And the Band Played On
Wynton and Victor Goines at Northwestern University
This is a busy week. Over the weekend we drove to Evanston, IL for the commencement of Northwestern University. After working on the commencement address for several days and nights, rain necessitated the reading of the first and last pages only.
Victor Goines, fellow JLCO member, is the head of jazz studies at Northwestern. He is also from New Orleans and we went to kindergarten together. Vic and I tried to turn away the showers with a little 'Second Line' on tenor sax and trumpet a capella….to no avail. The graduates will always cherish this moment for its brevity.
I love to see the continuum of family, educators and alumni at graduations. President Henry Bieden and his wife Leigh were leaving their posts at the university as was chairman Patrick Ryan. The post graduation dinner was warm and festive with great respect being accorded to and given from all of the deserving families.
The next morning, Dean Toni-Marie Montgomery presided over the College of Music's commencement. It was a beautiful day matched by the ceremony. Frank Stewart and Boss Murphy then got stuck in the Puerto Rican Day parade looking for ribs on the south side of Chicago. We finally drove home 14 hrs. Damn! Pennsylvania is a long state from west to east.
Wynton
