COVID-19 Lockdown: Day 22

After another early morning round of Steve Cournane’s Dancing Queen kicked off week 3 of the pandemic lockdown. Then it was onto disc 3 of Too Marvelous For Words – Sal Mosca at Utrecht, 21 June, 1981. How about the chord solos on “Prelude to a Kiss” and “There Will Never Be Another You”? Sal had a sense of harmony second to none. He can be quite the romantic too, perhaps more so than others associated with Lennie Tristano. On studying with Sal Mosca, Larry Bluth wrote in the liner notes “The most basic material began to take on aspects I never knew existed.” I had a similar experience during my studies with Richard Tabnik and Connie Crothers. If fact, when people asked me what I worked on in my lessons, they often gave a puzzled look when I answered.... a kind of, “is that it?” look. Yeah, that’s it.

Then came the sad news of Lee Konitz’ passing. I clearly remember hearing Lee for the first time. It was Birth of the Cool. A pivotal moment in my life. Things would be very different had I not heard that when I did. I'll leave it there for now while I listen to Birth of the Cool.