t***@iwvisp.com
2006-06-13 14:16:20 UTC
Chicago Sun Times
June 13, 2006 Tuesday
Maureen O'Donnell
Saxophonist added organ for unique jazz sound: Founded group
that gave people a beat they could dance to
Chicago jazzman Clarence E. Wheeler founded a musical group
that combined his smoky tenor saxophone with the electric
thump of an organ.
The group, Clarence Wheeler and the Enforcers, achieved
something rare in the process: jazz to dance to.
With Sonny Burke on the organ, their sound was Miles
Davis-meets-Billy Preston, said Merri Dee, who once managed
the group. "The two of them, along with all of the other
guys in the band, had this real rhythmic, heavy, hot beat,''
said Dee, community relations director at WGN-TV.
Mr. Wheeler, whose group performed on the Atlantic label,
died Wednesday at Mercy Hospital of heart failure at age 72.
Music was his life, said his companion of 44 years, Rose
Clayborn. "He lived it, loved it and tried to make a living
from it," she said.
In addition to Burke, the band included Sonny Covington on
the trumpet, George Hughes on drums and vocals from Lenny
Lynn.
Mr. Wheeler liked to say that his group helped jazz-R&B star
George Benson get his first gig in Chicago, said his friend,
Shell Reyes.
"He worked with a lot of the greats -- [saxophonists] Dexter
Gordon, Gene Ammons and [trumpeter] Clark Terry, [organist]
Jack McDuff,'' Clayborn said. He also performed with piano
and keyboard player Herbie Hancock. He idolized Ammons,
Gordon and fellow sax player John Coltrane. He never tired
of listening to Coltrane's "I Wish I Knew.''
"He practically worshipped'' Ammons, Clayborn said. "I think
he would [have] put his coat on the ground and let him walk
on it."
Mr. Wheeler also played with vocalists Roberta Flack, Irene
Reid and Joe Williams.
Graduated from Hyde Park High
The Enforcers were active on the jazz circuit, performing at
the Green Mill, the Living Room, the Hungry Eye, the
Half-Note, Lurlean's and Detroit's Watts Mozambique and
Drome Lounge.
Merri Dee said she helped snare the Enforcers a contract
with Atlantic Records when she talked them up in a meeting
with the label's co-founder, legendary impresario Ahmet
Ertegun.
Mr. Wheeler was born into a musical family in Arkadelphia,
Ark., Clayborn said. The family migrated to Chicago, where
he attended Gladstone Elementary and graduated from Hyde
Park High School. He also attended Kennedy-King College.
Wouldn't part with beat-up case
He had always loved the tenor sax, and once his mother
bought him a Selmer -- which he considered "the Cadillac''
of saxophones -- it was always at his side, Clayborn said.
In the Navy, he entertained admirals while in a naval band.
Though he wasn't as active in his later years, the group was
still appreciated. Its recordings still sell on eBay and
jazz-funk fan sites, and are featured on radio stations in
Europe. He continued to receive royalty checks from Germany
and Sweden for the Enforcers music, Clayborn said. Recently,
"I was watching the [basketball] playoffs with the Miami
Heat, and they played a song he wrote," she said.
During the Beatles' heyday, the Enforcers recorded their
song, "Hey Jude,'' which is included on compilations of
Beatles covers.
Though Mr. Wheeler was a sharp dresser, he would never part
with his beat-up saxophone case. "It was ragged,'' Clayborn
said. "He wouldn't get rid of it."
He is also survived by his dear friends, Anitra, Renee and
Doris White. Visitation is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m.
Thursday at Doty-Nash Funeral Home, 85th and Stony Island.
The funeral service is to begin at 10 a.m., with burial to
follow at Homewood Cemetery.
Ray Arthur
June 13, 2006 Tuesday
Maureen O'Donnell
Saxophonist added organ for unique jazz sound: Founded group
that gave people a beat they could dance to
Chicago jazzman Clarence E. Wheeler founded a musical group
that combined his smoky tenor saxophone with the electric
thump of an organ.
The group, Clarence Wheeler and the Enforcers, achieved
something rare in the process: jazz to dance to.
With Sonny Burke on the organ, their sound was Miles
Davis-meets-Billy Preston, said Merri Dee, who once managed
the group. "The two of them, along with all of the other
guys in the band, had this real rhythmic, heavy, hot beat,''
said Dee, community relations director at WGN-TV.
Mr. Wheeler, whose group performed on the Atlantic label,
died Wednesday at Mercy Hospital of heart failure at age 72.
Music was his life, said his companion of 44 years, Rose
Clayborn. "He lived it, loved it and tried to make a living
from it," she said.
In addition to Burke, the band included Sonny Covington on
the trumpet, George Hughes on drums and vocals from Lenny
Lynn.
Mr. Wheeler liked to say that his group helped jazz-R&B star
George Benson get his first gig in Chicago, said his friend,
Shell Reyes.
"He worked with a lot of the greats -- [saxophonists] Dexter
Gordon, Gene Ammons and [trumpeter] Clark Terry, [organist]
Jack McDuff,'' Clayborn said. He also performed with piano
and keyboard player Herbie Hancock. He idolized Ammons,
Gordon and fellow sax player John Coltrane. He never tired
of listening to Coltrane's "I Wish I Knew.''
"He practically worshipped'' Ammons, Clayborn said. "I think
he would [have] put his coat on the ground and let him walk
on it."
Mr. Wheeler also played with vocalists Roberta Flack, Irene
Reid and Joe Williams.
Graduated from Hyde Park High
The Enforcers were active on the jazz circuit, performing at
the Green Mill, the Living Room, the Hungry Eye, the
Half-Note, Lurlean's and Detroit's Watts Mozambique and
Drome Lounge.
Merri Dee said she helped snare the Enforcers a contract
with Atlantic Records when she talked them up in a meeting
with the label's co-founder, legendary impresario Ahmet
Ertegun.
Mr. Wheeler was born into a musical family in Arkadelphia,
Ark., Clayborn said. The family migrated to Chicago, where
he attended Gladstone Elementary and graduated from Hyde
Park High School. He also attended Kennedy-King College.
Wouldn't part with beat-up case
He had always loved the tenor sax, and once his mother
bought him a Selmer -- which he considered "the Cadillac''
of saxophones -- it was always at his side, Clayborn said.
In the Navy, he entertained admirals while in a naval band.
Though he wasn't as active in his later years, the group was
still appreciated. Its recordings still sell on eBay and
jazz-funk fan sites, and are featured on radio stations in
Europe. He continued to receive royalty checks from Germany
and Sweden for the Enforcers music, Clayborn said. Recently,
"I was watching the [basketball] playoffs with the Miami
Heat, and they played a song he wrote," she said.
During the Beatles' heyday, the Enforcers recorded their
song, "Hey Jude,'' which is included on compilations of
Beatles covers.
Though Mr. Wheeler was a sharp dresser, he would never part
with his beat-up saxophone case. "It was ragged,'' Clayborn
said. "He wouldn't get rid of it."
He is also survived by his dear friends, Anitra, Renee and
Doris White. Visitation is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m.
Thursday at Doty-Nash Funeral Home, 85th and Stony Island.
The funeral service is to begin at 10 a.m., with burial to
follow at Homewood Cemetery.
Ray Arthur