Von Freeman wins lifetime achievement award

Docformat, getting to know Von's playing is a worthwhile experience. Go out and buy one of Von's CDs- an especially good recent one is The Great Divide with Jimmy Cobb on drums. He can play anything from inside to out, but usually more in than out. A true elder statesman of the tenor. His tone tends towards the nasal, acid side in my opinion and you can recognize him easily after a few listens. Definitely his own man on tenor.

I was fortunate enough to catch Vonski at one of his gigs in Chicago about two weeks ago. He played 3 one hour sets with only a 15 minute break in between at almost 85 years of age so you know he loves the music. I had an amazing hour-long 2 AM after-gig conversation with him. I felt he was channeling Pres that night since he was playing Lester Leaps In when I got there and started the next set with Jumpin' With Symphony Sid. His third set featured Robbin's Nest. Von told me he met Pres, recorded with Dexter, and someone else told me there is a live recording of Von with Bird on Savoy out there somewhere. So he is of the generation of the greats. But he didn't stop there and is still going strong. Really a humble man for such a great player.

His piano player mentioned something very profound - that Von is one of maybe a dozen people left on the planet who share that generation's musical experience. Eleven now that Max Roach is gone.

You can't go wrong with Von's honest, forthright, original music.