A Saxophone is Silenced

Your Boulevardier was saddened to read the obituary in the Daily Review for John Almond.

Regular shoppers at Castro Valley's Pete's Hardware will likely remember John, who (like all Pete's employees) was knowledgeable and eager to help. His English accent may have given away a bit of his exceptional nature, but not the most important nugget: as Johnny Almond, he was one of the most important and influential blues-rock saxophonists of the 1960s. Someone has already updated the Wikipedia entry on his band, Mark-Almond, to reflect his demise.

Mr. Almond's memorial service is scheduled for December 12 at Neighborhood Church. One imagines and hopes that the music at the service will be most impressive -- though it can never be as wonderful as it would have been if Mr. Almond himself were playing.