by Tony Pringle
I remember Jim very clearly. We seemed to be like ships that pass in the night, but he always made an impression.
Back in the middle to late 1970s he was on tour with Barry Martin and John Defferay was playing clarinet with Bary’s band. Our clarinet player had had an operation and we were stuck for a replacement. I looked at Barry’s schedule and saw they had a couple of free nights – later they would come and play alongside the Black Eagles at the Sticky Wicket. I made a couple of calls and eventually reached Barry and I asked if John could play a couple of gigs with us – Thursday at the Stick Wicket and Friday somewhere closer to Boston. It was agreed and we signed John up for the two gigs – he would be staying at my house.
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