Rusty's is in Toledo.
Road Stories - Continued
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 Claw |
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Posts: 3 (03/11/08 03:12 PM) |
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doctorbear |
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Posts: 1611 (03/11/08 04:37 PM) |
Denis, Thanks for keeping the stories coming! Thanks, SO MUCH!!
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MHHorn |
Rusty's | ||
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Posts: 56 (03/11/08 09:07 PM) |
Denis-- Rusty's is (or was, I dunno if it's still around) in Toledo, Ohio. I saw Boss there a few times, very tight little joint with a cool, but homey
vibe. I know Boss liked it there, he used to say as much from the tiny stage. There was a middle eastern resturant--Ali Baba's ?, maybe, there is Toledo
that he dug, too. I think he was friends with the owner, they would boast about feeding the Boss whenever is was in Toodleedoo!
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Ben |
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Posts: 1283 (03/11/08 10:41 PM) |
A version of Rusty's exists, but it has not been a jazz club for several years now. It sometimes has a jazz night. At the Sodbuster Saloon in Sylvania (an
upscale suburb of Toledo, Patrick Hession played at another venue there in mid January) Ragtime Rick and His Chefs of Dixieland play every TH night and it
often turns into a jam session as all sorts of local jazzers come and bring their axe to sit in. There is a jazz club in downtown Toledo called
"Murphy's" and they feature local stars and touring combos. Once a month the legendary Cakewalkin' Jass Band plays there, usually the first
Friday of each month. They just had their 40th anniversary, and the great trumpeter Duke Heitger guested, since his dad Ray is the founder-leader-clarinetist.
MF's guest star in The World of Maynard Ferguson, Jon Hendricks, has been in Toledo for over a decade, and sometimes still performs. There's an annual
Jazz Fest named in honor of Toledo native Art Tatum as well.
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FStegall |
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Posts: 1 (03/13/08 12:44 PM) |
Hey Dennis! I remember Rusty's! I believe it was in Toledo. We did that gig a couple of times when I was driving for Boss. You are right - Rusty is a
very sweet lady! I'm guessing she was called that because of that flaming red hair she has. I didn't get to sample the soup (being the driver, I had
to go back to the hotel and sleep during the gig), but Rusty found out I collect coffee cups, and made sure that I got one from her club, with the logo printed
on it. Still got it in my collection...
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bconroy |
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Posts: 1039 (03/13/08 04:26 PM) |
I think it is incredibly appropriate and absolutely great (!!) for Maynard's bus driver to be contributing to the Road stories.
Floyd, share some more of your stories! |
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JPZANK |
Rusty's | ||
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Posts: 962 (03/13/08 06:36 PM) |
I saw Maynard there, I believe, the last time he played Rusty's. Reggie was MD, and Thomas Marriot was still playing 2nd...
I had the table RIGHT in front of Maynard. In fact, when he turned around to direct the band, his rearend was up against our table. One of the most interesting nights of my life, seriously, being that close to MF and watching his trumpet mechanics. This was right at the beginning (onset) of his chops resurgence, and he was SMOKIN'. They had just started playing "Ipanema," and Maynard played it better that night than any of the many times I heard him play it in subsequent years. I never thought he played that bridge very well any time after that first night, cause THAT night he absolutely crushed the Ab's, but more importantly, he didn't labor through the lower notes. Anyway, it was a special night. I got to know Adolfo that night between shows and he is a real sweet guy. Great player too, but never thought he fit the "MF Lead Chair" very well. But, sounds great on ToP. Rusty's was great. One of the best nights of all the different places Mr. and Mrs. Zanker saw the great Maynard Ferguson. J |
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FStegall |
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Posts: 2 (03/13/08 09:11 PM) |
