With over 60 years playing or promoting jazz behind him Van David Young has collected a number of interesting stories about the people he has met. He shares them in this series of short anecdotes. They don’t count against your monthly article limit.
Of the hundreds, maybe thousands, of musicians hired for Elkhart’s jazz festival, Howard Alden was one of the youngsters. …only in his forties! Now, a
Although cancelled for June 2020 this year, the Elkhart Jazz Festival will make a return next year…maybe. Most of the guys and gals who worked
Almost 30 years ago, my wife Jean and I decided to drop by Andy’s Jazz Club in Chicago. Bobby Lewis had the best band in
Sometime in the mid- to late 70’s, my wife Jean and our youngest daughter headed for Chicago to catch Lionel Hampton and Teddy Wilson, probably
Seems like yesterday that Cab Calloway was singing and dancing on black and white tv. Unfortunately, I never had a chance to meet Cab but
Bassist Milt Hinton and his wife Mona thoroughly enjoyed going to Milt’s gigs scattered around the world. In the early ‘80’s, my wife Jean and
As an avid Dukes of Dixieland fan, I was very pleased to discover we still have an Assunto out there making music, lovely Lexie Assunto
Some folks called him by his true first name, Haydn. For most of us, a simple “Eddie” worked alright. I’ve introduced Eddie several times and
The picture with Louis Armstrong and two young boys on the steps of his Queens home reminds me of my first wide eyed encounter with
One of the many things I admire about jazz is its variety. I’ve had folks tell me they didn’t care for jazz and my usual
Both vocalist June Christy and reed man Bob Cooper have been gone for close to 30 years. Bob played a lot with big bands, especially
For many jazz lovers, Ray Brown’s one of the “greats” with a long list of recordings where he’s the leader. He’s also listed on several
Wild Bill became one of my favorite jazz musicians very early (1949). The Wild Bill reference applies to his playing, not his manners. However ,
Once the Elkhart Jazz Festival board “got into gear,” it decided where to have it (downtown!) with a free venue as well as several (five)
While seniors at Ball State, Jean and I married and began living off campus. The wedding occurred on Thursday, November 27, 1959. On that evening
