose and the San Jose MLK Library. One of the most moving experiences was seeing the children reading their poems while their proud families watched during a large public gathering at the Library; it was priceless to see the excited expressions on the young poets' faces as they received public validation and appreciation of their work.
Nobody asked Eddie to do these things - these projects were self-initiated and came directly from his heart. Eddie was connected to an ever-flowing River of Creativity that expressed itself through many forms - music, song, education, community events - all with the same source in the Ultimate. Eddie's Spirit will continue to live on through all he touched in his overflowing and exceptionally beautiful life.
