(An old piece, reworked a bit, from 2006, I think. I can’t remember if it was from a Brick’s Picks or not, but I can still hear that lonely Autumn Leaves, and I probably always will.)
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Last night I was down on Degnan going back and forth between the World Stage and Sonny’s Spot. At the Stage Azar Lawrence was blowing his head off, and the vibe in the room got really deep. Afterward Derrick Finch sat at the piano and man, what a player. A lot of that old stride in his style. Richard Grant picked up his muted trumpet and played some absolutely gorgeous horn. Beautiful player. There was a fast “Autumn Leaves”. A Miles tune. Some others. Bass player joined in for one before splitting. Then as a duo again they worked out two ballad interpretations: “Giant Steps” and “Confirmation”. Finch finally had to leave and the few of us there walked outside. We hung out talking for a few minutes, then went our ways, and as we left you could still hear Grant in there, alone, blowing another “Autumn Leaves” into the empty room.

Richard Grant, blowing in the shadows. I think the shot is by LeRoy Downs, off his essential LA jazz site, thejazzcat.net

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