Gary Giddins on Paul Gonsalves (1985)

Abstract Duke Ellington wrote of Paul Gonsalves that his refusal to make demands on himself evinced the purity of mind worthy of a good priest. “His punch line, of course, is ‘Jack Daniels,’” Ellington continued, “but that is just a kind of fa ade.”The image of Father Gonsalves must have amused his many friends, but none could have failed to understand what Ellington was getting at. The key tenor saxophonist of the Ellington orchestra for 24 years went Jesus one better. He could walk on sour mash, an ability that may have been either a consequence or a cause of his remarkable diffidence. Gonsalves, known to colleagues as Mex and to Ellington’s audiences as the Hero of the Newport Jazz Festival (or Strolling Violins-he was known to hop off the stand to serenade a member of the audience) abjured power in any guise, including self-promotion. That he had a reputation at all was entirely due to his lavish talent and the existence of a few people who could appreciate same. To them, the name Gonsalves was almost synonymous with underrated: not even his conquest of Newport in 1956-when he galvanized the audience with a 27- chorus blues solo that put Ellington on the cover of Time and his orchestra back on top after five years of neglect-secured him much individual attention. I don’t think he cared in the least; he and the people close to him knew who he was and besides, to sit in the Ellington band was all he ever wanted from life.