I don’t know what made me think that I could see everyone and do everything that I wanted to see and do while in New York City – wishful thinking, I guess. I really wanted to meet Just Muttering in person and I also hoped to stop by Local 802 to visit bassist Bill Crow. Both were high on my list of personal priorities, and they are now at the very top of the list for my March trip. I did manage to fit in two personal appointments — lunch alone with my parents, and lunch with my best girlfriend of 45+ years — after that, it was pretty much all business on multiple fronts.
John and I arrived in the Big Apple uneventfully on Sunday, early evening. After unpacking, we set out to find some dinner. On Seventh Avenue, between 54th and 55th Streets, a door or two south of the Carnegie Deli, is China Regency. This inexpensive Chinese restaurant has been there for more years than I can remember, and it was always a favorite of Joe Williams. John and I shared an order of shrimp in lobster sauce with fried rice, and that hit the spot.
My cell phone began ringing at 8 AM on Monday morning – still 5 AM to mind and body. It was Pam Koslow, producer of Jelly’s Last Jam and widow of the show’s Broadway star, Gregory Hines. “I can meet you tomorrow at 10 AM, she said, and so began my rescheduling. The Luther Henderson biography interviews that I had intended to do on Monday and Tuesday, before the convention began, got moved to Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
After meetings with the IAJE (International Association for Jazz Education) and NEA (National Endowment for the Arts) staff people to finalize details of John’s schedule, John and I were off to have tea with George and Ellie Shearing. Over a tasty fruit tart and cups of brewed tea, John and George reminisced. George’s short-term memory is not as vivid as his recollections of the past, but he still takes great delight in re-telling the stories of the original quintet and his escapades with John that began in 1949 and continued for any years. The road stories are always the best, including George, behind the wheel, driving across the desert in Nevada. Ellie told us that she and George attended a concert at the 92nd Street Y the week before, where Dick Hyman, Bill Charlap and others played several of George’s compositions. She also told us that George has been playing duets at home with Michael Feinstein and other musical cohorts who come to visit.
Tuesday morning I met with Pam Koslow who talked me through the trials and tribulations of producing a show for Broadway. The trip from idea inception to stage realization took ten years, but it was worth every nerve-pinching moment, even when she and co-producer Margo Lion had to put their apartments up for loan collateral. After checking in with John, I took off for downtown to have a late lunch with my parents while John prepped for his 4 pm interview with Sara Fishko of WNYC radio. (To listen, click here.)
By 6 pm we were ordering cocktails at Fontana Di Trevi, our favorite mid-town Italian restaurant, with long-time friend Laurie Goldstein who also happens to be the exec in charge of GOPAM, the music publishing company that John set up several decades ago to administer music publishing for his clients. This is one of John’s claims to fame, as it were. He believed that jazz musicians ought not to give away their publishing rights, so he set up individual publishing companies wholly owned by each artist/composer. We lingered over cappuccinos and by the time we returned to the hotel, Clairdee and Ken had just arrived from the airport and were checking in. We ended the night with them at the hotel bar.
At 9 o’clock on Wednesday morning I was knocking on Chico Hamilton’s door. Chico was the drummer with Lena Horne during the days when Luther Henderson was her musical director. For almost two hours Chico told me stories dating back to 1947 when Luther first hired him. He described the rehearsal scene at the house on Nichols Canyon Road where Lena and Lennie Hayton lived – the big gate and Luther, the “sharp dude†who came out in answer to the bell. He talked about rehearsing bar by bar, touring by train (Lena didn’t fly), and earning $125 week out of which he had to pay his own room and board.
As I was leaving Chico’s studio and walking over to Third Avenue, I returned a call to Duane Grant. Duane was not only Luther’s step-son, but also his musical assistant for many years and I wanted very much to spend some quality time talking to him. It was with Duane’s help that Luther was able to complete one of the most important events in Luther’s life, the Classic Ellington project. Luck was with me and we made a date to meet for two hours the next morning. As I headed uptown to the Candle Café to meet my girlfriend for lunch, John was live on WBGO radio with Rhonda Hamilton. (You can hear an excerpt here.)
John and I rendezvoused back at the hotel in time to suit up – both of us in tux – for the Gala kick-off dinner hosted for IAJE by none other than Miss Nancy Wilson.