I had one of those moments this morning that your public radio station likes to tout when they are fundraising: I pulled into the parking lot at my studio, and just as I was about to shut the car off this story begins on my old clarinet teacher from junior high, Gabe Baltazar. I left the car running and listened to the whole story.
Mr. Baltazar taught reeds at Punahou School in Honolulu in 1969-1970, when I was attending. I’m sure I was one of his worst students, but there was a lot of joy in the man, and he made a big impression on me. In 1970 my band teacher (not Mr. Baltazar) kicked me out of the school band for having long hair and wearing my shirttails out (the good old days…) and I gave up playing reeds and switched to guitar. But the moment they spoke his name on NPR this morning I knew who they were talking about.
So if you want to learn something about one of the finest jazz musicians to come out of Hawaii then follow this link.
