STRATFORD, ON – Local graphic designer Stephen Sinclair entered Tully’s Coffee Shop on Thursday afternoon and was delighted to encounter Luther Griffin Jr., an 83 year old black man in a three piece suit. Delight soon turned to frustration however, as Griffin showed little interest in, or knowledge of, Jazz music.
“I thought I would break the ice by mentioning how the Kenny G music the shop was playing was a pale imitation of Miles Davis’ early work, but he just looked at me for a second and asked which of the two was ‘the one with the hair?’”
The conversation didn’t improve for Sinclair when he asked Griffin if he thought Charlie ‘Bird’ Parker was the best sax player of all time. Griffin shrugged and continued to eat his blueberry muffin.
The interaction was clearly disappointing to the noted audiophile, who has been “really into” jazz for about a year and a half. “I was reading [Esi Edugyan’s critically acclaimed novel] Half Blood Blues and I just saw myself in the lives of those Black Germans surviving the Nazi regime through the power of their music,” said Sinclair, who does not play any instruments.
“But this guy,” he said with a nod to Griffin, “He’s just wasting all his potential. He could be telling the world his story through a powerful, free-verse trumpet solo. Instead it’s like he doesn’t even get what it means to struggle.”
Sinclair left the coffee shop muttering something about ‘Satchmo.’ For his part, Griffin appeared to find the interaction equally annoying.
“You shouldn’t make judgements about people. Just cuz I’m black, I gotta listen to Billy Holiday and pretend not to find Katy Perry songs catchy as hell? That’s bullshit,” concluded Griffin before pulling out a Gibson ES-335 guitar and wowing everyone at the coffee shop open mic with his rendition of Robert Johnson’s blues classic ‘Hellhound on my Trail.’
