I'm in love with BOTH of them (the right one AND the left one). Actually, I was always real fan of Al's. I learned about him on one of my trips to Cedar Rapids in the late 70's.

I was working for Square D Company, and stayed at the Roosevelt downtown. They let me play piano in the lobby on the nights I was there for a little change and free bar and meals.

On one trip, the entire town was shut down due to a severe winter storm. I had heard at the Square D factory that day that a young jazz singer had recently moved from a downtown venue that was being torn down to a back street location close to the Roosevelt. I walked to the place, which was owned by a drummer
who looked to be straight out of the Godfather movies. There was a bartender and about 6 dancers just standing around (I was the only customer). In walked Al. He had just finished a Social Work degree and was visiting his dad, who, incidentally, owner the cleaning service that maintained the Square D office area. He had worked all through college with the drummer who now owned this sleazy little joint.

In visiting with this young fellow I had never heard of, he asked the drummer if we could use the B-3 on stage. It was a mess, but it worked, and before I knew it, we were playing a concert for 6 of the ugliest strippers on earth (broke too...no tips from musicians, you know).

The owner's-wife, a marginal jazz singer, whipped up something to eat, and we spent the night having a ball.

In less than a year, Al had his break thru song "We're In This Love Together", still one of my favorites I play almost every night.

A well deserved career of respect and admiration from the jazz community. Timing was right. Like George Benson's "Masquerade",
his song made it to number 1 on the pop charts.

I visited with his dad often on subsequent trips and learned about his continuous bout with severe back problems and many surgeries.

I'm glad we had our brief connection, and place him very high in my list of respected jazz innovators.

R.