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Gary Soucie

About Me

My Jazz Story

I love jazz because... I was first exposed to jazz...when I was a very young child. My uncle, a drummer, used to have jam sessions at our house. I met [musician name]... The best show I ever attended was... The first jazz record I bought was... My advice to new listeners... Or whatever else you have in mind.

My House Concert Story

The best jazz concert I ever attended was the 1954 Jazz at the Philharmonic concert at the Chicago Lyric Opera House: Dizzy Gillespie, Roy Eldridge, Bill Harris, Buddy DeFranco, Ben Webster, Flip Phillips, Oscar Petterson, Herb Ellis, Ray Brown, Louie Bellson, Buddy Rich, and Ella Fitzgerald. A close second came only a short time later: The Count Basie Band (featuring Thad Jones, Joe Newman, Marshall Royal, Frank Foster, Frank Wess, Freddie Green, Sonny Payne, and a then-unknown singer filling in for an ailing Jimmy Rushing: Joe Williams), plus Sarah Vaughan and her Trio: John Malachi, Joe Benjamin, and Roy Haynes.