Sam Sherry

His 1974 record "Crosswind' presents some really nice writing, and the band is tough to beat: MBrecker, RBrecker, John Abercrombie, Garnett Brown, John (B) Williams, George Duke (playing with real musicality, at that) and Lee Pastora.

I have him on some Brecker stream-caps. He's a fine musician. Anybody who can fill Pat Metheny's shoes with Brecker and Wayne Krantz' with Chris Potter is obviously putting out something that musicians really value.

If it's the same guy (and it looks like it is) we were together at New England Conservatory almost 30 years ago. Very nice guy, nice player in the older-school style, and a shweet muscle-car to boot.

Wise advice. I'll be eager to hear what Sidewinder has to say. On the other hand, what do we think about judging a book by its own publicity? I grew up listening to Hank with Miles but I could probably think of about fifteen equally "unjustly-neglected" tenor players without breaking a sweat. Heck, if we compare the artistic depth of jazz to the amount of attention society pays to it, everybody south of Brecker and 'Trane are "unjustly neglected tenor players." But don't get me started . . . Just to say, I'm already wary of the book as a hero-worship tome and eager to hear that those fears are unfounded.

Desert island disc for me. Deep, swingin' playing, great writing . . . TEXTBOOK example of how to arrange creatively for a jazz quartet . . . a LOT of chance taking but in a quiet, accessible way . . . Michael Moore at the very top of his form . . . and a window into what might have happened if Philly Joe had left the Bill Evans Trio instead of Michael Moore.

Are you sure? Can you point us toward that quote?