Steve Pryor, who was inducted into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame, performs Wednesday at the induction gala. SHERRY BROWN/Tulsa World
By JAMES D. WATTS JR. World Scene Writer
Published: 10/22/2009 2:26 AM
Last Modified: 10/22/2009 4:35 AM
Read more about Wayman Tisdale’s life and accomplishments as an athlete and musician; watch videos; and sign a guest book.The Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame posthumously honored one of the state's favorite sons Wednesday evening at its 21st annual Hall of Fame Induction Gala at the Jazz Depot.
Tulsa native Wayman Tisdale — a star on collegiate, Olympic and professional basketball courts before turning his considerable talents to contemporary jazz — was honored as the 2009 Jazz inductee into the Hall of Fame.
Tisdale's widow, Regina Tisdale, accepted the medal and sculpture presented to inductees on behalf of her husband, who died of bone cancer in May.
She was joined on stage by two of her daughters, Gabrielle and Tiffany, and her son, Wayman II.
Saxophonist Tom Braxton, who said he had "the pleasure of being at Wayman Tisdale's right side for 17 years" as a member of Tisdale's band, performed a piece he had written in honor of his friend, titled "That Wayman Smile."
Braxton said he wasn't sure at first that this bright, up-tempo, celebratory tune would be appropriate for the gala.
"But when I talked with Chuck (Cissel, the Jazz Hall of Fame's CEO), he said, 'It's perfect, because that's Wayman's style.' "
Others who paid tribute to Tisdale included musician Grady Nichols, who described being hugged by the 6-foot,
Before the ceremony, Cissel unveiled a large sculpture that was created in honor of Tisdale and which will be on permanent display at the Jazz Hall of Fame.
The piece — designed and built by Randy Vaughn with assistance from Skip Shelton and Cole Stevens — incorporates a basketball, a bass guitar (Tisdale's instrument of choice) and a stylized portrait, wrapped in an undulating keyboard.
Western Swing pioneer Bob Wills, who came to national fame when he set up shop in Tulsa's Cain's Ballroom for weekly radio shows broadcast by KVOO radio, was honored with the Jay McShann Lifetime Achievement Award.
Cissel presented the award to Wills' granddaughter, Renee Arnett, who said the Jazz Hall of Fame's motto, "Unity Through Music," could easily apply to her grandfather, "because Bob Wills was all about transcending boundaries."
The band Rockin' Acoustic Circus performed one of Wills' signature tunes, "San Antonio Rose."
Guitarist Steve Pryor was named the 2009 Blues inductee, an honor that left him "humbled beyond words."
He thanked his mother, who "always made sure I had new strings and a decent guitar to play until I could afford those things on my own. I think I never would have ever played guitar if it hadn't been for Mom."
Pryor then strapped on a battered black Fender Stratocaster and slashed through a rousing version of "Wait on Time," backed by the Jazz Rhapsody Trio, who served as the evening's house band.
"I can't afford musicians like this," Pryor quipped.
Stephen Wiley, a Tulsa minister and professor of world religions at Bacone College, was the Gospel inductee for 2009 in honor of his pioneer- ing work as the first artist to release a Christian rap album.
Wiley recalled being found playing the drums in a place called Homer's Delta Club in Muskogee by a minister, who "pulled me out of there and got me playing drums in church."
He offered a sample of his work — a rap song titled "Attitude," which Cissel noted as being the first rap song ever performed in the Jazz Hall of Fame, followed by an extended solo on the drums.
Vocalist Olivia Duhon, who performed the Latin jazz standard "Dindi," received the Legacy Tribute Award.
Former Tulsa World entertainment writer John Wooley was honored with the Maxine Cissel Horner Spirit of Community Excellence Award for his longtime support of Oklahoma music through his writing.
Wooley said the award was really a tribute to the many musicians he had interviewed and written about and the people who are interested enough in the music of this state to seek out and read those stories.
"Without you," he said, "this (award) would never have happened."
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