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6 Mar 2023

Hello Everybody,

It's been a long time since posting on this blog, but now, because of the book I'm currently reading, Saxophone Colossus, a new publication by Aidan Levy about Sonny Rollins, I'm back at this with a new focus that's not political (well, maybe sometimes).

Specifically, its because of a Jimmy Garrison quote in the book that describes how he was "scared to death" to sit in with Sonny in Philadelphia when Elvin Jones was on the gig, "The cats around Philly were good, but not of that stature. Sonny Rollins and Elvin Jones, man! Anyway, I made the gig, terrified, and got through it. Even then I had no problem playing with Elvin, and he never forgot."

This resonated with me because even though I had sat in with Elvin playing piano at the Five Spot in the way-back, and two more times on bass at Pookie's Pub, it wasn't until a last minute WGBH-TV live show in Boston that I subbed for Jimmy that resulted in the same outcome. Even though I didn't know most of the music Joe Farrell and Elvin played, and you can hear me messing up here and there, I evidently got in the pocket with Elvin because some days afterward someone told me he commented that he had, "Played with a white guy who made the electric bass sound like an upright," and he didn't forget because a few months later he asked me join his band.

WGBH Recording

This blog is going to be a historical trajectory of my career -- and it ain't over yet as I celebrated my 83rd birthday on March 1st. The biggest impediment is being more or less timely in postings.

PROMO: My music schedule can be seen at Perla.org/schedule.htm