I'm turning my horn into a lamp!
Hey Tim, I fowarded this to Bootsie.
sideC- I spoke to Bootsie last week...he was doing great.
Speaking of BYAS....I got to tell Bootsie the story Don Patterson
told me about Sonny Stitt in Brussles Jazz Fest. There was a Featival Jam...Byas was there kicking
[email protected]@. People were in awe.
Don said Stitt saw the jam and looks around like he's bored. Patterson then sais Stitt walks up to the bandstand and stands there and gets his tenor out really calm like he's in no rush or nothing. Byas nods to Stitt to hit with him- they go into " Stuffy" in Db. The Hawk tune...So Byas
solos 1st...Don said Stitt came in sooooooooooooooo relaxed and built one chorus into
the next like a ladder, then the _STITT THING_happened ! Just when everything was at a boil... Stitt up'd the energy with double-time stuff all over and had the joint going nutty. Byas seemed cool Patterson said- then started to bust out some stuff that nobody ever heard! Don said even Stitt raised an eyebrow at him smiling...but was FAR from backing down. It set Stitt off even more Don said- Stitt flew in with his stuff and arched the band and started to take " Stuffy" thru the keys!!
POINT IS....Somewhere there is a tape of this!! Don said they were at it over an hour! Ya know Don was a WWF wrestling fan he loved that stuff, and he described this as something so brutal, so head to head kicking
[email protected]@ that I can only dream of the sound!! Somewhere there is a tape of this!!!
SideC- Speaking of Patterson. I used to drive with Don & Billy James on road gigs in Dons van.In Ohio once Don made a wrong turn, we started to see West Virginia signs in the middle of the night Don was going so damn fast. I told Don that we needed to turn the
F around towards Ohio as we were going towards Akron or somthing. So Patterson hits the brake and the van on the highways does a slider and spins 3x around and we are in the other lane. Billy James was in the back seat asleep-and never woke up!! When Don hit the brake and the van with the damn HAMMOND AND LESLIE in were in there I thought I met my maker for sure DOA. All kinds of stuff was rolling all over the floor, Dons old empty Thunderbird bottles, cans of empty oil, and shoes and stuff. He drove_WORSE_than McDuff! :shock::yikes!:Safe but crazy- no cares just like he was in total control. It seemed he was but still- hahaha. Call me next week- I got a gig idea, I'll tell another story about McDuff stealing one of Jimmy Smiths organs from this guy in Gary Ind- and Jimmy was pissed!!!! ha
ha- Being on the road with McDuff made ANY scene in Pulp Fiction seem like Bambi. Jack WAS something else, tho' the music was beautiful.
SideC- we're lucky we are alive we know some crAzEd dudes- then..there's Rufus Harley! McRufus !!! ha:bluewink:ha- Damn I miss him too.....TALK SOON
