Hajime Sato/"East Wind"
Jim Merod
Seldom, in a long lifetime, we meet genius face to face. Genius is often inscrutable, ineluctable. I've sometimes discovered great talent and extraordinary skill within reach despite my initial non-recognition. When we least expect it, such genius can emerge to glow with the intensity of the sun. Such brightness startles us with tactile force and we must meet that force.
I've lived long enough to know that real genius is like fresh air in asphyxiating circumstances. Jim Merod has long since made the difficult look easy, the impossible seem likely. His strong being came into my world more than twenty years ago. Jim continues in my life as a constant epiphany. He makes no attempt to flaunt his acute knowledge of music, people, art, and life. I've had to take mental notes from our work together to fully understand his iconicity -- a term seldom used but, in this instance, accurate. Although Jim is a widely respected intellectual, he deals with people on an eye-level basis, directly and without pretense. He sees and understands what others see and understand and his modesty allows him to respect all who deserve it. He goes only as far as his artistic partner suggests, but when a cry for help is rendered . . . Jim is there to help.
Over two-plus decades, my intellectual horizon has expanded because of Jim. He has taken me into unfamiliar and fascinating places and, in truth, has become my personal cognoscenti. Literally, I draw heavily from Jim's knowledge and expertise, always to my benefit. One more quality must be noted, as well. Jim Merod's avuncular nature makes him extremely approachable. He deals with reality without heavy hands. He is a teacher, first, a jazz recording guru, no less, and a historian of music, literature and philosophy. His didactic skill is his métier. I admire and respect his merciful heart which has left many happy souls in his wake.
Jim Merod . . . what would tomorrow be without his presence?
Benny Golson
Musician, composer
Gene Bertoncini 2+2=1
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(Gene Bertoncini has worked with the Metropolitan Opera orchestra, the Benny Goodman Sextet; singers Tony Bennett, Morgana King, Lena Horne, Vic Damone and Edye Gorme; jazzmen Buddy Rich, Wayne Shorter, Hubert Laws, Clark Terry, Paul Desmond, and Paul Winter; and arranger/composers Burt Bacharach, Lalo Schifrin and Michel LeGrand, among others. He performed regularly on the Merve Griffin and Johnny Carson shows, and has been one of the most prolific and popular studio musicians in New York City. For the past eight years Bertoncini has performed with bassist Michael Moore in a duo which The New York Times describes as “...one of the finest pairings of jazz strings....”