ValerieB

isn't it Dizzy's birthday today?

just ordered a couple of copies from amazon.com. very reasonable. i have memories of seeing Nica in the '60s in NYC jazz clubs. always made an entrance and an exit! reminded me a bit of Hedy Lamar (sp?) or Veronica Lake type. interesting the similarity of the name! of course, at that time i also thought she was an old woman but very glamorous nevertheless!!

Tina Turner the other night at the Staples Center!!! thank goodness i had ear-plugs with me otherwise i would have had to leave!! it was absolutely deafening although i do know that my ears are very sensitive.

wishing you good health and happiness for many more.

i don't even see Ira often but he still looks the same to me except for the hair color! wish my hair color was the only thing that's changed!

thank you SO very much, Michael, for the photos. they were very poignant to me. glad, too, to see Ben and Frank looking good as i know they've had their medical problems.

anyone notice the apparent typo of taking the bus at age 2 to hear jazz?!? my guess is he was 12, which is still amazing.

today at UCLA was a jazz musician photo shoot called "Great Day in L.A." named after the original 1959 shoot in Harlem. Claxton was scheduled to be the official photographer. i was told that today he would have been 81 years old! very sad and a huge loss. he certainly made an enormous contribution to this art form.

I am absolutely thrilled to report that it looks like George is going home from the hospital today!! Yeah!

i, too, will take advantage of another opportunity to wish this beautiful man a complete and smooth recovery!

i was under the impression that he didn't leave the boston area that frequently! am i thinking of the same person?

Mingus Big Band again!! this time in San Pedro. they were absolutely, mind-blowingly, outrageously fabulous last night! cannot begin to believe the talent and maturity of the 17-year old drummer!! he even played one of the pieces from the ridiculously difficult Epitaph for the first time before an audience with what sounded like perfect execution! it was a very exciting evening with a great mix of young players and some great old-timers!

Mingus Big Band. Yeah!

Our beloved George is recovering from his second kidney transplant which he had the day before yesterday. please keep him in your thoughts and prayers!

i think i read somewhere that the Jazz Standard will not have a cover charge for the Band.

i'd be there EVERY night if i could. i'll be seeing them tonight in L.A. but lots of the above-listed guys (especially some of my faves) won't be there or in San Pedro tomorrow night. i'm sure the band will still be slammin' though.

that's the kind of sandwich i used to get decades ago at a little variety store on Macdougal St., located between those two great restaurants, the Minetta Tavern and Monte's!! i think i paid 35 cents for it in the '60s!!

was it "white christmas"?!? (no pun intended!) i seem to remember that he recorded that and it was a hit for him.

i remember this beautiful woman so well. i saw Black Orpheus while i was living in Greenwich Village in the early '60s and then found out that she lived there. used to see her on Macdougal Street. it's a shame that she didn't go on to do some more film work. she was very special. RIP, Ms. Dawn.

Personally, anything cooked with bacon is tasty. Don't think I've ever tried bacon greaze, but I did cook up some sausage pancakes for my girls this weekend (breakfast sausage crumbled into the batter). one of my favorite l.a. restaurants serves brussel sprouts with little pieces of canadian bacon and they are delish!!

and for breakfast with eggs as well!! yum!

Wells conjures up some wonderful memories for me, too! breakfast in the wee hours was the best! one of the first times i ever saw Sonny Rollins just hanging out in the mid-'60s. didn't Shirley Scott used to work there a lot?

Roscoe's is an institution in L.A.!!!! they've been here probably since the '70s and now have several locations. brunches on weekends are always packed there. i believe the main location is still in Hollywood. yum-yum!!

interesting, as i haven't seen her as shy for many, many decades. in fact, i see her as fierce and passionate. she still has an "Asian demeanor," for lack of a better way to describe it, and very polite but certainly not shy. in fact, i'd say she has more of a "tiger in her tank" than shyness!! just my personal opinion though, fwiw.