b8
RAYMOND FEDERMAN
And all kinds of other cool cats!
We all met at Frank's pad ( in his garage) after the concert. But
first we all went to the BLUE BIRD (on the Westside ) . They were
all there:
Fats
Duke
Kenny
Tommy
&
Bird ( of course ) and then Wardell Gray came in! What a jam
session
One of those historical moments!
No question about that!
Me, I was lugging my big black case with my tenor sax inside (a
COHN ) . Parker hadn't brought his alto .
He had left it at the hotel he explained.
I didn't dare play my usual solos. No, I didn't dare that night even
when Frank shouted to me above the yellow smoke of cigarettes and
pot:
EH FRENCHY COME AND BLOW WITH US MAN COME ON
MAN BLOW YOUR HORN WITH US IT'S CRAZY MAN
no
I didn't dare!
It was all new, brand new, my tenor; I had bought it with the
money I had saved during the summer, working as a waiter in a
country club, in the CAT SKILLS ; this was now winter, and what
a disgusting winter the winter 1949!
I was getting quite good on my tenor, after only a few months, but
I would practice a good ten to twelve hours a day, in the bathroom
because it was better for the sonority; in those days I was living with
a Hungarian family, just a room with kitchen privileges, it was not
a bad place, especially since they were never there the Hungarians,
so I took advantage of the bathroom, sometimes all night long
EH MAN CAN I BLOW YOUR HORN? ...
It was Parker who asked me that! He was standing next to me lost
in the big crowd and the cigarette smoke and it was as though GOD
