(Thread-drift alert)

Speaking of the INKSPOTS:

Lloyd Washington, who joined the group in 1941 as the lead singer, lived in New Orleans after retirement and passed away almost a year ago. I just learned that he will finally be buried (reburied?) this coming Saturday, 10/3/04, in a newly dedicated Musician's Tomb in St. Louis Cemetary #1, with all the attendant jazz-funeral ritual and celebration.

The memorial Mass will be held at St. Augustine's Church on St. Claude St. in the Treme neighborhood at 11 am. I'll be two blocks away, at the WWOZ radio studio taking membership pledges over the phone, from 10 to 11:30 during Sean O'Meara's Irish music program. When I leave the studio at 11:30, I should be right on time for the end of Mass and the start of the second-line parade to the cemetary.

Wish y'all (some of y'all, anyway) could be there!