Slip-ons

    I probably have mentioned Herb Nix and Gert's Lounge. Back in the day in Philly, my friends (usually Robert Rex and Mike Fiday) liked to go down there to listen to jazz. Gert's was on South Street, but not on the trendy, touristy part, which stopped about at 8th St. This was on the other side of Broad Street (which takes the place of 14th) near the Southwark projects. So not the most touristic of neighborhoods. But we always felt welcome; nobody seemed uncomfortable with geeky 20-something white boys being in the house, nor did they in any way make us feel uncomfortable.
    Also the saxophone player was a 20-something white boy in a suit. His name was John Simon, and he was a fine player. But this story is about Herb Nix. I am reasonably sure I posted this before because I think I remember writing about Herb getting plastered and/or high and talking about singing in the church choir in the morning and us thinking he was kidding. I found in his obituary (where I was also reminded about John Simon's name) that he wasn't kidding. I also remember a dapper gent named Jeff always singing what I remember as "A Foggy Night In London Town," although apparently that isn't the title. I like it Jeff's way better, though.
    This isn't about that, either. This is about the Hammond B3, which Herb played like a master. And the oddity that I never figured out that the bass part that came out of the organ was played by Herb's feet. I always thought that he was playing it with his left hand. I was then and am now a person who always focuses on the keyboard players hands, so maybe I just didn't notice, or couldn't see that he was working his feet in tempo with the bass line. But I'm also sure I remember that he regularly wore black slip-on loafers. It's odd that I would have noticed his feet to that degree but not what they were doing when he was playing. But it was long ago; perhaps the Hammond was turned such that we could see his hands but not his feet.
    But of course, what I feel foolish about is that I never asked. I mean, how hard is, "How do you get that wonderful bass line out of this organ, Mr. Nix?" More to the point, it never occurred to me to ask; I just assumed I knew what I was seeing. And that's what I most likely posted about when I found out a year or so ago that you play the bass line on a B3 with your feet. And I still feel stupid for not knowing this before.