Billy Eckstein of rolled collar fame and a well known bandleader-singer of the “Bebop” era, was one of the lounge acts with whom I worked. Billy had had a big band (1944-1947), featuring Sara Vaughn, Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. Playing with Eckstein’s small group was a learning experience for me. He knew exactly what he wanted in his music and got it. One of the tunes he pulled out was a shuffle rhythm. As experienced musicians we had played that style, but Billy picked up his trumpet and demonstrated a different way to play dotted eighth notes, followed by sixteenths, which really “swung.”... The playing date with Eckstein was at the Nevada Club, down the street from Frank Sinatras Cal-Neva Club on the north shore, where I’d played with Nancy Lee’s and Foster’s groups. Shirley and a few dancers came to hear Eckstein and the group. Billy, a stylist, had become famous for his wide vibrato on his recording of “Body And Soul.” Comedians were always insured a good laugh when they imitated him. Shirley had never heard his recordings and disliked the way he sang the instant he began singing. There was no in-between, you either loved or hated his singing style. << less