From: Betty MacDonald [macdee@ulster.net]
Sent: Saturday, February 16, 2008 3:58 PM
To: Thomas Gabriel
Subject: a little bit more

You might want to indicate that this was the first time Bill and I had played together.

I played in the h.s. orchestra with his sister Charlotte.

I learned of Bill while doing my radio show on WDST in Woodstock.....so I knew

who he was and that he was out there doin' the Jazz thing!

I actually thought he was going to be at David's bash on a different night and was

sorry that we wouldn't get to meet - let alone play together.

When David introduced him to me - I, of course, knew who he was, but he had no

idea about me. I heard his name and said, "oh my god, Bill, I'm from Olean too!"

And there we were - the two of us with that look of total shock on our faces.

It was David's call to put us up on the stage together learning of our shared

hometown and background. We got to play the Bobby Tiimmon's tune "Moanin' " together, and then

David came on stage to play a Freddie Hubbard tune with us - "Little Sunflower".

The pictures taken of us onstage were very dark and undecypherable...but David's wife Karen

caught this one of us backstage.

There was an incredible lineup of musicians there during the weekend to celebrate David's

75th birthday. David, of course, always calls tunes paying tribute to Ray Charles with whom he

played for many years.

Other musicians sitting int that weekend were Jimmy Cobb, Jimmy Heath, Janis Siegel of Manhattan Transfer,

Phil Woods, Craig Handy, Benny Powell, Russell Malone, Ken Peplowski, and the list goes on.

The band playing with David included Warren Bernhardt, piano; John Menegon, bass; and Yoron Israel, drums.

They were HOT!!! David was in his usual fantastic form playing musical host to

some of the jazz world's great players and sold out audiences.

So happy to share this memorable evening with our wonderful hometown - OLEAN!!!

Betty Knieser MacDonald