"I haven't done this one for years, so hang on with me," commented Pearl Thuston Brown as she began her version of "My Romance." Her raspy alto rolled gently alongside her piano. "I used to sing that song with the Lionel Hampton's band at the Savoy Ballroom in New York City," she said.
The Savoy Ballroom -- that popular Harlem music venue of the '30s, '40s and '50s -- is a long way from GiGi's Jazz Inn at 3226 Troost, where Brown celebrated her birthday this past weekend. But, it still holds treasured memories. "Count Basie, he didn't like me much," says Brown. "Personality clash. But Duke Ellington! He had a big band, he was friendly and handsome on top of that." She sighed and smiled. Brown turned 83 on Sunday, July 25.
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