Gene Lees discusses writing about a friend

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Gene Lees on Oliver Jones

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Gene Lees discusses what it's like touring for Canadians

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[Speaking about Oscar Peterson]

A: “Is it hard to write about a friend? It’s somebody you’ve known for thirty five years…”

Q: “Yes, it's hard to write about a friend. It's hard to make judgment calls on it because often ... you know, I have a rule on this in all my writing with my Jazzletter and everything else. When I write about a friend if there's something that I know in confidence, I'm not going to violate it. I have occasionally ... for example, in Woody Herman's case, there's another book of mine out, as you know, called 'Meet Me at Jim and Andy's' and there is an essay on Woody Herman. And I wanted to tell a story of why Woody broke up the '47 band, which has always been incorrectly told. So when I was writing that original essay, I said, "You know, Charlotte's dead now. Woody, would you mind if I tell the story?" He said, "No, it can't hurt her now." And there was nothing to hurt her. He loved Charlotte, his wife, and so did I. She was a wonderful woman. But Woody broke up the '47 band because she was being left alone at home and he was on the road and she was getting heavily into booze and pills.”