Columnist Izzy Feldman is unable to continue this interview due to illness and therefore we have enlisted cellist Kay Sherman to fill in for him. We wish Mr. Feldman a speedy recovery and hope to see him back at his post soon. Jazzbeat Staff Kay:  Welcome back Mike and congratulations on your fantastic new CD, Sting Like A Bee .  Mike:Thanks Kay and its good to be back dwelling amongst you. (Laughs) Kay:  The last time we spoke we discussed a certain criticism by a journalist of your then latest CD Float Like A Butterfly, You have now come out with this new sequel to it to 99% rave reviews as well as an airplay hit in the sense that it has been on the charts over 20 weeks now and peaked at # 3 on the big Jazz Week Chart.  It has also occupied the # 1 spot on the Music Choice Chart on 4 different occasions and when last checked it was tied for the # 2 spot as of the April 26th charting.  Considering that it was released in October of 2009 this must make you feel pretty good doesn’t it? Mike:Yes, of course.  The highest compliment I can receive in my estimation is the knowledge that I have made a CD that the people like.  The chart activity that you cite appears to be evidence that I may have achieved that end to some degree.  In that sense I am delighted. Kay:  Since the subject of our last segment of this interview was about jazz critics and since writer Izzy Feldman has a feature on this site in which he has been highly critical of jazz critics I wonder if you would respond to some criticism about this latest CD by a critic in a major jazz publication that is totally at odds with the rave reviews other critics have given it? Mike: I am rather reluctant to make any sort of negative comments about a review, as I am aware that you can’t please everyone and that everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion. Kay:  This is true Mike but I find it interesting that artists can make a CD that 99% of the critics love as well as the public and then one critic comes up with a review that is totally at odds with all the rest.  I am not looking for you to bash a critic so much as to get you to respond to some of the points made in the review in the sense of whether you agree with them or not or as to how you would answer the criticism.  Would that be okay with you? Mike: Well I guess I could try to accommodate your request to the best of my ability as long as we don’t slip into anything that might sound like an attack on the critic personally. Kay:  OK Mike, we won’t even mention the critics name.  How’s that?  For one thing, I think it would be of interest to our readers to hear an artist of your stature react to the things a critic says especially to a critic who I feel has written an unjust or unfair review. Mike: OK then. Kay:   This review opens with the author stating “Three masters at work.”  That statement alone should have warranted more than the two star rating he gave it in my opinion.  Then he goes on to say, “none driven by any lingering need to prove himself: That pretty much wraps up Sting Like A Bee, not to mention a good number of trio albums by artists comparable to these in stature.”  I wonder if you might comment on that statement? Mike: Could you repeat all that again please?  Kay:  (Repeats question) Mike: It sounds as if the writer is only interested in CDs in which musicians are trying to prove how “bad” they are to other musicians rather than trying to make a CD that the people want to listen to.  These are games that musicians sometimes play when they are at a rather juvenile stage of their development.  It appears to me to be a somewhat of an ego driven philosophy and one which I have little or no interest in.  Again I have to mention my reason for making a CD is to reach out and touch people.  That is not to say I am consciously thinking about this when I am playing.  It is rather a philosophical approach to WHY I am playing. Kay: Thanks Mike. The review goes on to criticize that you guys didn’t choose “to challenge yourselves” but chose rather to enjoy a “leisurely idyll” that” follows the roadmap of head, blowing choruses, some drum fours, reprise and finish.”  I wonder if you would comment on that statement? Mike: There again Kay, I have to reiterate that everyone is entitled to an opinion and I respect this writer’s right to criticize me in this fashion.  As far as my reaction to it the first thing that comes to mind is whether the writer thinks jazz fans buy CDs to hear musicians challenge themselves or do they buy a CD that makes them feel good and want to listen to it many times over?   Kay: Judging from the public reaction indicated by the chart activity and the great reviews not to mention the sales I would have to conclude that you certainly fulfilled the expectation of making them feel good and listen to the CD many times over.  In fact some of the other critics even made mention of this in their reviews.  In fact one such critic made the observation that masters like you\ guys are able to make things that others find difficult and challenging sound effortless.  This is one of the signs of a true master.  This critic seems to mistake that for a “leisurely Idyll” in my opinion. Mike: Perhaps.  