Me @ the Zoo is an HBO Documentary Film about the phenomenon of internet celebrity, starring Chris Crocker. Watch it on HBO June 25 at 9PM. BOOKING: nickpampenella@theagencygroup.com My Twitter: twitter.com My MUSIC: itunes.com Fan Facebook: facebook.com

And His Mother Called Him Bill (1967) Personnel: Duke Ellington (piano); Russell Procope, Jimmy Hamilton (alto saxophone, clarinet); Johnny Hodges (alto saxophone); Paul Gonsalves (tenor saxophone); Harry Carney (baritone saxophone); Cat Anderson, Mercer Ellington, Herbie Jones, Cootie Williams (trumpet); Clark Terry (flugelhorn); John Sanders, Lawrence Brown, Buster Cooper, Chuck Connors (trombone); Aaron Bell, Jeff Castleman (bass); Steve Little, Sam Woodyard (drums). I am completely captivated by the Strayhorn/Ellington narrative and by the 1967 CD *And His Mother Called Him Bill.* Every story has a beginning and a middle, and as many of us eventually figure out , there are no real endings. This CD is a living legacy of that reality. My appreciation for this body of work is inseparable from the the love story it expresses. Can you imagine being fortunate enough to meet someone in your lifetime that you connect with on a creative and soul level so profound that it is not a threat to, nor rivalled by any other kind of intimacy? From all that I have read by historians and biographers, and all myths aside, this is the essence of the relationship Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn shared and nurtured for 30 years. A bond beyond gender or sexuality, and even deeper than friendship. Yet, most of their famous compositions were collaborated on while apart and from completely different approaches, one being self taught liking contrast and discord, the other classically trained …