Today I had the pleasure of being amidst some great jazz musicians. What a collection of players. First, Max Roach on drums. Look him up, he's played with everyone, even Bird. Two great sax players, Jackie McLean on Alto and Illinois Jacquet on Tenor. The two "headliners" though are unparalleled, there was Miles Davis on trumpet and Duke Ellington leading the ensem. It gets no better than that.
Unfortunately I saw them all at the Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx. (And I didn't even know Max Roach had died.)
Melanie knew the cemetery was a National Historic Landmark and asked if I'd be interested in seeing it. We knew some famous people were buried there and that there were some interesting monuments.
It was worth the visit. I knew Duke Ellington was buried there but I didn't know Miles was there until Melanie saw him on the map. They're on the same intersection of paths across from each other. (They have nothing in common musically or, from what I know, personally. But they're both at the top of jazz royalty.)
We walked further along and I saw the gravestone for Illinois Jacquet. Wow, so who else is here? Turns out Max Roach is close by and Jackie McLean is a few yard over from him.
(I'd love to hear from you. Feel free to comment.)
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