As far as the criticism that we followed the “roadmap” of head, blowing choruses, fours, and reprise and finish I would ask this critic what part of “live in the studio” did he not understand?  I mean, we just went into the studio and hit it.  That is the kind of project it was.  Here we have a case of a critic, instead of reviewing what is on the record, is telling us what he thinks should have been on the record.  Since he stated that he felt we were “masters” in his own words, what are his credentials for doing that?  In my opinion it is not WHAT you do that makes it art, but rather HOW WELL you do it.  If we did it well enough that so many people were turned on by it then who has the right to say we shouldn’t have done it.  Especially since this format has appeared on so many recordings of the top masters of jazz and many jazz fans crave the energy of an improvised thread of a forward propelling melodic force that starts with the 1st note and continues through to the last while passing between musicians in fours or eights without ever dropping the ball so to speak.  Many jazz fans find this exciting and it represents an element of surprise by its very nature.   Kay: Could you elaborate on that last statement? Mike: What?  About the element of surprise? Kay: Yes, please. Mike:  Well because of the rhythmic behavior of our music the phrasing of the head on not only the opening chorus but also the reprise chorus would be different every time you play it, not to mention all that occurs in between.  Everything becomes improvised in that sense.  What strikes me as strange is that the criticism of this type reminds me of some of the jazz educators in schools who have never played or recorded with anyone of importance or been hired as a sideman seem to feel that they are qualified to set standards and practices for not only their students to follow but for other professionals who have theses type credentials and even for ones they consider “masters.” It is something I have referred to as “theory without reality” in the past. Kay: You are so right about this.  Do you have a problem with jazz education? Mike: No.  Not at all in most cases.  There are some great jazz educators out there and some dedicated people as well that even though they may not have the credentials I mentioned earlier have the dedication and love of jazz that they impart to students in a manner which includes a sincere desire to provide their students with the best jazz education possible.  Many of the latter have been responsible for bringing professionals into their schools to do clinics and master classes in an attempt to provide their students with the insights musicians of that nature can bring to them.  I applaud this wholeheartedly.  There are, however, instances in which the conditions I described earlier also exist.  That is where certain educators have an almost arrogant and egotistical attitude and consider themselves authorities on jazz with no background or experience other than academia to support their claims. Unfortunately, more often than not, theories are imparted that are even detrimental to someone actually trying to learn to play this music properly in my opinion.  Kay: This sounds as if it could be a whole other interview in itself.  Would you be willing to do another interview with me on jazz education as the topic? Mike: Perhaps. Kay: Getting back to this review, there is the criticism that you played “closing cadences that are so imbedded in the ‘canon’ that they effectively substituted for the absent element of surprise.”  What would be your reaction to that statement? Mike: It seems as if the reviewer is criticizing something that was “effective.”  (Laughs) There again it is a case of telling us what we should have done instead of reviewing what we did.  Of course there is something to be said for doing elaborate arrangements and interspersing the improvising within them.  That, however, is not the kind of project we did here.  It was a “live in the studio” type of date in which we picked the tunes and just hit it.  It would make more sense to me for a reviewer to follow the advice of Duke Ellington about criticism in which he stated something to the effect that a critic should ask themselves, “what was this artist trying to do and how well did he do it?” rather than telling the artists they should have done something else.  Kay: What are your thoughts about the term “Jazz Canon”? Mike: Well, I understand where it is coming from although my own personal feeling about it is mixed.  Kay: How do you mean? Mike: Well it tends to suggest an attempt to have jazz be filtered through the prism of Western classical music as opposed to digging it in terms of itself in my humble opinion.  In the small group concept of the type of jazz I play the tunes themselves were more or less vehicles for the improvised solos that, since this is an improvising art form, changes from performance to performance.  My question would be-who decides which recorded performance is part of the canon and which is not?  