So What

I remember in ‘78 and ‘79 going regularly to hear the Columbia group “So What” playing at Carman. I thought they were the coolest guys on campus – cooler than the Count Basie guys at the West End. It was a great introduction to jazz. Oddly enough, a couple of years ago I was watching a show at the Shubert Theater in New Haven about the blues guitarist Robert Johnson, and I recognized the one musician on stage: the guitar player from “So What.” I talked to him after the show; he’s the only one from that group still playing, and he sounded better than ever.