gerade dieses interview gefunden, in dem sanders mal halbwegs konzise über seine anfänge in oakland (1959-61, mit sonny simmons, smiley winters, philly joe jones) und new york erzählt, wo er 1961 zunächst auf der straße landet. das erste club-engagement:
Then I found out some other clubs, a new one called the Five Spot on 3rd and St. Mark’s. I heard a lot of guys play there. I was on the outside, because I couldn’t come in looking like I was looking. I’d come around and listen to [Thelonious] Monk through the windows. I looked pretty bad at that time, so I can understand why they didn’t want anybody hanging around the club. People were just getting out of their limousines and suits and ties and all that. I’m on the street, with the shoes I’d been walking around with, hair [messy]. I never bothered anybody, I just went to listen to Monk. Seemed like Monk was playing every night.
How did you get from being homeless to performing?There was another person on the street at that time named C Sharp [Clarence “C” Sharpe], an alto player from Philadelphia. I gave him some of my money because he had his wife with him. I was staying at a place for maybe $1.50 a night and I let them take my place. On Bleecker, there was this place called the Speakeasy between MacDougal and Thompson. I told the guy I played saxophone, and he asked me would I bring my group in and play, and I said, “Yeah.”
At that time, I didn’t know how to get musicians, so I called C Sharp and he told me that he knew some musicians, so I hired him, Wilbur Ware, a bassist from Chicago and John Hicks on piano. At that time, another person walking around, sort of like homeless, was Billy Higgins, the drummer, so that was our rhythm section – one of the best rhythm sections I could get.
higgins‘ geschichte nach seiner ankunft in new york dürfte ähnlich abgelaufen sein, ca. 1961/62 erst die regelmäßigen jobs, für blue note usw.
später erzählt sanders dann noch, dass er zu den ersten acts im slugs‘ gehörte.
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