Music brings back ‘misty’ memories of jazz legend
happy, healthy and prosperous 2024 to all GO&Express readers and may it turn out to be everything you hope it to be.
The year just ended was, generally speaking, a good one for me but health issues were a major concern towards the end and I became very ill and endued an intense fortnight in two of our local hospitals attended to by specialists.
I spent the festive season recovering in the splendid and tranquil Lily Kirchmann complex, a wonderful local convalescent haven where their beautiful, manicured gardens are such a restful tonic, conveying the full floral beauty of the season and where compassionate staff and residents could not be more gracious.
In stressful times such as these, music has always been my refuge. Familiar melodies never fail to soothe the fevered brow!
Lying in bed here one morning, I recalled an incident about 50 years ago in London. It embraced one of most beautiful melodies I ever heard and performed by one of the great artists of that time, Canadian pianist Oscar Peterson.
The song was the timeless jazz standard, Misty, composed on the back of an envelope on an aeroplane in 1954 by pianist Errol Garner and since recorded by every big-name artist of this genre. When you have a moment, relaxed and in a sentimental frame of mind, find a copy and just sit back and let this lovely melody wash over you with its gentle lyrics and soothing music.
In my imagination, I invited Oscar over to suffuse our living room in his own inimitable style, with the beautiful, subdued strains of this haunting evergreen. Was it my state of mind? Perhaps, but I tell you the sheer artistry of the man made me want to weep!
And to think that for years we were privileged in East London to have a musician of the calibre of the late Bruce Gardiner among us. I’d walk a mile in the rain to hear this world-class artist perform. I have both the CDs Bruce ever made and both have been nearly worn to death.
I never tire of listening to his touch and flawless technique and being roughly the same age, the lovely melodies on these discs are of favourites of our era. Another local pianist of our vintage, now also sadly no longer with us, was Mike Sokolich. Mike, a Springbok angler had the rough hands of a fisherman. But put him behind a piano keyboard and he would take you gently back through the mists of time. I also have his one and only CD which I treasure greatly.
I mentioned Peterson earlier on so let me tell you a personal little story about him. I was in London on company business, staying in a hotel near Hampstead Heath. One evening while sitting in the hotel bar having a quiet beer, a fellow sat down beside me and we got chatting. As it happened, he was the owner of a small newspaper in Scotland I was scheduled to meet that week. He asked me if I liked jazz and when I told him very much so, he invited me to join him for an evening at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in downtown London where he was a member.
Ronnie Scott’s is a Spartan establishment with raw brick walls, wooden tables with kitchen-type cloths and in those days, serving wine only. It draws the best jazz musicians in the world.
On that occasion and to my great delight, the featured artist was Peterson and he kept his audience enthralled all evening.
Even more rewarding for me was that my new-found friend had arranged a table within arm’s length of the great man.
At the interval I noticed that Peterson had made his was down some steps and I followed him. It led to a little private bar. He was standing alone. I approached him tentatively and asked whether he would be kind enough to endorse my programme. “Of course,” he said pleasantly and asked to whom he should address it. I said to Naomi please.
So still in our possession after all these years is a treasured old Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club programme bearing the words: “To Naomi with my best wishes, Oscar Peterson.” And yes, he played Misty for me!
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