Remembering Lou Colombo

I have not written a post in some time, but there has been a tragedy. Lou Colombo was killed in a car accident. As I write these words, I still can't wrap my brain around it. I have been thinking about it all day and I keep waiting to wake up from the nightmare.

I can't say that I knew him well, but I knew him well enough to love him. Everyone did. He was in his eighties, still playing trumpet like a master. I only played one gig with him, a memorable one because I had broken my shoulder right before driving to the Cape for the gig, and trouper that I am, I played a three hour gig with him at a private function--just the two of us--playing bass lines on the keyboard with my uninjured left arm while Lou worked the room, intermittently playing and chatting.

Lou never hired me again, but not because I didn't do a great job. It's just that I was not on his radar screen: after all, he was friends with Tony Bennett and a host of other jazz celebrities. And there are several good local Cape pianists who were in his band at the Road House, his son David's restaurant on Main St. in Hyannis. Lou was king of the stage at the Road House, a larger-than-life personality, expansive, controlling (not to say bossy)but above all charming, funny, gregarious.

Lou's daughter Lori and I are close friends. I met her at the Oyster Company, a restaurant in Dennis where I played with Bart Weisman for a few years during the season. I had been told about her ahead of time, but had never seen a photo of her and thus had no idea what she looked like. When a strikingly beautiful dark-haired woman wearing a broad-brimmed hat came through the door, I had a strange psychic feeling that I had to meet her. On my break, Bart introduced me to Lori Colombo, who had just moved back to her hometown to try to make it as a jazz vocalist after spending many years in Ohai, California working as a Reiki and massage therapist.

Well, Lori turned out to be a kindred spirit. We soon found out that besides being fellow Aquarians (I have an uncanny ability to detect them) we shared a lot of common interests and viewpoints. We ended up playing many gigs together. She and Fay Whittaker are the two best singers I have ever worked with. Lori has great time, pitch, feeling, and creativity in choosing repertoire. In addition to music, we spent many hours talking about Reiki (because of her, I took Reiki 1 and will take Reiki 2 this year) and other natural healing methods. She gave Curtiss and me a Reiki treatment on the table she kept at her parents' house.

Through Lori, I came to know about Lou Colombo--his amazing career, the musicians he played with, how her mother devoted her life to him. Sometimes Lori and Lou locked horns--both were passionate and strong-willed. Lori began by performing with her father's band, but soon made the artistic decision to go on her own.

I spent some happy hours around the kitchen table talking to Noel Colombo, Lou's wife, and occasionally Lou would come in to joke and chat after mowing the lawn or doing some heavy yard work. He had the vitality and physical strength of a much younger man. The trumpet is a very difficult instrument to play--I can barely blow a note on it using all my strength--so it was extraordinary to see this man in his eighties playing as vigorously as ever.

Lou insisted on driving despite the protests of his children. At this point, I don't know the details of the accident--all I know is what Lori told me today, that the police came to her door in the middle of the night to inform her that her father had been killed in an accident. He was pulling out of a parking lot after a gig and a car hit his car. I can't help but think that it must have been a speeding car--how else could a fatal accident be caused? Lou Colombo might have lived for another 10 years--he was in excellent health, which makes this tragedy doubly cruel.

Unfortunately, I learned of Lou's death when I looked at my Facebook page this morning. Bart Weisman had thoughtlessly posted a photo of Lou saying he would be missed. (I wonder how he knew so quickly? Lori was the first to be told, in the middle of the night.) Thoughtless and presumptuous because, as Lori said, she has family members who are on Facebook all the time, and what a terrible way to learn of Lou's death. I wept along with Lori on the phone, and I wanted to drop my plans for the day and drive straightaway to the Cape to be with her, but she convinced me not to because her family was gathering to get a flight to Florida as soon as possible.

I considered calling her again this evening, but decided not to intrude on her grief when she was with her family. I was unable to stop thinking about Lou and Lori all day. I lost my appetite and finally had to drink a glass of wine in an attempt to stop the pain. The shock is terrible, and I can only imagine the grief and shock that Noel is going through--she is not in good health and it will be very hard for her to endure. I am praying to the protective spirits who watch over us to sustain the Colombo family in the wake of this tragedy.