[Dixielandjazz] Tommy Loy

[Bill Gunter]

I think the last fun outing for Tommy was when he went with our band (Cell 
Block 7) as second cornet on our tour to Scotland for the Edinburgh Jazz 
Festival.  As soon as Tommy got back to Texas he went to see his doctor 
where he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and the rest is what 
inevitably happens at that point.

He died about twelve weeks later.

While in Scotland Tommy played and sang beautifully and received rousing 
ovations for his renditions of "Sweet Lotus Blossom" and "Black and Blue" 
which he sang with incredible sensitivity and style. His appetite was not 
too good and his stomach hurt which he attributed to stomach flu or some 
such thing.

On one of our days off, I rented a car to travel from Edinburgh to a little 
town across the river called Anstruther (Ainster, to the locals) - My wife 
and I had visited there several years ago and I recalled having some fish 
and chips there which were as good as I have ever eaten anywhere. I asked if 
anyone was interested in some fish and chips and a drive through the 
Scottish countryside. Tommy was the one who wanted to go and off we went. I 
recall asking Tommy what he thought of driving on the "wrong side of the 
road" and he said "Other than being terrified I think I'm OK." We made it to 
the restaraunt and ordered our meals and Tommy couldn't eat any. He tasted 
the food and thought it was delicious but was unable to eat. Again, we all 
thought it was a case of stomach flu or perhaps some of that "pub food" we 
had been eating in Scotland.

Tommy was a recording engineer in addition to his other accomplishments and 
was the chap who was the sound/recording technician for Turk Murphy's 
farewell concert at Carnegie Hall in N.Y. It was shortly after that when 
Turk passed away from cancer.

Tommy was loved by everyone in the band and by all who heard him play and 
sing. While he was obivously in some discomfort it certainly didn't prevent 
him from being happy, witty and a warm and friendly Texican.

I guess my last two memories of Tommy are driving through the beautiful 
Scottish countryside and then, at O'hare Airport in Chicago where we all got 
off the airplane from Glasgow and went our separate ways - I took a flight 
to California and Tommy flew off to Texas. How could one know that seeing 
Tommy stroll off in the direction of his connecting flight would be the last 
time I'd ever see my friend, Tommy.

Goodbye, Tommy - I'll miss you in the band and on the DJML.

Respectfully submitted,

Bill Gunter
jazzboard@hotmail.com









_________________________________________________________________
Protect your PC - get McAfee.com VirusScan Online 
http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963