Unexpected Musician Sightings

[Christiern]

I had been away from my apartment most of the day, came home and turned on the TV (pre computer era). As I sat in my living room watching the evening news, I thought I heard the sounds of an alto sax coming from somewhere other than the TV set. Mystified, I got up and traced the sound,,,it was coming from a closet in my bedroom! As far as I knew, nobody else was in my apartment—but I was wrong. "anybody there?," I shouted. The second time, having raised my volume, the saxophone playing stopped, the door opened, and a musician, sax in hand, stepped out—totally naked!!!

Although I am pretty sure that this musician is no longer around, I won't give you his name, but he has played and recorded with top people and may well be present on an album in your collection. How did he get into my apartment? He had stayed here a couple of times a few years earlier, when he and his wife were experiencing marital problems, so he still had the keys.

If that sounds too far out to be believable, I agree—but it really happened and it was a totally unexpected musician sighting..

In a few months, I will have lived in this place for half a century—how great it is that apartments can't talk!

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Zowie!!!!!

MG

[tjluke68]

Not jazz but nonetheless fun/funny:

Was at a rest stop in Florida waiting for a girlfriend to come out of the bathroom and noticed someone in line at the Cinnabon who looked familiar but I couldn't place him. Then it came to me; I saw him a week or so ago on an episode of VH1's Behind The Music. So I approached and mentioned that he looked familiar and asked if he played drums. After confirming that he did, I asked if he was the drummer in Grand Funk and he was - Don Brewer. He was in Florida for his daughters college graduation. If I hadn't seen the BTM episode so recently, I wouldn't know him from Adam.

Another time, saw Guns 'n Roses guitarist, Slash, pushing a shopping cart behind his girlfriend at a Park City, UT supermarket during the Sundance film festival back in 2003.

[Shawn]

Musician sightings in Seattle were not uncommon in the 90s.

Ran into Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament from Pearl Jam browsing the jazz section at Tower Records.

Hanging out in a tiny bar on 1st ave when Chris Cornell and his wife came in, they bought drinks, put quarters in the jukebox and danced.

Ended up standing in line at Dick's Drive-In with Peter Buck from R.E.M. That was funny because I had met him years earlier in Macon, GA.

Met Dickie Peterson from Blue Cheer at the Art Institute, he was visiting one of the professors and was nice enough to come into class, chat and answer questions.

Also got to sit at the bar and watch Lemmy from Motorhead drink and play flamenco acoustic guitar pre-show before the doors opened for a Motorhead gig.

[Michael Weiss]

I had been away from my apartment most of the day, came home and turned on the TV (pre computer era). As I sat in my living room watching the evening news, I thought I heard the sounds of an alto sax coming from somewhere other than the TV set. Mystified, I got up and traced the sound,,,it was coming from a closet in my bedroom! As far as I knew, nobody else was in my apartment—but I was wrong. "anybody there?," I shouted. The second time, having raised my volume, the saxophone playing stopped, the door opened, and a musician, sax in hand, stepped out—totally naked!!!

Although I am pretty sure that this musician is no longer around, I won't give you his name, but he has played and recorded with top people and may well be present on an album in your collection. How did he get into my apartment? He had stayed here a couple of times a few years earlier, when he and his wife were experiencing marital problems, so he still had the keys.

If that sounds too far out to be believable, I agree—but it really happened and it was a totally unexpected musician sighting..

In a few months, I will have lived in this place for half a century—how great it is that apartments can't talk!

Let's see.... process of elimination:

Benny Carter?

[B. Clugston]

Some friends and I were at a late-night vegetarian restaurant. One person couldn’t finish his beer (which is unbelievable for a journalist), so this fellow at the next table offered to finish it. He downed it in one go. Turns out he was saxophonist/flautist Walter Zuber Armstrong. We had a nice chat with him and I later filmed him for a school project.

I was at Anthony Braxton’s Sonic Genome Project event, standing off to the side and while it wasn’t unexpected to see Braxton at his own concert, it was entirely unexpected when he came up to me and started chatting to me and my daughter.

