When I was a kid, first getting into jazz, I'd see drummer Grady Tate's name on the credits on many of the jazz albums I'd buy. He was one of the most in-demand studio drummers in New York, He also was a member of the trio of one of my jazz heroes - Billy Taylor.
When I was in college radio in the late 1960s, I met bassist Ben Tucker, who played with Billy Taylor. We became friends and Ben invited me to a recording session he was producing -- the debut of Grady Tate as a vocalist.
I remember going to the studio, A&R Recording Studios on the 4th or 5th floor of a building on Seventh Avenue in Times Square. Ben sat me in the control room, at the console next to Gary McFarland, the jazz vibes player who owned the label that was recording the session. I didn't realize at the time the array of jazz greats there in the studio, just on the other side of the glass. But looking at the album credits now, I know the names included a who's who of New York's top jazz players -- Chuck Rainey and Eric Gale on guitar, Bernard Purdie on drums, Bob Cranshaw on bass, Herbie Hancock, piano, Jerome Richardson,sax, Snookie Young and Marvin Stamm, trumpet, Urbie Green, trombone. Wow!
The album was Windmills of My Mind, on Skye Records. The recording dates are listed as June 24-28, 1968. I think I was there on the second session.
I still have the album, which I played many times on my jazz show back in the day, and I still put it on the turntable now.
Happy birthday to Grady Tate and thanks for so much great music... and an awesome memory.