GILLY – Quotes – Gil Coggins

Quotes

Jackie introduced me to a lot of good players, like Gil Coggins. He was a hell of a piano player. When Jackie first introduced me to him I didn’t dig him. Then he played behind me on “Yesterdays” and just knocked me out. All them Sugar Hill musicians could really play back in those days. They were super hip.
- Miles Davis

Gilly Coggins' playing has always been a font of musical sensitivity and integrity. I've known Gilly for most of my musical life and have been a better musician for it.
- Sonny Rollins

He was a beautiful person and he could play the hell out of the piano. Oh man, he was a hell of a person. We met sort of late but I knew of him because he recorded with people and could really play. Probably the most underrated pianist in the world, and it's a shame we can't ask Prez about him.
- Barry Harris

Gil Coggins was a prominent voice on the piano who I felt never received the recognition he so deserved. His notable piano phrasings and mark on music will always be considered timeless in our genre of music.
- McCoy Tyner

He’s got something else that nobody has, and that is a palette for chords and coloring chords and beautiful accompaniments. Gil’s the – nobody has it like him. Miles finally realized that, because at first he complained to me. He said, “Man, this cat don’t play” so- and-so. I said, “Man, just play a ballad. See what happens.” He walked up there and played Yesterdays or How Deep is the Ocean and man, the stuff around him, the chords.
Gilly was one of my first musical teachers and he helped me get started with music. I'm crazy about him and love him, and think that this album is just glorious.
- Jackie McLean

He was one of the first cats with Miles. He could play a ballad. He used to come over to Ronnie Matthews house. He liked Ronnie. He used to teach Ronnie the chords. He knew his shit.
- Freddie Hubbard

He was a great accompanist. He had played with Lester Young, too. I met him over here in Bed Stuy in a brownstone on Washington Avenue. His mother rented out rooms to those of us who had just got to town. Even before I moved in we became friends: I would go over and he would show me stuff he had learned while he was with Miles. He was very respectful of Miles. Miles knew a lot of harmony; Miles was a student of harmony. He came up with a new version of George Shearing’s “Conception” – you remember that piece? I forgot what Miles called it. Oh man, I had a great time seeing what those “Conception” changes were from Gil. He was one guy who showed me a lot.
- Cedar Walton

He was one of the few musicians along with Randy to play like Monk. He was in the Brooklyn vibe. I played with him many times. He fit very well with my playing. I used to go to a session in Brooklyn and played a lot with Gilly there. He was a great person. He looked like a musician. He was always dressed sharp and he always had something to say. He was on the scene and anything that was happening he was there. I learned a lot from talking to him. He was very definite about what he was playing and you knew it was him when you heard him.
- Lou Donaldson

He was very talented and sounded great on that record with Miles. I remember that strange thing he used to say all the time. Vassavussa.
- Jimmy Heath

He was very special. I remember him as unique person and he had a delightful personality. He reminded me of Thelonious Monk and Hasaan Ibn Ali because he was very percussive. He had his own way of voicing his chords too. He was uniquely Gilly Coggins.
- Reggie Workman

Gilly was a very unique pianist and human being. I only wish more people knew about him.
- Louis Hayes

Gilly Coggins was always a musical inspiration to me in my formative years.
- Andrew Cyrille

The first thing is he’s telling a story that’s rooted from African elements with other elements that were incorporated into it. He was of the artistic epitome of his generation of jazz musicians. He had hippness. He was the hippest of the hip. The “knowingest” of the knowing. His 16 bar solo intro on “I Waited For You” sounds like he’s waiting for someone that’s he lost and his ending sound optimistic. What I find wrong with that record is they didn't take Gilly longer solos. He should have had longer solos like Jimmy Heath and Miles. Gilly’s ballad playing brings out the emotions of what the composition’s subject matter is about. He could be sarcastic about something sad, he could deal with it and make fun of it. He’s stood out big time in this music in his time. Just listen to what Sonny and Jackie said about him. I was fortunate to have been acquainted with him and that he had a positive view of my talent and music. I’d rather have had Gilly ask me to play in his band than Miles or Sonny. He was kind to everyone. He was wise. He was spirited yet easygoing and funny as could be if you were in the know. I wanted to know the inside stuff and Gilly was the inside stuff. I don't think that he was interested in technique but he didn’t need to be because he was such a romanticist. When I heard Gilly I heard the therapist. He was the was wisest of the cats in his circle and I miss him terribly.
- Jimmy Wormworth

I met Gilly in the sixties. He was one of my favorite musicians. We made a private record together with George Braith just before Gilly died. He was heavy. His harmonic mind was something else and he was very special. He was one of the first to play modern bebop. He had a great musical mind and I always recommend that record with Miles. He should be remembered more.
- Dizzy Reese

