I actually did "Take 5"

Way back when I spent a summer at The Saint Louis Institute of Music (which has since been torn down) I used to skip the afternoon classes in order to spend time down in the basement practice rooms trying to figure out how the heck to play 5/4 time (which is what "Take 5," by the recently passed on Dave Brubeck, is all about).

I just couldn't seem to get it until one magical moment (would you call it an "epiphany"?) when it all came together in a flash and, suddenly, I was wailing :-)

But, that is not the end of my little story...

Years later, when I was dating a well-known jazz guitarist, I had the occasion to meet Eugene Wright who was the bass player on "Take 5" and his wonderful wife (whose name I cannot now remember) as well as having the opportunity to hear him and my friend play the greatest jazz at "The Money Tree" night after night in Toluca Lake, CA. The Money Tree is also no longer there, like some of the very best jazz "joints" in the San Fernando Valley.

I used to see Sarah Vaughn sitting at the bar in her levis at Carmelo's (it's a Thai restaurant now, I think). I used to listen to the biggest names in jazz at Dante's which was owned by one of the dancers in the movie "Guys & Dolls." None of them have been around for years, now.

Oh, the memories.