Four-of-a-Kind was a very flexible name for a jazz group. Eddie, Terry, and John (a.k.a. Father John) were there at the beginning. We could add a trumpet and be Five-of-a-Kind. We could feature the Three-of-a-Kind trio. With just Eddie on keyboard, we could be Two-of-a-Kind. If I played by myself, would I be One-of-a-Kind?
We had a nine month run as four every Sunday night at The Paoli Local, a bar/restaurant in a small shopping mall situated along the main railroad line between Philadelphia and Harrisburg. I thought that was a clever name too.
There were enough yuppies in Poali who were eager to sip more wine and be seen, even on Sunday nights. Our bebop, blues, and traditional straight ahead style would be background for their conversations, meaningful and otherwise, as the ‘Local’ offered an upscale environment even if the menu was questionable.
We felt a sense of mission to educate and bring attention to the music we played, and The Sunday Night Jazz Quiz was born. Our approach to the job was a bit different. With a microphone and our sound system, I was able to interrupt with questions about jazz history. Of course, there were prizes for correct answers and we were gentle with the questions. For example: What is Gene Ammons’ nickname? OR What is ‘Jugs’ real name?
I’ll never know if the yuppies ever actually listened to all those jazz cassettes and CD’s they won, but soon the word got around (somehow) that there was a jazz group at the ‘Local’ and jazz fans began to drift in, sometimes in significant numbers, enough to give the yuppies a run for their money on The Sunday Night Jazz Quiz…
The spirit of jazz endures and sometimes I am embarrassed, stubbing my toe and at times falling flat on my face; but I am thankful for The Duke, Coleman, Lester, Cannonball, Phil, Dexter, Stanley, Sonny, Wayne, Geri…One day I hope to understand what Trane was playing. Meanwhile, I’m trying to catch up…Jazz is very cool)))