Chuck Nessa

You can add me to the column of folks liking him just fine, but not caring enough to follow his post BN career intently. Just me, not a value judgment.

Unless you want to be saddled with a new nickname.

Same guy.

Stan Kenton was a jazz fan too. What does this matter?

I still want to know how he was influenced by Ike Day.

Bu is one of my 3 favorite drummers in the music. My favorite bands are hard to sort out. My first imprint was on the Morgan/Shorter/Timmons band (I consider the band with Walter Davis as the same group). Next was the early dates with KD on trumpet. Though Byrd was a substitution, he was not replacement. I feel closer to the M/S/T band. My favorite Wayne solos are on Roots and Herbs. I can sing them to you.

More Johnny Hodges.

You still across the river from KC?

I met MLK while in high school and still have the little book he told Ralph Abernathy to give me - "The Measure of a Man". I saw him later as he posted a declaration on the doors of city hall in Chicago, 1966. At that time, Ann and I were pushed out of the way by a young Jesse Jackson. About 20 years later Jesse's guards pushed me aside again so he could go onstage at the Chicago Jazz Festival to hug BB King. Edit to say I did NOT tell MLK I had a dream.

I was introduced 50+ years ago. Thank your god I don't have to go through that again.

Nanette Fabray Ray Price Bill Cullen

It's Herman Riley.

Not Junior. I was thinking maybe Ramon Morris, but probably not.

Yup.

Nah, the tomatoes should be thriving. All that good food.

Not me. It was in Plano.

Not me. I think it was a great title for the record.

Jim's "posted image" didn't show up but I love the Bad Bossa Nova title and cover.

I have my lead underwear on (and maybe the bra - I won't tell), so I ask "friends of Michael" to contact him for the facts. It would be interesting to me if he says something different.

I have a soft spot for the CTI, though Randy doesn't.

Not if I had to dispose of 2.

I have a bit of additional history to add to the story. In January of 1974 I was in NYC and visited Michael at his apartment with my friend Terry Martin. He said he thought he’d be out of work soon and was looking for ideas. This was during a big oil shortage, vinyl was in short supply and the record companies were cutting back. Michael was a staff producer for Atlantic and felt the heat. After his Commodore reissues and combing the Atlantic vault, he hoped to get a gig with a company with a large “back catalog” to exploit with reissues. I suggested BN. For years I had been collecting bits and scraps of info about unissued sessions. I mentioned these to him and he seemed intrigued. He invited me to a Robin Kenyatta date he was doing that night at the Hit Factory. During a session break Michael asked the musicians if any of them had been on unissued BN sessions. A few hands went up and Larry Willis and Ron Carter named some specific dates. Michael looked at me and smiled.