RIP Jack Lewis..who you say

[paparob]

my friend Jack Lewis, passed away this week after a long illness that left him bedridden and lonely . His life went from being born to a Canadian Family of a wealthy Jewish Mother and a non Jewish father, with 8 siblings to dying alone in an LA hospital. His early days were marred by his mother dying , his father dropping him and his siblings off at a Hollywood Jewish Orphanage, penniless . They would grow up there never to be adopted, and after a football injury where he hit his head and lost the use of an eye, he looked the part of an castoff.. Luckily the guy had a swing about him and a musicality that drove him. The local Sunset and Vine record shop knew Jack well and soon hired him to place records in jukeboxes, eventually landing him a job as the youngest A&R guy for Columbia records in NYC at the age of 18ish. With that move he worked on pinnacle Jazz recordings in the 1950's. His passion drove him into many genres after that forming a recording company called Little David Records with partner Monty Kay, whom died many years ago. The years I met Jack, he was not making records, was losing his house in the valley , married to Arlen and his kids did not speak with him , but he had a sparkle in his eye and a love for music. I would invite him to sessions and he would sit and groove out to the sounds and he provided me with a pat on the back and equated me with his engineers of the past. When I had time we always shared an exotic meal and a smoke and listen to records of his and people I have never heard before, always making a cassette for me to take with..When I moved north, I would send him care packages and he would send tapes. It was nice.
I know that I had not seen Jack in many years and abandoned him myself, when circumstances arose. However I did speak with him last year with the aid of Paris Zax, a dear brother of mine whom I introduced Jack to many years ago. Jack loved me and I love Him. He was an honest , yet opinionated guy, but he always had something in mind. He would look at you with his one eye and it would scare you... I could go on with Jack's History, but we will save that for later.
Jack's Life won't be eulogized on the world wide web or in the papers, his name won't be one that the music industry will honour, however gasp at the list of artists he shared an intimate setting , one that I love too...the recording studio.
His credentials include work with Duke Ellington, Coleman Hawkins, Zoot Sims, Al Cohn, Milt Jackson, Joao Gilberto, Nina Simone, Jackie & Roy, Herbie Hancock and Tony Williams, John McLaughlin, Bill Holman, Nora Guthrie, The Lovin' Spoonful and Kenny Rankin; Woody Allen, George Carlin, The Committee, Burns & Schreiber and Flip Wilson and a bunch more. He has also produced the music in movies, Laurence of Arabia, Dr. Strangelove and primarily jazz anthologies and he produced a cult classic of 13 live concerts at the Wiltern Theater, called Jazzvisions.
check http://www.bsnpubs.com/atlantic/littledavid.html

A few years ago, Jaxon in stroller, Natalie and I were in Venice, CA leaving a party and there is George Carlin at his garage door, I stop and say hello and he shakes my hand as I am telling him I am a friend of Jack Lewis, he shook my hand tighter...

[Gregg Juke]

Wow, that's amazing...Thanks for sharing and so sorry for the loss of your friend.

God Bless & Good Blues,

Gregg Juke

[vvv]

What Mr. Juke said ...