BillF

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I saw Albany play in the early 70s - solo (and untuned) piano in an upstairs room in a Manchester pub. Appearance arranged by British jazz entrepreneur Tony Martin. Did anyone else see the master live or am I the only member of that in-crowd?

The most memorable part for me - and I suppose it's true - is how the youthful Benny went into the Messengers and reformed them, first getting Art to fire the existing members (not named, but I'm guessing Hardman, Dockery and DeBrest) and replacing them with fellow Philadelphians Morgan, Timmons and Merritt, Art allegedly at first saying, "What's this Philadelphia shit?" Benny then re-writes the book, telling Art he needs tunes like "Moanin'" and "Blues March". He then plans the famous Blue Note album and tells Art a European trip is essential, so they go to Paris...

Wow, yes!

That's one I remember. Never owned it, but loved the Pollock-style cover!

Similarly big in the early sixties was Roland Kirk. We paid as much attention to him as to Coltrane at the time of A Love Supreme, but compare their images today!

Nice to see you drawing attention to Dolphy, David. In the early sixties when I was in my early twenties Dolphy was a very big name among the jazz listening community, yet we seem to hear surprisingly little of him nowadays, while other long departed musicians still get a great deal of attention.

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Thank you for the information, David.