. good morning, welcome to mosaic. i'm ron swisher. it is always a pleasure to be here. today we have a legend in music in the bay area. if you go to glide at 9:00 or 11:00 on sun or to scott's on sunday and monday and tuesday at 6:00 to 9:00, if you don't go to any of these venues you are missing a great legend. he had a number of other venues but that's where you find him all the time almost 30 years. he has been in the bay area over 50 doing what he does. we're blessed to have john turk.

♪ ♪ ♪ . [ ♪ ] . >> what a blessing. great to have you, john. >> it's a pleasure. >> great. i saw you probably 40-some years ago. i know you are a young man. >> oh, no, no, no. >> but john turk and the third street annex, you would play all the different clubs. then i saw you later at glide. you have been around, tell us your background. >> well, i actually started playing in the oakland area

around 1965, '66, with a guy named johnny hardsmith. i was a guitar player and organ player and flute player. he wanted to expand his band. he only had saxophone and drums, and wanted to add instruments. he had heard about me, i guess, and one night i came and sat in with his band and i guess i did okay. so he hired me. and we were playing at this place called the showcase. this is many moons ago. and he decided he didn't want to be a band leader, so the three of us that were left, we got together and formed our own little organ trio. i went and bought me an organ

and we got busy. >> when did the trumpet come in? you can do that, trumpet and piano at the same time. >> actually, he saw me do it and he was known for being a little late, so he started being late at this particular gig. i think we were at the showcase. and so i would just sit in, because he actually hired me as a trumpet player, he didn't hire me to play the organ. then he took advantage of the fact i could play the organ, so he came in late. we played the first 10 or 15 minutes and i got good at the organ. i kept listening to my jimmy smith records. >> when i call your answering service, i think that's jimmy smith on there. >> no, that's me. >> okay. like i said, when he decided to

go solo, that's when the three of us that were left formed a band and that was it. >> that's it. i know you performed with a lot of great artists. we're going to talk about that in the next segment. but we have a minute left in this segment, so send us out with something. >> uh-huh. . [ ♪ ] . [ ] . [ ♪ ] . [ ♪ ]

. >> i hope you have been with us. we have been listening to john turk. john turk, as i said, is a legend in the bay area, grew up in vallejo, has been playing for all the greats, etta james, lou rawls, bb king. you can see him on a regular basis at glide at 9:00 and 11:00. how did you connect to all this great music with the spirituality of the glide? >> it was fate and a fluke. i was supposed to just be there two weeks, because the choir director was playing with an r&b group in south africa a couple weeks. while he was gone, they needed somebody to play keyboards, and so a buddy of mine that played

drums at glide already called me up and asked me did i want to do the gig for a couple weeks. i said sure. so i played, and they didn't know i played the trumpet, but i played, and i played the trumpet, and he liked that. well, i guess he liked it. so i stayed with it. so when the director -- dorshey was his name, when he came back, they didn't fire me. i just stayed. and i said and i stayed. >> it's been quite an experience, people come from all over the world to celebrate the programs that are there. cecil williams and all the work they do. and a lot of people come for

the glide ensemble. how did that manage to develop? >> they also had a choir. as time went on, we expanded the band. we started with the saxophone. one of the best saxophone players anywhere, charles mcneil, i had him to come in, because we were getting ready to make a record, and cecil liked the saxophone and the trumpet. >> that was added? >> right. and then we're getting ready to do another cd, and i said well, why don't we add a trombone. and that's when joe berman came in. so we ended up with three horns. and we've had them ever since. it's been 15, 20 years now. >> when it comes to the choir,

and i had the privilege of being there and i would come to the choir rehearsals, it was like you had rehearsed throughout the night, six to eight songs. how do you come on sunday to select the songs? i know cecil has the responsibility but you also select the songs. >> first i got to see what soloists are there, and i try to set the mood for the preacher to preach. i think that's my primary job. and, you know, at first you want to wake the people up so you don't want to start out with nothing slow, and then the next song, you can't keep hitting them like that, you know? you got to wake them up and then calm them down, and then

fire them back up. i mean, that's my way of doing it. and so far it has worked. and then something before the preacher preaches that really would touch you, really jump in. >> so you have to always be in tune with that spirit as you go along to discern what the song is going to be. >> yes. because you're trying to bring the people in. i mean, they are already in the building, but you want to bring them into the spirit of what is going on at glide. and music touches the soul and the spirit. >> now, i read a lot about you, you know, in the world where they say the secular music and spiritual music, some people like to keep it divorced but

