For Lionel, Red, Terry, Milt, Cal--and Don

FreeVideoCoding.com
If you are a jazz fan, then as you watch and listen to this video, known as the Fantastic Machine video, I think you'll be able to figure out who Lionel, Red, Terry, Milt, and Cal were. But you might not know who Don was. Just who was he?

For those who are just discovering jazz, or who perhaps are not familiar with it at all, let me just say who Lionel, Red, Terry, Milt, Cal, and Don were.

Lionel is Lionel Hampton, Terry is Terry Gibbs, Red is Red Norvo, Milt is Milt Jackson, Cal is Cal Tjader, and Don is Don DeMicheal. All of them played vibes (and sometimes drums) beautifully.

Don DeMicheal was a good friend of mine in Chicago from 1977 until his untimely death on Feb. 4, 1982 after losing a bout to cancer. He was only 53.


Don DeMicheal   Photo by Photo Reserve/Paul Narkin
Click photo to hear Don play.
Don was a superb editor and writer, serving as editor of Downbeat, the premier jazz magazine, during the 1960s. Later, Don worked in a similar capacity for trade magazines based in the Chicago area.

In 1969, Don and some of his friends founded the Jazz Institute of Chicago (JIC) to bring jazz fans together. The JIC is still going strong.

In 1977, Don and the JIC Board invited me to become a board member. I accepted, and before long was made treasurer. I served on the board for a few years and enjoyed doing so. I asked corporations such as Beatrice Foods and organizations such as the Illinois Arts Council, the Chicago Council on Fine Arts, and the National Endowment for the Humanities to contribute money to the JIC. They did so generously.

In 1979, I raised $25,000 from these groups for a two-night jazz festival at the Petrillo Music Shell in Grant Park, situated along Chicago's beautiful downtown lakefront. The festival would be free to the public.

Chicago had a new mayor in 1979, Jane M. Byrne. She appointed Karen Conner to be director of the Mayor's Office of Special Events. In July 1979, I sent a proposal to Conner asking the City of Chicago to donate $100,000 to the JIC so we could turn our festival into a week-long festival, which we would call the First Annual Chicago Jazz Festival. Conner phoned me the next day and asked me to stop by her office. I was there in 10 minutes. The outcome was that she liked my proposal and agreed to give us $100,000.

Don and the others on the JIC Programming Committee hustled to book the seven-night festival in a very short time. Karen asked me to make sure that the final night would be a blockbuster. It was, featuring Mel Torme and Benny Goodman, along with a number of outstanding Chicago jazz musicians. At the end of that night, Don thanked me for raising the money for the festival. And Mayor Byrne thanked me for my help. "Let's do it again next year," she said to me as she left the bandshell.


The 1979 Chicago Jazz Festival
Photo courtesy of Ken Firestone
Click photo to see an enlargement
The following year we had Lionel Hampton and his exciting big band on the final night of the festival. Don and I stood at stage right watching Hamp and his band. Don smiled the entire time, enjoying what was a truly remarkable performance. The tens of thousands of people in the audience were on their feet, cheering and clapping and even dancing in the aisles and on the enormous grassy area surrounding the Petrillo Music Shell. Don was in ecstacy. Hamp had been his hero for years. I'll never forget how happy Don was that night.

Hampton and his band were one of the finest I've ever heard. Hamp was truly a musician's musician. And so was Don DeMicheal!

Don often played vibes with his own group, the Chuck Hedges-Don DeMicheal Swingtet. Chuck was an outstanding clarinetist. The group was patterned after Benny Goodman's septet. Don also played vibes with Deemus, a group led by Barrett Deems, who billed himself as "The World's Fastest Drummer."

Barrett was a dynamite drummer who had played with many jazz greats. For example, in the 1950s, Barrett played drums with Louis Armstrong and traveled the world with him. He also was featured with Armstrong in the Bing Crosby-Grace Kelly film, High Society. I like to watch that film on cable whenever I can just to see and hear Barrett.

Both groups often appeared at Andy's at 11 East Hubbard, just north of the Chicago River and a few doors east of State Street, in the heart of downtown Chicago. Andy's featured live music form 5-7:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, including the two groups Don played in. Andy's drew a good crowd every night but especially on Friday. The regulars included editors, writers and reporters from both the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune, both located within two blocks of Andy's. When I visited Chicago in 2003, Andy's was still going strong, still featuring good Chicago jazz five nights a week!

Don also helped the fledgling Chicago Jazz Archive at the University of Chicago, which was just getting started when Don and I met in 1977. Don quietly and generously donated his own jazz collection and materials to the Archive. Since Don's passing, the Chicago Jazz Archive has acquired many other fine jazz collections. To learn more about it, click here.

Don was a good friend to Chicago's jazz community--and to me. I have missed him very much since his passing.

That's who Don was....

And thanks to the magic of recorded sound and the Internet, you can hear Don play vibes right now. He's in good company. Just click here to do so....

George Spink
Los Angeles
Email Me