Last night, Ruth and I went to the 50th Anniversary of the Men's Chorus at Immanuel Baptist church in neighboring New Haven. I guess that's about as close to a "jam" that I get. I sang for two years in the Greater New Haven Male Chorus with most of the guys from Immanuel, along with men from several other male choruses, so it was like a reunion. There's one group of guys I could listen to all night who were there. They're a male chorus from their church, and almost every guy in the chorus (which varies from 6-8 men) could sing lead on r&b. Best yet, they sing a capella. Best yet, for me, anyway. They have such rich harmonies and such an incredible blend that the music gets down into soul. One of the guys in the group sang in Greater Haven chorus I was in. He sang the lead on The Hem of His Garment that Sam Cooke sang the lead on with the Soul Stirrers. He did a fine job on it. It's been three years since I last saw him. He's all of 15 years old, now. The group was a guest at one of the Gospel Messengers anniversaries, and we were glad to see each other again.

A second group, the Crescendos sang at a Swanee Quintet concert where the Messengers also sang, two years ago. Great folks, and a pleasure to hear them again.

Tonight, I sing with the Union Baptist Men's Chorus at an anniversary of another Men's Chorus of a church in Stamford. There'll be several other groups there, so I know I'll see a lot of old acquaintances. Should be fun.

Oh yeah, yesterday, I printed a copy of the final, edited and formatted manuscript for my book. It goes off the the publisher on Tuesday or Wednesday, along with the text and photos for the cover of the book.

Jerry