Peter Friedman

Wonder what happened to alto player John Jenkins? Was listening to an album on which he was playing, and decided to do a slight bit of research. I found he was on 12 or 13 sessions. Jenkins first recording was in 1957 and his last in 1990. He recorded for many of the most significant jazz labels - New Jazz, Blue Note, Prestige, Savoy, Riverside, and Mapleshade. He played in the Hard Bop style. and I have all of his albums as both leader and sideman on my shelf and enjoy listening to all of them. Am curious regarding why he did not record more frequently during the late 50's and 60's, his key years . And then what happened as he seemed to fade from the scene.

I was fortunate to see Ed Bickert perform live a few times. One such event stands out strongly in my mind. It was about 27 years ago at the Topeka,Ks Jazz Party. One of the groups performing at that marvelous event was the Rob McConnell Trio with Ed Bickert and Neil Swainson. My wife and I were sitting right up front very close to the musicians. The 3 musicians were completely in sync with each other. The music was both swinging and had a subtlety and sensitivity that made for me an outstanding experience.

Spohr Double Quartet No.3 and No.4 WDR Chamber Players