I understand that there are recordings by masters like Duke Ellington, for instance, that are considered part of the canon but when you heard that band perform, and I played opposite them on more than one occasion, one night’s performance of “Cotton Tail” was an entirely different experience from another night’s performance of the same composition.  This phenomenon seems to get lost when one lumps everything into the canon context.  That word experience is an important word when it comes to jazz because jazz requires experiential knowledge rather than the intellectual knowledge put forth by many of these type critics.  Because of the way that this critic listened to the CD he never had the experience of the music that the other people who liked the CD did.  He listened for imperfections and missed the music. (Laughs) Kay: I never thought of it that way but now that you mention it you do seem to have a point.  What would be your response be to the statement “the one challenge that all who want to credibly follow this approach have to honor:  When playing standards, effort should be made to cast the tune in an even slightly different light than usual?” Mike: My response would be that it is a silly statement.  When was that law passed?  (Laughter) The very idea that any musician or critic feels they have a right to decide what other musicians “have to honor” is a joke in itself.  In the first place I doubt very seriously that Cole Porter, when he wrote Love for Sale, wrote it in the poly metric time conception with the accents and phrasing we played.  I guess this critic missed this aspect of the performance or maybe didn’t hear it.  It seems like a rather shallow or superfluous thing to say.  Kay: Here is what another reviewer had to say about your rendition of Love for Sale. “On Love For Sale, Longo doesn't just capture the essence of Cole Porter, he channels it.” (To continue, please scroll up to the column on the right)

Mike: There is an example of two listeners having totally different experiences listening to the same recording.  Or I should say it shows the difference of one person experiencing the music and another engaging in an intellectual pursuit of flaw finding while missing the experience the recording had to offer. Kay: I know you will love this statement.  The review goes on to criticize your rendition of Speak Low in which it is stated that you played it as an intimate ballad but then states, “Beyond their agreement on this feel, the only sign of preconceived arrangement here is a set of descending triplets, played together by all three participants, which leads from each second ending into the next verse.  And that’s it.” Would you care to comment on that? Mike: This is almost comical. (Laughs)  For one thing if you listen to the lyrics to Speak Low playing it as an intimate ballad is perfectly appropriate.  That is for starters.  What is comical is the statement about a “triplet figure.”  I know the figure being referred to and it is comprised of a quarter note hitting on the "and" of "two" followed by a dotted quarter on the third beat and an eighth note on the "and" of "four" tied over the bar line to a dotted quarter on "one" of the next bar followed by and eight on the "and" of "two" tied into the third beat followed by a quarter note on "four."  None of this has anything to do with a “triplet or a triplet figure.”  It sounds to me like someone who wants to be perceived as knowledgeable about something that they don’t really understand and egotistically blurting it out as if it is a fact.  Again, this person is looking for signs of a “preconceived arrangement” from a group that is improvising off of the top of their heads.  As if we do not have a right to make a recording from that perspective regardless of how much people liked what we did.  (Laughs)   Kay:  It’s as if the reviewer has stepped in dog poop and is wearing it on his vest like a badge. Mike: LOL Kay: The review goes on to complement you for the solo you played on “Tonight” from the West Side Story Medley but then it takes a left turn with the following: “But slamming on the brakes and veering suddenly to a rubato, solo piano rumination on “Maria” subverts that energy, and when Longo slips into the waltz “I ‘feel Pretty” those several seconds of “Maria.” In turn, become superfluous. Mike:: That’s very strange? Kay: Why? Mike: Mostly because the tune “Maria” is not on this CD.  (LOL) I think the reviewer is referring to the tune “Somewhere.”  I’m wondering what part of “medley” didn’t this critic get?  Again, he is entitled to his opinion but I would certainly like to hear why he feels the way he does about the way we played it.  I would love to hear that explanation. Kay: It seems very opinionated especially in view of the fact that all the other critics loved it.  Here is an excerpt from another major jazz publication for comparison; “the trio dives into this one with a bright and upbeat take on “Tonight” that transitions into the reflective “A Place for Us” and concludes with a bluesy mid-tempo waltz “I Feel Pretty.”  He prefaced this by stating: “Westside Story Medley” is obviously musical vignettes from the Leonard Bernstein opus.” At least this critic understands what the word "medley" means. In my opinion, the first review is mostly about the critic instead of a review of the recording. Mike: I don’t know about that so much but one would have to say that the critic definitely has a high degree of journalistic skills.  