poljazz

I first heard Dewey's band in London in 1978 - Eddie Moore, Mark Helias, Norman Simmons - beautiful, ethereal, soulful, profound music. What a band, what a sound. Then two years later with Old and New Dreams. Later back home in Australia a few of us started a non-profit jazz organisation to support the local scene. We received money to do a mini-festival with an international guest and we brought Dewey out as a single. It wasn't ideal but money was tight and a full band out of the question. Dewey enjoyed himself, especially as the other horn player was one of the local icons, an alto player called Bernie McGann, whom he'd met in NYC a few years earlier and whose playing he really liked (check Bernie out, he's an original). Anyway, I loved working with Dewey and because of his presence the event was a big success, helped the local scene and put our organisation on the way. We brought Dewey out again in '88, with Geri Allen and Eddie using Lloyd Swanton, of The Necks, on bass, and again in 1994 when he brought Skip Hadden and the band included Lloyd again and Barney McAll, who these days plays with Gary Bartz. Dewey and I became friends and I used to call him every couple of months for a chat. When I started to travel overseas regularly in the 1990s I'd always meet him if he was in New York. He was such alovely man, with so much music in him and such love for people. Once he called me after Eddie Moore died and cried on the phone that his "friend was gone". I feel like calling someone now and saying the same.