recently saw obama on tv. he seemed loose, and was speaking the truth. i leaned closer. his voice was a little louder, it had more soul than normal. it hit me. he's talking to a black audience. indeed, he was speaking at a meeting of the black congressional caucus. i don't know what to make of this, and i do.

saw curtis fuller. he was on blue train. wrote a la mode. was on the mode for joe album. played with blakey. played on so many great records. there he was last saturday, a little hunched over, frail, wearing a patriots hat.

saw plas johnson. this man played the tenor solo on sinatra's version of that old feeling and blue moon. he is the horn on the pink panther theme. he was the session man. made some jazz classics that are almost impossible to find, including the 1959 album entitled "this must be the plas." there he was with what looked like a conked wig! white blazer, bad ass collar, smooth. he had a silver tenor. played beuatifully at 78.

the next day saw a local cat named nick goumas. wasn't expecting much. the man played his ass off. joe henderson and cedar walton tunes. the blue note sound, the 60's sound. the trane-joe thing. he had chops. he gets about a gig a month. at this gig, there was no one in attendance. i sat there, veggie burger in mouth, rum and coke in hand, stunned that i was hearing serenity played so well. i've added goumas to my list of bad local tenors (tim mayer, bill pierce, rick dimuzzio)

it's cool to hear live music. yes, the air is being poisoned, the bombs are being dropped, but, it's still cool to hear live music. especially an older dude that still has it. i love seeing the joy an older player has in making music. their instrument is usually old and has a warm sound. they know all the tunes. it's just good shit.

good shit.

now, if i could only take one.