(Newsboy Diamond) ... Earl - a master of counter melodies - upslides through altissimo notes on the tag that are well above the notes an alto sax is designed to reach. I met George Keith at a pawn shop in Longmont (30 miles north) in the 80s; one of the most respectful, kind and serious people Ive ever met who had street sense to match. George loved to give sax/music lessons, even to graduate students. He grew up in the 5 Points hood, not far from my childhood area. He talked to me of the many jazz and R&B greats who stayed with his family when they played clubs in the points, back when African American artists werent allowed as guests in the hotels, and how he learned from them and played with them. We often traded instruments wed found that we knew the other was interested in and a few times we played together in the pawn shop. Late in life he opened his own music shop, across the street from the pawn shop where he worked for two decades. One day early in 2006 I walked in only to learn that he had passed away, with a cancer he had never even mentioned. We often talked about the greats; especially sax and trumpet players. One day I happened to mention Earl Bostic. George took a soft step back, let out an exclamative sigh of awe, and in a virtual whisper, said, Oh, man... Earl Bostic... hes the greatest musician I ever met.
Posted on: Tue, 15 Oct 2013 06:22:34 +0000
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