A musical interlude

Yesterday I went to Iridium with my friend Ken. We saw Kenny Garrett with Pharoah Sanders. I have always credited Pharoah with opening my ears to jazz. Arguably a lot of things came first, but I will always remember a day when I was a freshman in college, driving around Albany in a beat up 1965 Pontiac. I was listening to a ‘progressive’ AM radio station out of Pittsfield Massachusetts (this was 1974 or 1975 and there was no FM on my old beater) and a tune started playing. It was a pleasant jazz tune and strong vocals, with lots of interesting percussion going on – shells rattling, drums booming . As I drove along it got more and more intense and compelling. Soon I was so amazed that I pulled over to the side of the road and listened intently as the music went completely out with wild saxophone playing and the vocalist yodeling furiously. It gradually came back, finally ending up back at the vamp and vocals. I’d heard Pharoah Sanders and my life was different. The next day I was at the record store and very soon I was listening to Coltrane, Dolphy, Davis and other groundbreaking musicians.

We couldn’t stay for the late set at Iridium, so we made our way to the door. Pharoah was there speaking to someone. I stood right behind him, and when he turned I said to him, “Can I just say thank you for 30 years of joy?” He looked at me and replied, “Have you been listening that long?” He smiled, shook my hand and moved on. It felt really good to be able to thank him for that day and all the things that have flowed from it since then – maybe it was the best part of the evening.