Pittsburgh shadyside gaslight trio 1964-1966

Pittsburgh 1964-1966

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    In 1964, 65 and 66, I was a full time Ph.D. student at the University of
Pittsburgh, thanks to a generous federal fellowship.  In the late fall of
1964, I met a very smart and pretty young lady. A year and a half later we
were married and I received the Ph.D. (Carol received her Ph.D in 1968.
And, we are still married.)  But I digress from the jazz bands. . . .

    In the fall of 1964, I landed a regular gig, thanks to my membership in
the musician's union.  It was with a trio: clarinet, piano and banjo.  We
played weekends at a club near the airport.

    Sometime in 1965, we began a long run at a private after hours club in
the Shadyside area of Pittsburgh.  Shadyside was the fashionable hot area
full of shops, restaurants and a couple of jazz clubs.

    Our gig was at the Gaslight Club.  It was below street level and the
entrance was through an old fashioned telephone booth. On Friday nights,
we played from 9:00 pm until 4:00 am!  Saturday nights we started at
1000 pm and played until 5:00 am!  The clarinet player must have had a
steel lip.  I did a lot of banjo solos and vocals. It was a good learning
experience because we continually added new tunes to our list so we didn't
have to play the same old tunes several times during the 7 hour gigs.