Grandpa Jay
Earlier this morning, my Grandpa Jay passed away. Though the news was not unexpected, that hasn’t stopped me from reminiscing my Saturday away.
Many of my favorite moments with him were spent over a game of cards after school (usually gin rummy or cribbage). Our games gave us a chance to talk about my classes or sports or whatever was going on in the world. Mostly, though, we talked about music.
Grandpa played the saxophone well into his later years and was quite fond of big band music. As a kid, it wasn’t my favorite style of music (it sounded too “old”), but that didn’t stop him from playing it for me.
During my freshman year of college, I played for my school’s jazz ensemble. Our director, Bill Russo, was a fantastic composer and arranger who worked with artists like Duke Ellington, Leonard Bernstein, Stan Kenton and Dizzie Gillespie. Needless to say, Grandpa loved this and would ask me about it every time we saw each other. It was really nice to have a new perspective on the music he loved — and I grew quite fond for many of the songs we played.
With Grandpa in mind, I put together a small Rdio playlist of big band tunes. Give it a listen if you’re so inclined — it’s a great soundtrack for a trip down memory lane.
