Henry Franklin

News

Bassist Henry Franklin jazzes up Mission Inn lounge

01:15 AM PDT on Saturday, June 21, 2008
By MARK MUCKENFUSS - The Press-Enterprise

Video: Jazz musician Henry "Skipper" Franklin at the Mission Inn
Slideshow: Henry "Skipper" Franklin

The Mission Inn is full of hidden treasures, little surprises tucked away in the nooks of its elaborate architecture, historical nuggets that surface repeatedly in its rooms and hallways.

Just inside the hotel's east entrance is the Presidential Lounge, the site where President William Howard Taft slept during his visit to Riverside and where, many years later, Richard and Pat Nixon were married.

These days, the room holds a musical treasure. Five nights a week, Henry Franklin plucks the strings of his stand-up bass, accompanying one of three local jazz pianists, depending on which night it is. Franklin, 67, lives in Perris, but he has played bass all over the world, with some of the biggest names in the business.

He has worked with Count Basie, Hampton Hawes and Freddie Hubbard. He was part of Hugh Masekela's band in 1968, when Masekela recorded the landmark "Grazing in the Grass."

The year and a half that followed the release of that record, Franklin says, was his longest brush with stardom.

"We went from riding coach to first class," Franklin says. "We went from taxis to limousines. We had groupies all over the place. When we went to New York and drove through Harlem, you'd roll the windows down and everybody was playing that song. We did a lot of pop festivals and jazz festivals. We did the Newport Jazz Festival."

Henry Franklin, 67, has played all over the world, but for the past nine years he's played at the Mission Inn.

Try as they might, the group was unable to follow with another hit and, Franklin says, "We went back to coach."

Playing With the Greats

His career, however, was far from over. Franklin went on to appear on more than 100 records, including some with his own group. Along the way he worked with Sonny Rawlins, Al Jarreau, Dexter Gordon and Jimmy Witherspoon, among others.

One of his heroes was the late pianist Hampton Hawes.

"You know, you meet somebody that's just really beautiful," Franklin says. "He would liven up any party. We were in London and they invited us over to this party and the party was very stiff. Hampton said, 'We got to loosen up this party.' He went into the middle of the room and took all of his clothes off. The party was real loose after that."

Franklin picked up the nickname "The Skipper" from a 1972 album he released with that title track.

In 1983, after the death of his father, he moved to Perris to care for his mother, who died in 1985. The more time he spent in the Inland Empire, he says, the more he grew to like it.

Finding His Instrument

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Franklin's father, Sammy Franklin, was a well-known jazz trumpet player who tried to interest his young son in music.

"He tried me on everything," Franklin says, recalling piano and clarinet lessons in particular. "I didn't like any of them."

But nearing the end of his senior year at Manual Arts High School, he finally found his calling.

Henry Franklin, who was a member of Hugh Masekela's band in 1968 when the landmark "Grazing in the Grass" was recorded, plays five nights a week at the Mission Inn.

He and some fellow students were in the band room, he recalls. "We were having a jam session. There was a bass there. I picked it up and fell in love with it. I don't know if it was the feel or the ambience, or knowing it's the anchor of the band or maybe it was just the low notes. But that was it, right there, for me. It was like falling in love with a woman. She's never betrayed me."

Just a year later, he played his first professional gig.

"Me and Bill Henderson played a place down on Alvarado," he says, unable to recall the name of the club. "I think we made $5 apiece."

Music at Mission Inn

That was in 1959. Forty years later, Franklin got a call from a local agent to do another club show, this one in a lounge at the Mission Inn.

"He asked me if I'd like to come in for a weekend," Franklin says. "That's been nine years ago."

For the most part, the sets are filled with pop and jazz standards, although "sometimes we stretch out and play some deep stuff," he says.

In some ways, the venue can be frustrating.

"The average person isn't coming for the music," he says. "Friday and Saturday nights, you get a lot of loud, obnoxious people. (They) come in from weddings and by 11:30, a lot of them are plastered."

On the other hand, he says, jazz lovers wander in regularly.

"If they're really jazz people, they'll either have a record I was on or have seen me somewhere," he says. "One lady was in here last week and she flipped out. She's from San Francisco and she couldn't believe the quality of the music was so high. She stayed with us all night."

Riverside pianist Larry Flahive plays with Franklin on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. The two have been playing together for three years.

"He's the real deal in Riverside," Flahive says. "You hear the whole history of jazz in his playing. You have a whole wealth of influences."

Riverside Jazz Society

A year ago, a group of Franklin fans put together the Riverside Jazz Society.

The group meets in the Presidential Lounge at 8 p.m. the first Saturday of every month to socialize, listen to the music and talk jazz.

Frank Husak, 79, of Riverside, founded the group. A retired English teacher for the California School for the Deaf, Husak says he had no idea who Franklin was the first time he heard him play two years ago.

"I had never been that interested in jazz bass," Husak says. "Then I realized that a bass player can really play just about anything as far as melodies, and some of their solos are quite impressive."

He and Franklin became friends.

"He's very well-known in the jazz world," Husak says. "I just finished reading a book by Hampton Hawes. He was mentioned in one of the chapters that Hampton wrote about his life."

When he's not playing at the Mission Inn, Franklin keeps himself busy with outside projects. In May, he hooked up with some European jazz musicians for a weeklong tour of Romania.

He also has his own record label and has produced several albums in the past few years, including a recent collection by local pianist Gary Matsumoto.

With Los Angeles close by, Franklin says he has the best of both worlds.

"I find it very peaceful here and relaxing," he says. "I've been fortunate."

Jazz music

Henry Franklin plays bass five nights a week at the Mission Inn with several different pianists

6 to 10 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday with Larry Flahive

6 to 10 p.m. Thursday and 8 p.m. to midnight Friday with Jimmy Dykes

8 p.m. to midnight Saturday with Gary Matsumoto

Contact the Riverside Jazz Society at fhusak@sbcglobal.net.

Reach Mark Muckenfuss at 951-368-9595 or mmuckenfuss@PE.com

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