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thomas

Member Since: 2013 | Location: Oakland | Page Views: 2,053

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My Jazz Story

The late bassist, Buddy "Burger" Jones turned me onto jazz when he was playing in a Bluegrass band with me in 1975 in Big Sur. Buddy was roommates with Charlie Parker early in the latter's career and went on to have a very active life in the New York City jazz scene before retiring in Carmel Valley to raise horses and to play music in the Monterey-Carmel-Big Sur Area. He joined our fledgling bluegrass group—still a bit of a mystery to why he'd want to play with a group of young guys who were still relatively inexperienced musicians playing bluegrass music. But he did, and one evening at our regular Friday/Saturday night gig at the River Inn, he told me about Art Pepper and that he'd be playing with him in a small club in Monterey with others including Jack Sheldon and Blue Mitchell. Buddy encouraged me to come hear the band. I did and I was blown away! He even introduced me to Art. I've been smitten ever since with Art's playing and generally with jazz, and his music continues to inspire me.

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This page was last updated on 2026-10-12.

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