Watch From Mort Weiss

A friend so close I’ve never seen

Being a lifetime music lover and admirer I’ve listened to many styles and musicians and one period of my life was throughly hunting for decent clarinet jazz. Dark as grenadilla, from which the instrument is made, clear as the name it was given and as free as jazz where it belonged since its dawn… So was the CD I came across in an online shop and bought one. After about a week of listening and enjoying I noted an email sent through shop’s domain and thought it was some kind of usual satisfaction apprisal questionnaire. But then noted it came from a musician who’s album I bought: so unusual! He wrote me a couple of words saying I was the first customer in Ukraine and he had Ukrainian heritage from a long time ago etc. etc… A man was Mort Weiss. A clarinetist who played with numerous jazz celebrities and kept a fantastic form even in his decent age.

We kept in touch since that time, discussed different topics, from clarinet music and my children performances to business and politics. Mort wanted to come and play at jazz festival here in Ukraine but despite all my efforts I hadn’t managed to bring him of what I deeply regret now knowing it is too late for this world. One day in the morning a postman brought a small parcel which to my greatest surprise was coming from Mort. A small Buffet branded watch, corporate gift from famous clarinet brand once presented to him. Mort just wrote he wanted me to have it. What a nice romantic sign o friendship nowadays so unusual and distant in time! And so were we, distant and friendly, from different continents across the sea, from different generations across almost forty years, but feeling like relatives.

So sad Mort is gone, so good he had lived long, so hopefully his life was mostly enjoyable, as much as it can be. We may meet in a better place one day and I will finally listen him playing live, as live as the memories of him are in my heart and in my ears now listening to one of his excellent albums…