He certainly writes very well. Kay: Which critic?  The one I just quoted or the one we have been discussing? Mike:  No.  The one we have been discussing.  He has a certain skill with words and seems to be an accomplished writer. Kay: With a big ego!  (Laughs) ___________________________________ The following are quotes from the reviews extracted from various jazz publications for comparison: “Every new album by Mike Longo pushes the envelope of jazz piano playing a little further.  Remember the excitement of the Fifties and Sixties when new piano albums came out by Oscar Peterson and Bill Evans, and then by Dave Brubeck and Ramsey Lewis.  The jazz world “pure energy, flawless execution from each/every player. I'm not "just impressed." I'm floored by how spontaneous the flow is here, and give this CD a MOST HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, as well as an "EQ" (energy quotient) rating of 4.8.  It also gets the "PICK" of this issue for "best jazz trio"!… Doctor Jazz/Improvisation Nation “this recorded ‘live in studio’ captures the most spontaneous, rapturous, improvisational jazz possible. - For all you jazzenthusiasts out there, this one will be a sure winner”…Eagleeye One Magazine “From the !rst note you know you are in the presence of true masters…The selection of tunes is exquisite”… Eric Harabadian-Jazz Inside New York Magazine “Longo's solo exploration of Dizzy Gillespie's "Kush," which closes Sting Like A Bee as a dramatic reminder of how profound an interpreter and penetrating an improviser he Is”…Robert Doerschuk-Downbeat Magazine “Mike Longo proves that he has gained valuable lessons during that time as he delivers a dozen outstanding jazz gems recorded “live” in the studio.”…Boston Post Gazzettte “The remarkable, and remarkably unheralded, pianist's new CD is a sequel to his --what else?-- Float Like A Butterfly of 2007. Riches are unlikely for jazz musicians, but Longo surely deserves a bigger portion of fame”…Doug Ramsey-Rifftides “As he demonstrates on the dreamy "Someone to Love" and the hyperkinetic, boppish "Bird Seed," he has much to offer as a composer.”  -- Mark Holston-Jazzis Magazine   “Longo pulls together one very fine album with Sting Like a Bee, offering sparks of brilliance and plenty of honey; that's the real buzz on this album”…Edward Blanco-All About Jazz “Both discs should appeal to piano trio enthusiasts. More significantly, they should help raise Longo's profile as a leader, a status he has deserved for a long time.”…Martin Z. Kasdan Jr.-Louisville Music News “Mike Longo and this peerless trio prove there's plenty left in the tank for three musicians to get together, swing, and embellish attractive melodies with new vim and vigor, while also digging deep into the timeless well of romance”...Michael G. Nastos-All Music The sleeve notes explain that the album is a homage to the late Oscar Peterson and Dizzy Gillespie, and I think they would both be proud of that, as Sting Like A Bee certainly has the feel of the great man in his heyday... MusicWatch-www.the –borderland.co.uk “This album is everything you expect from a jazz trio, and more. It is grounded in tradition, but is modern in the complexities the group explores. Thank you, Mike Longo.”…Review Center.com “Piano trio albums these days are, as the saying goes, a dime a dozen. On the other hand, one couldn't go wrong placing a wager on Mike Longo's caustic Sting Like a Bee”…Jack Bowers-All About Jazz I truly believe that in the near future you will not hear a jazz piano album that is as fun, exciting, innovative, exploratory and just-plain-jamming as this one…MetaCritic.com “Mike Longo is one of the monster pianists in jazz today”…Earideas “If there was a definition in the dictionary for a perfect album showcasing a jazz trio, a picture of this album would have to be inserted.”… Mike Gruenberg-Jambands.com This is an incredible jazz piano trio recording by Mike Longo that was recorded live in the studio (first takes) to capture the most spontaneous improv possible. These dozen tunes (three written by Longo) showcase jazz piano (with bass and drums) improvisation at its finest…World’s #1 Music Forum “There are no Peterson-style pyrotechnics here, simply a series of lovely melodies played with warmth and perception. On the other hand, "simply" can't even begin to cover the scope of Longo's expertise, as what he engenders is the antithesis of simple”…Jack Bowers-All About Jazz “This CD is a wonderful showcase of Longo’s touch, sense of time and imagination”... Ken Franckling's Jazz Notes…All About Jazz “From the very first note you know you are in the presence of true masters”…Eric Harabadian-Jazz Inside Monthly “MIKE LONGO A MAESTRO OF JAZZ PIANO AND SWINGING IMPROVISATION”…Jazz News-Russia “Sting Like a Bee is sure to excite listeners and rekindle one's love of jazz in all its forms.”…The Free Library On Line “Cranshaw and Nash prove to me the perfect partners for this gem of an album from Mr. Mike Longo.” …Joe Lang-Jersey Jazz Magazine .