[teridbruse]

Anybody on this board make Neil's retirement party? I'd have loved to attend, but the 3,000 mile commute was too much for me.

I think Neil (and Paul Grant) deserve big props for their supportive role in the Vancouver jazz community. I've been appearing on that show (either as a 'single' or with a band for an in-studio performance) for about ten years, and I have never once hesitated to call Neil and Paul if I had something cooking I thought they could help me get out there, be it a new record, some other artists I wanted to tell people about, or just a mention on the CBC "artbeat" feature.

Post-Katrina, I was in rough shape. Neil and Paul had me on the show within weeks of the flood, put up with my raving and cursing at FEMA and the Bush administration, and tactfully edited out interview segments where I choked up with grief and rage or carried on like a lunatic. Even in subsequent shows over the years (where I had regained what for me passes for sanity) Neil has always showed a master's touch in the edited room, making me sound much more intelligent and erudite than I actually am. And on our last trip up there, he and Paul extended an invitation to my entire New Orleans band to come down to the studio (though only guitarist John Dobry was able to make the taping).

Neil has spent basically his entire working life as a producer at CBC, when he could easily make much, much more in commercial radio. But jazz is where the man's heart is, and we're all the richer for it. I hope the party was a big success.