By Butch Berman

Seven years ago, when I was still a partner with Susan Berlowitz and the BMF was barely a viable reality, we took off to K.C. to hear a new female vocalist that Susan had heard about named Karrin Allyson. We made the mistake of traveling with another couple who are so notoriously late to everything that we missed her entire set at Jardine's.

Nevertheless, the next night we all got the tables surrounding the stage at the Phoenix Bar and Grill to catch her magic. On bass that night, instead of her usual bandmate Bob Bowman, was Gerald Spaits. Little did I know that this cat who swings so mightily and with such a great tone, would years later be a good friend and even a business associate, of sorts.

I've hired Gerald for groups featuring Joe Cartwright and Eldar Djangirov before I was even approached to help executive produce the new Russ Long Trio CD project "Never Let Me Go." After I heard this great piece of work, I gladly called my legal eagle Tony Rager to help set things up, and the rest is history.

Just hangin' with Russ Long is music education bliss and hearing his soulful, jazzy piano stylings and bluesy vocals is pure heaven. Gerald and drummer Ray DeMarchi have backed Russ for over 20 years. These cats cook big time, as was demonstrated at P.O. Pears for the CD release party in February.

The crowd was so big that night that I actually made a few bucks for the first time in more than seven years. Thank God for nonprofit status. Anyway, even with the wrong piano delivered out of tune, the guys drew from Russ' enormous catalog and showed us Lincolnites what K.C. jazz is all about.

If you haven't picked up "Never Let Me Go" yet, it's never too late to support this  excellent example of K.C. jazz at its best. Watch for their return to Lincoln in the fall.