March 23, 1988, Portland Observer, Page 9
ENTERTAINMENT
The Heart
When one really takes the time
to talk and listen to Calvin Wal
ker, he or she discovers a man
who is sensitive, deeply reli
gious, warm, courageous, direc
ted, college educated, delightful
and determined to leave a postive
musical legacy for those who w ill
follow in his footsteps. He or she
w ill also discover a man who has
suffered, like many African-
Americans, racism and discrim i
nation.
Born in St Louis, Calvin and
his family moved to Portland
when he was twelve years old. He
remembers those times fondly.
"I grew up in the Woodlawn area
of Portland which was m ulti
racial. It had Mexican-American
farmworkers, there was a large
Asian-American population and
Black and whites, as well. I think
it was one of the neighborhoods
where many Blacks came to live
after the Vanport flood. We all got
to know each other well and we
had some good tim es together.”
The opportunity to live in a
m ultiracial neighborhood helped
shape Calvin’s racial attitude to
ward others from different cul
tures. "Man, it was a very positive
experience for me," he remem
bers. "People deal with each
other as neighbors and friends
and relatives. We got to know
each other’s cultural ways, so
race very seldom came into the
picture whenever we had to deal
with problems.”
Inspired and encouraged by
his family to get a high school
education, Calvin found himself
enrolled at Portland’s Jefferson
High School.
"A real influential tim e was
during my last year-and-a-half at
Jefferson. It was because of
some of the teachers there and
the people who I associated with
when I was there. Ron Herndon,
Calvin Freeman, Darrell M iln e r...
Ron Herndon influenced me to
go to Reed College. Calvin Free
man went on to become one of
the financial spokesmen for the
Nation of Islam, and, as you
know, Dr. M ilner is now at Port
land State University,” Calvin
recalled.
"B u t of all the influences, it
was my family who provided the
strength and the courage for me
to move forward as a young man.
My mom and my grandmother,
they were the best. I also have
three sisters. We had and still
have this die-hard association
with family and appreciate it.
Much of my young life was spent
trying to please them which was
a natural thing. I was the first
grandchild, the only boy, and in a
Black family that’s like being a
prince. The best position to be
in,” he said w ith a laugh.
Like many young African-Ame
ricans of his time, Calvin was ex
periencing the rhythms, sounds
and grooves of African-American
music. In St. Louis, it was the
sounds and rhythms of the Blues,
Gospel, Spirituals, Jazz and R&B.
In Portland, it was the music of
people like Thara Memory and
Mel Brown and others who made
up the Portland, Seattle, Califor
nia c ir c u it. To q u e n ch his
musical thirst, Calvin learned
how to play the trumpet. A fter the
trumpet came the drums and a
stint in a Drum and Bugle Corp.
He recalls that during his
freshman and sophomore year,
he was heavily influenced by ath
letes. “ Most of the cats I was into
was athletes like I was. It was a
funny story, though. You know
how you can be influenced by
myths. I remember spending
tim e eating beans. No kidding! I
had been told that if I eat a lot of
beans I would grow to be six feet
five. I ate so many beans, came
back to school only to find that
everybody had grown up five or
six inches and here I was at the
same size! When I was younger, I
had come up real fast. When I
was in the second or third grade, I
was the biggest male in the class.
And, after I decided that sports
wouldn’t be the thing, I decided
to get into something I could do.”
By the age of 13, Calvin found
himself playing with some of
Portland’s well-known African-
American musical giants. At the
center of his experience was Mr.
Paul Knawls, owner and operator
of Portland’s famed "C o tto n
Club” .
“ When you talk about who
gave Portland’s Black musicians
a chance to sharpen their skills at
that time, you must talk about Mr.
Paul Knawls. He had this talent
for bringing Black m usicians to
gether regardless of their ages.
He owned the Cotton Club, and
In Recital
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Satin d a i I R e vie w
M AR C H 25 * 8 :0 0 P.M.
