ValerieB

hysterical photo of Gary Bartz! love it! entire page is tainted though with Ms. Monheit! yuck!

i only recognize James Williams and Steve Wilson but no one looks like Javon to me.

Chris: i don't see Javon in that picture! which one?

i've often thought about what a raw deal i was given not being born looking like Lena!!!

oh, i love that cute pictures of some of my favorite guys: Buster, Kenny, Ben and Gary! i also especially loved seeing George Coleman looking like when i first met him in the early '60s!! what an incredible collection you have (of lots of things)!!

wow!! that was a really good guess or some intuition working! one of my favorite memories is meeting Bud Powell in their apartment! he used to take the train from Brooklyn and play their piano as he didn't have one at the time. sad but true. i actually didn't live far from you in the 1960s but sure didn't have that view! speaking of Charles Tolliver, i just saw him at Freddie's funeral in L.A. a bunch of guys flew here from NY. Donald Byrd tried to make it but very unfortunately was stranded at the NY airport.

those views from your window are absolutely priceless!! are you near where Max and Abbey used to live?

Chris: i'm enjoying this very much. i have a huge stack of 8x10's but no scanner. Suggestion: how about starting a Part Two of this thread so it's easier to open? thanks.

Chris: your first photo above is such a fabulous one of Freddie and, lo and behold, it was taken by one of my dearest friends, Paula Ross, who i have been thinking about so much today (and almost every day) since she passed just a year ago. thanks so much for posting. happy, healthy 2009 to you.

Chris: your first photo above is such a fabulous one of Freddie and, lo and behold, it was taken by one of my dearest friends, Paula Ross, who i have been thinking about so much today (and almost every day) since she passed just a year ago. thanks so much for posting. happy, healthy 2009 to you.

excellent news! best healing wishes to Mark.

wishing the best to one and all. and special thanks to Jim and his team.

i agree, Jim. i happen to enjoy his show but he is, quite definitely, very traditional.

i almost went to work for her years ago as her personal assistant. she was quite a business woman, that's for certain.

5 long-time friends/family members gave me an SD790 IS Digital Elph!! blew me away. will be great for my Jan. jazz cruise! also, for those of you who have heard of Costco, a friend gave me a membership. of course that will end up costing me a lot of $$$! got a gorgeous cashmere scarf from a co-worker. i might add, probably worth a lot more than what i bought her!! yikes, t'was a little embarrassing!!

Mark: thank you so much for your beautiful article about Kenn. i forwarded it to some of his close friends who are at Oberlin.

wishing everyone a very happy and healthy holiday season. when you get to be my age, the "healthy" part becomes a high priority!

i'm pleading the 5th, of course!

i'm sure you'd recognize Lorraine if you saw her, right? Dan, Charlie and George have been in my life (albeit not "intimately"!!) for over 50 years!!!! YIKES!! and i must say, two out of the three are just as sweet as ever!! bet you can guess who isn't always!!

Chris: although occasionally i've perused this thread, yesterday i started from the beginning. took me hours even without reading everything!! enjoyed it very much. i certainly would have stopped if i hadn't! i see my friend, Maxine Gordon, in the picture above. frankly speaking, i'm surprised it's such an almost totally white guest list!! LOL!! were there a total of two black people there?!? looks very fancy.

i also remember the jazz museum. my ex-father-in-law took me there. i think he was involved with it in some way. he was so very proud of it.

very sad. such a great guy. he and i and a mutual musician friend tried to get together just a few months ago before he returned home from his regular summer gig teaching at Cal Arts. he will be missed by many.

thank you so very much for this wonderful post. it is so empowering, positive and conscious. Mark will definitely pull through this and remain the special person he is.

no, no, no, that's not true!!!! please delete this! thanks.

of course, i'll delete my post as well.