“Benny and Gene! Together Again! ”
by Joe Levinson

Dave Frishberg told me this story back in 1962 in New York. He swore it was true and he should know: he was the pianist that eventful night at the Metropole.

The Metropole! Just saying the name brings back crazy memories. It was a large bar and restaurant smack in the heart of Times Square that featured small and large jazz bands on a narrow stage against the north wall, directly behind the bartenders.

by John Litweiler

My Time with Al Haig
by Kenny Fredrickson

In the early '60s Al Haig and I were working for a couple of weeks in the same Manhattan night club, playing solo piano and accompanying chick singers. One of the singers was a Mexican-American girl who spoke perfect English and sang her butt off.

Fred Anderson: an interview with Lazaro Vega

John Zorn
by Stuart Nicholson

Naked City
Elektra Nonesuch 979238-2.
John Zorn (alt); Bill Frisell (g); Wayne Horvitz (key); Fred Frith (b); Joey Baron (d); Yamatsuka Eye (v).
New York, 1989.

Batman. The Sicilian clan. You will be shot. Latin quarter. A shot in the dark. Reanimator. Snagglepuss. I want to live. Lonley woman.
Ingeneous ejeculation. Blood duster. Hammerhead. Demon sanctuary. Obeah man. Ujaku. Fuck the facts. Speedball. Chinatown. Punk china doll. N.Y. flat top box. Saigon pickup. The James Bond theme. Den of sins. Contempt. Graveyad shift. Inside straight.

Classic recordings—Wes Montgomery
by Stuart Nicholson

The Complete 'Smokin' at the Half Note', Vol.1
+Verve (J) POCJ-1816.

Wynton Kelly (p); Montgomery (g); Paul Chambers (bs); Jimmy Cobb (d).
'Half Note', New York City: 24 June 1965.
No blues. If you could see me now.
Same personnel.
Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: 22 September 1965
Unit 7. Four on six. What's new.
The Complete 'Smokin' at the Half Note', Vol.2
+Verve (J) POCJ-1902.

Wynton Kelly (p); Montgomery (g); Paul Chambers (bs); Jimmy Cobb (d).
'Half Note', New York City: June 1965

How the Chicago Jazz Festival Began
by George Spink

This is the story of how the annual Chicago Jazz Festival began under Mayor Jane Byrne's administration, in 1979.

About a year before Byrne was elected, Karen Conner, Paul McGrath's former wife, phoned me to ask for a few plugs on my radio show for a dance at the Aragon she was publicizing for a charity. I said I'd be happy to do so. After Byrne was elected in 1979, she made Karen her Special Events Director.

By Don Rose

Isaac "Redd" Holt:
1999 Arts Midwest Jazz Master
by Steve Reinfranck

Isaac “Redd” Holt was born May 16th, 1932, in Rosedale, Missisippi. The Holt family migrated to the west side of Chicago when Redd was eight years old. His interest in drums and percussion originated in the south when his father took him to see a traveling minstrel show featuring the dancer “Peg Leg” Bates and a drummer whose name has vanished in the mist. The moment that Redd witnessed the act featuring trap drums, his future was decided.

John Steiner
by Charles Sengstock

JIC founding member Dr. John Steiner died in June of this year, and the JIC, Chicago and the jazz world lost a fine scholar and historian. John was a prodigious record collector and owner of the early Paramount and S&D jazz record labels. More than that, he was a friend to many and, to some, a mentor.