Theme: Jazz instrumental and vocal versions of songs written by Frank Loesser. Featured artists include Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Red Garland, Philly Joe Jones, Paul Chambers, Bill Evans, Eddie Costa, Charles Rouse, Julius Watkins, Gildo Mahones, Teddy Charles, Phil Woods, Bob Brookmeyer, Zoot Sims, Herb Geller, Gene Quill, Hal McKusick, Al Cohn, Ray Charles, Betty Carter, Sammy Davis Jr., Carmen McRae, Hoagy Carmichael, Art Pepper, Rosemary Clooney, Scott Hamilton, Warren Vache, and many more.

This week’s theme: A Jazzy Christmas for 2024. Featured artists include Bill Evans, Paul Desmond, Jim Hall, Ray Charles, Betty Carter, Carmen McRae, Sammy Davis Jr., Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Nancy Lamott, Dexter Gordon, Herb Geller, Rosemary Clooney, Jimmy Rushing, Louis Armstrong, and many more.

Bill Eckstine Misses Opening; Claims He Was Assaulted

Singer Bill Eckstine missed his scheduled opening at the Royal Box of the Hotel Americana in New York City Jan. 4 and speculation of foul play ran high. Eckstine reappeared the following day, however, and said he had been assaulted on the street the night of Jan. 3, hauled into a car, robbed of about $600 and a watch, and then drugged.

Eckstine said he was trying to hail a taxi on 125th St. and Fifth Ave. on Jan. 3 when he was approached by three men, who pulled up in a car and asked for his autograph. While he complied with the request, Eckstine said, one of the men hit him on the back of the neck and

pulled him into the car, where he was robbed and made to drink a drugged liquid.

Eckstine said he does not remember anything from that time until he found himself on a bench in Mount Morris Park in Harlem in the early morning hours of Jan. 5. His physician reported that Eckstine suffered one broken and three bruised ribs. An official complaint was filed with the police and an alarm sent out for the three men on charges of assault and robbery. Eckstine was on the job at the Americana the evening of Jan. 5. On the previous night, several of the singer’s friends, including Sammy Davis Jr., Robert Goulet, and comedian Nipsey Russell, stepped into the breach and entertained the opening night crowd.