Thanks to Bob Arthurs for writing this
wonderful narrative of a recent experience he had jamming with Sal, Joe
Solomon, Dave Frank and Jon Easton.
January, 2002
Sal Mosca is back. The greatest
living American jazz pianist is back and
playing great. We (Joe Solomon, Dave Frank, Jon Easton and
myself) had the
great pleasure of having him visit our session last night at Joe's
studio in
Manhattan and to play several tunes with us. After a long illness
and
convalescence, which many of us including Sal himself wondered if he
would
ever get over, he is back with his appetite for music stronger than
ever. I
picked him up in Mt. Vernon about 7:00 PM and we drove downtown.
He was as
sharp as ever and a pleasure to hang out with. We got to Joe's
about 8:00
PM and after warm greetings by all we started to play; "All The Things
You
Are." Sal sat in the chair of honor that Joe had set up for him
and after
our first tune he clapped. You have to realize that receiving
applause from
Sal Mosca is like bringing down the house at Carnegie Hall. After
clapping
he asked Jon if he could play one. None of us knew what to
expect. He got
to the piano; looked inside; played some chords, arpeggios, melodic
ideas,
asked Joe if he would mind if he removed the desk/music rack, sat down
and
played some more sounds (he was introducing himself to the piano and
vice
versa) and then said: "This piano is asleep. You gotta wake this
baby up."
We all laughed. He called "April" and off we went.
Listening to Sal Mosca
live and up close is an amazing experience. To play with him is
an even
more amazing experience. After the first few notes, actually when
he was
just warming up the piano, we all sensed that Sal was back. After
his first
chorus on "April" we all knew he was back and playing
brilliantly. For the
next couple of hours he alternated with Jon at the keyboard and his
music
continued to expand and unfold. Sal's tunes were: "April," "It's
You or No
One;" "Ghost of a Chance" and "Sweet Georgia Brown."
All brilliant
renditions. Afterward we made plans for future gatherings and all
of us
except Dave went out to eat. Sal ate a hearty bacon and egg meal,
had
plenty to say, and was interested in everything we had to say and about
all
the people we knew in common that he hadn't seen for a while.
We all felt that we had spent a very special evening both musically and
socially, and I am happy to announce that Sal is back.
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