Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, April 25, 1995 TAG: 9504250092
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ANN DONAHUE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Pullen died after a two-year battle with lymphoma, according to The New York Times.
Pullen's skills at the jazz piano were seemingly endless. The Philadelphia Tribune said he "builds from the skeleton to create solos that dance across a century of jazz pianistry."
Born in Roanoke on Christmas Day in 1941, his training at the piano started at age 10, when he started taking piano lessons from a neighbor right after his grandmother's piano was moved into his home.
Pullen's love for jazz was cemented in the ninth grade when a friend taught him to play the blues.
As a teen-ager, he was teased by fellow musicians because he had to persuade his mother to give him permission to play at local clubs. Sometimes Pullen just sneaked out of the house.
He graduated from Lucy Addison High School in 1959, then majored in music at Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, N.C., where he graduated in 1963.
He went to New York, where he continued his study of jazz by working as an organist in clubs. He accompanied rhythm-and-blues singers Big Maybelle and Arthur Prysock and made a name for himself with his avant-garde jazz style.
Available compact discs with Pullen's work include: "Don't Lose Control," "New Beginnings" and "Random Thoughts."
Pullen's last work, completed in early March, is the album "Sacred Common Ground," which features seven Native American singers. The album is scheduled to be released next year.
"I'm not interested in playing Brazilian or African musics in their pure forms," Pullen once said. "I want to take their rhythms, melodies and harmonies and work them over in a way that pleases us all. If I were to restrict the jazz content of my interpretations, I'd start to feel confined. And when I feel confined, I look for a way to break out."
Pullen twice was voted "Talent Most Deserving of Wider Recognition" by a jazz critics' poll in Downbeat magazine.
In the span of his career, Pullen toured Europe and Canada, performed a solo piano concert at Washington's Kennedy Center and played at the Village Vanguard and Sweet Basil in New York.
Pullen was commended by the Smithsonian Institution for his overall contribution to the arts and received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Pullen's quartet with saxophonist George Adams was named Best Live Group by Jazz Nu magazine.
In 1978, Pullen cited Roanoke influences as giving him the push to succeed in his musical career. He cited his childhood piano teacher, Audrey Whitlock, and Roanoke musician Clyde "Fats" Wright as his mentors.
In December 1991, Pullen gave his first hometown concert as a professional. Critics said he brought down the house at the Roanoke Civic Center. "His solid left-hand rhythm is worthy of an Oscar Peterson, and his innovative right-hand technique conjures up an accessible Thelonious Monk," one reviewer said.
Survivors include his father, Aubrey Pullen Sr.; his brothers, Aubrey Pullen Jr., James Pullen and Keith Pullen; a sister, Doris Todd; sons Keith, Don Jr., and Andre; daughter, Tracey; and granddaughter, Kyra.
Memorial contributions can be sent to the Don Pullen Children's Educational Fund, 530 Canal St., New York, N.Y. 10013.
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