BillF

Those uncomfortable circumstances are exactly how I saw (but didn't hear) Al Haig at a packed-to-capacity Band on the Wall, Manchester in the 1970s.

That title invited a worse cover image!

I seem to remember reading that he studied at your university, David.

Yes, mine was with the Basie band in the autumn (fall) of 1958 in the Free Trade Hall, Manchester. (Yes, that venue again!) I was on the front row, a few feet in front of the saxophone section. I remember Frank Foster laughing at my "sent" antics and the overweight Charlie Fowlkes looked to be bursting out of his pants. This was't too long after The Atomic Mr Basie and the band were in sensational form. I recall Joe Newman and Frank Wess running down to the front for "Midgets". Sonny Payne frequently threw the sticks in the air and once missed them on the way down!

"Ill Wind"

Clip of Mobley talking with Monk, Timmons and the Baroness in today's JazzWax.

"Doesn't get as much attention today". Too true! I was astounded when a friend who regularly goes to jazz gigs and buys lots of albums said he'd never heard of Shelly Manne when I mentioned him.

One of Stitt's best IMHO.

Who are all these people I see around nowadays? They can't all be robbing banks, can they?

I was aged 5 at the time and remember a massive bonfire at the end of the street with an effigy of Hitler. We had another one a few months later when Hirohito was burned.

Pity! I always wanted to name my racehorses Lady Bird and Our Delight, but unfortunately I never ended up in the racehorse-owning class.

Scarecrow Press is appropriately named. Don't know about the crows, but their prices certainly scare me!

I preferred the Sun's headline: PROF LOCKDOWN BROKE LOCKDOWN TO GET HIS TROUSERS DOWN