It's Ralph J. Gleason's birthday (March 1, 1917) - jazz writer, co-founder of Rolling Stone magazine, and more ...

[Photo of Ralph J. Gleason by Peter Breinig. © Gleason.]

... He also co-founded  the Monterey Jazz Festival and produced a TV program, Jazz Casual, that showcased every important performer who passed through San Francisco. He championed a young Bob Dylan when Dylan was panned for "going electric" and for writing far-out lyrics that didn't belong on mainstream radio. He defended the new "San Francisco Sound" (e.g., the Grateful Dead and the Jefferson Airplane) when most music listeners were tuning in to Your Hit Parade music. That stance was not always appreciated by his jazz compatriots.

Click the image to view Ralph J. Gleason talking about what a jazz musician does.

As a kid living in San Francisco I never missed reading Ralph's column on jazz music. I was already listening to the music at night in my bed going to sleep. It flooded into my ear via the single ear bud plugged into my transistor radio. I didn't greatly appreciate the sounds, but I had to listen! It was an assignment I gave to myself. Something in my head told me someday my heart would be glad I did.

Ralph J. Gleason helped me appreciate jazz. His writing put me in touch with the greats - Miles, Louis, Diz, John Coltrane, Carmen McRae, Brubeck, Duke, and the rest. His heroes became mine!

When Gleason wasn't writing, he was showcasing jazz music on public TV station KQED, San Francisco. His Jazz Casual ran from 1961 to 1968. He featured every top jazz musician to hit town, including the likes of Louis Armstrong, John Coltrane, Dave Brubeck, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Vince Guaraldi, Carmen McRae, & MJQ. Click the image to see him groovin' to the great Count Basie (piano), Freddie Green (guitar), Norman Keenan (bass), and Sonny Payne (drums), doing about a 30 minute set. Ralph also engages the Count in conversation about the good old days.

But Gleason wasn't just a jazz enthusiast. He championed Lenny Bruce, Joseph Heller (Catch 22), the Free Speech Movement, and the Fillmore Auditorium when the City was going to close it down.

On the right, Miles Davis introduces Ralph to drummer Tony Williams, 17 years old when he joined Miles' "Second Greatest Quartet."

Click the image of Bob Dylan and Ralph J. Gleason to see part of the San Francisco press conference during which he answers Ralph's question, "Do you think of yourself as a singer or a poet?" by saying, "I think of myself more as a song and dance man."

"When I first heard Bob Dylan at Monterey (Folk Festival, 1963)  I did not like him," Gleason wrote. "I was deaf."

That changed.  He later wrote that listening to Dylan changed his life. Gleason arranged and hosted a remarkable press conference with Dylan in 1965.

Leading Dylan through the crowded room, Gleason made the introduction while Dylan settled into a seat behind a table. 

"Welcome to KQED's first poet press conference," Gleason said. "Mr. Dylan is a poet. He will answer questions on everything from atomic science to riddles and rhymes. Go."

Click to hear the Airplane's "Wooden Ships."

Go, indeed! Thank you, Ralph for all your insights and for your love of music. As the Jefferson Airplane sang at the end of "Wooden Ships," "Go ride the music!"