bconroy wrote: Thanks for that! Not having actually been on the bandstand with Boss, I wasn't sure how some might react to my posting here - so thank you for your kind words of support. I'll try to post as time permits, but in light of the fact that I'm currently right in the middle of packing up everything I own (moving to Bloomington, IN), I'm really quite busy - and very tired - most of the time. I will tell a quick one about how I almost got Ed arrested late one night.... We had played in Cleveland, OH, sometime in the winter. The original plan was to do a "hit and run" out of there, over to Boston for a day off. The weather started getting bad, and the forecast was for a huge snowstorm. Ed and I talked it over, and decided that it would probably be best for us to lay over that night, and try to make the run the next day. We rolled out of Cleveland about 9 the next morning, and the snow was still coming down like crazy. We could only run about 40 mph all the way across, with having to make regular stops to clear the snow from the wipers. (An interesting note - we discovered that day that bad, cheap Chardonnay [given to Boss by someone at the gig the night before] makes a pretty good windshield de-icer). Anyway - we crawled across western Ohio, a bit of Pennsylvania, and all the way across New York State, finally pulling in to a truckstop just inside western Massachusetts for fuel about 16 hours after we had left that morning. At that point, I was totally fried, so Ed agreed to take over and take us on in to Boston. As we reached the truckstop, I told Ed that I would fuel the bus, then let him take things over from there. He agreed, and he and most of the guys bailed out to go inside and grab something to eat. OK - an important part of the story is that this little truckstop had a very weird layout. The pumps were WAY out in the parking lot, and after you pumped your fuel, you were supposed to pull up near the building, park, then go in and pay. Well, I pumped the fuel, laid the cash bag on the driver's seat so that Ed would see it, and went directly to bed - never did pull the bus up to the building. I was beyond tired at that point....I was OK until we actually stopped, but once I knew it was OK to do so, my brain just sort of shut down.... So - I pump the fuel, hit the bunk, and am out like a light - long before any of the guys actually come back to the bus from the restaurant. About thirty minutes later - it got ugly. Apparently, Ed didn't realize that I thought that he was going to take the money in the cash bag, and pay for the fuel after I had pumped it and gone to bed. I'll admit it - it was my mistake...but I was so fried out that I was only focused on getting in that bunk and going to sleep. I THOUGHT that Ed understood that I intended for him to pay for the fuel...but according to the Massachusetts State Police officer that pulled the bus over shortly after we left the truckstop without paying for that fuel...well, maybe I wasn't as clear with my intentions as I might have been. All I know is...I'm out cold, when suddenly Ed is there shaking me on the shoulder, the glare of flashing blue lights coming thru the windshield, and all I'm getting in my groggy state of mind is "Floyd!! Floyd!!!!! Didn't you pay for that fuel back at that stop?????" " No, B.D....I thought you were going to pay for it after I pumped it and went to sleep". "Well...there's a state trooper here who wants to arrest me for driving off without paying for all that fuel!!!" In the end, it all worked out...Ed called the truck stop, explained what happened, and gave them his credit card number over the phone to cover the cost of the fuel....the cop let us go...the snowstorm ended shortly afterwards...and Ed had an easy drive for that last 150 miles or so on in to Boston.....and I felt like a total idiot...... |
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DiBlasio |
MF Story 88 - Bus Drivers | ||
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Posts: 126 (03/14/08 03:33 PM) |
I'm glad the thread went this way. Bus drivers! Yeah! Bus drivers are the guardian angels of the band. They keep you alive while traveling through the
Rockies at night during a winter storm while you're sleeping. Nothing happens without these guys. I think I went through about 5 or 6 drivers while I was
on. All great. We had an older gentleman by the name of Don Tolman who was like a father figure to us all. His whole life all he wanted to do was drive a bus
for a band. Well he got his wish with Boss. I think Boss liked having an older guy out there with him, they got along like brothers. Not only could these guys
drive for what seemed like forever but they could park a bus in envelope with room to spare. It was something to see. You don't think that driving a bus is
an art form but it is. Don Tolman told me what 'An LA Turnaround' was. It's when a driver goes non-stop from NY City to LA and immediately goes
back non-stop to NY City. (6000 mile in one shot) no sleep no break except for stopping for fuel. Even though your not supposed to do that drivers can make a
lot of $ if they can shorten up travel time. I never got in the way of a trucker on the highway after I learned that. DDB
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Trptplr |
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Posts: 694 (03/14/08 05:58 PM) |
Hey Floyd - welcome to the board. I have a feeling you're going to give a really cool perspective to this thread.
