JOE SAMPLE

Harry's Bar

Montreux, Switzerland

July 11, 2000

Photo credit: Joe Sample

The hills are alive at the Montreux Jazz Festival. For the next few days, this cute little town will be up to its Swiss Alps in musicians, foreign fans, fondue, and falafel stands. Every day there are several concerts but only a couple of places to hang out afterward.

One night, after an amazing show that I can’t remember right now, I was with some friends at Harry's Bar. It had become our hotspot of choice. At a nearby table was Jazz legend Joe Sample chatting away with others as they passed through. He was approachable so I grabbed my girly drink and walked over to say hello. This hello turned into a conversation that turned into a week-long friendship (the kind you make when traveling).

The next night, we did it all over again. Was it Al Jarreau, B.B. King, D’Angelo, or Macy Gray? I can’t remember, but we were back at Harry's Bar and there was Joe again. He waved us over to sit at his table. We were old drinking buddies at this point. After a while, I mentioned my unusual request. “I have this celebrity photo album. It's just a bunch of pictures of me taken by celebrities. It would be great if you'd be in the book.” That was a winning approach with Joe. He seemed delighted to take my picture, carefully directing me and framing the shot.

Then some guy I’d never spoken to walked over to join me in the picture. That was odd. The mystery guy asked if I wanted a picture of Joe and me together.

I paused because I really couldn’t decide. Posing with the star completely goes against the purity of my reverse request but, in my deliberation, Joe said, “Yeah, take one of us together.” He scooted closer.

We chatted a little longer and planned to keep in touch once back in LA then he stood up, gave me a hug, said his goodbyes to the rest of the group and he was out.

Joe was cool, but that’s not much of a surprise. He’s a jazz musician. It’s a prerequisite, right?

Photo credit: The mystery guy