Courtesy of www.jerryjazzmusician.com, comes another of Alan's crossover literary triumphs, a poem about his 1962 visit to Gaslight Square to hear the GREAT Dizzy Gillespie in person. Scott Heuer and Dennis Winkler were in the group too, and I'd bet Bob Heuer was there to drive, but of course he was a VERY talented musician himself....we need not wonder where Scott got his musical genes. Thanks for sharing ALAN!!! Keep blowin' that horn and writin' those lines!!!
HEARING DIZZY GILLESPIE AT DINO’S CLUB
IN ST.LOUIS FOR THE FIRST TIME
For Scott Heuer, and all the other
musicians in our dance band.
we all were
three fifteen year olds
along with one of our fathers.
we were
the only white guys
in the club.
it was at dino’s club
in st.louis, in the fall of 1962
at the corner of
debaliviere & wabash …
also known as gaslight square.
*****
before the concert started
a guy my age
(in the booth next to me)
tapped me on the shoulder.
“do you play trumpet,” he said.
I said “yes.”
he said, “me too.”
just then …
everything seemed o.k.
we talked about our horns …
and charts we had played:
both of us
had played in a jazz band.
we found we had both played
the “leads series” of stage band songs:
tunes that dizzy also played.
*****
the concert was amazing …
groovin’ high & night in tunisia
with dizzy playing tight staccato notes
on his silver harmon mute.
dizzy’s playing … wow!
an infectious
infused joy, of boppish phrasing.
the crowd
would not stop clapping …
and cheering … after every song.
*****
the guy next to me
& his family
left at the same time.
outside, we both said
we would meet
in st.louis somewhere
& get together
and play some jazz
sometime.
also, we both agreed
for sure,
we were going
to remodel our trumpets
to have an uplifted bell …
just exactly like dizzy had done,
for his own horn,
for sure.
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