Gilly Coggins was a wonderful piano player. I always felt he didn't get the recognition he deserved. But we who knew him were truly moved by his music.
- Shiela Jordan

I met Gilly when I moved to New York. He was a very good pianist.
- Junior Mance

We played a couple times at Birdland and I believe that that is where we first became acquainted. I can remember very distinctly that he was a very good section player and that he redefined “less is more” magnificently. I enjoyed playing with him very much.
- Kenny Dennis

Other than being a great piano player we were very close friends. When I came home from the Korean war he helped me to get prepared musically. He was one of the icons in Brooklyn. He took me to different places and exposed me to the musicians that I didn’t know about yet. We were musical brothers so to speak. He was an awesome player and he was very easy to get along with.
- Billy Kay

Gilly was great guy and pianist, and fun loving guy. Vassavussi. Gilly was different, he kind of had his own thing. He was coming out of Bud Powell but he had some different thing. It was individual. He had some unique stuff and not too many guy’s had that. Some guys out of Bud some guys came out of Monk. Gilly had that all mixed up.
- Leroy Williams

Gilly would most of the time repsond with "Vassa Vussa." He loved injecting that phrase in many conversations. I was attracted to G.C, a name that I would call him as he would call me G.B. Basically I liked the way Gilly voiced the chords when he played. It was very similar to how I treated and heard the sounds.
- George Braith

He was a true "Tunesmith." He loved songs and knew many of them. I especially loved playing ballads with Gilly. He had great patience combined with intensity. He played with humor, romance and poetry. I knew that I could trust him to make anything I play sound better.
- Bob Mover

I met Gilly Coggins in December of 1984 when I just moved to Ny. I went down to Barry Harris’s Jazz Cultural Theater and I met him there. I remember asking who is this crazy character, and everyone was telling me who he was. We got to be really good friends. He took a liking to me and within the next year we were roommates living at his apartment. So I got to be around him a lot and really learned a lot from him. He was an original character and a masterful musician. He was known for the colors in the voicings that he played. We used to rehearse together for gigs and we would be 2 or 3 hours just on the bridge of one song. I’d say man we have all these songs we need to rehearse and he'd say “which of these voicings do you like?” He’d have so many different colors and options and man they all sounded good. He could never come to a conclusion of which one he wanted to use. He was a perfectionist. A true perfectionist. I think what made his playing unique was that he put a lot of care into the way he voiced and colored each song. He was a master of inversions and different colors of the same chord. That’s what Miles and those guys really loved about him, maybe more so than his soloing. His soloing was fine but he was an accompanist. He could make each song really come to life. He would show me a lot of stuff from the piano as he had a whole different approach to songs. He had chords that no one was using and no one sounded like him. He never talked to me all technical or nothing, it was always real basic but it was just so profound. As human being he was all the way real. He kept it real. He was very honest and direct. He would always tell you as it is but he was a very warm human being. He really looked out for me when I just got to NY and he helped me out a lot. I miss him.
- Tyler Mitchell

Gilly Coggins was a very unique guy. He always had a big bright smile and he had this way of talking hip that I knew meant something but I didn’t know the real meaning. He always told you about his playing piano for the great Miles Davis.
- Dick Griffin

I met him through Elmo. He had this special language. I never knew what he meant, it sounded like a reverse pig latin, but it always sounded right when he said it. He never explained it but he would insert it anywhere to mean anything. I just remember being taken by the sound he got out of any piano. He kind of had a call and answer conversation between his right and left hand, and then he had had these great accents. It was startling and magical. I really loved that about his playing. He had these big hands I remember, well almost any pianist’s hands are bigger than mine. He had a span that I could only dream of. He was special guy and he had a special way of playing in the kinship of Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk and Elmo hope. I loved the way he played and though you could hear where he came from he didn't sound like he was trying to pattern himself after anyone His accents and the way he delivered his message was very Gilly Coggins. I loved his solo piano too.
- Bertha Hope

I thought that he was a great person. We hung out together for years and played many jobs together. Musically speaking he was constantly talking about harmony as far as chords were concerned. Sometimes when we would be playing he would play some great stuff. You got to remember that If Miles hired him for a record date he must have figured that there was something special going on with Gilly. He was respected by a lot of musicians.
- Arthur Edgehill

Gilly is somewhat of an oddball in a good way. His favorite phrase was Vassavussa. He was a very good player.
- Charlie Persip

When you put on GC's music the space you're in changes, things feel straightened out and corrected. It feels like he's one of the few who has the fundamental secrets we all crave in Art.
- Ben Street

