Roger Glenn: Time to step forward

Your foreign correspondent was delighted to receive a charming missive from Mr. Roger Glenn, multi-instrumentalist and sleeping giant of (Latin) jazz, following my recent Nunca Tarde column and my brief but quietly effusive paragraph about his second solo album after a long, long gap, My Latin Heart. I gave it a leaping beauty rating, which mystified our Mr. Glenn. Like many of you, perhaps, he doesn’t necessarily understand the workings of my curious mind. It’s just a little phrase that I picked up from one of Lord Buckley’s crazy monologues, I can’t remember for the life of me which one (so my link offered anyone unfamiliar with His Royal Hipness “The Train” as a starter for one), but it appeals to me and equates with the highest accolade known to music critics. My Latin Heart is so fine that I handed the headphones to my wife and made her listen. Her expression confirmed my evaluation.

“Yes, I’ve kept busy for the past decades as you described but also as another writer penned ‘hiding in plain sight’,” Roger wrote to me. “I suppose I was making other people hits, but felt now was MY time to step forward into the spotlight. Life always throws us so many obstacles.” The notion also appealed to me, as I’ve always tried to champion in both music and life in general those who tend to hide their light under a bushel and who deserve much more respect than they might otherwise be granted. It prompted me to do a bit more research than I had time for when putting together my recent column. It turns out that Roger is the son of legendary trombonist and vibraphonist Tyree Glenn. I was raised on big band jazz and, sure enough, there he is on some of my Cab Calloway and Duke Ellington LPs. So no wonder that his son is such an accomplished player of that sublime instrument, the vibes, among an extraordinary 18+ instruments that he plays. I mentioned, too, among some of the Latin and other giants with whom Roger Glenn has contributed one or more instrument, his debut album Reachin‘ from way back when under the aegis of the Mizell brothers. A quick look at my Donald Byrd LPs from the Mizell era confirmed that sure enough there he is on Black Byrd and Street Lady. All these years I’ve been listening to them and I hadn’t twigged. A sleeping giant indeed – and high time to “step forward into the spotlight.”

Last Friday, Roger Glenn’s “Congo Square” came out as a video on YouTube, just one of many highlights from My Latin Heart. The video’s a leaping beauty in its own right. Roger introduces its context and plays several instruments on it with infectious panache. If it doesn’t make you feel glad to be alive, I suggest you take up macrame or book in with your local psychiatrist.

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