“This trio swings like the Flying Wallenda's and then some. From bop to ballads it gets no better. 5 Stars”.…John Gilbert- E-Jazz News “After you listen to “Sting Like A Bee”, you’ll be floating like a butterfly from the Mike Longo Trio’s sweet musical honey”…KUVO , Denver – CD of the Month Among the highlights of pianist Mike Longo's "Sting Like a Bee" (Consolidated Artists Productions) are a medium-slow version of Cole Porter's "Love for Sale" in a walking bass groove and an ultra-slow version of Kurt Weill's "Speak Low." Both demonstrate Longo's mastery of rhythm at tempos where timing always trumps flash…North Carolina News & Observer A cut above...Jazz pianist Mike Longo, a true master of the horn line as it were, has an immense capacity to build a fascinating, energetic undercurrent of harmonic-melodic interest to 'catch' his listeners…George W. Carroll-The Musicians’ Ombusdman-Nite Life Exchange This is an expressive, rapturous, jamming album that may turn out to be the most adventurous jazz piano trio recording of the year. Take a listen and be dazzled…Top 40-Charts.com “Pianist Mike Longo's new trio album is smokin hot. 'Sting like a Bee' CAP.. with Bob Crenshaw, Bass and Lewis Nash, Drums. try track 3 ++++”mmatheny Sting Like A Bee is the finest Jazz album I've heard in 2009. Rating: 5 Stars (Out of 5)…Wildy’s World The set card is familiar but adventurous and always engaging and high energy.  Simply a well-played, stylish date that is right in the classic piano trio groove and it never lets you down.  There‘s highlights a-plenty, all making solid listening throughout….Midwest Record if you want to hear how great jazz music should sound then you need to get the Mike Longo Trio’s release, Sting Like a Bee…Indie Music Stop. (To be continued in the next instalment)

Artist's Perceptions (We at Jazzbeat wish the public to know that the opinions expressed in this column are strictly the opinions of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Jazzbeat nor the artists and producers of jazzbeat) "Cutting Edge Critics" and The Process of Elimination. I am starting to find it comical now to read criticism that uses terms like "nothing new here" … "ground breaking"… "cutting edge" … "pushing the envelope" and on and on. It has become the litany of a certain segment of the jazz journalist crowd. Most of it is presented as praise for the "free jazz" movement or criticism of the "mainstream jazz" players. It is not up to anyone to tell musicians how they can play a musical instrument in a free society but to criticize musicians because they do not play a certain way borders on asinine in my view. This is exactly what the type critic who puts down players who swing because they are not "cutting edge" in their view is. It was pointed out in a recent interview, with a contemporary jazz musician, that most of these type critics would not be able to sing which part of a tune a musician like Monk would be in if you stopped a recording in the middle of one of his solos. I’m reasonably sure this would be true with about 99% of this crowd. The point being that they are unable to hear musical content and are only reacting to sound effects from a subjective perspective. This is based in the silly assumption that abstract and weird=modern. Although I am of the belief that it is not what someone does that makes it art but how well they do it, I can’t help but notice that much of what these critics praise as "ground breaking" has been sounding the same since the 1960’s. Since I have been to many of these types of performances which seem to start with a string instrument bowing or plucking a tremelo out of time followed by a percussionist sounding chimes or cymbals which lead to pecking punctuations on a snare drum. What inevitably follows next is a horn of some kind running beatless statements of melodic patterns based on synthetic type scales or runs with a high degree of emotional energy accompanied by clusters and runs on a keyboard instrument blending with loud tom tom rolls and furious cymbal crashes. Eventually this subsides back to the soft sound effects from the beginning which fade out to silence. This is usually followed by exclamations of "whew!" from audience members trying to show each other that they "got it" and "understand and appreciate the latest stuff." I’ve seen and heard this so many times over the past forty five years that it is starting to resemble, for me, a bad joke. While these types of atmospheric passages definitely have their place in music, I personally find a whole evening of it rather boring. Sometimes one of these escapades can last for an entire one-hour set. Now, I don’t tend to suggest for one minute that this music or the people who play it have no right to exist. Nor do I suggest that people who like it or support it have no right to do so. I only have a problem when these types make suggestions to the effect that other types of music should cease to exist and that anyone who isn’t in their camp is just "not with it". This, to me, is ludicrous in view of the fact that many who embrace this direction have tremendous holes in their musicianship and musical development.

