10 - Baggett v. Bullitt, and All That Jazz

Summary

Although there were no other blind people in the math department, UDub (U. of W.'s nickname) was the first institution I had attended that had some experience with blind students. Of the 30,000 students enrolled at that time, at least ten or fifteen were blind, and shortly after I arrived in Seattle I made an attempt to contact several of them to see how they managed. One of these blind fellows, Jim, was a musician and had a band. When we met, luck struck again, and he asked me to play with his band. There weren't many gigs, but at least I got to play some and to meet some of the musicians in the area. My experience at Davidson, with Tom, Don, and Bill, had shaped me into a fairly competent piano picker, and I was accepted with compliments into Jim's combo.

In the summer after my first year in Seattle, probably because of people I had met on band jobs with Jim, I got a call from Lee Dreisbach, the leader of a somewhat more sophisticated band called the Tartans. Lee himself had been playing the piano with the Tartans, but his true instrument was the trombone, and he was eager to find someone else to do the piano so he could be freed to play his horn. I played with the Tartans for about three years, during which time I learned much about jazz, got to share ideas and musical thoughts, and even made a fair bit of money.