Brenda and I watched an American Masters show on public television last night on Ray Charles.

It featured comments by James Clay, David Fathead Newman, Hank Crawford, and showed a picture of Leroy Cooper.

I remember hearing Clay and Newman tenor battles at Woodman Hall, in Dallas. I remember Leroy Cooper playing with the house band at those jam sessions, the Red Tops.

I remember Newman backing up Dr. John on "My Buddy."

I just ordered a Clay/Newman CD, Sound of the Wide Open Spaces.

Two big Texas tenors. Reminiscent of Sonny Rollins' Way Out West.

Aaron Neville likes the Sons of the Pioneers. He had a mopstick he called Kimo Sabe.

I bought a portable CD player for my three trips coming up. To Andalusia, to Ojus, and to Fairhope.

I'll be listening to bebop en route and to bluegrass when I get there.

Ontogeny recapitulates philogeny.

I have a documentary on Wardell Gray called Forgotten Tenor.

There are American masters and there are forgotten tenors.

I think James Clay is probably forgotten.

If you made a documentary on me, as an American writer, you wouldn't call it American Master, you'd call it Forgotten Writer.

All the guys in the barracks liked him.