February 24, 2010

Cootie Harris marks 87th year at special jam

By Lisa Byers

Cootie Harris Jazz Jam from The Meadville Tribune on Vimeo.

“Happy birthday, Cootie!” one person yelled.

“Hey, it’s your birthday,” another shouted as he handed over a sweet potato pie his wife baked for the occasion.

“Wait. When is my birthday?,” Elmore (Cootie) Harris said with a puzzled look on his face. “It’s the 23rd, right? Yeah. It’s the 23rd.”

“I think these people are making fun of me,” he added sheepishly.

Perhaps. After all, laughter seemed to be a common theme Sunday afternoon as a couple of dozen or so individuals came out to help celebrate Harris’ 87th birthday at his monthly Jazz Jam held at the

Market House’s Gardner Theatre. And, of course, most of it was directed at Harris, who for the last 50-plus years has made it his mission to influence the lives of others.

One of those individuals is local musician and artist J.D. Hopkins. Health issues have prevented Hopkins from participating in Harris’ Jazz Jams, but the Blooming Valley resident made it a point to be at Sunday’s session to wish his longtime mentor a happy birthday.

“This guy here,” Hopkins said as he pointed over to Harris, “is an amazing man. I wouldn’t be who I am today without him.”

Hopkins first met Harris in 1958 at the age of 12. It was then that he started taking drum lessons from Harris at the House of Music store in Meadville.

“My mom couldn’t afford to get them, so then he started giving them to me for free,” Hopkins recalled. “He took me around to all these jazz festivals. I saw how he is attracted to so many people.

“He influenced a lot of people in this town and he doesn’t even know it. He influenced me and then I influenced people. It goes down the chain.”

Harris was honored with the Gov. Raymond P. Shafer Award for Distinguished Community Service in 2008 — one of the top community improvement honors in the region, recognizing volunteer or career work that benefits residents of the region. He also has served the community in a number of other ways over the years. He was on the governing board of Active Aging Inc. and its health advisory board. He was also a music therapist at the Polk Center in Venango County, a state-run group residence for the mentally disabled; and is a renowned instructor of Tai Chi, a traditional Chinese mind-body relaxation exercise.

Hopkins can’t help but think, however, that Harris’ greatest influence has come in the way of music, and in ways the jazz drummer may not even realize.

“I never had a dad,” Hopkins said. “He’s been my surrogate dad since I was 13 or 14 years old.”

Hence, Hopkins’ greeting to Harris as he arrived at the Jazz Jam.

“Hi, Dad,” Hopkins yelled.

“Happy birthday. I stole another watch for you,” he continued as he dug into his pockets and pretended to hand Harris a watch. “Here you go.”

“He pulled that on me once and got me in trouble,” Harris said. “I was giving lessons at the House of Music and I said, ‘This is my birthday.’ They didn’t say anything else. They looked at each other and they took off. They came back later and gave me a watch. Twenty years later, they told me they stole it.”

“We didn’t have any money,” Hopkins said.

Harris just shook his head.

“Memories,” he said.

Harris has given drum lessons to many individuals like Hopkins over the years and it is that endeavor that prompted Harris to begin the Jazz Jam nearly 20 years ago.

“I created it to give teenagers the chance to be musicians,” he said. “Here they get a chance to play with other musicians.”

Harris hosts the Jazz Jam with local musician Dave McMillin, who jumped on board nearly five years ago, every month at the Gardner Theatre located on the second floor of the Market House. The event hosts jazz musicians and singers from all over northwest Pennsylvania.

“Cootie has been a teacher of music and the martial arts for years,” McMillin said. “But his background in jazz is very steep. He played for the Count Basie Orchestra. He played at the Birdland Ballroom in New York City.

“All of us are heavily influenced by his stories and the things that he’s done.”

Indeed.

“I wish every kid could spend one hour with Cootie Harris,” Hopkins said. “They’d learn an awful lot. I know I did.”



Lisa Byers can be reached at 724-6370 or by e-mail at lbyers@meadvilletribune.com.