You missed it if you weren’t there…seriously…this news just in:  THE MID ATLANTIC JAZZ FESTIVAL WAS OFF THE HOOK!

Held at the same hotel where the legendary East Coast Jazz Festival once set up shop – God Bless you, Ronnie Wells – Paul Carr, his lovely wife and the Jazz Academy brought back the swing, good times and smiling faces to Rockville.  It was great.  Here are my highlights:

-hangin’ with my man Wes Biles and Jeff Neal on jam session that went from midnight to 2 am.  Quiet Storm!!!

-alto great Bobby Watson sort of/kind of/slightly knowing who I am!  Wow!

-The EBT/BRB set on Sat at noon.  Swingin with 2 teenagers that are products of Paul’s Academy.  We all done lost our jobs to these cats

-Sunday’s brunch with Lavenia

-seeing my favorite jazz fan Ms. Barbara

-bumping into Terrell Stafford, hearing the Anderson Twins and the Jolley Bros, the tribute to Bird…wowwie

It was all fantastic.  As Paul said Sunday, “See you in 51 weeks”.

I was just made aware by a good friend that the legendary Gil Scott-Heron is out with a new CD today…I’m not going to attempt to answer the “who’s that?” questions from some of you – let’s just say that if you check out and read the lyrics to WINTER IN AMERICA, you’ll know almost everything you need to know.

Anyway, I went to his web page and he has advice on how to listen to music, an investment. I will give you his words here:

“There is a proper procedure for taking advantage of any investment. music for example – buying a CD is an investment. to get the maximum you must listen to it for the first time under optimum conditions – not in your car or on a portable player through a headset.
take it home
get rid of all distractions (even him or her)
turn off your cell phone
turn off everything that rings or beeps or rattles or whistles
make yourself comfortable
play your CD
LISTEN all the way through
think about what you got
think about who would appreciate this investment
decide if there is someone to share this with
turn it on again
enjoy yourself” – Gil Scott-Heron

’nuff said. God Bless you.