Mexican Bandit Me

Roy Eldridge, Paul Gonsalves | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 12, 1996)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Ojc
• ASIN: B000000YY5
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #439,730 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. 5400 North

2. I Cover the Waterfront

3. C Jam Blues

4. Body and Soul

5. It's the Talk of the Town

6. Somebody Loves Me

7. Satin Doll [#][*]

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Incriminating evidence of my 30 pieces of silver., October 3, 2009

By 

Samuel Chell (Kenosha,, WI United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mexican Bandit Me (Audio CD)

It was the winter of '73, and Duke's band was playing a dance a couple of blocks away at the Eagles' Club. The band manager recognized me as a sort of Ellington groupie and appointed me as Paul Gonsalves' guardian for the evening: my assignment was to keep him away from the bar, whatever it took. Paul asked me for a drink; I said "no." His bright eyes stared into mine, a grin starting to take shape at the sides of his mouth along with an unspoken "Pretty please?" "No," I repeated. Seeing that I had a photo of Duke, which I would have the Maestro autograph at the end of a set, Paul gestured toward it, his hands insisting that it had to be held up close. I relented. He took the photo, ignoring the picture and turning it to its white backside. He then continued his Charlie Chaplin act, mimicking the movement of an invisible pen. I had one: I gave it to him. Without looking at the photographic paper in his hand, he kept staring at me, his eyes gleaming, his mouth betraying a devilish little plan hatched at my expense. Within a minute he gave the photo back. It was the same photo, except that in addition to a photo of Duke on the front side there was a sketch of me on the back, signed by Paul Gonsalves.

They say Duke was a charming man. No doubt i would have bought him a drink, too. But the Maestro, like Sonny Stitt, knew when not to ask.

This recording date, Paul's very last, shows signs of the years of alcohol abuse, but unlike Hawk, Prez, and a number of others who come to mind, Paul is in there trying, swinging his tail off to the very end.

That night he was there for the downbeat of every tune for the 4-hour job. By the 3rd set, a trombone player was lying prone on the stage (no, it wasn't Lawrence Brown, heaven forbid), out cold for the night (I'm not sure if he made it to Kansas City for the next night's engagement). Paul remained til the end, carefully putting away his music (which he, like Hodges before him, never glanced at during the job.)

I was warned that night, and in no uncertain terms, by the well-traveled bassist, Joe Benjamin, not to pursue a career in music, no matter how good I was. Several years later Joe, as sober, modest, and generous as any musician I've met, had gone the way of Paul--a victim not of the bottle but of the road.