I recall one famous jazz master referring to this type of music as "playing tennis without a net". I was told that Duke Ellington was once asked why he hadn’t embraced "free jazz". His answer, according to the story, was that he didn’t want "to go that far back". If the story is true I can see the logic in a statement like that. For some reason, over the past thirty years or so a process of elimination has been applauded as an evolutionary step forward by many. For example we have one musician claiming to have freed jazz from the shackles of harmony. This would be tantamount to eliminating harmony and harmonic progression from jazz. This would be going back to a time, in music, before these things had developed. How is that a forward step? Eliminating form? The development of form in music started simply with related fragments and motifs and eventually evolved to large architectural forms. How is eliminating the logic of form a step forward? It seems like going back to a time before it had developed. In fact the more that this elimination process continues the closer we will get to a time before we even had music, or back to silence. This has even been attempted to pass as music in a piece "composed" by John Cage, the poster child for this movement in the classical field. Next we have those who fall into the camp of what is now termed "The European Invasion". This is the crowd who resents being rejected by American audiences "who are rooted in swing and blues based music". This is understandable in view of the fact that the musicians who are saying this are those who have never figured out how to swing or play the blues. Oh, of course, they will claim that they have but when they attempt to demonstrate this all you will hear is the cliches they have picked up from imitating recordings of people who can swing and play the blues. Again, a process of elimination is in effect here. We have people eliminating swing and blues from jazz, which in reality takes us back to the time before we had jazz. Now the alleged statement from Duke Ellington starts to make even more sense. There is something far more sinister in this idea however since it appears to be an elimination of African American influences that gave birth to the music we came to know as jazz. How convenient! The very thing that has eluded them for so many years they now want to eliminate as they hide behind the cliché that "that is the way black musicians play". This, however, is simply a more subtle form of racism in which black people are viewed as "creatures of a different species" instead of "a person just like myself". One might examine the concept that this very attitude is what has caused them to be unable to swing and play the blues. It might also cause them to notice that there are actually some European musicians who do swing and play the blues and who are being shamefully ignored by people from both continents and who, I might add, are not people who embrace the "different species" concept. Now this brings me to a point that seems to be overlooked by much of today’s jazz community in general. The attempt to eliminate form and harmony from jazz or to eliminate swing and blues from it is also bringing about the elimination of something far more important to the future of jazz. It is shamefully bringing about the elimination of the audience for jazz. How sad! Izzy Feldman

Pianist / composer Mike Longo was Dizzy's pianist and musical director from 1966 until 1975 on a full time basis. From 1975 until Dizzy's death in 1993, Mike performed with Dizzy sporadically about thee to four times a year. He also continued to write for Dizzy's various groups on several occasions. During the last days of Dizzy's life, after he was sent home from the hospital, Mike would go to Dizzy's house in Englewood N.J. and practice with him twice a week in an attempt to help Diz regain his chops in hopes of eventually being able to perform again. Of course this was never to happen and Dizzy died on January 6, 1993 of pancreatic cancer. The two remained close friends and musical companions until his death. Mike has had many marvelous experiences with Dizzy during his lifetime. Some of them provocative musical ones and some very funny life experiences. In our next series of postings on Dizzy, we will be hearing some of these from Mike Longo. DorothyDavis Business Manager CAP records. ____________________________________ The next day the management called Joe Glaser’s office to complain as this is the office that booked us. They, in turn, called Lorraine Gillespie and told her what her husband had done. Everybody was in an uproar. Diz was not a drinker per se. He would tie one on maybe every three or four months or so but when he did it was an extremely hysterical experience. He also could not hold his liquor. After 3 cognacs he was a blithering idiot! The rest of the gig went pretty smooth up until the last night which was New Years Eve. I remember the bass player had cut out from the gig during the middle of the week. We went by his room at the motel and he was gone. He didn’t give Dizzy a notice or anything. He just split. Diz got Al McKibbon to replace him for the rest of the gig and everything was going smooth. I recall on Christmas Eve, Moody and I were going back to the Motel after the gig. The motel was about 5 miles from the Century Plaza where we were playing. I guess, because it was Christmas Eve and it was 2:00 A.M., no cab drivers were on duty outside the club and we couldn’t find a ride. We decided to walk the 5 miles. Moody had his tenor, alto and flute to carry so I carried his alto. There we were on this hyway at 2 o'clock in the morning on Christmas Eve walking back to the motel and we were really feeling sorry for ourselves because we could see people’s homes