I met Gil Coggins in the early 90’s, when I had the privilege and pleasure to play a couple of duo gigs with him. I knew who he was, but had never heard him play in person before, and what a memorable encounter it was!
From the very first note I could feel the incredible sound and touch he had. His deep sense of time and phrasing had a huge impact on me. In a duo setting every little nuance is amplified, and it was such an ear opening experience to hear how he voiced chords, how he brought out certain notes in his voicings. I learned so much from just being able to play with him a couple of times and the memory of it will always be with me. Thank you Gil!
- Ugonna Okegwo

The thing that I learned from Gilly was that every little thing really means something. So don’t take anything you learned for granted. He applied that to everything
- Cool Mike FitzBenjamin

People don’t know that Gilly is one of the architects of this music; in the same space as Bud, Monk and Elmo Hope. But his contribution to piano playing is unique and free. He showed that the piano can be as slippery as an eel and as hard as granite. Everything that he did was marked by profound intelligence. So listen, learn and enjoy.
- Sacha Perry

Gil Coggins was one of the great unsung professors of the music. He taught Sonny Rollins and his peers in Sugar Hill, and generations of musicians learned from his deep knowledge of the idiom. This dedication to teaching others manifested in his approach to playing with instead of against. He played without ego, and was a master of texture. Listen to how he comps for Miles Davis on “I Waited For You” and get a master class in impressionistic restraint. Unfortunately, that restraint meant that he did not get his due, but what he could do with just one chord is rare in the history of the music.
- Aidan Levy

I met Gil Coggins in the Fall of 1955 when I was playing with the Charles Mingus quintet at the Cafe Bohemia in Greenwich Village. Gil was already a fantastic piano player with a vast knowledge of keyboard harmony and he used to come to my 6th floor walk up at 319 E 8th Street and we would play for hours (and sometimes for days) When I was lucky enough to play with Oscar Pettiford's big band in 1956, Gil came by just to be at the recording, and during the breaks, sat down at the piano and was able to play some of the hardest music any of us in the band had ever worked on. Having heard the tunes ONE TIME, he could then play them without music. Other piano players like Elmo Hope, Cedar Walton, Randy Weston, and Thelonious Monk would sometimes come by my place and they all loved Gil's playing and his unique touch!! He used to always tell me that i should work on my piano playing and play GENTLY and ECONOMICALLY when playing the piano and when accompanying others LISTEN, create SPACE and not get in the way!! I still miss him and was lucky to know him!! We all were!
- David Amram

Gilly Coggins was a true master of Jazz Piano. He always acknowledged the tradition while constantly bending the rules of harmony and his time feel. His playing almost feels like water...not confined. It’s extremely fluid with a wealth of ideas. His playing is amazingly shocking every time I hear him.
- Sullivan Fortner

I knew Gilly from the Village Door. Gilly Coggins taught me how to comp. His comping was a conversation with who ever he was playing with. His ballad playing was impeccable. He played some of the most beautiful chords. He always made a conversation with the soloist. He was a great man and musician. He was my friend, he was teacher and he was my mentor.
- Anthony Wonsey

He placed everything in the right place. His concept of harmony was just beautiful and he always managed to touch people. Gilly always liked to hang out and one never knew where or when he’d appear with his jovial sweet smile. As a person he was always willing to share his knowledge and he became a mentor and inspiration to so many young musicians. Gilly was one of the great disciples that came out of the golden age of jazz.
- David Schnitter

It was a special honor for me to be in the presence Gil Coggins. Gilly was a marvelous pianist and a humble human being who came out of an era of remarkable creative energy spearheaded by Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Monk. He was very cordial and encouraging to me during my early days in NYC. Gilly played with a sound and feel that evoked the consciouness and esthetic of many musicians of the period. He had a beautiful rhythmic feel that is often hard to recreate because we now live in a time of a different rhythmic flow. That is why having his playing documented is especially important. His authenic message now can be heard and received by those who listen.
- James Weidman

He was very special. All my peers looked up to Gilly. He was the elite and at the same time he was so humble. Gilly played and recorded with Miles. This is a man that I listened to on records and then got to meet and play with. He was warm, welcoming and encouraging to me when I was coming up and that means a whole lot.
- Jimmy Cozier

