A Note from Michael
Flora

In 1998 we adopted Flora, a two year old dachshund who had just been rescued from a puppy mill in Kansas by Hearts United for Animals, a no-kill shelter located in the mid-West. Flora had numbers crudely tattooed on her belly
in green ink, a primitive and painful form of identification often used by mill owners to keep track of their inmates. Despite the appalling circumstances of her first two years, which included food extended with sawdust, cages exposed to extreme weather (Flora’s mother, Bahnie, lost the tips of her ears to frostbite), and puppy production in dogs as young as six months, Flora was one happy little girl.

During the first few months of her housebreaking training (she was an A student), I kept her with me in my studio, where she reclined under the piano, usually resting her head on one of my feet, while I wrote the material for the album
which would eventually become “Barefoot on the Beach.”

That year I sent my friends a picture of us posed at the piano with the title “Rodgers and Wienerstein,” since she was my faithful collaborator on all those compositions, as she was for every record since then.

We've put together a slide show to remember her. As these pictures will attest, our time together was what you might call a montage of happiness. Sorely missed, our once-in-a-lifetime girl,

Flora Franks
1996-2010

Wishing all of you Health, Prosperity, Happiness, Peace

Sidney Arodin

Clarinetist Sidney Arodin is best remembered to today as the writer of the song Lazy River. Oddly enough, although he appeared on a great many recordings, he never recorded the tune himself. On the numerous versions which were recorded he usually shared credit for the composition with Hoagy Carmichael. Lazy River was based on a common Jazz chord progression that Arodin would use as a clarinet exercise to "warm up" before a gig. He simply slowed the pace of his warm up and added words (which were modified by Hoagy Carmichael) and the song was accepted for publication. He got his start in music working on the Mississippi River boats, he went on to play in New York with Johnny Stein's New Orleans Jazz Band between 1922 and 1925 with Jimmy Durante. Arodin returned to the south where he played with Wingy Manone, and Sharkey Bonano. In the 1930s Arodin played in Louis Prima's band and with Wingy Manone in a revival version of the New Orleans Rhythm Kings. After 1941 he became seriously ill and made only occasional musical appearances.

For more informaion about Sidney Arodin please visit Wesley Charter's A Tribute to Sidney Arodin

The Milan Latin Jazz Quartet

Our Project is ambitious because at the same time to face two targets
The First , give to the Latin Jazz Style an Italian colour , making its sonorities more easy to understand and giving to it an harmonious and catchy form, emphasizing its expressions with characteristics and sonorities from our country, without to renounce to its improvisations and movements that are the main characteristic of Latin Jazz Style.
The second , bring near more people to the Latin Jazz Style and to bring near also the people that don’t know this great Style but they are attracted from our more easily musical forms .
Thank to
all the great Artists that through their music , let us to be a little drop in this sea
Of Music called “Latin Jazz “

Milan Latin Jazz Quartet