Friday February 12, 2010

At the age of 89, my father looked up from the obituary section of the newspaper and said: "That's what happens when you don't die, everyone around you does." He put the paper down and never read another obituary. The last week has forced me to consider the depth of my old man's revelation.

Jake Hanna, my dear friend, confidant, inspiration and Rock of Gibraltar in so many of the bands I played and toured with passed away in a Los Angeles hospital today. Jake was followed that evening by yet another dear friend, cornetist, and character Tom Saunders who died peacefully in his sleep that same Friday night.

I met and began working with Jake Hanna during the late 1970's with the Concord Allstars. The influence Jake had on me, musically and personally is just too deep to put into words now. He was always the life of the party, and his sense of swing and truth were always there to ground and balance any band or idiotic young cornet player he worked with. I just sort of felt Jake would always be there, swinging and joking and calling things the way he saw them.

It'll be a more confusing world without him.

Tom Saunders and I took to each other immediately. Tom was another of the world's one of a kinds, who always played from his heart, and found humor in just about everything. We cornetists don't get to spend much time together as a general rule, I suppose one of us in any band is enough ego for most people to handle, but on the few occasions Tom and I did get to play together we always had a ball, and there was always something to laugh about, usually our mistakes.

Goodbye my friends. It may be more confusing and certainly less fun in this world without you, but I don't know what I would do without the time we spent together to guide me.