66 / 92
PAGE 66
THE WARREN-WATCHUNG CONNECTION
FEB/MARCH 2018
Glass Art Gallery Mention this Ad for 10% Off One Item in the Gallery! Recently, one of the guys on my team recommended that we have one of his former associates, Paul, give us some help. I did a quick linkedin look- up on Paul and noticed that he attend- ed the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston for many years, acquiring two degrees in jazz. I won- dered if he studied under Fred Hersch, my childhood friend, a world class jazz musician, and an instructor at the Conservatory. I checked with Fred. They did not overlap but our conversation reminded me of a connection about 15 years ago. Back then, there was jazz radio sta- tion in New York City, which became a sports talk station, WFAN. Until then, it branded itself as a smooth jazz sta- tion, CD101.9. Periodically, CD101.9 would run promotions where listeners called into to win a spot to meet a prominent musician. One morning I was driving to work in Parsippany, when the station announced that the 10th caller would win a ticket to meet saxophonist David Sandborn. I just happened to be at a stop light, dialed the number of the station on my car phone, which back then was literally bolted to the center console. I was the correct caller. A couple days later I received the details for the event. The excitement of meeting David Sandborn was quickly dampened when I arrived at the meeting place, a bar on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. We were asked to pay for our own drinks while we waited an hour and a half for Mr. Sandborn to arrive. After waiting almost 90 minutes, we were told that we should get in line so each of us could get an autograph. I’m not a big autograph seeker and simply wanted to meet the artist and talk for a minute or two (i.e., to make a connection, as my readers might expect from me). When I clarified with one of the event organizers, I was told I had to get an autograph. The woman ahead of me in the line, heard my interaction and turned to the organizer and said, “No problem, he is with me and I am getting an autograph.” That satis- fied the organizer so off he went. I thanked my new best friend and we chatted for a couple minutes before we arrived at the front of the line. She got an autograph and I asked David Sanborn if he knew Fred Hersch. His response was along the lines of, “Of course, we played some venues together many years ago.” We contin- ued talking for no more than a minute as there was still a substantial line behind us. As I walked away with the woman who so graciously let me join her, she said to me, “Small world, my husband used to be Fred’s drummer.” ANOTHER JAZZY ONE By: Dan Rosenberg www.theconnectionsnj.com