The Armand Boatman Trio

The Armand Boatman Trio
1984
Even though I was living in Prescott by 1984, I still had ties to Phoenix and my TRACE agent, Les Boros. He would call me every so often, with a stand-in gig, and I would load the pickup with gear, a tuxedo and hit the road for Phoenix. On one ocassion he booked me to play bass with The Armand Boatman Trio at the Wigwam Country Club in Litchfield Park. I had been working regularly with Clare Willey and my jazz chops were reasonable at that point, so I accepted the gig. Big mistake . . .

Armand Boatman is a great pianist, and he knows his jazz well. His drummer (I don't remember his name) was a little leary of the bass player from Prescott the "agent" had sent for the night. Armand just seemed amused. I remember well the first song he called was "Meditation", which I can play in my sleep. Whew! Then "The Girl From Ipenema". Alright! I know this stuff! Then "Fly Me To The Moon". No problem! Then something by Thelonius Monk I didn't know, with chord changes that went all over the place and key changes that seemed like they happened every 12 bars! ACK! Once they realized I was lost, they seemed to take delight in confusing me more. Imagine four hours of me stumbling all over the place and them giggling. That about sums it up!

Don't misunderstand me here, I was the one who wasn't qualified to handle the gig. I have a recording of this night that so far, only I have heard. I called Les Boros the next day and thanked him for the gig. Oh yeah, one of these days I'm going to book Armand at a rock and roll show! (grin).