Another guy I wish didn’t have to pass away for me to learn of him. Played with Mingus, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw; backed singers like Aretha Franklin and Bobby Vinton; produced 40 records, including albums by John Coltrane and Zoot Sims. Then - he chucked it all in and became … a sea captain! What a life!
And what a quote:
Mr. Charles, who left no immediate survivors, saw inescapable parallels between skippering a boat and leading a band. “In both activities, there’s only the truth,” he said. “If you’re on the sea, you have your own vessel that only you put together, your own crew. You work with the sea, or you lose.
“It’s the same in art, not just jazz. There’s no way you can fake it.”
RIP.
