A Call to Assembly Review by Marilyn Kloss, Cornucopia, July 1992

This is an extraordinary story by an extraordinary person. It's recommended reading for anyone, horn player or not. The musical aspects of the story are fascinating, but the human story is even more compelling.

The "call to assembly" of the title comes from Ruff's experience in the Army. It meant that he had to heed the call. Ruff means that he was called to music, in particular ways, but also in a larger sense.

A childhood in poor, segregated northwestern Alabama would not seem to be an auspicious start in life. But lack of resources in the black schools was balanced by jubilant music making in the churches and community. Ruff learned self reliance and the value of hard work early. His mother's indomitable spirit stayed with him even though she died when he was only thirteen. The family broke up, and Ruff lived with his father in Indiana until he joined the Army at age fourteen.

The armed forces gave Ruff a chance at education. He completed a high school degree and went from playing percussion to playing horn, and also string bass. When Truman ordered the armed forces to desegre- gate, Ruff was at an all-black Air Force base in Ohio. He left to study music at Yale and went on to play with Lionel Hampton, form a duo with pianist Dwike Mitchell, and eventually go back to Yale to teach.

Ruff had many mentors and teachers who encouraged him and helped him attain his goals, but one senses, reading between the lines, that his desire and persistence inspired others and drew them to him. Who wouldn't want to help a boy who practiced for hours in the boiler room, with little instruction or music, to master the horn so he could stay in the band? His first real horn teacher discovered that no one had even told him the correct fingerings; Ruff had worked out fingerings of his own.

Ruff's writing style is eminently readable, with colorful descriptions, lively dialogue, and penetrating character studies. His memory is prodigious. You know that eventually he becomes a famous musician, but the path to fame is as fascinating as the destination. The word "inspiring" is not overstating the book's impact.

The Mitchell-Ruff Duo has two CDs -- Virtuoso Elegance in Jazz (see below for link to a review), and Breaking the Silence, released in 2001. Willie Ruff's home page

Virtuoso Elegance in Jazz - A review of the Mitchell/Ruff Duo's CD

Gregorian Chant ... - A review of a recording at St. Mark's Cathedral in Venice

Mitchell & Ruff: An American Profile in Jazz by William Zinsser is a series of vignettes about Dwike Mitchell, Willie Ruff, and life on the road with the Mitchell-Ruff Duo. The chapters are: Shanghai (presentation in Chinese), Dunedin FL (Mitchell's home town), Muscle Shoals AL (Ruff's home town), Columbus (Lockborne AFB, where Mitchell and Ruff met), Davenport (typical tour for the duo), New York (Mitchell's home), and Venice (where Ruff recorded in St. Mark's Cathedral). Excellent writing about engaging subjects.

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