Cannonball and Nat Adderly

I met Cannonball and Nat Adderley at the Colonial Tavern in 1969. Mickey Handy introduced me. Cannon and Nat became good friends and I was their Toronto buddy whenever they came to Toronto, we spent many days hanging out at the underground railroad, etc

I once cooked a seafood chowder dinner for them at Grossman's Tavern. Al let me use the kitchen and was the special of the day. It sold out quickly.

One night I took them to Gordon Rayner's Studio to watch an Artist's Jazzband rehearsal. they liked it but would not jam.

This was very much a "Black power time and they got invited to all the Black after-hours clubs. But they would not go without me. I knew most of the black clubs and we had a lot of fun.

I was on their permanent guest list at the Colonial and I got to listen to great jazz and meet their fabulous sidemen like Louis Hayes, Ray Brown, Walter Booker, Bobby Timmons, Victor Feldman, Joe Zawinul.

One night I was late getting to the Colonial, they were halfway through the set and the bar was packed full. The only place for me to sit was at the staff table. They would not serve me unless I moved and there was nowhere else so i sat there drinkless till the set was over. They joined me at the end of the set and ordered us drinks. They still refused to serve me. So Nat called the manager over and told them they were not going to play until I was drinking. needless to say that never happened again.

After Cannonball's tragic death in 1975, Nat played Toronto regularly and he was always glad to see me. He embarrassed me on my birthday at the Montreal Bistro by dedicating almost every song to me all night long. Vincent Herring was with him. I met his wife too and spent a few nights sitting with her.

Cannonball had never heard Paul Desmond's tribute to him until I told him.

Paul Desmond won the Evergreen Review's Higgledy piggled contest with

Shubada Shubadee

Cannonball Adderley

Came on the scene with a belt of the blues.

His popularity

Coincidentally

Gives me more time

For women and booze.

: Paul Desmond

Comments

Elway Yost

My sister Gaille was Elway Yost's secretary for a few years at TV Ontario. "I had the incredible opportunity to meet and engage in conversation with the talented Elwy on multiple occasions. On two separate occasions, I was even asked to be a stand-by guest for his show, Magic Shadows. Though I never had the chance to step in, just being considered by Elwy himself was an honor I will never forget. As a devoted fan of Magic Shadows from the very start, these moments were truly unforgettable.

Keenan Wynn

This is me with Keenan Wynn during the shooting of 'The Ballonist' a "Littlest Hobo" episode shot in my parents home in Uxbridge Ontario in the Summer of 1980. It was directed by Allen Eastman (Alien) and Keenan enjoyed tormenting him a bit. Keenan and I spent the breaks talking about movies like 'Dr. Strangelove' etc. it was a fun afternoon. Keenan had the shakes a bit and didn't want to sign autographs, he always had the continuity girl around to take poloroids and gave out pictures instead .

Roy Payne

I first met Roy at the Horseshoe in the summer of 75 The horseshoe was across the street I was a regular and a good friend of Morty Starr the manager. Morty pointed to Roy setting up on stage. Morty told me that Roy owed him 3000 dollars so he had hired him for the whole month of August so he could get his money back. He told the waiter and the bartender not to let Roy have anything to drink until the last half of the show that night. Morty went off to the office. I was sitting in a booth opposite the bar with Morgan Vice who was leader of the usual house band. suddenly I felt something grab my ankle. it was Roy he had crawled under all the empty booths going back to the stage so that Morty or the Bartender couldn't see him. Get me a beer bye he croaked. I ordered him a beer and we became fast friends. He was at my bar pretty well every night for the month. At the end of the month Morty told me Roy owed him 6,000 dollars. One night Roy found a water pistol somewhere and squirted me...

Gary'sGlimpses

Search This Blog