So pleased to learn certain details

Submitted by Sue Cassidy Clark (United States), Dec 29, 2013 at 16:00

I arrived on the Bebop/Hardbop jazz scene as a listener in 1956. I met many musicians including Birks (Dizzy), Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane. I do not believe John was a Muslim, as he left his Muslim wife. I knew him quite well, before Alice. He once phoned me and said, "Sue, do you believe in God and Jesus?" because he knew I went to church (Episcopal). When I answered affirmatively, he said, "Good."

Also, I met Ahmad Jamal in 1958, the last set, the last night he performed at the Pershing Lounge. We have been friends ever since (ahmadjamal.info). I once asked him about his conversion, and he said he met a teacher from the Sudan--this would have been in the early 1950's.

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