[Dixielandjazz] How nearby was Kenny? (Really)

[tcashwigg at aol.com]

Now that  I whole heartedly concur with David, better to let him retire 
in peace and
  dignity than be ridiculed in public and or on  a chat list because he 
did not play as
 expected or as good as he did before he was afflicted.

R.I.P. Kenny  "But know we're gonna talk about ya since your gone "

Tom

-----Original Message-----
From: postmaster at fountainsquareramblers.org
To: dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
Sent: Thu, 21 Dec 2006 7:46 PM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] How nearby was Kenny?  (Really)

    Not sure that Left Coast OKOM event managers should be guilt-tripped 
about a
failure to engage the late Kenny Davern when he was living ³nearby² in 
New
Mexico.  Kenny was a connected pro and certainly very able to reach out 
and
influence buyers in major markets for his music. If I recall correctly 
that
he passed from cancer, it is very likely that his health was such in the
last couple of years that he was either unable to perform to his 
standard
and realized it, or feeling so poorly that he was focused on treatment 
with
music being the last thing on his mind.  I can¹t think of a more 
pathetic
spectacle than putting a former monster player up on stage when his 
powers
may have been taken from him by disease.  I played in a big band with an
86-year-old tenor player who used to cut a wide swath in Texas dance 
bands
back in the day but was now being kept around (on ³second bari²) out of
kindness. It was tough keeping him from launching into a solo when he no
longer had the chops. I doubt many of us would have enjoyed seeing an 
ailing
Kenny Davern trying to play through a lot of pain.

David Dustin
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