Trptplr644@aol.com |
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DiBlasio |
MF Story 89 - Liars | ||
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Posts: 127 (03/17/08 11:48 AM) |
This was something i could never figure out. It was such a weird phenomenon, the blatant liar. Like i mentioned before Danny Jordan and I made a few more
dollars hauling gear from the bottom of the bus to the stage then from the stage back to the bottom of the bus after the show. This never happen on the load in
only on the load out. As we would load many times there was a crowd around the bus waiting for Boss. Dan and I were trying not to run over anyone while we were
putting the stuff away. People would see us and start to talk to us. Most of the folks were cool but every once in a while you would get a ripe one. Someone
who was so full of themselves or worse somebody who was just plain mean. They would say things (loudly for all to hear) things like "Yeah Maynard
isn't what he used to be." Or. "Maynard has lost an octave since he was younger". Just crap like that, you would want to send them into next
week. Well anyway this one guy says "I played with Maynard.". The guy was younger than I was. "When did you play with him?" I asked.
"Oh two years ago for about a year." He said. "Well I've been with Boss for 3 and a half years and I've never seen you. You weren't
on the band". I said. "Oh yes I was". Lair boy continues. "I think if you were on the band for a half a year when I was on I would have
noticed or at least bumped into you on the bus don't you think?" I said getting pretty bugged. Then he said angrily and (now that he's busted)
really loudly "Well I WAS on the band man!! I was on!! People don't think I was but I was!! I was out there with Maynard man!! I was on!!. I WAS
ON!!!!" They come in all sizes folks. DDB
Last Edited By: Moderator003
03/17/08 06:19 PM.
Edited 1 times.
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18MaynardStreet |
Liars | ||
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Posts: 1680 (03/17/08 05:13 PM) |
I was on Maynard's band in the early '60's. I used to split lead with Nat Pavone and take any jazz solos Don Rader didn't want. Nothing made it
on records, though...yeah, that's the ticket.
Sincerely, Tommy Flanagan (no not the pianist, but the pathological liar character created by SNL's Jon Lovitz) |
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JPZANK |
liars | ||
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Posts: 970 (03/18/08 07:05 AM) |
OK, is it me, or is this "yuku" just crazy inconsistent?
Last Edited By: JPZANK
03/18/08 07:10 AM.
Edited 1 times.
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JPZANK |
liars | ||
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Posts: 970 (03/18/08 07:07 AM) |
stupid Yuku... |
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JPZANK |
liars | ||
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Posts: 970 (03/18/08 07:07 AM) |
a bit frustrating, this "yuku"
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JPZANK |
liars | ||
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Posts: 970 (03/18/08 07:07 AM) |
Liars are expected, unfortunately. What is really sad, and totally-unbelievable, is the STUPIDITY of people. Heavens... JP
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Bulowl |
re: Liars | ||
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Posts: 927 (03/18/08 08:36 PM) |
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UpperRegister |
Breakdowns | ||
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Posts: 2002 (03/18/08 11:17 PM) |
Hey Denis and Floyd I remember reading in Maynard's biography that during one of your breakdowns you all decided to get out your instruments and have an
impromptu jam session, could you elaborate on that a little bit please. Love all the stories.
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mf fan4619 |
I was on the band | ||
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Posts: 265 (03/19/08 08:42 AM) |
18MaynardStreet wrote: No I think it was the other pathological liar from SNL... "Yeah I was on Maynard's band", "Maynard FERGUSON!?", "Oh, ah... nah Maynard Schwartzbaum..." |
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F14Tomcat |
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Posts: 1608 (03/19/08 09:53 AM) |
I was on the band once!
No, really! Sat down in a chair and didn't see "The Best of Maynard Ferguson" CD on the seat... 
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