CiTR

Tonight we are beginning the month of October with a whole series of very obscure but near great players. Some of these names not even the most devoted fans know about. There are 5 Mondays in October so tune in and hear some fine music from these unsung greats. Our first is John Erskine "Rocky" Boyd who was born in Boston in 1936. Rocky came to New York in 1958 and made an impression on the scene and eventually took Stanley Turrentine's place in drummer Max Roach's band. Later on he joined Miles Davis for about 3 months and a bit later in the 60s he played in groups led by alto master Jackie McLean and piano legend Elmo Hope. Sadly he left music and died in obscurity sometime in the mid 70s. Rocky only made one album and it's tonight's Jazz Feature. It was made in March of 1961 for the very small Jazztime label. Rocky picked the great "uncrowned king" Kenny Dorham for the front line and a driving rhythm section with the great Walter Bishop Jr. on piano, a young Ron Carter on bass and Pete LaRoca (Sims) on drums. A fine program of originals and a couple of standards make up the date. The sad irony was although this record is well respected now and is in high demand on the collector's market, it got short shrift when it was released and Down Beat gave it 2 out of 5 stars. It deserved much better and so did Rocky Boyd. Check out this talented man tonight with "Ease It!".