NAMC: The New African Music Collective and the Magic of the Bell

It was 1982 or ‘83, perhaps ‘81 or ‘84, I don’t remember exactly. I had gone to Daisey Baker’s, a restaurant in downtown Troy, New York, with Margaret, my best friend’s girlfriend. She knew Don Dworkin, leader of Doc Scanlan Rhythm Boys, a local swing era jazz group. She introduced me to him and he invited me to sit in on a tune, “Sunny Side of the Street.” As I was taking my solo I noticed a group of RPI (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) administrators sitting at a front-row table. I recognized the VP for Student Affairs, whose name I ...