A portion of li if
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Portland Opera
ARLENE SCHNITZER
CONCERT HALL
(503)248-4496
Classical 101 KYTE-FM
Soul of Calvin Walker
he would let us play. We were
young and had to abide by strict
rules once we were inside the
club. We couldn’t drink or any
thing, but we could play our
music. Myself and Jimmy Saun
ders and Dennis Bradford . . . I
mean it’s like Dennis started
playing around here when he was
eight or nine years old! Mr.
Knawls took care of us. He let us
be the house band for awhile,
made sure we got home. He was
just a nice man who cared.
"The Cotton Club was the
best. It put us right in the middle
of the ch ittlin circuit. You got to
see and hear people like Jesse
James, Etta James, C liff Noble
and a whole lot more. There was a
circuit between Portland, Seat
tle, California and Vancouver,
B.C. Portland was a stop on the
way and there was the Cotton
Club, wall-to-wall soul.”
Calvin remembers that Port
land’s African-American commu
nity was alive with a deeper
sense of church, com munity spi
rit and com munity organization.
“ You had people who would visit
each other, bringing pies, fried
fish and other foods to eat. Peo
ple would also share their music,
visions and dreams with each
other.”
The highlight of Calvin's life
came when he graduated from
Reed College. He recalls: “ It was
a real highlight because I was the
first in my family to graduate
from college. The whole family
was there. You see, I really
wanted to go to school and go to
a good school. My family dug it. It
was good for everybody. In addi
tion to my degree, I also obtained
a Certificate in Black Studies.”
As a musician determined to
share his music across racial and
cultural lines, Calvin has exper
ienced many ups and downs;
some because of negative racial
attitudes and others because of
the cultural and racial divisions
in the white and Black com m uni
ty.
"Unfortunately, unless you are
in acom m unity where people can
really appreciate what you are do
ing, nobody is going to know
what you are or who you are.
That's what happened to me
Whites were saying, Man, you're
too Black,' and Black people
were saying, ‘He plays too much
rock.’ I was disappointed that
there weren’t enough people in
Portland to groove on what I was
trying to do — just for the sake of
difference. I wanted to be ap
preciated for taking the chance,”
Calvin revealed with a half smile.
For Calvin, tim e has not erased
the barriers racism created for
African-American musicians and
singers. “ Racism has a subtle
way of hurting the Black musi
cian’s chances of making a living
and sharing his or her music with
the broader p o p u la tio n ,” he
noted. “ There are some club
owners who feel that if you hire
certain Black m usicians you are
going to draw a large Black crowd
which is going to upset the
personality of the club. It’s not
enough to say I’m going to make
a living doing my thing and ignore
the broader problem which con
tinues to keep good people sepa
rated and confused about each
other.”
Calvin says he is determined to
set a positive example for other
African-American
musicians
when it comes to fighting racism
and sharing his music with the
larger population. "We must not
allow racism or hate to destroy
our ability to communicate, and
music is a very spititual and spe
cial form of communication. As
Black musicians we must be
come conscious of where we
stand and who we impact. The
larger African-American and
white com munity must find the
courage to fight the forms of dis
crim ination we find entrenched
in our society. One way to do that
is to make sure we are not spend
ing our money with people who
are promoting discrim ination
through th e ir p ra ctice s and
policies.”
Band members are (L-R) Pat Corrigan, Ron Regan, Walker, Rusty Cox and
StevieMays.
JAZZY FM S&
CM-U p
MT HOOD COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Concluding the interview, Cal
vin said he is looking forward to
hitting the Portland scene with
his new band and their funky,
soulful music. “ I encourage the
general public to come out and
hear us play. You won’t be disap
pointed. Also, I want the African-
American com munity to support
and stand by us. We want to get
totally involved in shaping the
musical heritage of our commu
nity and ourCity. We can no long
er just stand on the sideline. It’s
about building a better world.”
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In an effort to reorganize his
resources and talents, Calvin has
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is very specific about the type of
music the band w ill share with its
audiences. “ I’m going to play
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