11/12/19 20:46 Bethlehem, PA
Thank you for reading this.
I arrived back at the house by 0200, dumped my bags around the room, brushed
my teeth and went to bed. I had to be up
in four hours and it was a restless night of a monkey mind, the room was too
warm and I was anxious about the day.
But here we are my friends. Listening to Coltrane and Monk and Roy Hayes
at the Five Spot back in 1958. It is
significant since I bought a used CD at the record store in Commack before driving
into the city and I thought wouldn’t it be great to get this signed by the one
and only Roy Haynes. It was a good idea
so stick with me for a little while.
Parked the car at the Icon Parking garage near Cooper Union and walked
across town with my CD in my pocket. It
was a mild autumn night. I called Meli
and said I wanted to take her to this neighborhood since it was old New York, narrow
streets and people waiting for others to get through. It was very civil last night. I headed over to the Blue Note and waited
with others to get inside. It wasn’t a
long wait. I asked the guy checking us
in if Roy was around and he said he’s up in the dressing room. Instead of waiting after the show, I head up
with my CD and noticed a guy about to go into the dressing room. Excuse me I said, would you mind getting this
signed for me? He was about to take the
CD and thought better of it, and invited me to follow up into the dressing
room. Cool. But we soon learned Roy was in the
bathroom. So I waited and the guy used
the bathroom as well and I waited in the hall like a moth dangling in the
light. I waited for him to finish and I
told myself, be patient. Just be
patient. I noticed his shoes in the
stall every time the door opened and I waited.
Maybe he was snorting coke. I
couldn’t waited and knocked. The door
opened. I was welcomed. There was Roy in his seat and tapping his
feet. I asked if he would sign my
CD. But he looked at it and said he wasn’t
on it. He opened up the cover and said,
there was too much writing here. Man…he
liked to use the word, Man. I don’t know, he said. I thought he was not going to sign it and in
that time we got to know one another.
Have any kids? Yes, I have
four. You look too young to have any
kids. Thank you, can you sign it? The others guys in the band told him he was
on the album and it was one of their favorites.
Is there a picture of me? No, I
said disappointed. And I thought
quickly, maybe you can sign the back of the CD, the silver part? And he did.
Would you mind if we take a picture?
No, he said. He didn’t want to
take a picture. He was being difficult,
but in a gentle way. Roy took the
stage. He danced a little in front of
the audience and took his seat behind the drums. The man who played with Bird, Louis
Armstrong, Eric Dolphy, Chick Corea, was in his element and I was amazed how
much energy he had. So, what the show
started at 10:30 and was wrapping up just before midnight. The band played to a sparse room. I drank three beers and as he was walking
back to his dressing room, I got in a quick picture with him.
Thank you for reading this.
No comments:
Post a Comment