They are written here for the sole purpose of cheering Bob January, when the rigors of bandleading become excessively burdensome. Because many people would believe, that because these gifts which life has given me appear tohave been worth any price I have had to pay on the way to receiving them,I have decided that no other eyes are permitted to read this page. Bandleading is a demanding and grueling occupation - a service to mankind which a few of us must assume for the purpose of bringing pleasure to our listeners and dancers, and employment to our musicians. These perks which we bandleaders get along the way are insignificant in relation to the heavy workload we assume, and the emotional toll we pay while meeting strange ladies in unusual places. All this adulation and vast amounts of money we earn are completely misleading, because, in fact, we bandleaders get no other benefit greater than that of serving our fellow man. Do not be misled by the nice thingsI have done, and DO NOT CONTINUE READING! Do not read the text below!! WARNING!!
THIS MEANS YOU!! Go back NOW!!
I've played with these people:
Charles Mingus - Warren Covington - Al Haig - Dizzy Gillespie - Dustin Hoffman
These people have been in my band(s):
Don Ellis - Eddie Gomez - Dave Izensohn - Billy Barnes - Wayne Andre - JohnnyCarisi
I've backed these artists:
Bunny Briggs - Phyliss Diller - Alan King - Dizzy Gillespie - Makrova - Raul Julia - Ann Reinking - Barbara Lea - Bobby Rydell - Dick Cavett - HoneyColes - Henny Youngman - Famous Amos (playing harmonica)
I've heard these big bands in person:
Benny Goodman - Duke Ellington - Stan Kenton - Quincy Jones - Count Basie - Frank Foster - Guy Lombardo - Xavier Cugat - Tommy Dorsey - Harry James - Buddy Rich - Tito Puente - Woody Herman w/Stan Getz, Zoot Sims, JimmyGiuffre, Al Cohn - Lionel Hampton - Freddy Martin - Gil Evans - Lester Lanin - ArtieShaw - Ray Charles -
And these non - big - bands:
Frank Zappa - Chuck Berry - Roy Clark - Mary Chapin Carpenter - John Coltrane - Dave Brubeck w/Paul Desmond - Thelonius Monk - Charlie Mingus - Eric Dolphy/DonCherry - Stan Getz - Horace Silver - Carmen Cavallero - Willie Nelson - Berlin Philharmonic/ von Karajan - Dizzy Gillispie w/Lalo Shifrin - MilesDavis - Sy Oliver - Oscar Peterson - James Brown (at the Apollo) - The Hi - Lo's - Four Freshmen - Bobby Vinton - Art Farmer/Benny Golson: the Jazztet - Sy Oliver - New York Philharmonic - New York Pops (from a seat ABOVE the orchestra)
I've seen these shows:
Angela Lansbury in Sweeney Todd - Oklahoma - Guys and Dolls - Phantom - Wozzek at the Met - Black and Blue - Forty - second Street - Strauss Festival of Elk Grove (CA) - King Lear, Romeo and Juliet, MidsummerNight's Dream (directed by my daughter and/or son - in - law) -
I've met these people:
Andy Kirk - Charlie Spivak - Ace Brigode - Stan Kenton - Cannonball Adderly - Lana Turner - Milton Berle - Stan Getz - George Pataki - Miles Davis - Bill Dixon - Harry James - Phyliss Diller - Bobby Rydell - Ben Selvin - Rudy Vallee - Johnny Guarneiri - Carmen Mastren - Kurt Masur - Michael Tilson Thomas - Herbert von Karajan - Al Haig - Ray Charles - Bob Fosse - Sy Oliver
I've seen these sights:
The Tarn River Gorge (France)
Paris, Chartre, Lyon, Monaco
Venice,Verona, Milan, Naples, Pompei
Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Andorra
Stonehenge, London, the British Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum
Fada music in a tiny bar in Lisbon
Strippers in a New York night club - as they appear to a band behind them.
Washington DC
New York, New York
The model train exhibit in East Rutherford NJ
Niagra Falls
Picasso at MOMA
Rodin Museum, Paris, Philadelphia
A strange man in my lover's closet
The Louvre
The Parthenon both in Athens and Nashville
Sistine Chapel /Vatican Museum, Pantheon, Colusseum
Cappucine Monastary (Rome) bone art.
Yosemite, Cedar Breaks, Canyonlands, Mesa Verde, National Parks
Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Arches, Zion National Parks
Canyon de Chilly
Lake Tahoe
Steeplechase Park (Coney Island)
Mardi Gras, New Orleans
Hulk Hogan at Madison Square Garden
Nureyev at American Ballet Theater
Nancy Kerrigan and friends at Madison Square Garden
Disneyworld
Lincoln's Birthplace on Lincoln's birthday - just me and the park ranger
The stained glass windows in Zion Church (York PA)
I've had these adventures:
Inside the Great Pyramid at Cheops
Skied down seven thousand vertical feet from the Kleine Matterhorn into Zermat
While skiing, broke the safety wall at Whiteface Mountain, Lake Placid NY
Climbed atop a mineret in Cairo
Rode in a hot air balloon
Took flying lessons. Lost two flight instructors.
Rescued by Coast Guard after losing a rudder under LaGuardia Airport.
Tubing at Phonecia NY
Sailing off Sarasota with porpoises racing alongside
Lifespring
Masonic 32nd degree.
Appalachain Trail Repair Crew.
Veterans' Bedside Network
English Springer Spaniel Rescue
Some of my gigs:
Yorktown aircraft carrier - Halloween at the Church of the Beloved Desciple(gay church) - United Nations -
My favorite movies:
Young Man with a Horn (Kirk Douglas, Doris Day, Lauren Bacall, Hoagy Charmichael -
My favorite books:
Till Death Do Us Part, And the Sea will Tell (Vincent Bugliosi) - All SheEver Wanted (Ann Rule) - Crazy Rhythm (Leonard Garment, [Nixon's attorney, who played in the Henry Jerome band with Alan Greenspan - now chairman of the Federal Reserve])
My favorite show:
Sweeny Todd (with Angela Lansbury)
My favorite recordings:
Ellington at Newport - Stan Kenton plays Bob Graettinger - Clifford Brown's Cherokee - Doc Severinson's Begin the Beguine -
My favorite non - musical job:
Programmer for a hologram manufacturing company.