In the non-musical department, I saw George C. Scott at a posh restaurant once. His food was taking too long, so he went all Patton on the staff.

And back to the original intention of this thread, seeing Tony Williams with Derek Bailey on the Arcana album was pretty unusual, in spite of the Bill Laswell connection.

[jeffcrom]

One person couldn’t finish his beer....

I know what all those words mean individually, but when put together, they don't form any concept that I can grasp.

[AllenLowe]

Dudu Pukwana was very nice to me when I met him at a club called the Phoenix in Longdon, 1969. I think he couldn't figure out what a young white kid from the USA was doing there.

Also, in 1969 (or was it '68?) I played with a high school jazz group at probably the first of the RFK foundation concerts; there was an old cranky guy wandering around; turned out it was the comeback appearance of Eubie Blake.

in 1969 or '70 at the Village Vanguard a guy followed us around trying to borrow money from a friend of mine. It was Wilbur Ware.

Edited August 29, 2012 by AllenLowe

[colinmce]

Alright, I'll just go ahead and cop to my young age (28) with this one: when Al Gore stopped by my Iowa high school during his 2000 campaign he brought along none other than surprise guest Herbie Hancock who treated us to about 50 choruses of "Watermelon Man". I knew Herbie and knew the tune (albeit from Headhunters) and was excited for him to be there but I sure didn't appreciate it as much as I do in hindsight.

[Don Brown]

Three sightings I remember occurred in New York in 1965. Walking up 7th Avenue one evening my wife and I looked into an almost empty diner and spotted Paul Gonsalves sitting at a table with his very beautiful wife and their two children. It was a nice domestic scene. Earlier that day while grabbing a hamburger for lunch, I was idly watching passersby through the front window of the lunch counter and saw Frank Foster and some other musicians walking down the street. Then, on the same trip, while browsing through records in Sam Goody's, I saw Russell Procope at the cash buying a copy of Louis' Hello Dolly.

[CJ Shearn]

now THAT's a guitarist.

weirdest one was with Jack DeJohnette in the Tower records on lower broadway, maybe 15 years ago. He was acting really strange to begin with, and I said, "are you Jack DeJohnette?" and he glared at me like some crazy homeless guy on the subway (him, not me). The whole place was buzzing because he was acting so bizarrely.

Wouldn't you feel strange too if some random person/fan whatever came up to you? You've mentioned this encounter with Jack more than once and it seems it really bothers you. I've met Jack and he was wonderful though very tired from 2+ hours of playing. He even brought my CD's to Pat Metheny and Larry Grenadier to sign. I've also interacted with him on FB, no problems. From all accounts Jack's a pretty private person, and he's also had tons of fans probably come up to him through the years with inane stuff, so it's not surprising he might give some strange looks.

Edited August 29, 2012 by CJ Shearn

[clifford_thornton]

Saw Peter Brotzmann in the (late) Mole Jazz record store in London sometime in the late 60s. He was delivering a box of albums, presumably from his FMR label. After he'd gone I asked to hear "Machine Gun" and bought it. Probably the only time I ever played more than a minute of it.

If it was the late 60s, they would have been private "BRO" issues, which FMP reissued on LP in 1972. Pretty cool nonetheless!

I'm getting that musician run-in thing going on in NYC. Fond memories of that about a dozen years ago when I ran into Leroy Jenkins on the street in the VIllage and had a nice stroll and conversation with him.

[sidewinder]

Saw Peter Brotzmann in the (late) Mole Jazz record store in London sometime in the late 60s. He was delivering a box of albums, presumably from his FMR label. After he'd gone I asked to hear "Machine Gun" and bought it. Probably the only time I ever played more than a minute of it.

Didn't Mole start up in the late 70s? (Kings Cross). Mid-70s it was a mail order operation from Ed D. and then a short stint at All Change/Baker Street.

