(upbeat music continues) (exciting music) good morning, and welcome to mosaic. i'm ron swisher. it is always an honor to host was a. today we have a legend in

music in the bay area. if you go to glide at 9:00 and 11:00 on sunday, if you go to scott's on sunday, monday and tuesday at 6:00 and 9:00, if you don't go to those venues you are missing a great legend in our midst. that is where you will find him all the time for almost 30 years. he has been in the bay area for over 50. and we are blessed to have john turk. [ music ] ♪ ♪ ♪

>> what a blessing. great to have you. >> it is a blessing. >> john turk in the third street annex. then i saw you later in glide. tell us a little bit about your background. >> i started playing in the oakland area around 1965, 1966. with a guy named jenny hart smith. he was a guitar player, organ player and flute player. he wanted to expand his band. he only had the saxophone, drums and he played the organ and he wanted to expand. i

guess he heard about me and one night i came and sang with his band and i guess i did okay. he hired me and we were playing at a place called the showcase. and he decided he did not want to be the bandleader. so the three of us that were left, we got together and formed our own little group, an organ trio. i bought an organ and we got busy. >> went to the trumpet come in? you do the trumpet and piano at the same time. >> actually, he saw me do it, and he was known for being a little late. he started to be late at this particular gig in

this showcase. so i would sit in. he actually hired me as a trumpet player. but then he started taking advantage of the fact that i could play the organ. so i played for the first 10 or 15 minutes. and i got pretty good at the organ. i kept listening to my jimmy smith records. so, 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. >> i know you before with a lot of great artists. we will talk about that in the next segment. we have just a minute left, send us out with something.

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

play the keyboard. so a buddy of mine that played the drums at glide already called me up and asked me if i wanted to do the gig for a couple weeks. i said, short. so, i played. reverend william didn't know that i placed the trumpet. but i played and when i played the trumpet he liked that. i guess he liked it. i'm still with them. when the director, dorsey was his name, when he came back, they didn't fire me. i stayed and i stayed and i stayed. >> it has been white the experience. people come from all over the world to celebrate the liberating programs that are there and all the work that they do. but a lot of people

come for that glide ensemble. how did that managed to develop? >> they always had a choir but 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 like that saxophone and the trumpet. and we were getting ready to do another cd and i said, why don't we add a trombone? that is when joe berman came in. so we ended up with three horns. and we've had them ever since. 15 or 20

years. >> when it comes to the choir, and i had the privilege of being there and it seemed like you had rehearsed throughout the night, 16 songs. how do you come on sunday, you also select the songs? >> first i've got to see what soloists are there. i tried to set the mood for the preacher to preach. i think that is my primary job. you know, first you want to wake the people up. you don't want to start with nothing slow. then, the next song, you can't keep hitting them like that. you've got to wake them up and then calm them

down. and then fire them back up. that is my way of doing it. and so far it has worked. and then something before the preachers that really touches you. it is really something. >> you have to always be in tune with that spirit as you go along to discern what song it's going to be. >> yeah, because you are trying to bring the people in. they are already in the building but you want to bring them into the spirit of what's going on at glide. and music -- >> it touches the soul, touches the spirit. i've read a lot about you in the world where

they say the secular music and spiritual music, some people like to keep that divorce. but you've learned to combine the two. anyway that you have done that and so successfully? people have 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. and i feel just like a plumber, if he was going to fix your plumbing. >> you do what you've got to do. >> yeah, you are called to fix somebody's plumbing, you don't ask them what religion they are. that's how i feel about what i do. i'm a musician. i'm doing what i am supposed to do. >> we are blessed for what you

brought, because we wouldn't be able to hear these great sounds. this is my first time in 13 years at mosaic with the musician and that we've been able to do this. let's close out with another number. >> all right. ♪ ♪ ♪

welcome back to mosaic. you've probably heard some

great sounds if you've been with us. i've read a little bit more on john turk and his mom and dad were great with music and they introduced him at the age of five. he's been playing since he is five and mastering instruments. he even has his young son playing and he is quite good. so tell us about your family's influence. >> i actually first started, my mom played in church. she didn't play by ear, she played by reading music. she showed me a few things, the scales and stuff and how to read music. and i had a crazy cousin, cousin leroy, leroy played the piano. but he played boogie-woogie. and he showed me

how to -- ♪ ♪ ♪ -- anyway, i got into it once i heard that boogie-woogie. i was gone. that was it . it was all over for me. >> what was your dad's influence? >> my dad, he was the one that loved music so much that he would buy the records. my mom did not buy records. he would get the records of nat king cole, and i would just sit there and listen to them for hours. >> how did you manage to get people like lou rawls and bb king and go around the world with these kind of people? >> at the time there was a club owned by don barksdale.

actually had two clubs, the showcase and the sportsman. and he would have being one club and lou rawls in the other. and by us playing at the showcase at the time, i got to play with everybody that was big. coming from vallejo, i thought i was, man, 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, lou rawls, bernie andrews, charles miss away. it was great for me.

>> in the travels, i think i heard you say that 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. and at the time i had two kids. i'll never forget, i played at a theater in chicago and i got to meet some members of the band with lloyd price. >> another legend. >> some of those musicians had been on the road with price for years. >> he is still living, isn't he? >> i'm not sure. and they would only see their kids once or twice a year. when they

would be coming through the town. i didn't want to do that. and right on a bus. >> you mentioned earlier that you first had to check out the solos before writing the songs. one of the soloists was your wife. you've been married for what, 20 years? >> should have been, but no, 10. i'm not saying it, because of my wife, but she can really sing. >> we heard you at the annual conference at the united methodist church last month , and we heard the choir and your band and all that you bring. quite a blessing. when i go to

see you at scott's, i always ask for certain songs and my funny valentine, do you still have that on your repertoire? >> yeah. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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you might be wondering who the young man is in the center here. this is miles. i told him to come up and join us in the last segment. john, play stand. that is one of the standards at glide.

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♪ ♪ ♪ >> if you come to glide on sundays, you will hear this kind of great music, great soloists and great ministry there. next time you are in town we will have young miles bring his drums and somehow we will get him up here. i want

you to close out with one of my favorites, a song for you. dion hathaway and leon russell wrote it, and donny hathaway is really the one who kind of owns that song. i want to thank you, john, for being here. bringing us your gifts. >> ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

from cbs news bay area, this is the morning edition. despite looming budget cuts, oakland police say they are increasing the presence the summer.