The Smithfield Herald, June 14, 2002, Page 1A
CLAYTON — A downtown shop will serve hot coffee and cool jazz next month.
The Coffee Mill, on Lombard Street, will stage its first Jazz Night July 6.
Rick McDuffie, Guy Percy, Roger Walker and Mark Dunn are still debating a name for their group but hope to have one by the time they take the stage as the house band next month.
"We just want to play," McDuffie says.
All four guys spend their day in music, and music brought them together. "It's kind of like how N'Sync got together," McDuffie says. "We don't dance."
McDuffie owns Tarheel Music in Smithfield, Percy and Walker are school band directors, and Dunn has recorded in Nashville. Through his business, McDuffie began playing with Walker, and Percy knew and recommended Dunn.
"I'm just honored to work with these guys," McDuffie says.
The no-name quartet played its first gig about 18 months ago at The Coffee Mill. Back then, they played pop and rock tunes before putting together a jazz repertoire.
Walker, who played lead trumpet with the Smithfield-based Techniques, says he and the other guys can't get enough of playing together, even after a day teaching kids. "This is an outlet for a true musician," Walker says. "I get up and look forward to it."
Walker still plays the trumpet, but plays the flugelhorn in his new band, too. Percy plays a double bass that almost stands to his shoulder, McDuffie adds the guitar, and Dunn plays the skins.
Percy says a Jazz Night in Johnston County has been a long time coming. "I went to N.C.Central, and there are a lot of opportunities for jazz in Durham," Percy says. "It was just so dry out here. We decided the atmosphere here was right for it, and we got the opportunity to run with it."
Moreover, the band members say that true jazz music — in the style of Miles Davis, not Kenny G — is an endangered species they want to preserve. "Jazz is America's music and the only music that was born here," Percy says. "Real jazz is sorely lacking."
"If you don't play it consistently, it will fade out if the younger generation doesn't hear it," Walker adds.
The guys agree that The Coffee Mill's intimacy and originality suit their style of play.
The band mates, who might call themselves The Jazz Q-tet, will play the first Jazz Night, but they hope other jazz musicians will take an interest in sharing the stage. "We are here to stay sharp and promote music education," McDuffie says. "And to create a venue for other people who want to play. One thing I'm hoping is this place and this event could be a meeting place for the jazz community."
After July, Jazz Night will be the first Saturday of every month, from 8 p.m. until at least 10 p.m.
McDuffie says he is grateful to The Coffee Mill for all it does to promote local music. "I think there's a lot of enthusiasm about a jazz thing," he adds.