Woody's Woods

Woody Allen's jazz band opened the Rochester International Jazz Festival last Friday, and I was lucky enough to secure a ticket and flew up to my hometown to check him out. The local paper described Woody the Clarinetist as an amateur and just plain bad. True, he's no Benny Goodman, but what he lacks in technique, he makes up with his sheer love for jazz and his innate talent as an entertainer. Woody let his band members shine, and he kept his comments to a bare minimum, although his remarks were quintessential Woodyisms. The crowd loved him, and I think he and his band had a good time too. (Image via Rochester Jazz Festival, Don Ver Ploeg)