[ep1str0phy]

Not totally unexpected, but still pretty surprising (to me):

I'm also putting a date on myself here, but I had a somewhat lengthy conversation with Andrew Hill when I was a kid in the 90's. This was after the 80's Blue Note CD reissues but before the RVG program was past its second wave or so, and I didn't own any later Andrew Hill recordings at the time--so, basically, outside of the cover photo to Point of Departure, I had no idea what he looked like.

Anyway, having heard all of a handful of his records, I couldn't miss the opportunity to see Andrew play a solo set at the Jazz Bakery... so I showed up early and--trying to blend in and act "adult"--struck up a conversation with another audience member about diminishing attendance at jazz shows. Someone came up to us, interrupted our conversation, and more or less drilled me about my musical background--"what instruments do you play?" "how old are you?" etc. etc... very warm, congenial, and not at all condescending. He then made his excuses and left. We entered the hall minutes later, and the man I had been talking to took the stage. I still don't know if he knew that I had been completely clueless as to his identity, but I'm certain he gave me a sort of friendly nod right before he started to play. (And he sounded awesome.)

Similar experience several years later--my sister (who is an artist) and I went to see Bobby Hutcherson at the refurbished Catalina's. Right as I was about to leave, I looked back to find that my sister had essentially charged Bobby Hutcherson with a pen and a pad (maybe hoping to score an autograph for her little brother). I was mortified until I realized that she had been sketching the band the entire time, and she was hoping to get Bobby to autograph her artwork. Bobby seemed extremely confused, but I wasn't sure why... until I had a look at the art. My sister had been drawing at an angle in low light the entire evening, so her Bobby sort of looked like the Slender Man. The whole thing was hilarious--I keep the drawing framed on my wall still.

Even later, I played with Eddie Gale at a massive sort-of gala event at the Oakland Yoshis. I wound up spending a lot of the night in a social huddle with Steve Turre, John Handy, and (again) Bobby Hutcherson. The only thing I could say to Bobby was that "Out to Lunch was very important to me growing up"--and he just smiled and shook my hand. That's twice now, and the interactions are getting increasingly awkward.

As per the original purpose of the thread: Wadada Leo Smith appearing on Earle Brown's Folio and Four Systems is definitely unexpected, albeit very natural. The hugest wtf I can recall is Art Taylor appearing on Frank Wright's Uhuru Na Umoja--a stone hard bopper playing extreme energy free jazz with dynamism and aplomb.

[ValerieB]

Not to derail the thread too much but I do like the actual sighting aspect of this though my best ones are not musician sightings......

Growing up in New York City and also working as a bicycle messenger put me in a position for many sightings (besides making deliveries to a few famous people like Itzhak Perlman (who was home and signed for his package) and Claudette Colbert (who wasn't home much to my chagrin).

I saw Ruth Gordon on the street as a teenager and approached her to ask for her autograph and she was very sweet and gave me a big smile and hello as if she was quite used to awestruck teenage boys approaching her (because of Harold and Maude of course).

I saw Lauren Bacall on the street (actually I heard her booming voice first as she shooed away an autograph seeker).

I saw Pedro Almodovar in Tower Records (the one in downtown NY). He did spend some time in the jazz section.

I saw Doug Flutie at a rest stop on the NJ Turnpike once and he is pretty short. I had nothing to say to him though....

I sat in business class with Mary Louise Parker right in front of me. She is very good looking in person. Actually there always seems to be some actor on every flight I take from New York to LA.

One time I had a red eye from LA back to New York and I rushed to the airport right from a gig or the studio and I barely had time to make the flight much less eat. I was worried all the shops in the terminal would be closed so when checking in, I tried to use my premium status and miles to upgrade to business class in the hopes of having a proper meal (I was really hungry and had a lot of extra miles). They told me since it was such a late flight that there would be no dinner, probably just a snack and later a nice breakfast so I decided not to go for it. When I boarded the plane, I saw there was one open seat in business class and sitting next to the open seat was Bill Russell. I've kicked myself a few times over that one......

