Odean Pope at Deetrick's Cafe in Jenkintown Pa
Odean Pope, known often for his long association with drummer Max Roach, is a mainstay of the Philadelphia music community and a true musician's musician. Dedicated to the perfection of technique required to realize his aspiration, his performances are often marked by expression that can reach between heaven high and the world wise. Complex use of overtones and atonal effects that critics term 'multiphonics' are just part of the vocabulary used in his often impassioned narratives. Regarding his sound, he once said, 'I tried to imagine what it would sound like if I played at the bottom range of my instrument like Coltrane played at the top'. Within a breath he can dialogue between a familiar friend and the terminator, but never for sheer effect, always part of a higher refrain.
The music writer Martin Williams once commented on John Coltrane, a close associate of Odean's, 'I think that like all real artists he spoke of matters of the spirit, of those things by which the soul of man survives. I think he spoke of the ways of the demons and the gods that were always there, yet are aways contemporary. And I think he knew that he did.' The description applies to Odean as well. The Philadelphia music scene of the '50's in which he developed was rich with influences, both musical and spiritual such as Coltrane as well as the legendary pianist Hassan Ibn Ali, said to be a formative influence on Coltrane and a regular collaborator with Odean. It was an environment that stressed authenticity and bred authority of sound. On the heels of such a background, his close work with musicians the caliber of Kenny Clarke, Archie Shepp and Max Roach is easy to understand.
Like many other musicians, Odean's earliest musical experience dates back to the church. His mother headed the church choir, also played keyboards while his father played trombone and drums. Odean often relates how formative his experience in the church choir was, leading him years later to model one of his own groups, the Saxophone Choir after it. He describes its music, 'The nucleus, I think, is spiritual-type music with much feeling, which goes back to the Baptist Church tradition. When the minister, the speakers and the congregation and the choir performed, you could really feel it. You felt it deep down. The music went all over your body, it was hard to stay still. ...I always wondered what it would be like to hear saxophones do the same thing as I heard in the church and the big vocal choirs.' With up to nine saxophones and rhythm section, sometimes two pianos or two basses, playing complex harmonic and rhythmic schemes, the aim is still for a single voice, headed by the maestro, a true musician's musician.
