This will be fun (for me, at least). It’s a new thing: Who Did I See? And the flip side: Who Did I Not See? I’m 68, born in 1953. I got into jazz at age 17 in 1970. I’ve told that story: Song for My Father. I was born too late to have seen Bird or Fats or Clifford or Pres or Billie or Art Tatum. I grew up in New York and have spent most of my life in New York. When I was a kid, my dad used to drag us to afternoon jazz shows in Manhattan. There was an organization called Jazz Interactions and they used to do Sunday concerts at the Village Gate and other venues. I remember going to the Five Spot on St. Marks as a kid. So I have two lists of Who Did I See. One is Who Did I See before I had any appreciation for who I was seeing. The second list is Who Did I See after I got into jazz and was making my own decisions and spending my own money. BTW, this is jazz only. I did see Cream and I did not see Hendrix, but that’s another list and another web site. These lists are not complete. I don’t remember every drummer or bass player or pianist. I don’t remember everyone I saw. It’s just a list of highlights off the top of my head. The nice thing about Jazz Collector is I can add to, subtract from or amend in my own time and at my own discretion. Here goes:

Who Did I See before I knew who I was seeing: First memory is George Shearing at a concert hall when I was maybe 7 or 8. I remember this because I couldn’t conceive of someone playing piano without looking at the keys. After that, courtesy of my dad: Kenny Burrell; Jimmy Owens and Kenny Barron; Joe Newman; Elvin Jones, Joe Farrell, Frank Foster, George Coleman, Jimmy Garrison; Horace Silver, Junior Cook, Blue Mitchell, Howard McGhee.

Who Did I See on purpose: Sonny Rollins, more than 50 times (at least); Dexter Gordon, at least 20 times; Roland Kirk, at least 20 times; Bill Evans, at least a dozen times; Monk; Charles Rouse; Elvin Jones, Philly Joe Jones, Al Foster, Joe Morello, Roy Haynes; Al Cohn; Dizzy, Frank Foster, Joe Newman, Howard McGhee, Count Basie, Sonny Payne, Clark Terry, Lockjaw Davis; Ella, Sarah, Carmen McRae with Zoot Sims; Ray Charles; Sonny Stitt, Lou Donaldson, Jackie McLean, Gary Bartz, Phil Woods; Walter Davis Jr., Harold Mabern, Billy Taylor, McCoy Tyner, Cedar Walton, Kenny Barron; Cliff Jordan;  Horace Silver; Joe Henderson; Stan Getz; Gerry Mulligan; Max Roach, Art Blakey; George Coleman; Tommy Flanagan, Hank Jones, Teddy Wilson, Wynton Kelly; Herbie Hancock; Benny Golson, Art Farmer, Freddie Hubbard, Curtis Fuller; Wayne Shorter, Joe Zawinul; Chick Corea, Horace Silver; Charles Mingus; Booker Ervin; Tal Farlow, Jim Hall; Oscar Peterson; Earl Hines; Thad Jones; Mel Lewis; Milt Jackson, MJQ, James Moody; Charles McPherson; Jaki Byard.

Who Did I Not See (but could have and should have): Miles; Cannonball; Trane; Art Pepper; Duke Ellington; Louis Armstrong; Hank Mobley, Donald Byrd, Kenny Dorham, Lee Morgan; Chet Baker; Dave Brubeck, Paul Desmond; Wes Montgomery, Jimmy Raney; Ornette; Hawk; Johnny Griffin; Randy Weston; Red Garland; Johnny Hodges; Ben Webster; Lee Konitz; JJ Johnson.