THIS ONE’S FOR STEVE SANDO

What instrument does Steve Sando play?

I don’t know if Steve is a secret hot pianist, but I do know that he’s responsible for the most tasty heirloom beans on the planet — ones the Beloved and I ate last night.  Steve (whose music library starts at five thousand CDs, a man after my own heart) is the Man In Charge of Rancho Gordo, from which delicious beans and grains come.  (His site is www.ranchogordo.com.)  And Steve also adores singers, both well-known and obscure: last night we spoke of Jack Teagarden, Fats Waller, and Alice Faye. 

So these two pieces of paper are in honor of our pal and provider of good things Steve Sando:

That’s Annette Hanshaw!

And Connee Boswell in 1966.  Just remember, jazz fans, it is just as easy to have something delicious to eat as it is to dine on something unsatisfying.  (An unsolicited testimonial from a deeply satisfied consumer.)

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WHEE! (For Eddie Condon)

Lucky Pat Lyon, to have gotten this one-word affirmation of life from the Master, Albert Edwin Condon.  WHEE!

PLAY A SIMPLE MELODY

Bobby Hackett once said of Louis Armstrong, “Do people know how hard it is to make a melody come so alive?” 

Hackett, a modest man, never demanded the same praise for his own glowing playing, but here’s an example of what he did so lovingly for us and for the composer. 

In this case, he’s honoring Harry Warren’s SERENADE IN BLUE. a song he recorded during his brief tenure with the Glenn Miller orchestra. 

The video clip is courtesy of “altoalto1” on YouTube, who has shared with us evidence of one of Bobby’s trips abroad.  Here we find him in May 1973, on Dutch television, captured at the jazz club “New Orleans” in Scheveningen, The Hague, Netherlands.  He was appearing with the Ted Easton Jazz Band: Bob Wulffers, trumpet; Hans Verheul, clarinet; Frits Kaatee, tenor sax; Henk van Muijen, trombone; Pim Hogervorst, guitar; Jacques Kingma, bass; Ted Easton, drums. 

Never mind Hackett’s astonishing sportsjacket: what he plays is a quiet marvel.