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Chicago gave Von Freeman quite a birthday present, and it was one that could not be wrapped. To celebrate the legendary saxophonist’s 80th birthday today, the city named a street after him. From now on, the stretch of 75th Street on the South Side of Chicago that runs in front of the New Apartment Lounge—the small club where the venerable saxophonist has played almost every week for the past 21 years—will be named Von Freeman Way.
“This is wonderful. I’m overwhelmed,” Freeman said in a rousing, heart-felt, funny and extemporaneous speech at the ceremony. “First of all, I thank the city, all the men and all the ladies. Second, I thank everybody concerned with this. I must say this. I did this, not alone. I had nothing but help. Every musician I ever met seemed to enlighten me, and they pushed me. I don’t know why the ladies like me. I ain’t tall and I sure ain’t pretty.
“But the ladies always were behind me. And that was my secret ... the ladies. I tell all the young musicians around the world, wherever I play, ‘Make friends with the ladies. Because as long as you’ve got the ladies, you’ve got the men.’ That’s right. Those are my words of wisdom.
“Now, I’m hoping that some of the other musicians who are here, after I’m long gone, will be right in this club playing. The reason why I say that is that 50, 60 years ago, I remember when Chicago had nothing but clubs. All the musicians were working, all the waitresses, all the bartenders were working. There was a lot of work. I’ve lived long enough to see it all dry up. And that’s unfortunate.”
On the South Side for the event were musicians such as Willie Pickens, Kurt Elling, Steve Coleman, Fred Anderson and Malachi Thompson; as well as numerous member of the media, friends, family, aldermen and fans.
“Von deserves this,” said fellow saxophonist and Chicago legend Anderson. “He was playing at a place called the Trocadero down on Indiana Ave. years ago in the ’50s. I went down there and I sat in. He encouraged me. He’s been an inspiration to me for a long, long time. He passed it on to me and I’ve tried to pass it on, too.”
“Personally, I think the whole city should be named after him,” said saxophonist Steve Coleman, who came into Chicago from New York for the street naming. “I wouldn’t even been doing what I’m doing if not for Von. I first met Von in 1975. At that time I was trying to put the music together. It meant so much to me to be able to hang out and listen to him play and ask him questions. To be able to ask someone who was from that period and that time. My father was a musician and he told me a lot of stories about Charlie Parker and Miles Davis and all these people. But it was a whole different thing with Von because it was coming from a master musician. And I didn’t understand that right away. I mean I first started coming to his sessions because it was a place to play, and I wanted to learn how to play.
“It just meant so much to me to have an example,” Coleman continued. “Somebody who had really mastered this music. I mean mastered it in so many ways that I can’t even talk about it. You start off talking about music. Then, him as a band leader, the way he relates to people. And the big thing is that this music isn’t just music. It’s their life. Seeing the connection between his life and who he was as a human being and how that translated into sound. That was the biggest lesson I learned, aside from learning how to play. In the beginning it was the basic craft of music. Then it became how you can express your life through this sound, which is a mysterious thing. I’m still learning that from Von.”
To conclude Freeman’s 80th birthday ceremonies, a gala concert will be held on Friday at Chicago’s Symphony Center. Scheduled to share the stage with Freeman are his brother George and son Chico, pianists Muhal Richard Abrams, Jason Moran, Mulgrew Miller and John Young, and singer Kurt Elling.
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