I certainly met and worked with my fair share of stars or they have come to my gigs (Freddie Hubbard gigs in LA in particular) but I have to admit to only really gushing praise once and it would seem to be an unlikely one. I couldn't help myself with Jeffrey Tambor. He actually came up to me (at Birdland) and told me he had heard me play before and how he enjoyed it and I just told him how much I loved the Larry Sanders Show (I really do, it is one of my favorite shows ever). His demeanor changed right away. Could it be possible that he didn't like the show I thought. though it seemed more like he just wanted to be a regular guy who wanted to show his appreciation...oh well.....still loved him on the Larry Sanders Show.......

Oh, musicians.....

I did sit next to Robert Fripp at a John McLaughlin gig in Central Park. I asked him what he thought (I think I was 15 or 16) and he said "he's good".

i loved your post, David! the one sighting that i might have caused a bit of a scene over was Bill Russell. i think i would have risked being thrown out of Business Class just for trying to have a word with him. i actually had met him many decades ago and, in fact, went with him and Willie Naulls to Bill's Dad and Stepmother's house for a BBQ outside of SF. i just LOVE Bill. and, as we both know, he would be extremely interesting to talk to (and laugh with)!!

[Head Man]

Saw Peter Brotzmann in the (late) Mole Jazz record store in London sometime in the late 60s. He was delivering a box of albums, presumably from his FMR label. After he'd gone I asked to hear "Machine Gun" and bought it. Probably the only time I ever played more than a minute of it.

Didn't Mole start up in the late 70s? (Kings Cross). Mid-70s it was a mail order operation from Ed D. and then a short stint at All Change/Baker Street.

Perhaps it was later then. Anyway, it was in their first shop which was right opposite Kings X Station in Pentonville Road, not the one they moved to round the corner in Gray's Inn Road. Last time I was in the area the old shop was still there; empty and looking very forlorn.

[johnlitweiler]

Off-topic: Once I rode up to the 3rd floor in an elevator with U.S. senator candidate Barack Obama, who was chatting with some Chicago Sun-Times bigwigs. At the time he was IL state senator from my district. I was too short for him to notice.

A couple years ago 2 guys in a restaurant were convinced I was a British-TV soap-opera actor.

[AllenLowe]

CJ -it was not just some strange look; it was a scary, deranged, stare. EVERYBODY in Tower was talking about it. But it's ok; hopefully the injections helped.

[AllenLowe]

ok, anyway, I have you all beat - in the summer of 1962 I was with my parents at Coney Island and we ran into Martin Luther King, along with Ralph Abernathy, and their kids. King was very cordial in a very Southern gentlemanly way. We rode on the cyclone a few cars ahead of both families.

this, btw, is an absolutely true story. And King didn't glare at me once.

Edited August 29, 2012 by AllenLowe

[CJ Shearn]

CJ -it was not just some strange look; it was a scary, deranged, stare. EVERYBODY in Tower was talking about it. But it's ok; hopefully the injections helped.

Seems very odd.

[sidewinder]

Last time I was in the area the old shop was still there; empty and looking very forlorn.

Last time I passed by it was still there - time capsule !

[bertrand]

Joe Chambers walking into the Friendship Heights Borders in D.C.

Bertrand.

[AllenLowe]

I met Adolf Zucker, maybe 1967; a friend of mine's father worked at Paramount, and we found him walking the hall one afternoon.

[Neal Pomea]

Sat next to John Cohen of the New Lost City Ramblers at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in the audience for a performance by Tracy Schwarz and Ginny Hawker in tribute to the Carter Family.

[paul secor]

Sat next to John Cohen of the New Lost City Ramblers at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in the audience for a performance by Tracy Schwarz and Ginny Hawker in tribute to the Carter Family.

Besides having been a member of the New Lost City Ramblers, John Cohen is also an interesting photographer. http://www.johncohenworks.com/photo/upcoming.html