Foto de Ben Webster por William P. Gottlieb
Basie had briefed me. “Go to the Rhythm Club,” he said, “and that’s where you’ll find the Lion” [...] Basie said he liked a little taste every now and then, that he loved cigars, ant that maybe he would play a little for us.
So we walked up to the Rhythm Club on 132th Street and Seventh Avenue and we met the Lion. There was a cigar store right on the corner, and in those days they had great big El Productos, three for half dollar.
“Mr. Lion,” we said, “would you care to have some cigars?”
The Lion rounded on us and said, “Say, you are pretty nice kids. Yes, I’ll have a cigar or two.”
So we walked with him to the corner and asked him how many could he smoke.
“Oh, maybe two.”
So we bought him half a dozen, and then he smiled and said, “You kids are really nice kids!”
Then we asked him, “Would you care for a little drink, Mr. Lion?”
“Yeah,” he said.
Then we told him we would like to hear him play, and at that time there was a place right across from the Rhythm Club, and he took us over there, and he got in the mood with his cigar and a little taste in between.
It was one of the great experiences of my life to hear a man play like this. Though I had heard James P. Johnson around 1925 in Kansas City, that was a little early, and I think I could understand more of what I was listening to when I got to the Lion.
He played for us three or four hours, and we kept buying him a little taste, and he kept saying we were nice kids.
I had a beautiful day and I never will forget it.
(Ben Webster, Down Beat Magazine - May, 1964)
So we walked up to the Rhythm Club on 132th Street and Seventh Avenue and we met the Lion. There was a cigar store right on the corner, and in those days they had great big El Productos, three for half dollar.
“Mr. Lion,” we said, “would you care to have some cigars?”
The Lion rounded on us and said, “Say, you are pretty nice kids. Yes, I’ll have a cigar or two.”
So we walked with him to the corner and asked him how many could he smoke.
“Oh, maybe two.”
So we bought him half a dozen, and then he smiled and said, “You kids are really nice kids!”
Then we asked him, “Would you care for a little drink, Mr. Lion?”
“Yeah,” he said.
Then we told him we would like to hear him play, and at that time there was a place right across from the Rhythm Club, and he took us over there, and he got in the mood with his cigar and a little taste in between.
It was one of the great experiences of my life to hear a man play like this. Though I had heard James P. Johnson around 1925 in Kansas City, that was a little early, and I think I could understand more of what I was listening to when I got to the Lion.
He played for us three or four hours, and we kept buying him a little taste, and he kept saying we were nice kids.
I had a beautiful day and I never will forget it.
(Ben Webster, Down Beat Magazine - May, 1964)
0 comentários:
Enviar um comentário