Roy Haynes

The Leopard just saw the great drummer Roy Haynes at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola in New York last night. He's now my new life model. 
The 84-year-old master musician played a blistering 2 hour set without bothering to take a breath! His decades-younger band couldn't possibly keep up with him and were breaking out in a black sweat. Haynes pushed the talented young saxophonist Jaleel Shaw until the boy nearly collapsed from exhaustion. In case you didn’t know, Haynes is one bad cat. One of the most recorded drummers in the history of jazz, his resume speaks for itself: he’s played in important bands with Lester Young, Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, Stan Getz, Sarah Vaughan, Thelonious Monk, Eric Dolphy, Elvin Jones, Stan Getz, Chick Corea, Pat Metheny, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie and countless others. The name of his new band is Fountain Of Youth. How apt.

(Click on title for his dynamite tune, "Diverse" from his 2000 CD Bird Of A Feather.)