I Was There

At age 15 there was no doubt in anyones mind that I loved music.  Any kind.  I had my favorite genres. 

#1  Jazz

#2  Rock and roll

#3  The blues

At ages 14 through 16 I dated a young thing (like me).  Her mom was a college professor, single (and Bi) who loved to hit the San Francisco nightlife every weekend.  We'd tag along.  Her mom would go one way and we would go ours. 

At 16 I became a licensed driver exactly on my birthday (the professor signed the DMV slip as being my mother).  From that moment on I did most of the driving as at the end of the evening the dear professor was usually into her cups and definitely a liability behind the wheel.

On one of those weekends the three of us were lucky to catch Miles Davis at the Blackhawk nightclub.  I think we paid 5 bucks a piece.   It was a Sunday afternoon.  Chicken coop wire separated the under-aged from the drinkers.  Those of us still wet behind the ears were escorted in through a separate door and into a corner surrounded by the chicken coop wire.... just room enough for 3 or 4 tables.

It did feel a bit uncomfortable being one of the few white folks in the club.  When we first sat down there were the over the shoulder looks that made me "gulp" and think "yikes!".  But this was short lived.

I thought I had died and gone to heaven.  Not yet a full fledged cool cat, this junior cat thought "ahhh, this is the life."  
  
Miles never smiled and didn't say more than a dozen words.  He just grooved. 

His Friday and Saturday sessions had been recorded which was apparent from the equipment still setup around the stage.  Little did I know that those recordings would be hailed one day as some of Miles Davis' finest moments in music.  "Miles Davis---Friday and Saturday Night at the Blackhawk".

Unforgettable.

During the three years that we dated I learned a lot from the girl friend's mom.  I learned that grownups can still have sleepovers in the same beds with friends of the same sex.  I learned how to appreciate fine wine.  The three of us spent each fourth of July with a tribe who were celebrating a holiday of their own which in itself had lessons of its own.  I learned that it was okay to play three or four members of the opposite sex at a time which would bring gifts, dinners at fine places and trips to far away destinations.

There were other lessons, too.  Like Miles Davis, the experience with the girl friend and her mother was to this day Unforgettable.

Oh, I should add that the girl friend went through three marriages before she decided that she was really gay and didn't want any part of any man.  The girl friend is now living happily ever after with a much younger female.

And now you know the rest of the story.