Sure feels good to hear my dear brother Jerry Dodgion speaking out and taking me back to the time we were hanging for many hours backstage with the Jones/Lewis Band almost five decades ago.

Great interview, fascinating. Especially enjoyed the part referencing Oliver Nelson.

My high school tenor saxophonist friend from Annandale, VA, Bruce Armstrong, and I went up to NYC for a weekend of jazz club hopping in the summer of 1964. One of the venues we hit was The Five Spot to hear The Zoot Zims/Al Cohn Quintet. To our great pleasure and surprise, Jerry Dodgion, who was subbing for an otherwise committed Al Cohn that evening, proceeded to completely gas us with his playing. Mind you, we didn't know his name, let alone anything about his abilities as one of the top tenor saxophonists on the jazz, big band or recording scene, then or since! We just sat and listened in stunned amazement as Mr. Dodgion not only held his own with the older, well-known tenor man, Zoot Zims, but also played as the established professional artist that he was!

What a delightful conversation! Visiting NYC for a business convention, I had gone to hear my buddy, pianist John Campbell, who had a trio gig, Jerry and John were running buddies, Jerry came in to listen, and John introduced us. This interview makes perfectly clear why Jerry is so respected among musicians! A beautiful cat. John and Jerry played together when John lived in NYC, and they did a fine duo gig one year at the Chicago Jazz Fest.

Jerry Dogions is also a fantastic composer/arranger. My band has played his ballad "Thank You" and it's absolutely stunning.

Rudy was right and Herbie knew it. Solo piece would have spoiled the date. Jerry Dodgion was one of the first New York cats I've met and he is a great gentleman as well as all around great player. I would love to hear more NY sessions stories as well as Thad Jones stories, so hopefully there's more interviews with Jerry.

RIP Jerry.

Jacobson was great too -- he asked a few (pretty hip) questions to get things going, and stayed out of the way while Jerry talked.

An important element of Rudy's studios and setups was in common with other great recording engineers, like Al Schmidt and the guys who worked at Columbia's 30th St studios and other large rooms with great acoustics -- how they set up the band, and how they placed mics to reject leakage like drums while optimizing the sound of their pickup of other instruments. Nothing magic, just a really solid understanding of room acoustics, and the acoustics of the instruments they were recording. There were several engineers doing great work in NY, and often superior to Rudy. I've long felt that Rudy's stature is based on his good luck to have been based near Manhattan -- Roy DunNann's work in LA for Contemporary, and Al Schmidt, impresses me far more. Check out Rollins's "Way Out West," "Ray Charles and Betty Carter," and Schmidt's many recordings for Dianna Krall, all of which blow away Rudy sonically. So do Wally Heider and Bones Howe, who were doing great work recording big bands on the west coast -- Wally's live recordings of big bands led by Kenton, Woody, Basie, Maynard, Dizzy, Terry Gibbs (the Dream Band), and Don Ellis were state of the art, and he recorded some of these band in stereo a year before the labels were recording stereo in the studios. The first of his stereo recordings I’ve discovered was the last nights of a 2-week gig of the Kenton band in a San Francisco club in Nov ‘56, with Pepper Adams in the section. The earlier sets were mono. Pepper was fully developed by then, and realizing his stature, all of the soloists were giving him their solos! The recordings are so good that listening on good headphones or a good system is like being in the room, and all of them blow away the commercially released recordings! Many of these live recordings can be found as bootlegs on the internet. An important element of Rudy's studios and setups was in common with other great recording engineers, like Al Schmidt and the guys who worked at Columbia's 30th St studios and other large rooms with great acoustics -- how they set up the band, and how they placed mics to reject leakage like drums while optimizing the sound of their pickup of other instruments. Nothing magic, just a really solid understanding of room acoustics, and the acoustics of the instruments they were recording. There were several engineers doing great work in NY, and often superior to Rudy. As an engineer, I've always shared what I've learned, and been down on Rudy for not doing the same. Bird and Diz were famous for sharing. I'm in that tradition.