Hear Me Talkin' To Ya: The Classic Story of Jazz as Told by the Men Who Made It

urn:iso:std:iso:639:ed-3:eng

291-292

text excerpt

A wild Twelfth Street spot we fell in regularly was the Sunset, owned by Piney Brown, who loved jazz and was very liberal with musicians. Pianist Pete Johnson worked there with bass and drums, sometimes Baby Lovett, a New Orleans drummer who became one of Kansas City's best.

Now the Sunset had a bartender named Joe Turner, and while Joe was serving drinks he would suddenly pick up a cue for a blues and sing it right where he stood, with Pete playing piano for him. I don't think I'll ever forget the thrill of listening to big Joe Turner shouting and sending everybody, night after night, while mixing drinks.

Pete Johnson was great on boogie, but he was by no means solely a boogie player. It was only when someone like Ben Webster, the Kaycee-born tenor man, yelled, "Roll for me--come on, roll 'em, Pete, make 'em jump," that he would play boogie for us.

In the summer, Kirk's band worked only from nine to twelve at night, and afterwards we would drive by the Sunset[. …] Pete might be playing something like "Sweet Georgia Brown" or "Indiana" when we got there. I'd go home to bathe and change, and when I got back, ten-to-one Pete would still be jamming the same tune, and maybe some of the guys wailing along with him.

excerpt from 'Hear Me Talkin' To Ya: The Classic Story of Jazz as Told by the Men Who Made It' pp. 291-292 (224 words)

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