Johnny Janis (vocals & guitar)... Starvin' In London

Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head (Bacharach-David)
Close To You (Bacharach-David)
Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You (Crewe-Gaudio)
I'd Like To Make It With You (Gates)

A great gig I remember well... I needed a trio to work a gig in New York City. I was new to New York and didn't know any of the available musicians in town, so I called a great drummer I had worked with in my Chicago days named Walter Perkins. He knew what my style was and he recommended a piano player named Herbie Hancock. Herbie was available, and he hired drummer Stu Martin and bassist Earl May to work the gig. I was completely blown away on the first song of our first rehearsal. I couldn't have had a better trio in all of New York. We played the gig for a couple of wonderful months and soon afterwards, Miles Davis asked Herbie to join his group. The rest about Herbie is history.

Another great musical experience was the recording I did with pianist Dodo Marmarosa (photo on right), tenor sax and trumpeter Ira Sullivan, bass player Jerry Friedman, and drummer Guy Vivaros. Fortunately, I was able to salvage my old tapes with this great quartet by baking them in an electric fruit and vegetable dehydrator, (a good tip for those of you who might have old tapes that gum up your tape recorder). The last I heard of Dodo, he was touring with Billie Holiday just before his death.

This album is available now for the very first time...


A short detour about Billie Holiday... I had the memorable experience of catching a show she did in Chicago. She was without a doubt one of the great storytellers of all time. When she sang a lyric you knew clearly she had lived every word. Watching her perform I got the feeling she cared very little about what the audience thought about her. It was like she had pulled down a shade between her and the audience so she could concentrate totally on the song she was singing. For sure, she reached my heart and the hearts of Jazz, Blues, Country, Classical and Pop music fans all over the world.

Another musical highlight for me was working at Le Bistro in Chicago with the Billy Wallace Trio. Five nights a week for two great years I couldn't wait to go to work. Plus I recorded an album (The Start Of Something New) with Billy's trio for Columbia Records.

Enjoy The Music!


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