with Christmas trees in them and we were having no Christmas at all. I recall Moody saying, “what the hell are we doing here Mikel? It’s Christmas Eve and we’re three thousand miles away from anybody we know and can’t even find a hot dog.” Both of us felt like crying because, as I said, we were feeling sorry for ourselves and we were also hungry and couldn’t find anyplace to get anything to eat at that time of the morning. We went back to the motel and stayed up all night. About 7:00 A.M we went out to look for something to eat. It was Christmas morning and the only thing we found open was a Taco Bell. We went in and much to our surprise we found only one other person in the place. It was Karim Abdul Jabbar! He was still Lou Alcindor back then and he had just started playing with the Lakers. He was lamenting the same thing about being away from home on Christmas and he couldn’t find anyplace to eat just like us. It was rather comical I recall. The final night at the Century Plaza was New Years Eve and of course the joint was jumping. I recall all of us were happy the gig was over because it was an up tight week for all of us. (To continue scroll up to the top of the column on the right)

Most of the band was in a jovial mood because it was New Years Eve and the gig was over and we were going to Japan the next day so we were partying. There used to be a couple of airline stewardesses who were like Dizzy Gillespie groupies and they had come to the club that night to be with us on New Years Eve and so it was party time for the Dizzy Gillespie Quintet. The band was really cooking that night and everybody was in rare form. It was 1969 and everybody back then was into some sort of substance abuse and Dizzy’s group was no accept ion although nothing heavy other than mild stuff like pot was tolerated by Dizzy. I recall finishing the first show and standing at the bar feeling no pain when Diz walked up. He had had a couple of cognacs by now and was into one of his devilish moods. He had a pill container with a bunch of Amil Nitrate capsules crushed in it. Back then everybody was into Amil Nitrate which was for heart patients. If you inhaled the fumes from one however, you would get this rush kind of high like being on an instant LSD trip which lasted for about 30 seconds. Diz had about ten of them crushed inside of this pill container. He walked over to me to say something and this elderly gentleman was sitting next to me at the bar. He was a rather up tight and very wealthy white guy. He saw Dizzy and said something to the effect that he liked the music to Dizzy. Dizzy, who was feeling no pain at the time, opens up the pill container with the Amil Nitrate in it and says to the guy “thanks! Smell this....” Needless to say, the man smelled it and I got out of there fast. The last thing I saw was this guy turning red with a look of fright on his face. I remember thinking “no wonder they call him Dizzy...this guy is crazy!” We all went back to the hotel and partied after the gig and since we had an early flight the next morning to Japan, we just stayed up. By the time we went to the LA airport, Dizzy was totally wasted. This was his pre- Bahai days because after he became a Bahai he gave up all forms of intoxication. He was still a “wild man” during this period though. We arrived at the airport about 7:00AM and I was in a cab with Dizzy. While unloading the cab, a stretch limo pulled up behind us and this African American guy about six foot four gets out. Apparently he was a chauffeur for a wealthy client who was in a wheel chair. He gets out of the limo and sets up a wheelchair on the sidewalk. It was one of those electric powered ones. He was setting it up for his client and then going to help the disabled man out of the limo and into the chair. Diz gets out of the cab and of course he is drunk and he sees the wheel chair on the sidewalk. The chauffeur had walked around to the other side of the limo to get some luggage out when Dizzy gets into the man’s wheel chair and drives off! He rode in this electric wheelchair all the way down to the gate! I of course was on my knees on the sidewalk laughing. I couldn’t believe what he had done. About 10 minutes later there were several policeman and airport security people surrounding us at the gate. When the chauffeur saw it was Dizzy he exclaimed “Aw Diz! You crazy bastard! I been a fan of yours all my life!” He then told the police that everything was all right it was just Dizzy Gillespie up to his antics. The police left and Diz gave the chauffeur an autographed photo and everything was cool. We poured Dizzy on the plane and split. So there Oscar Peterson! There is the story!   (all material in this column is protected by US copyright) © 1998 Consolidated Artists Publishing ___________________________________ In 1968, after Martin Luther King was assassinated, Dizzy embraced the Baha'i Religion. For those of you who wish to investigate this we have included some information as well as links. The Bahá'í Faith The Bahá'í world-wide community includes more than 5 million men and women from over 2,100 ethnic groups and almost every nationality, economic class, trade and profession. There are significant Bahá'í communities in 235 countries and territories, of which 174 are organized as national or regional affiliates with approximately 17,000 organized local communities. Some, but by no means all, of the basic principles of the Bahá'í Faith are: - The oneness of mankind, - Independent investigation of the truth, - The common foundation of all religions, - The equality of women and men, - Elimination of prejudice of all kinds, - Universal compulsory education, - A spiritual solution to economic problems, - A universal auxiliary language

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