Meetings with Musical Heroes
Throughout my lifetime of developing my musical skills, I’ve had the privilege to meet many of my musical idols. I wasn’t even really aware of how many I’d met until I was browsing through albums in a record store in Kent, Ohio where I’d gone to college some 30 years earlier and decided to drive down there and revisit the old stomping grounds of my youth. I was astonished to realize that many of the albums I saw were by people whom I’d actually met and even some I’d played with or had enjoyed my own music! Some encounters were only brief verbal exchanges while others were longer discussions.
Some of them gave me musical advice, some I studied with, some I played with, some became fans of my music and some even performed my compositions. If anyone is curious enough to want to find out more about any of these interactions, they are free to contact me and I’d be happy to share them with you. Here is the list, in no particular order or category:
Keith Jarrett
John McLaughlin
Larry Coryell
Brian Auger
McCoy Tyner
Kenny Werner
Pat Martino
Paul McCandless
Glenn Moore
Ralph Towner
Steve Marcus
Jerry Hahn
Paul Bley
Sam Rivers
Barry Altschul
Arild Andersen
Cecil Taylor
Sunny Murray
Don Pullen
Joe Lovano
Michael Urbaniak
Tom Varner
Eric Friedlander
Arturo O'Farrill
Zack O'Farrill
Adam O'Farrill
Tito Puente
Rez Abbasi
Randy Brecker
Lew Soloff
Pharoah Sanders
Fred Hopkins
Charlie Haden
Dave Holland
Leroy Jenkins
Jerome Cooper
Alan Silva
Sal Mosca
Walter Bishop Jr.
Bill DeArango
Freddie Hubbard
Ramsey Ameen
Don Friedman
Ralph Lalama
Mark Egan
Mike Mandel
George Benson
Steve Kuhn
Bobby Few
Mike Wolff
Bill Evans (sax player)
Tom Barney
Drew Zingg
Bob Dorough
Hiromi
Lenny White
Ratzo Harris
Rob Thomas
Ken Filiano
Jay Rosen
Lisle Ellis
Jackie McLean
Robben Ford
Dave Douglas
James Emery
Jimmy Lyons
David Murray
Fred Hersh
Brad Mehldau
Joel Frahm
Tim Collins
John Abercrombie
Mike Stern
Julian Lage
Adam Rogers
Wayne Krantz
Gil Parris
George Lewis
Tony Oxley
Mark Feldman
Cameron Brown
Joe Locke
David Amram
Lee Konitz
Gary Bartz
Bill O'Connell
Victor Bailey
Kevin Eubanks
James Weidman
Dave Lalama
Richie Goods
Peter Apfelbaum
Michael Leonhart
James Conlon
Andre Watts
Frederic Rzewski
Robert Mann
Nathaniel Rosen
Ursula Oppens
Jeffrey Rathbun
Bruce Patti
Shem Guibbory
Alison Deane
Cynthia Peterson
Anthony Smetona
Sonny Terry
Brownie McGhee
Junior Wells
Charlie Musselwhite
Walter Horton
Sammy Lay
Glenn Schwartz
Corky Siegel
Harvey Mandel
Danny Kalb
Steve Katz
Al Kooper
Jack Bruce
Danny Gatton
Amos Garrett
Geoff Muldaur
Eric Von Schmidt
Maria Muldaur
Spider John Koerner
Tony Glover
Tom Rush
Trevor Veitch
John Sebastian
Arthur Lee
Phil Keaggy
Bert Jansch
John Renbourn
Stefan Grossman
Clive Carroll
Richie Furay
Paul Cotton
Bernie Leadon
Jesse Colin Young
Herb Alpert
Sergio Mendes
Astrud Gilberto
Romero Lubambo
Marcos Valle
Dom Salvador
Roberto Menescal
Carlos Lyra
Wanda Sa
Ricardo Silveira
Vinicius Cantuaria
Leila Pinheiro
Celso Blues Boy
Donald Fagen
Walter Becker
Joe Jackson
Neal Shulman
Rex Fowler
Arlen Roth
The Drifters
Sonny Geraci
Musical Non-Heroes I met:
Patti Smith was decidedly not a musical hero, in fact, not a very good musician at all, but I did jam with her and her group back in 1977 and met Lenny Kaye again many years later. I also met Philip Glass on an airplane and even stayed in his flat in Rio one night when he wasn’t in town but despite his popularity and fame, I don’t find him to be a very good composer. Repetitive and boring. Nice enough fellow though. Last but not least, or for that matter, maybe least, I spent some time in the course of my past business doing some work for and hanging out with a guy named Moby who I’d never heard of. The only Moby I know is Moby Grape – the marvelous Marin County band from the 60’s. I just now figured I’d give a listen to what kind of music Moby did and as I assumed, it was nothing but bland, commercial drek. Obviously, no hero of mine. But again, nice enough chap.
Some of them gave me musical advice, some I studied with, some I played with, some became fans of my music and some even performed my compositions. If anyone is curious enough to want to find out more about any of these interactions, they are free to contact me and I’d be happy to share them with you. Here is the list, in no particular order or category: