truly, madly, deeply

had a friend ask me about the show the other day. wondering about my personal take.

the show, of course, is the story of my love affair - yes, literally, - with Zoot Sims. it's also the songs i wrote about him over the years since his death. but it's the personal story, of him, the person that i knew, just as a person, not a star, and it's also the story of myself, and how knowing him influenced me and my eventual musical path. it's a love and music story.

so the friend wondered if perhaps i had interpreted our affair with only my outlook, and maybe i was imagining more things true than were. what can i say? it is my outlook, my interpretation, my story. the man has died. but i did know him. and the tale is my honest feelings and portrays him as he truly appeared to me. i loved him; i think he loved me, even if it was a part-time relationship, and our lives were separate. what a person conveys about themselves can be felt, and i think Zoot was an honest person too.

it's taken me a long time to even tell the story publicly. it's been in my soul for a lot of years. i'm very sensitive to exposing it, and do not want to risk any false colourings. i want it to be real, like Zoot himself. it really is a simple story. i want to honour him.