ARTIST
Logan, Chuck
"You kept something in life that you believed in and loved, and to me, that is jazz."November 12, 1924—October 05, 2006
ALSO KNOWN AS Charles "Chuck" Logan
INSTRUMENT Drums
In 1955, drummer Chuck Logan moved from Los Angeles to Vancouver where he met Ken Hole, Jim Kilburn, Dave Quarin and the gang that was running the Cellar. It was Chuck's association with the Cellar that made him known to Ernie King, trombonist and club owner of the Harlem Nocturne, "the only black club in Vancouver". Chuck Logan worked with Ernie King in the trucking business. "If he got fired from a job, he made a job," said Chuck about his dear friend Ernie. Ernie taught Chuck, "There's nothing in this world that you can't do if you put your mind and your heart to it and believe what you do."
"Ernie King was the first gentleman that gave me a musical job in Vancouver and I had the opportunity to play my last musical job for him before he passed away."
-Chuck Logan
One day in the late 1950s, Ernie took Chuck to the 300-block of Hastings Street in Vancouver and said, "See this restaurant? I just purchased it and this is our new Harlem Nocturne. Now we'll never have to worry about somebody else firing us again. We got our own club." Chuck, who performed regularly at the club for 2 to 3 years before"[leaving] to go uptown and play with Dal Richards", remembers opening the Harlem Nocturne to a packed house just before Christmas in 1957. "The Harlem Nocturne became what you would call the House of Blues," Chuck says. "It was just the same as the Cellar. Once it got heard, I mean, on the weekends, it was hard to get in there."
"Everybody in those days from the forties, to the fifties, to the sixties was looking for something. Looking for identification. This is who I am, this is how I wanna play, this is what I wanna say."
-Chuck Logan
"The separation between friend and foe was predominant in the forties and fifties," says Chuck Logan, who was one of the few musicians in Vancouver who played professionally at venues across the city's east/west/uptown/downtown divisions including the Cellar, Hotel Vancouver (with Dal Richards), the Fraser Arms (with Wilf Wylie), and the Harlem Nocturne. There was a division between the "downtowners" and the "jazzers"; the East Side and the West Side. "We had the big bands that were playing at the Cave and Isy's," Chuck remembers. "We had gentlemen that were well-established in the town... But when they realized the Cellar had established, the Harlem Nocturne was flourishing, and musicians were running down late at night trying to get a piece of it... They balked."
"It's a shame because in my opinion, music is an international language and it is an art of love," says Chuck, who found when he came to Canada that "the people here were more open-minded, more open-hearted, more gracious, more accepting. Black, white, blue, green, or yellow -- they didn't care." Saxophonist Don Fraser (Senior), who heard Chuck play at the Harlem Nocturne and the Cellar, told everybody in town, "The only drummer in this town who can play brushes is Chuck Logan." Chuck says Don Fraser was the one who gave him the opportunity to eventually work with Dal Richards. "It was an experience, and it was a pleasure, it was an opportunity, and it put me on the map," says Chuck, who had "no qualms" over his musical experience in Vancouver. "I have met some wonderful people, wonderful entertainers, beautiful musicians, [and] many musicians that I have really respected and honoured."
"My interpretation of jazz is this: the pulse. It's not the beat, it's not the time, it's the pulse."
-Chuck Logan
"If you got that pulse, you can go anywhere," says Chuck. "Harold Land taught me that." Chuck played rhythm and blues, swing, jazz, and bebop with many great artists including Harold Land, Johnny Otis, and Big Mama Thornton in addition to his gigs in Vancouver. "I finally resolved myself to the fact that I'm nothing but a swing drummer," Chuck says, who admired drummers like Buddy Rich and Gene Krupa but said, "That all wasn't me. There were people who can do that. To me, I wanted you to enjoy what I'm saying and feel what I'm playing."
"Ernie King was the first gentleman that gave me a musical job in Vancouver and I had the opportunity to play my last musical job for him before he passed away."
-Chuck Logan
One day in the late 1950s, Ernie took Chuck to the 300-block of Hastings Street in Vancouver and said, "See this restaurant? I just purchased it and this is our new Harlem Nocturne. Now we'll never have to worry about somebody else firing us again. We got our own club." Chuck, who performed regularly at the club for 2 to 3 years before"[leaving] to go uptown and play with Dal Richards", remembers opening the Harlem Nocturne to a packed house just before Christmas in 1957. "The Harlem Nocturne became what you would call the House of Blues," Chuck says. "It was just the same as the Cellar. Once it got heard, I mean, on the weekends, it was hard to get in there."
"Everybody in those days from the forties, to the fifties, to the sixties was looking for something. Looking for identification. This is who I am, this is how I wanna play, this is what I wanna say."
-Chuck Logan
"The separation between friend and foe was predominant in the forties and fifties," says Chuck Logan, who was one of the few musicians in Vancouver who played professionally at venues across the city's east/west/uptown/downtown divisions including the Cellar, Hotel Vancouver (with Dal Richards), the Fraser Arms (with Wilf Wylie), and the Harlem Nocturne. There was a division between the "downtowners" and the "jazzers"; the East Side and the West Side. "We had the big bands that were playing at the Cave and Isy's," Chuck remembers. "We had gentlemen that were well-established in the town... But when they realized the Cellar had established, the Harlem Nocturne was flourishing, and musicians were running down late at night trying to get a piece of it... They balked."
"It's a shame because in my opinion, music is an international language and it is an art of love," says Chuck, who found when he came to Canada that "the people here were more open-minded, more open-hearted, more gracious, more accepting. Black, white, blue, green, or yellow -- they didn't care." Saxophonist Don Fraser (Senior), who heard Chuck play at the Harlem Nocturne and the Cellar, told everybody in town, "The only drummer in this town who can play brushes is Chuck Logan." Chuck says Don Fraser was the one who gave him the opportunity to eventually work with Dal Richards. "It was an experience, and it was a pleasure, it was an opportunity, and it put me on the map," says Chuck, who had "no qualms" over his musical experience in Vancouver. "I have met some wonderful people, wonderful entertainers, beautiful musicians, [and] many musicians that I have really respected and honoured."
"My interpretation of jazz is this: the pulse. It's not the beat, it's not the time, it's the pulse."
-Chuck Logan
"If you got that pulse, you can go anywhere," says Chuck. "Harold Land taught me that." Chuck played rhythm and blues, swing, jazz, and bebop with many great artists including Harold Land, Johnny Otis, and Big Mama Thornton in addition to his gigs in Vancouver. "I finally resolved myself to the fact that I'm nothing but a swing drummer," Chuck says, who admired drummers like Buddy Rich and Gene Krupa but said, "That all wasn't me. There were people who can do that. To me, I wanted you to enjoy what I'm saying and feel what I'm playing."
PHOTO GALLERY
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
JazzStreet Vancouver Interview
Logan, Chuck. Personal Interview with Gavin Walker. Vancouver, BC. 10 Nov 2005.
