he saw and heard the greats
I grew up in NYC. As a college kid I got to spend my Monday nights at Birdland, sit in arms lenght of Monk's right hand at the 5-Spot, stare hard at Miles's back (which was more interesting than most people's front), hear Bill Evans at the Vanguard play solo when he opened for Lenny Bruce, get run over by the Mingus sextete at the Half-Note, and nearly pass out with pleasure sitting fifteen feet from Coltrane at the Jazz Gallery, hear Elvin Jones re-invent 4-4 time before my very ears, and watch Philly Joe tune his drums while playing a tempo so fast you thought you would go blind if you got to close to it.
