Don Pullen discusses how he started in jazz

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Don Pullen discusses his leaving North Carolina for New York

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Don Pullen discusses what he learned from his time with Charles Mingus

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Q: “How’d you get to the big city from North Carolina – strictly with a band or go on your own or what?”

A: “No, I didn't know anybody when I got to New York. It was always my ambition to go to New York. I knew that I would go to New York. I had to get to the Apple, the Big Apple, you know, so I got there. I knew one bass player, Lewis Worrell, and I called him. Lewis introduced me to Milford Graves, Giuseppi Logan, Albert Ayler, quite a few of the musicians of that era, the 60s, I speak of now. And I was there a short while before I recorded with Giuseppi Logan on the now defunct ESP label and things started to happen before then. There wasn't much work, I guess, you know, for that type of music, which they labeled the avant garde during that time. So I think I was supporting myself really with organ gigs, working with singers, night clubs, you know, Chitlin' Circuit kind of a thing. But again, it was a very productive period because I approached whatever I did with enthusiasm, you know, wanting to learn from whatever it was, you know, as long as it was involved with the music, it didn't really matter what the gig was. I mean, I intended to always do my best, you know, whatever the gig.”