My friend Larry

From Paris To Rio; Karrin Allyson, piano, vocal

Larry Skinner was one of the most talented musicians I’ve ever met and with whom I’ve ever had the opportunity to play music. When I started working on the Delta Queen steamboat in New Orleans, Louisiana, in the January of 1997, Larry was the trumpet player and leader of the “Riverboat Five” Dixieland band on board. He was an instant friend; not only of mine, but of virtually anyone he met. The way he interacted with the staff and, most importantly, the passengers endeared him to me and my fellow band members.

His abilities with Dixieland and jazz were matched by skills in classical music. It is rare, in the realm of jazz, to find a trumpet player who could play the lead trumpet book in a jazz band, and then take the second chair solo position. Larry accomplished this with ease.

My favorite time of the week on the boat came on Sunday. The staff would get together to lead a church service. Larry always attended the service and played special music with me toward the end of worship, right before the benediction.

After leaving the Delta Queen at the end of 1998 to begin my four-year stint in “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band, I heard from him periodically. He would be in port somewhere and take the time to call me. It meant a lot to me.

The last time that I talked to him, he was excited about a singer whose most recent CD he had purchased just a few days before. Her name was Karrin Allyson. He made me promise that I would go to the CD store … that day … to pick up my own copy.

“From Paris to Rio” has wonderful songs that Ms. Allyson sings in English, French and Portuguese. I have three favorites: the opening song, “Sous Le Ciel de Paris”, “That Day” from the film “Cinema Paradiso” and the one that Larry liked called “O Pato”, or, in English, “The Duck”.

Larry passed away in 2000 from complications after a stroke. I miss him dearly. But I get to think of him whenever I listen to “The Duck”.

Credits: To Larry Skinner. An excellent musician and a first class friend.

This is the twenty-fourth of my final forty-five CD’s.