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If this is your first visit, welcome to my blog of memories and observations. If you wish to be notified of new posts, enter an e-mail address above, and click on "Submit." As we move through a seventh year of this venture, I thank all who have made regular visits, as well as fellow bloggers who have found Stomp Off worth linking to. Doing this sort of thing is time-consuming, but I try to post fresh material at least once a week—let me know what you think. There is a Commentary option at the end of each post and a Guest Book can be reached by scrolling down and clicking on the quill image. I welcome your observations, reaction and/or suggestions in either spot—or both. As for blog content, the most current posts are on the home page, starting at the top. Earlier items are listed by month, year and title in the archive index. To zero in on a particular key word or subject, use the search option that is located directly beneath the blog's masthead. Most images can be enlarged with a mouse click, and there are links to some of my favorite blogs, etc. Since visitors have come from 150 countries, a translator with numerous languages is located below. You can at any time revert to English with a click at the top left of this page:

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6/29/08

Joya Sherrill 1927 - 2010

Joya Sherrill (1963 photo by Chris Albertson)

This evening (tuesday) I made a stop at one of my favorite blogs, Villes Ville, and learned the sad news thatI Joya Sherrill left us on June 28, 2010. You may recall that Joya sang with Duke Ellington's Orchestra off and on between 1942 and 1959. I took this photo of her in 1963, at a summer afternoon lawn party thrown by Jackie Robinson and his wife as a benefit to raise bail money for SNCC. Many performers were there, including Quincy Jones and Billy Taylor, The Dave Brubeck Quartet, and the Ellington Alumni Orchestra, led by Mercer Ellington. It is interesting to note that Villes Ville has a photo by LIFE taken on that same occasion. I was there with William B. Williams and a WNEW crew—we recorded the afternoon's music (big band, and all), but I didn't know what became of the tapes until 2013, when they were located in a "lost" box at the Royal Library in Copenhagen.

Here are two more photos from that afternoon. Willie B was the MC and you'll spot our host behind him.

William B. Williams and Jackie Robinson
(Photo by Chris Albertson)
WNEW disc jockey William B. Williams
(Photo by Chris Albertson)

6/17/08

Thought I would share this....

I went to my kitchen window just now (June 17, 2010) and liked the way this evening's sunset was treating my view. Here you see the Plaza Hotel with  the Chrysler Building on the left and the Empire State Building on the right. The front garden is, of course, Central Park. Click on picture  to enlarge it (and see how unfocused I was).