I was enjoying a Jazz Alliance performance at The Edge Coffeehouse after I retired and on break I was talking to Janie Overall who told me that at ASU the state pays the tuition for senior citizens, 60 or over. So I can say that it was Jazz Alliance that brought me back to ASU where I took Percussion lessons from Craig Collison and Jazz Improv from Ron Horton. Soon after that I resumed my composition studies and resumed hosting Something Blue at KASU.

Ron Horton wrote some great songs and I began recording their live performances collecting the tracks that ended up on their “Partly Cloudy” CD. Playing on the CD are Ron Horton, trumpet; Craig Collison, vibes; David Eckert, bass; and Mike Overall, drums. They helped me start the KASU Jazz Thursday concerts and also played at Bebopalooza! Their personnel have strong connections to ASU and the public library.

They were a great band and I have featured them many times on Something Blue, mostly playing jazz standards recorded at public performances. This week I am featuring originals written by Ron Horton. Here’s Jazz Alliance now playing “12 Bar Bruise”.