diz the wiz

hello Wilmer,i would like to know if you have played with joe newman,he is one of my favorite trumpet player,and i think that peoples doesn't talk about him anymore,he was always a exciting player,i love the way he built tension in his solo's,he had roy eldridge's fire in his playing,do you have story about him?(like when a new trumpet player came to the count basie's trumpet section,and said that joe was not like what people say's about him,he was very generous with the solo's,giving the trumpeter a lot of solo's space,until the trumpeter found out that the solo's he was given,where not played for 10 years,and where not in the book anymore)

wiseone2

I got to know Joe after I move to New York City. He was one of the Jim and Andy's regulars.
Jim and Andy's was a bar on 55th st. At any time you could find a musical "Who's Who" at the bar. I met Harry Glantz there. Papa Jo Jones was a regular. On any given day you might find Ernie, Bernie, Danny Stiles and Bill Watrous having a break between sessions. Al Cohn and Zoot Sims were also there.
I met Carmine Caruso and Jerry Callet there many evenings.
In the days before cellphones and beepers, Jim's was a hub of information. Radio Registry, THE answering service of the top guys in town, had a direct line to the bar. Many a night Registry called to get a player at the last minute. It was always full of the guys.

Joe Newman was an upper west-side neighbor. I lived at 100th and West End Avenue in those days. Joe lived a little further downtown. I never did get a chance to work with Joe.
Wilmer