The Show Must Go On

I have never missed someone so much since my late father died in April of 2001.

I do miss Seattle Jazz Icon Floyd Standifer. His gig at The New Orleans kept me sane through many a grim Seattle winter. My wife Juliet and I have a nice Wednesday nights dating ritual since we first started going out together. I used to work for Amazon.com when we first met, and after long, crazy hours of laboring over the ordering system code, I used to call her at home: "Hey Babe, I am walking down Jackson street, see you at the New Orleans in a few?"

I have taken close friends there to share the Floyd Experience, and family, and people from out of town (Andra and Cristian who visited us from Spain last year had a blast). The staff at the New Orleans is friendly, and the band casual. Clarence Acox reminds me of James Earl Jones, only cooler: he can roll. And the Garfield kids that he coaches are amazing.

Jim Wilke, John Gilbreath, Bud Young and many many others gathered tonight at Seattle's First Baptist Church to honor Floyd.

As an immigrant to this Great Country, I cannot but stand by one of the participants' quote: "You cannot talk about America, without talking about Jazz".

And viceversa. I am lucky to be here.