The Gig That Got Away – My Almost-Jam with Johnny Gimble and the Serendipity of Meeting His Daughter Two Decades Later

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Back around 1994 I called up Johnny Gimble in an effort to collaborate with him on a "jazz" concert I was putting together where he would be a guest.

Mr. Gimble is one of my Texas Swing heroes who played with Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys many years ago.

So, Strings Attached had not yet even been an idea in my mind and I was less skilled at navigating collaboration conversations then I am now.

He asked if I played the same thing every time, and my mind immediately thought, "He means do we play arrangements".. So I said yes. Not knowing that what he really was asking was: do we improvise.

He turned down my invitation probably because he though we were a bunch of classical reading stiffs that couldn't just improvise and go with the flow.

Which couldn't be farther from the truth at that time.

Boy that was a hard miss.

Well, last Saturday, I got the next best thing to having a chance to play with Johnny. His daughter attended our recent Strings on Grass Abbey Road Re-Imagined show and shared that she was quite moved by my playing. I was thrilled and honored since I never got to play or meet in person with this Texas hero of mine.

Here's a great video of the swing master playing those double-stops with Mark..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ndKvOzh7Sg