Elisha Gullixson Memorial Part 2

Memories of Elisha by Lawrence Pevec

Elisha was a lovely man. I didn’t see him that often in recent years as we lived far apart, but I have always felt close to him. I will miss his wry sense of humor and of course his incredible piano playing. I always appreciated him “dumbing it down” whenever I got to play with him. Elisha was a gifted jazz musician and was always very humble about his talent. It was always a treat to spend time with him. He will be missed.

Quoted from Morris McClellan

Elisha was a real gentleman, in that he was a gentle man, who always deferred to fellow musicians. I could listen to him “doodling” on the piano for hours – improvising the most complex progressions of chords as though it was the most natural thing in the world.

Remembering Elisha Gullixson by Anna Schroeder

I met Elisha through his wife, Ruth; I managed her gallery, Evolution, for three years and helped out part time for another two years. Ruth loved to put on jazz nights and Elisha would bring musician friends to play live with him. He was a quiet person with a warm sense of humor. He never upstaged his musician friends, but had musical conversations with them. I was always magical to listen and watch him perform.

He was very supportive of Ruth’s dream and consistently pursued piano tuning to give her the stability to run her gallery. He also endorsed my engagement to my husband and cheered us on as we started our family.

When Ruth died, he reached out to me and helped me to grieve her loss. We also touched base when my husband died, and again when Elisha was diagnosed with the very same disease that started my husband’s demise. Elisha was a master of kind words with clear insights.  He will be greatly missed.

Memories from Paul Nelson

I went away from Subud for a while after being opened. Elisha and many other members have had this experience. When I returned Elisha had also, but I met him for the first time upon my return. Once I learned he was a jazz fan, our friendship was off & running. That he was a Jazz MUSICIAN was even more impressive. My improvisation comes via language, though that has rhythm and anyone steeped in jazz gets where my own rhythms in language originate. Elisha did.

So, it was easy to collaborate with him, my words with his keyboards, though we did not get the chance to perform often. The most memorable time was at a National Congress in Vancouver, WA, I believe. Knowing he could think in the moment, I simply told him to play Basin Street Blues and I read my poem series Nine Sonnets for Pop. He knew how to accompany a poet and sunk into the rhythms quite easily. The experience left me a little high. His playing had that effect on me several times. Like when he would play jazz ballads at memorial services. Latihan is improvisation as well, and maybe that’s why people like Elisha get opened. It’s a kind of sacred vamping.

I did a few interviews of Subud folks over the years, attempting to leverage my 26 years as a professional broadcaster for the purpose of documenting the inner life journeys of some members. I had planned to meet Elisa in the Men’s Latihan Hall at the Seattle Subud House one day in July 2013. Elisha was playing as I arrived and I started the recorder and we were off & running, with him talking about his own practice as a Christian and a Subud member, about the history of Subud Greater Seattle, his time with The Sparker Band and about his late wife Ruth.

There was a time when we were in Puebla, Mexico, for the Congreso Mundial, 2014, when we met up at a local restaurant for the town specials, Chíles en Nogada. After eating it he said: “Cinco Estrellas.” Even with my poor Spanish I realized he was calling it a five-star meal and, of course, he got his rating system from the Downbeat Jazz Magazine Blindfold Test. I miss Elisha and will have good memories about him until it’s my turn for that ultimate surrender to the great life force.

A short poem when we found out about his passing:

Day after Elisha dies, Witches Almanac says: “Talk to Clouds.”

Goodbye Elisha.

Fayra Teeters Remembers Elisha

My most touching memory of Elisha was during my term as Portland Subud’s Chair when we were raising funds to pay to shore up our crumbling river-rock basement, and out of the blue, Elisha offered to travel down to Portland from Seattle, along with Luther Schutz, to perform a Saturday night concert of American songbook popular music presented in free-flowing jazz-style. When I asked him for a listing of the songs so that I might create a program for our audience, he practically said, “We don’t need no stinkin’ program; we’ll just wing it.” He then proceeded to give me a list of song-writers and possible songs that might happen during the evening, which I then transposed onto a program of sorts. Turns out he was right: the team of Elisha and Luther stayed in the moment and moved from song to song with graceful ease and simplicity.

I was particularly moved by the awareness Elisha showed for Luther, who had a bad cold and cough that weekend. Whenever Luther needed to cough, usually between stanzas, Elisha would vamp on the piano accompaniment until the cough subsided, then launch back into the musical line. As Alexandra TerHorst shared, “It was an evening of love and joy!”

Extracted from Facebook entry by Danella Mauguin

Elisha, I miss you! I wish you were still on this earthly plane. We were together almost 11 years. I miss your loving warmth, your ‘nerdy’ sense of humor, the way you held my hand as we crossed a street, the sweetness of your gentle nature, the joy and sincerity you expressed when concentrating on music, and some very special moments you and I shared as a couple.

The very first time I came to visit you in Issaquah in May 2015, you put a small bouquet of flowers on the dresser with a note which I still have, welcoming me, and asking me “to stay awhile in my abode.” This was such a loving gesture that I remember it still.

I greatly admire your penchant for words and the grace expressed in your writings. Every greeting card you gave me, whether for a birthday, Christmas or Valentine’s Day, the thoughts expressed by you often left me speechless.