I’d first met Gil Coggins in New York City, either in 1987, or ‘88. And I’d met Gilly through Clarence “C” Sharpe and Tommy Turrentine. Gilly was always and genuinely encouraging nurturing with all the young musicians, including myself! And he’d like to live and party, just as everyone liked to back in those days! We’d drink and laugh together! And Gilly could become a bit playful and mischievous. But there was a serious and earnest side to him as well! I remember one morning, after a late night session in the East Village, Gilly, a few fellow musicians and I went to an all night Polish restaurant for some breakfast. While we were eating and talking, there was one fellow musician, who's name I will not mention, began to complain about how his parents were giving him a hard time, basically not letting him do just what he’d wanted to do! You know! At some point, said musician, who was probably about 19 years old at that time, began to pretty much berate his parents. Gilly wasted no time in intervening and censured the young man, telling him that he had no right to berate his parents, because they weren’t gong to just let him have his way at things and so forth. I remember Gilly even adding, “And I ain’t gonna sit up here and listen to you disrespect your parents like that! I won’t tolerate it!” I’ve always especially loved the way Gilly comped! He was so easy to play with! I’ve been fortunate to play with some of the best pianist that one could ever dream of playing with. People like Red Garland, Barry Harris, Gil Coggins and Sacha Perry, were really something special for me! I remembering feeling that my playing actually sounding better, when playing with Gilly! Gilly’s absence will bear a permanent scar upon the face of the New York City jazz scene!
- Dwayne Clemons

Gil Coggins was one of the first-generation bebop pianists influenced by Bud Powell and Bird who grew up in Harlem with Jackie McLean, Sonny Rollins, Kenny Drew, Arthur Taylor and others. Gil played on several Miles Davis recordings in the early 50s and then became involved in the real estate business. Later in the 50s he recorded with Jackie McLean and tubaist Ray Draper. One of the recordings with Draper featured John Coltrane. I first heard him in Montreal in the mid-60s when he headed the house trio at Le Jazz Hot with the top Montreal rhythm section of Freddie McHugh on bass and Pierre Beluse on drums. He was a bebopper to his soul.
- Peter Leitch

He was one of the rare uptown bebop cats that knew the whole vernacular.
- Mickey Bass

He was a great accompanist and he was one of my influences.
- Phil Wright

Gil Coggins is one of the great unsung heroes of jazz piano.
- Jeb Patton

I worked with him at The Village Door 6 nights a week in the eighties. It just felt so good, it was so full and always worked. It’s was kind of busy like Horace Silver but so beautiful and spacious too. He was a treat and a tremendous guy to be around. The way he played ballad was very special. He always had his head tilted to the side like he was thinking about something. It always had a whole lot of beauty, like he was painting a beautiful beautiful picture of waterfalls.
- Eric Lemon

The men of my Dad's generation were exceptional mega beings. There was class, wisdom, quiet toughness built by in the face rigors conscription to a horrible war, either poverty or upward mobility in a socially constrained environment bordered by racial exclusion and the hipness that grew like a lily out of the muck of it all. The Bebop Wakanda generation of which there are so precious few remaining. Their language coopted to the universities for analysis... uprooted from its home in the hood and taken for analysis and regurgitated in the walls of academia. Gilly was one of the quiet Giants of that lot. He was tall and wiry with a long face and possessed of long teeth imperfect in placement and a fantastic smile that always said Vassa Voosa, which made one feel like you belonged to this hip clique when you learned to respond Vass or Voos. His place was at the piano and there was nothing corny there... no pretentious deconstructions just for the sake of originality or adherence to a formula. He sat in the core of Bebop like Barry, Philly, Frank Hewitt, Bilal, Monk, Bud Powell etc but he didn't get the accolades as deserved... he passed too soon to be captured by the cell phone and rendered viral. He was Dad-like... compassionate to those who wanted to learn but I bet he had seen his share of physical fights. I, neophyte late bloomer to the acoustic bass, was encouraged by him as he hired me to accompany him at the Village Door. The cats always went outside for a puff or whatever and treated me like their daughter... keeping a gentlemanly distance.
I am truly blessed to have been in their musical presence.
- Kim Clarke

Gil Coggins is one of the greatest bebop piano players. His unique touch and authentic rhythmic feel can’t be taught. He makes music breathe and slow tempos exciting.
- Dmitri Kolesnik

Gilly Coggins was a jazz original in the sense that he fell in-between cracks like Sonny Clark, Herbie Nichols and Chris Anderson. I had the pleasure of playing with Gilly and TommyTurrentine, and Clarence C. Sharpe. It was always an adventurous high spirited affair.
- William Parker

Gilly Coggins could really play bebop and that's a rare thing.
- Phil Schaap

Gilly was a great pianist and helped me and a many of my peers learn the best of jazz. He was one of the coolest and grooviest cats I’ve ever known and played with. I miss Mr. Vassavussa!
- Craig Holiday Haynes

His comping was magical. He could out-comp anyone. It was amazing. He had his own sound and approach to getting into the changes. Gilly proved how much there was in this. He didn’t get the credit he deserved. He was a bad, bad cat. He was a major part of my development. I’m 52 and just starting to understand what Gilly was doing. He was a real trip when it turned 20 I remember him telling me “Oh you just turned 20? Well it didn’t take that long!”
- Greg Lewis