Eddie Gale, an acclaimed trumpeter whose popularity in his adopted home earned him the title of “San Jose’s Ambassador of Jazz,” died Friday.
He was 78 and had reportedly been battling cancer for quite some time.
The longtime San Jose resident, who was born Aug. 15, 1941 in Brooklyn, was one of the most accomplished jazz musicians to ever call the Bay Area home. During his lengthy career, Gale performed alongside such greats as John Coltrane, Cecil Taylor, Jackie McLean, Larry Young, Art Blakey, Elvin Jones and Max Roach. He also released a number of acclaimed solo albums.
But he may be best known for his outstanding work in the free jazz realm, helping to pioneer and further the genre as a longstanding member of the Sun Ra Arkestra. He first joined Sun Ra’s troupe in the early ’60s, quickly making his presence felt on the highly regarded avant-garde effort “Secrets of the Sun.” Sun Ra would be a massive influence on Gale, who’d continue to work in the Arkestra well into the 1970s.
“Playing with Sun Ra is a great experience — from the known to the unknown,” Gale reportedly once said. “You play ideas on your instrument that you never imagine. His music provoked me to explore the use of trills, for instance, and the placement of whole tones and then a space chord –ideas you do not find in the exercise books.”
The Sun Ra gig helped shine a spotlight on Gale’s tremendous musical gifts and it wasn’t long before others started inviting him to play on their records. Notably, that’s his trumpet you’ll hear on Cecil Taylor’s mighty 1966 Blue Note Records debut “Unit Structures.” Gale’s relationship with Blue Note would continue for years, producing some truly remarkable records.
“#EddieGale began his career with Sun Ra & played on avant-garde classics of the Blue Note catalog like Cecil Taylor’s ‘Unit Structures’ & Larry Young’s ‘Of Love And Peace’ before forging his own path with two visionary late-1960s albums: ‘Ghetto Music’ & ‘Black Rhythm Happening,’ Blue Note Records tweeted in remembrance of Gale.
#EddieGale began his career with Sun Ra & played on avant-garde classics of the Blue Note catalog like Cecil Taylor’s "Unit Structures" & Larry Young’s "Of Love And Peace" before forging his own path with two visionary late-1960s albums: "Ghetto Music" & "Black Rhythm Happening" pic.twitter.com/MYAPqwnHQQ
— Blue Note Records (@bluenoterecords) July 13, 2020
Although not widely known by the general public, both “Ghetto Music” and “Black Rhythm Happening” are free-jazz, avant-garde master clinics that have received sizable critical acclaim.
“The aesthetic and cultural merits of Eddie Gale’s ‘Ghetto Music’ cannot be overstated,” Thom Jurek writes on Allmusic.com. “That it is one of the most obscure recordings in Blue Note’s catalog — paid for out of label co-founder Francis Wolff’s own pocket — should tell us something.
“This is an apocryphal album, one that seamlessly blends the new jazz of the ’60s … with gospel, soul, and the blues.”
Jurek would go on say that the follow-up “Black Rhythm Happening” was “one of the most adventurous recordings to come out of the 1960s.”
Gale headed west in the early ’70s, doing a stint as an artist-in-residence at Stanford University, and then putting down roots, for good, in San Jose in 1972. He’d quickly become an important part of the South Bay jazz scene, even earning recognition as “San Jose’s Ambassador of Jazz” from Mayor Norman Y. Mineta in 1974.
Gale remained very active in music, working both as a band leader and as a sideman. He’d appear on more Sun Ra efforts, including 1975’s “Lanquidity,” and even worked with Oakland hip-hop troupe The Coup later in his career.
He was also an educator and advocate, who did much to bring music to San Jose schools and local youth as well as worked to try to secure healthcare for musicians.
Gale, who was the oldest son of Edward and Daisy Gale Stevens, is survived by three of his four siblings, his wife Georgette; his first wife, Marlene; his six children: Donna, Marc, Chanel, Djuana, Gwilu and Teyonda, his 12 grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren, numerous nephews, nieces and cousins.
There was no word Monday of any public memorial services.
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