Out & About

At his 80th birthday party Monday night, Johnnie Garry celebrated a lifetime spent with the greats, among them Sarah Vaughan, Louis Armstrong, Nancy Wilson, B.B. King, and Ray Charles.Mr. Garry’s first task in the music business was moving a piano on stage for Mary Lou Williams. He was 18 and a stagehand at Cafe Society. A few years later, he was working as a senior member of Sarah Vaughan’a management team. He then became the first African-American manager of Birdland.As he assumed greater responsibility, however, he never lost his focus: “I’ve always looked at the stage as a lady. Before the set-up, she’s undressed. When you dress her up, you’re making her into a beautiful, sophisticated lady.”And no task is too small for him. “I get the shoes shined and fetch the can of soda. The performers are the ones with the tough job – they have to satisfy 4,000 people. I’m happy to do whatever I can, and I mean that,” Mr. Garry said.Mr. Garry is as active as ever, managing jazz festivals and serving as the production director for Jazz mobile, the Harlem-based nonprofit founded by Billy Taylor, which he joined in 1977. Mr. Taylor called Mr. Garry “an asset to everything I do.”“I love what I do. That’s what keeps me young, that and the love of my family,” said Mr. Garry, who has three daughters, nine grandchildren, and 14 great-grandchildren. Mr. Garry loves the music and the musicians, and they love him right back.Jimmy Heath, a guest and performer at the party, remembered how Mr. Garry helped him recover from an angioplasty during a tour of Australia: “I was supposed to exercise. Johnnie got me up every morning and walked on the beach with me.”Perhaps Mr. Garry’s most meaningful relationship was with Vaughan. “We got to be real good friends. We’d get off at 4 in the morning, go uptown and eat at Lundy’s. She would say to me, ‘You know if I ever become a star I am coming to get you.’ And she did.”He worked for Vaughan for 12 years, putting mums in her room on opening night and hanging her gowns. He wouldn’t let anyone else light her shows.“You’d just have to follow her and feel her,” he recalled. “You couldn’t take your eyes off her because you didn’t know what she was going to do. Instead of it becoming a grind and a bore, you were always on your toes,” he said.The performances that “really stand out” were with Vaughan. “We were in Philly once, and the show was called, ‘One hundred men and a Girl.’ Sarah was right in the middle of this gigantic orchestra. It was in a ballpark, and we had these tremendous, beautiful, pink lights on her. She sang ‘Misty,’ ‘Lover Man,’ all the beautiful stuff.”The other show was at a club in Florida that didn’t allow blacks. “The owner told her, ‘You’ve been so great, I sure would like to do something nice for you.’ She said, ‘I’m closing tomorrow, let the blacks in.’ And he did. Sarah finished the show singing the Lord’s Prayer a capella. Everybody in that place was standing up crying.”Mr. Garry’s birthday celebration at the Alhambra ballroom was also emotional. After blowing out the candles on his cake (decorated with images of John Coltrane and Billie Holiday), he raised his arms in triumph and took a spin on the dance floor.Cheering him on were Andrew Whist, who created the Philip Morris jazz tours, which Mr. Garry staged for 14 years; Robin Bell-Stevens, the executive director of Jazzmobile; the manager of Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in London, John Ellson, who flew in just for the occasion; the manager of the Village jazz club Sweet Rhythm, James Browne; singer Melba Joyce; festival producer William Lockett; and many others.Mr. Garry found his way to center stage and took the microphone. “I thank God for these 80 years,” he said.“Duke Ellington used to close his show saying, ‘I love you, man.’ Well, I want to say, I love all of you, man.”

Out & About

Out & About

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