Carl Gordon Grubbs, award-winning jazz saxophonist who taught generations of students, dies

Jacques Kelly, Baltimore Sun
·5 min read
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Carl Gordon Grubbs, an award-winning jazz saxophonist known for his melodic style who taught generations of students, died of pneumonia Jan. 5 at Mercy Medical Center. The Lochearn resident was 79.

“He was a traditionally based modernist,” said Todd Barkan, proprietor of Keystone Korner Baltimore. “Carl was solidly rooted in the jazz tradition. He was equal parts John Coltrane and [Jean-Baptiste] Illinois Jacquet.”

“He was also a sweet guy and the most radiant soul who ever graced our music,” said Mr. Barkan. “He was deeply supportive of the next generation of players as well.”

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Born in Philadelphia, he was the son of Earl Grubbs, a Social Security Administration clerk, and Lucy Grubbs, a social services worker.

He was a graduate of Benjamin Franklin High School and studied piano. Their home was a gathering spot for musicians.

His parents bought his brother, Earl, an alto saxophone, and him a clarinet. They took free lessons at a music store.

“His mother and father took them to New York to visit John Coltrane, who was then married to Grubbs’ cousin, Naima,” a 2006 Baltimore Sun article said. “Coltrane, the extraordinary saxophone player who reshaped jazz in his image in the 1960s, wrote the haunting, melodic ballad ‘Naima’ as a tribute to her.”

In the article, Mr. Grubbs explained, “I had known John Coltrane, but I didn’t know him as a saxophone player. When he woke up, he started practicing. So, I thought, he sure is reading a lot of music, and it seemed to be really hard music.

“I found he was improvising,” Mr. Grubbs said of a childhood experience that changed his life. “I loved that sound, the way that music sounded. From there I wanted to be a professional musician. I was 13 when I really decided that’s what I wanted to do.”

Mr. Grubbs recalled that he later heard Mr. Coltrane with his own band and with a premier trumpeter, Miles Davis.

“But when [Coltrane] played by himself it sounded the same way, like he was playing with the band. Like full sound up and down the horn. After that, I’d say that’s what I want to do,” Mr. Grubbs told the newspaper.

Mr. Grubbs and his brother Earl formed a Philadelphia-based quintet, the The Visitors.

As jazz writer Nate Chinen noted on the WRTI-Radio website, “On their debut album, Rebirth, released on the Muse label in 1974, the band featured an all-star rhythm section of Kenny Barron on piano, Buster Williams on bass and Albert “Tootie” Heath on drums.”

The group released three more albums.

In 1968 Mr. Grubbs visited Baltimore and played at a club owned by jazz musician Henry Baker. He was invited back to perform at Coppin State and Morgan State universities. On one of these trips, he met his future wife, Barbara Harrell, an assistant principal at the old Southern High School in South Baltimore. They married in 1980.

“No one would hire Carl at first in Baltimore. But he soon met drummer William Goffigan and played in his band,” his wife said. They played in Fells Point and at the Eubie Blake Center.

“Musicians are like independent contractors. They need to find their own work,” she said.

She suggested he send out promotional materials to Baltimore’s private schools.

“We got one reply — from Saint Paul’s School for Boys, where four or five students wanted to play the saxophone,” she said.

This led to a long association with the school where he directed the jazz band.

He and his wife also established a summer music camp that was housed for many years at Loyola University Maryland.

“Jazz sax man Carl Grubbs wears his hair woven into dreadlocks, touched with gray here and there,” said the Sun story. “What looks like a golden eighth note hangs from his left ear. He looks quite serious. He’s playing with a group of kids at Loyola College in the summer music camp that he and his wife, Barbara, launched 10 years ago.”

“I think these kids are going to surprise some people,” Mr. Grubbs said. “How they sound, and their professionalism.”

Now established in Baltimore, he received a National Endowment for the Arts grant to play outdoor concerts at the harbor. Mr. Grubbs toured widely, including Brazil and Colombia, and often performed at universities.

Mr. Grubbs was awarded the $25,000 Baker Artist Award, funded by William G. Baker Jr. of the old Baltimore Baker Watts investment firm, in 2009.

He and his wife formed Contemporary Arts, Inc. and presented a program, “An Afternoon of Artistic Excellence” that featured Mr. Grubbs and other Baker winners.

Their show played the Baltimore Museum of Art, where he presented his composition, “The Inner Harbor Suite.” He also played at the Walters Art Museum, Center Stage and the Enoch Pratt Free Library.

Over the years he performed at many storied Baltimore area venues, including the New Haven Lounge, An Die Musik Live, the Motorhouse and the Boordy Vineyard.

“Jazz is the only music that gives me the excitement that it’s not going to remain the same every time,” he told the Sun in 2006. “Each time you get a chance to grow a little more, to be able to put a little more into it. If you have a group that’s a fantastic group to work with, then it’s … it’s … it’s … It’s great!”

Survivors include his wife of 44 years, Barbara Harrell; two sons, Gordon Grubbs, of Baltimore, and Carl D. Grubbs, of Philadelphia; two daughters, Camille Grubbs and Naima Grubbs, of Wilmington, Delaware; four grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

A celebration of life will be held at 10:30 a.m. Jan. 27 at the at Saint Paul’s School Chapel on the Brooklandville campus in Baltimore County.