When I was a senior in high school in 1976, a friend and I went to see an amazing show at Carnegie Hall--Anthony Braxton in a group with George Lewis, Dave Holland, Barry Altschul, Muhal Richard Abrams, and a couple of others whom I don't recall; the Ted Curson Octet with Nick Brignola and Chris Woods; and the George Coleman Octet with Mario Rivera and I don't know who all else.
Anyway, my friend was and still is a hot-shot photographer, and after the concert he talked us backstage with his camera as "journalists." There's Dave Holland standing there talking to someone. We hesitantly approach and tell him how much we liked the music. He chats with us in a simple, relaxed way for several minutes. I remember mentioning how much I liked the Circle records, from five or six years earlier, and he firmly told me that that stuff was old and I should be listening to what was happening NOW. Then someone calls him away. "Would you guys mind watching my bass?" he asks, and disappears. So we stood there proudly guarding Dave Holland's bass for five minutes backstage at Carnegie Hall. Gosh!!
When leaving we ran into Nick Brignola leaving. It was the first time I'd heard him or heard of him so I told him I thought he was great and how did he spell his name. "Thanks," he says, "B-R-I-G-N-O-L-A." And then he hurried off.