When I was in Grad school in Dekalb IL, working on the coffeehouse ("New Prairie Cafe") committee, one of the folks I was most interested in seeing was brilliant & distinctive harmonica player Howard Levy. Though I knew him originally from Trapezoid's recordings, he also had a jazz combo, years before the Flecktones. NIU was keen on jazz in the music department, so booking his Jazz (think it was a quartet) was a no-brainer. Come the night, prolly 7 people showed up, including the committee. He was seriously pissed off, and tersely took us to task for the lack of audience - BACKSTAGE. Great show, and nobody would have been the wiser about his crabbyness out front.

Joanne in Siberia on the Lake