Gig At The Amtrak
I was rudely awakened by a man
who set down his suitcase
next to the bench I was sleeping on.
If it wasn't for all these travelers,
I could get some rest.
I checked to see if my horn was there and
found my left hand still squeezing
the handle on the case.
I took out the horn and looked inside and
there were still some notes left in it.
Some college kid with a guitar sat down and
asked me if I played and
I said, "A little bit, I guess."
I saw two men come in carrying briefcases and
wearing gray suits and it got me to thinking
that it's a long time since I've been in a bank.
So I put my horn back in the case and
went down to the biggest bank I could find and
they were playing some stupid arrangement of
"Round Midnight" on the Musak and it made me mad
so I got out my horn and blew a few licks and
then they told me to leave,
so I did.
I'm always leaving places.
I hadn't eaten yet,
so I walked back home and
a train pulled in just as I got there and
and crowd of people poured in
so I pulled out my horn and started playing and
two women came over and put some change
in my horn case and I stopped playing and
bought a Danish and a cup of coffee.
One of the women came back and asked me to play
something by the Duke so I played "Sophisticated Lady"
which I thought was sort of funny and I think she caught it.
Then her husband came over and pretty soon there
was a small crowd and I imagined I was playing again
with Miles and Trane and then I heard the change dropping
into my horn case and I remembered where I was.
Someone applauded and then everyone applauded and
some guy walked up to me and said I sounded like Hank Mobley.
I counted my change and
went down to Tony's for a cheesesteak.
