When I was a kid I had a good old fashioned rock-n-roll band, ala Bill Haley, Chuck Berry, etc. One day I heard this kid down the street practicing sax and recruited him to play with us. He was awesome and everyone loved his playing, but his heart wasn't in it. He wanted to play jazz. I tried to convince him that Jazz was on its way out and rock was here to stay! But alas he left the band to join a jazz ensemble. When he came to tell me he was leaving I had already found out. I was angry and immature, and before he could explain i told him
"Go F$#K yourself!"
He went on to get a full ride at Berklee and was recruited to play with Buddy. He toured for 2 years, did arrangements, appeared on several albums, movie soundtracks and videos. I ran into him one day after we had put the past long behind us and he told me this story.
He said when he started out with Buddy he was given a cheap used polyester sweater with BR embroidered on it. He hated that sweater. Over the 2 years he rarely had any conversations with Buddy, usually just a few short directions. He played his heart out and put up with a lot of crap. He got asked to solo more and more and also to write charts and arrangements, and felt he was getting somewhere.
Eventually he grew tired of life on the road and landed a prestigious position as a musical director of a nationally recognized orchestra. He gave Buddy plenty of notice and 2 months later when he was finished with his last gig with Buddy he stopped in to offer his final goodbye's.
He reached out to shake Buddy's hand and told him how grateful he was for the opportunity and how much he appreciated and admired him. Without missing a beat or making eye contact Buddy just blurted out "Yeah? Well go F#$K yourself!"......and after a pause he added " and make sure I get my GD Sweater back!!!!!
ha! I don't feel so bad now.
