ValerieB

wishing you the best on your "special day". btw, i consistently enjoy your posts!

another major one who is still around is Nancy Wilson!

How dare Wayne Shorter get top billing over Kenny G!?! Does not compute! the most bizarre thing is to see their pictures side-by-side on the website!!!

Sat., June 13th, 2:30 - 11pm: Neville Brothers Kind of Blue @ 50, Remembering the Miles Davis Classic, w/ Jimmy Cobb, Wallace Roney, Vincent Herring, Javon Jackson, Larry Willis & Buster Williams Summer Storm w/Norman Brown, Wayman Tisdale, Eric Darius, & Gail Johnson Jon Faddis Quartet Jack Sheldon Orchestra Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings Pete Escovedo Orchestra w/Sheila E., Peter Michael & Juan Escovedo Esperanza Spalding Cos of Good Music w/Dwayne Burno, Ndugu Chancler, Anat Cohen, Luis Conte, Tanya Darby & Geoffrey Keezer New Orleans' New Birth Brass Band L.A. County High School for the Arts Jazz Ensemble, directed by Jason Goldman Sun., June 14th, 2:00 - 10:30pm: Wayne Shorter Quartet w/Brian Blade, John Patitucci, Danilo Perez Kenny G Patti Austin King Sunny Ade Dave Holland Big Band Monty Alexander's Jazz & Roots Oscar Hernandez & the Conga Room All Stars Anat Cohen Quartet Quincy Jones presents Alfredo Rodriguez (23-year old Cuban jazz pianist) No. Hollywood High School Jazz Ensemble, directed by Jonathan Kenton

this is awesome news!!

You were lucky. Who was his vibes player? sorry, but i have no idea. this was about 45+ years ago and my memory ain't that good!

and was Iska's aunt!

i used to love him in the '60s in NY. he was great!

oh, how surprising - NOT!

i most definitely love the album - for personal reasons as well since Iska was Wayne's daughter who died as a young teenager.

well, my bad, as i jumped the gun, so to speak. Nat had a beautiful Scandinavian woman in his life for many years. i sort of remember those real estate discriminatory problems the Coles went through. ironically, Maria ended up a very successful agent/broker, i believe, in that same neighborhood, as well as other areas. also, ironically, the neighborhood where they used to live is around the street Rhianna and Chris had their altercation!

The marriage of Nat & Maria Cole was not a "mixed" one. They certainly had "assimilation" problems along the way, but none of them stemmed from having a "mixed marriage". There was none! Maria Cole was once a singer w/the Ellington band under her maiden name - Marie Ellington. She is no relation to Duke. i don't believe that's what Allen is talking about. Allen, were you referring to Nat's "other woman"?!?

wow, what a poignant post!! you sure "got" him as being an incredibly positive person. sorry you didn't get to reach out to him or meet him but glad to hear you were so inspired by him.

just want to add my condolences, Tom, and to agree with what others said. just curious as to how old Lester was? wonder what he thought about Louis Bellson who passed the same day as he did.

perhaps to you!

on this particular day, i still envy your view, Chris, but glad i am enjoying summer weather!! i was just thinking of Jon Lucien as i believe the anniversary of his passing is approaching (or maybe it's his birthday). a special talent silenced.

three friends of mine saw the "miracle" from their respective apartments in Manhattan Plaza (43rd & 10th)!!

re the 52nd St. plaque picture: sure doesn't look like Sarah to me! anybody else? and thanks to kh1958. i've seen Abraham most recently with the MBB and at Smoke but not for a while. good to hear he's still playing with them.

Re: picture of Ray Charles and BB. i think i spy the faces of Jeff Clayton, George Bohannon, Plas Johnson, Ray Brown, possibly Robin Eubanks on trombone and Bobby Rodriguez on trumpet.

You aren't boring me, I'd like to read more. thanks, Hot Ptah, for your kindness and indulging me!

this and that: Victoria Spivey looks like a young Moms Mabley!! Lew Soloff looks like an older David Weiss! What's happening with Abraham Burton these days? Anybody know? First time i've seen what Pucho looks like! what a great face! i miss Gregory Hines.

i was mistakenly thinking they were on CPW. i sure was familiar with walking to Wayne's apt! in fact, he and his wife bought some of my furniture when i left for LA in 1969. (i'm sure i'm boring a lot of folks here with my deja-vu musings - sorry!)

if memory serves, didn't Geoffrey and Carmen live near you/us as well?!? aside from wanting to look like Lena, Carmen might have been my second choice!

i prefer to think that he is reuniting with his beloved wife of over 60 years!

Chris: have you heard her perform?!? she ain't jazz, that's for sure. i guess she's ok as a cabaret singer but when i saw her at the Hollywood Bowl, a large portion of the audience was "tittering and giggling" (including me!) as she was selling "sex" in her act SO blatantly, it looked ridiculous. it was almost like a spoof of Marilyn Monroe!