Alto Sax & Ear Wax

Jack, my alto saxophonist friend in Toledo was a powerful musical influence for me in the 50s. He conveyed through his playing the most emotion of anyone with whom I played. A couple years ago he suffered a stroke which left his right hand immobilized. He was not able to play and was depressed. A couple of times Bettina and I visited him and prayed for him. Gradually he recovered the mobility of his hand and was able to start playing again.

One day my guitarist friend Don phoned me. He informed me that he had been playing with a pianist and our friend Jack in a coffee house in Toledo. The pianist who led the group had been asked by the coffee house owner to tell the saxophone player not to play so loud as there had been complaints from the customers. The pianist didn’t want to tell him because he knew that it would hurt his feelings. He asked the guitarist to tell him, but the Don didn’t want to hurt his feelings either. On the phone we went to prayer and asked God to resolve the dilemma. The next week the saxophonist went to the doctor for a check up. The doctor discovered that there was a wax build up in his ears and removed the wax. Since he could hear himself playing so much better he quit playing too loud.