you have learned to combine the two. any way you have done that and done it so successfully? any clues to how you do that? people have such a difficult time sometimes seeing the two together. >> i never think about it, because to me, i'm doing what i'm supposed to do, which is play music. >> you were called to do that. >> and i feel just like a plumber would if he was going to fix your columning. you called to do that. you don't ask somebody what religion they are. i'm a musician doing what i'm supposed to do. >> we are blessed because carla put this up for what you brought because we wouldn't have been able to hear these grades sounds, and this is the

first time in my 13 years of doing mosaic that i had a musician be able to do this. let's close out the segment again with another number. ♪ ♪ what the? foster farms chicken gets to the store in 48 hours or less.

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got a bold, new stand'n stuff shell that's blasted for nacho cheesiness oh...yeah how do you helper? make helper with your favorite ingredients, for a fresh taste you'll love. helper. make it yours. now make restaurant inspired dishes with ultimate helper. . welcome back to mosaic. you probably have heard some sounds if you have been with us. i read more on john turk. his mom and dad were great in

music and introduced him at the age of 5 so he has been playing since five and mastering instruments. he has his young son playing the drums, who is quite good, and he is named miles after someone we know. tell me about your family's influence. >> i actually first started, my mom, she played in a church. >> okay. >> and she didn't -- she didn't play by ear. she played, you know, by reading music. and she showed me a few things, the scales and how to read music. and then i had a crazy cousin, cousin leroy. leroy played the piano, but he played boogie-woogie, and he showed me how to -- ♪ --

. >> well, anyway, i got into it, you know, once i heard the boogie-woogie, i was gone. that was it. it was all over for me. >> and what did your dad do? >> my dad, he is the one that loved the music so much, he would go buy the records, my mama didn't buy any records, he got the records by nat king cole, arthur prisap and i would sit and listen to them for hours. >> to the greats. how did you manage to get with people like lou rawls and bb king and go around the world with these people? >> at the time there was a club owned by don barksdale called the showcase.

he had two clubs, the showcase and the sportsman. and he would have bobby blueband in one club and lou rawls in the other. by us playing at the showcase, i got to play with everybody that was big. they called it the circuit. but coming from vallejo, i thought i was in heaven. i got to play with and talk with the greatest r&b entertainers in the world. i mean, it doesn't get much better than etta james and lou rawls, arthur price, ernie andrews. so it was great for me. >> in the travels, as i heard you say, one of the most

difficult things about being a musician is the travels. you don't miss that? >> no. i like to go to bed in my own bed, you know? and at the time i had two kids, and i never will forget, i played at at the regal theater in chicago and met some of the members of the band with lloyd price. >> another legend. >> yes. so some of those musicians had been on the road with lloyd price for years. >> he is still living, isn't he? >> i'm not sure. and they only saw their kids like once a year, twice a year. they were coming through the towns. i didn't want to do that. >> no. >> and ride on a bus.

>> you had mentioned earlier that you first had to check out the solos before you select certain songs. well, one of the solos is your wife. >> yes. yes. >> cheryl, right? >> right. >> and you have been married 20 years? >> no. should have been, but 10. 10. >> okay. she is very -- i'm not saying it because it is my wife, but she can really sing. >> yes. she is great. i always look forward to it. we heard you at the annual conference of the united methodist church last month. >> right. >> so we heard her as well as the choir and of course your band and all that you bring, really quite blessed. you know, when i go and see you at scott's, which i did not long ago, i always ask for certain songs.

my funny valentine, is that still in your repertoire? >> yes, i can play a little bit of that. [ ♪ ]

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. >> if you come to glide, on sundays, you will hear this kind of great music and great soloists and great ministry there. and next time you're in town, we're going to have young miles bring his drums. we'll somehow get him up here. but i want you to close out with one of my favorites, "a song for you," by donny hathaway. he is really the one who kind of owns that song. so i want to thank you, john, for being here, bringing your many gifts. there you go.

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idea......we would love to from you. go to facebook d . >> welcome to the bay, everyone. we begin with our pitch. if you have a show idea we would love to hear from you. go to facebook.com/baysunday. our first guess is a minister that is guiding people through periods of transition and published a book called "how do you play." she spoke to activists, lovers of humanity to get their word on how they chun -- communicate with their god. she spoke to 129 different people. here is the