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Memphis Downtowner Magazine Feb. 2003
On Stage With FreeWorld by Paulene KellerWhen Herman Green returned to Memphis in 1967 after 22 years in San Francisco and New York City, his reputation as a saxophone player was solidified. He had played with Count Basie, Miles Davis, and Lionel Hampton. His best friend was fellow Hampton band member, John Coltrane. "I was 26 years old when I began playing in Lionel Hampton's band, and I was only 28 years old when we played Carnegie Hall for the first time," says Green his eyes reliving the moment. "I knew all the great names had been there. They didn't have a curtain, and I looked out and didn't see an empty seat from the ceiling all the way to the floor. I jumped up and had to go backstage for a minute to settle myself down. I played 12 jazz solos that night."
In Memphis, Green formed a jazz band called the Green Machine in 1975. Green and a friend, trumpet player Nokie Taylor, frequently visited Memphis clubs and had heard bass player Richard Cushing and drummer David Skypeck perform at Lafayette's Corner. Trumpet player Willie Waldman had also caught their attention.
One night, Green and Taylor walked in, pulled out their horns, and joined them for some jamming. The three young musicians began playing with Green in The Herman Green & Jimmy Ellis Blues Review. In 1987, Cushing, Skypeck, and Waldman approached Green about starting a new band. Green saw raw talent and knew they needed to be exposed to veteran musicians.
"Back when I got into Lionel Hampton's band, I was young and looked around me and saw all these big guys, the giants of music," says Green. "The leader of the band called me aside one night and said, 'Don't be nervous; you're going to be all right. There are a few things you need to work on, but you'll get it worked out. ' So when I see [young musicians who need mentors], I want to pass it on."
But before Green would talk about forming a band, he had one prerequisite. "You have to be serious about the music," he told them, "because that's how I play." They agreed, and one day after rehearsal, band names were tossed around. Cushing and Waldman had previously played with a "garage band" named Free World (two words), so when Ellis unwittingly suggested "Free World," they reluctantly agreed. Not wanting to be misconstrued with the original band, Cushing insisted they spell it as one word with a capital "W."
Because Green had recorded with Isaac Hayes, Booker T. and the MGs, and others at Stax in the early days, his reputation opened doors for FreeWorld, but it also decreed the level of talent expected from the young band.
George Paul Eldridge, owner of Doe's Eat Place in 1991, wanted Memphis music played there. FreeWorld played its first gig at Doe's on New Year's Eve and hasn't missed one since. When Doe's changed to Blues City Cafe in 1993, FreeWorld didn't miss a beat, and today, they are still a Sunday night standard there.
The band's core group is Richard Cushing on bass/vocals, David Skypeck on drums, Brian Overstreet on guitar, E.J. Dyce on trumpet/vocals, and Herman Green on tenor saxophone and flute. Sometimes, the band adds trombone player Prentice Wulff-Woesten, Nokie Taylor on trumpet, and Ross Rice or Paul Brown on keyboards. If you ask how many people are in the band, Cushing responds, "What night are we talking about?"
When FreeWorld takes the stage, Green stands in the center with his saxophone and flute at his feet. On his right are Dyce, Katsev, and Wulff-Woesten. On Green's left is Cushing, and behind him are Overstreet, Brown, and Skypeck. When they play the first notes, the 49-year age span disappears into a perfect language of music. Green moves around the stage listening carefully and nodding as he hears the quality he expects. Cushing begins singing "Earth Mother," the first song written for FreeWorld in 1987. If you wonder who the author is, look at Green, whose animation is telling the song's story.
Then it happens! The band breaks loose, improvising, creating their own sounds, and setting the audience on fire.
"Sometimes Brian gets so wound up that the house is in an uproar, and I join him in a dance routine that we do," says Green, smiling. "Then I'll do a thing with Richard & David, and we just keep a lot happening. That's where I get my energy. I'm 75 years old and I'm STILL the youngest member of the band!"
Green's mother, father, grandmother, and aunt were musical inspirations for him. He was influenced early in life to follow his dream. The young men of FreeWorld are not so different from Green in their early passions for music. They are simply different names that began at different locations on a map.
Richard Cushing was two years old when his mother asked if he would like to have a baby brother or sister. He said, "I want a guitar." He got a little sister, but a few years later, he found a guitar under his brother's bed and adjusted the strings to make it a bass. After he finished college at Memphis State, he began playing locally, where he met Green.
Brian Overstreet tried to make a guitar out of rubber bands and a shoebox when he was eight years old, so his parents bought him a guitar from Sears, and he played it nonstop. Then, at 14, "it" happened! "Stevie Ray Vaughn was at Mud Island Amphitheater and came out in his big, cool cape and a hat with a feather," says Overstreet. "I said, 'That's what I've got to do; there is nothing else.' The most fulfilling experience of my life was going to college where I was living and breathing music all day long. I wanted to make it where this was the only thing I could do!"
David Skypeck remembers growing up with a lot of music in his house. His brothers moved away and left a set of drums behind, and he started playing. Skypeck was just out of high school when Green invited him to play with his band. "I was born in Kansas City, but I was musically born in Memphis," says Skypeck. "Memphis is the epicenter of jazz, and I consider it a great honor to have grown up in that.
"Herman is a natural teacher, and he is teaching even when he's not teaching, just by the experience he conveys. He has exposed me to the best musicians in Memphis. I grew up playing with my musical heroes like Eric Gales, Jimmy King, and Phineas Newborn." So, when all this talent comes together, what does FreeWorld play? "We have been a band for 19 years, and I still can't tell you what kind of music we play," says Cushing. "If you had to nail it down to some kind of contemporary musical category, FreeWorld would generally be considered some sort of a 'jamband'. We've been variously described as "The best of Memphis, New Orleans, & San Francisco - all rolled into one fresh & excitingly new musical experience!". Night after night, we consistently strive for a higher plane of musical conversation, where all six band members are musically 'speaking & listening' to each other at the same time."
"That conversation includes the audience," adds Overstreet, "and we feed off them and each other."
Audience "conversation" was an important part of FreeWorld's decision to record their latest CD live at Blues City Cafe. They know their energy and performance is at its best when they are playing live. The result is 'Live From Memphis', a spontaneous musical experience where the fans get to add to the mix.
"FreeWorld is the best gig in town," says Overstreet. "It's cool music, improvisational, with great musicians that can make up a song right there on stage."
"We have the occasional train wreck with that," adds Cushing, laughing. "We would be any other band playing in any other hole in the wall, if it wasn't for Herman. He took us under his wing. Also, Blues City Cafe is all about keeping 'something real' on that corner. They brought in Herman, and he brought in us."
That "something real" has included musicians dropping by to listen and play with FreeWorld. Members of The Doobie Brothers and Counting Crows sat in during Memphis In May. Artemus Pyle from the Lynyrd Skynyrd Band, and Jonathan Fishman and Page McConnell from Phish have played with the band. Then there are the jazz legends who have been there from the beginning.
"Calvin and Phineas Newborn, Nokie Taylor, and Herman loved us like sons, and they didn't have to," says Cushing.
"Music crosses all barriers," says Green. "When you play, there is no color, no age, no barriers."
Green doesn't play every gig with FreeWorld, but "Herman is always there, no matter if he's there or not," says Skypeck.
Green nods. "If word gets back to me that something isn't right, I don't hold my peace." Thanks to great musicians like Herman Green, FreeWorld will have the opportunity to also be remembered as great mentors of Memphis music.