We’d be playing at the Mapes Hotel for six weeks. There were a lot of double takes from the dealers and other employees when they saw me with the Bachelors. The very people who had said Allen Keller’s group was lousy, and I was included in their derogatory critiques, now had a change of heart. “You sound terrific with the Bachelors,” the cashier said. “What happened?” I never answered, I just smiled. Actually they were right. The difference between both groups was the bass. Al played an amplified bass that filled the whole room, reinforcing the piano and all the wind instruments. Jeannie on the other hand used a cello strung like a bass but not amplified. She played so softly that the piano and I had no support. I would play into the microphone with Allen on a regular piano without amplification, and the only thing you’d hear coming over the speakers was my trombone. My instrument coming over the system sounded unbalanced. With Al’s support in the Bachelor’s band, Red and I played naturally without a microphone and it sounded good. The Bachelors were the headline lounge act at both the Wagon Wheel Casino and the Mapes Hotel. It was a thrill to see the name of our group on the marquee in large letters. << less