PEORIA MAGAZINE July 2023

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO …?

GEORGE GRAVES, JR., PEORIA’S MUSIC MAN

BY DENISE JACKSON PHOTOS BY RON JOHNSON

P opular names like Dizzy, Cannonball, Bird and several others have been given to famous jazz musicians. Some former students of local musician George Graves coined names for him, as well: Peoria’s Music Man, Hidden Treasure and Legend. Donald Glover’s memories go way back to when he was a kid watching Graves directing the Manual High School band at the Santa Claus Parade in downtown Peoria. “I heard Manual’s percussion section,” said Glover, who now teaches inmates at Logan Correctional Center in Lincoln. “They had such a nice cadence that I started dancing to it. When I went home, I decided to emulate that. I had an oatmeal box with a string through it and I wrapped it around my neck and I tried to be a Manual drummer.” That experience earned Glover a drum set for Christmas and later drum lessons from a percussionist recommended by Graves. When Glover arrived at Manual a year later, he headed straight for band class, where he spent four years under Graves, the school’s band director from 1977 to 2008.

RAISING THE BAR When Graves arrived at Manual High in 1977, he had high expectations for the band program. “I just tried to instill in them the importance of playing an instrument and making music a part of their life,” said Graves, a native Peorian who traces his own interests in the subject to the age of 7, when he began playing the saxophone. It was important to elevate the standards of the program, he said, despite the fact that many students were quitting music programs before they reached high school. That was Graves’ experience early on with the band program. He said there were other factors outside of school which may have led to the inconsistency with student participation. “Kids on the South Side, their parents had different priorities with what they did with their money,” he said. “If they started as a beginner, very few kids would rent an instrument.” Graves often went to Manual’s feeder schools to recruit future band students

Glover vividly remembers a stern warning the band instructor gave to students on that first day of school. “He walked in and he gave a speech about being serious about music, and said, ‘If you are not, then get your things and go. This is not a study hall,’” recalled Glover, who has written a book – The Kid and the Keepers: Dream Visions , about a trumpet-playing boy — for which Graves was something of an inspiration. Former student Nikisha Anderson, now a student advisor at Illinois Central College, said professionalism and discipline were the models in Graves’ band class. “He always had his saying, ‘To be early is to be on time, and to be on time is to be late,’” she said. Graves’ commitment to his students and to Peoria’s South Side earned him a rare reward earlier this year. In February, a part of South Griswold Street that runs in front of Manual Academy became Honorary George Graves Jr. Avenue. Meanwhile, Manual also has created the George Graves Jr. School of Cultural Arts, the new label over the school’s auditori um, band room and music offices.

82 JULY 2023 PEORIA MAGAZINE