1994 with milt hinton

I recently discovered this old photo of legendary bassist Milt Hinton and me from 1994. That summer I was studying with Milt and a few other great musicians who have also since passed (Milt passed away in 2000).  Milt and I had lunch together a few times and he spoke with me about his years working with Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Cab Calloway, Billie Holiday, Coleman Hawkins, and many others. We both grew up around Chicago so it was also fascinating to hear him talk about how when he was a kid he ran bootleg liquor for Al Capone during Prohibition.  One day Milt was injured in a car accident in Chicago while on a run for Capone and the doctor said they would have to amputate one of his fingers. Milt didn’t want to lose his finger so his boss, Al Capone, went to the doc and told him not to amputate and the doc obeyed.  I’m glad he did.  Milt and Mona, his wife of almost 60 years until his passing, were lovely people…