Eric and I were rehashing old times at last year's Philly Folk Fest. (I hadn't seen him for years until we got booked the same year) Old jazz fans would know of Elmer Snowden. His band was a major attraction on the Black circuit. His sidemen included young, unknowns like Lester Young and Bill Basie,before he was The Count. Elmer's resume was impressive. I asked him if he knew the changes for "Mack, The Knife" and he informed me that he was the tenor banjoist in the pit band when The Threepenny Opera opened in New York. I wasn't the least surprised.