Lunch with Fayard
"So you like jazz, do you?" Fayard Nicholas asked the youngster.
"I love it, sir." the boy shyly replied.
"And you play saxophone?" he inquired.
"Alto, sir." the boy stated with a bit more confidence.
Fayard looked doubtfully at the skinny teenager sitting across the table from him. Leaning in a little closer he questioned the boy with a bit of a curve ball, "So you must know Willie Smith then?"
Quickly discerning he likely wasn't referring to pianist Willie "The Lion" Smith, but rather saxophonist Wille Smith the boy replied, "Mostly from his time in the Duke Ellington band, yes sir. He was fantastic."
Turning to the boy's father sitting at the table to his right, Fayard smiled a sly little smile and said, "Well, the kid sure knows his jazz!"
Back in the early 90s I was a nerdy kid living in Orange County, CA who had become enamored with jazz and all things related to the 1940s-1960s culture surrounding the music. I was playing alto saxophone in the school band during the day, and out watching my musical heroes improvise pure magic in the evenings...when mom was able to drive me to shows all over southern California (seriously, best mom ever).
On a Monday in the early spring my father was talking with a friend of his who happened to be the chaplain at what he referred to as the Actor's Retirement Community near Los Angeles, CA. He mentioned to the chaplain how much I loved jazz and the chaplain said, "You know, I know someone your son should meet."
When I came home from school that day, my father asked me if I knew who the Nicholas Brothers were. "The dancers in the movie Stormy Weather?" I asked. "They're incredible, they're one of a kind!" By this time, my father wasn't surprised I knew more about the decades before he was born than I did about grunge music and other popular culture of the present day. Then he asked me, "How'd you like skip school and go meet Fayard on Wednesday?"
My father and I were met at in the parking lot by the chaplain, who walked us through the community's lovely grounds. After a brief tour past the retirees' cottages and gardens, we entered the dining hall/café. It was after the lunch rush so the place was fairly empty. But there he was, already seated at a table in the center of the room. Nearly 80 at that time, Fayard was a handsome man who carried himself with an unmistakable elegance. He greeted us with a warm smile and then tested my merit with those questions about jazz.
He was such a welcoming soul and graciously shared his time with this inquisitive kid. We talked Eubie Blake and Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway. Fayard entertained my continuous super-fan questions on details like the timing of dance moves with musical punches, how he & his younger brother Harold learned to dance (Fayard taught himself, then he taught Harold -- no lessons), and how in the heck they had the guts to try the running wall-flip the first time (that was all Harold, he said).
Fayard was forward and honest about the racism and segregation he and Harold endured during their career (a career that began in the 1930s). Specifically how his & Harold's youth was, from his perspective, seen as less of a "threat" to the white venue owners so they were occasionally able to interact with the patrons drinking and dining in the clubs while other black performers were relegated to the stage and the back room areas. He frankly stated that even as a teenager he knew that if he had an opportunity to change perceptions and break those terrible societal barriers he was going to do whatever he could -- not only for he and Harold, but for people everywhere. It was an important, humbling lesson for me to learn, and one I always retain and reflect upon.
Fayard also shared his wisdom about how the little details matter, in life as they do in art. A simple yet poignant example was his description of the signature hand movements that were a subtle yet quintessential part of the Nicholas Brothers' act, and he demonstrated to me how a simple, elegant gesture could punctuate even the most mundane word, phrase, or moment.
Fayard's kindness, his patience, his honesty, and his inquisitive nature created one of the best, most impactful moments of my youth. Years later, I still think back with awe and smile, remembering those precious hours on a random Wednesday in a retirement community dining hall...my lunch with Fayard.
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Here's The Nicholas Brothers unparalleled dance number in the 1943 movie Stormy Weather: