JIM BOITOS

I was listening to some great sax music and remembered a classmate in high school, Jim Boitos, who was a great saxophonist even back then. Besides being in the school band, he had his own band as well. I can't remember what it was called (Yikes! That was nearly 50 years ago) but I do remember the song I heard him play in one of the local clubs. It was called "Harlem Nocturne". Well, I'm on Facebook, and I thought I would see if I could find Jim there. I did! Seems for the past 30 years or so, he has been teaching music at Illinois State University. You can Google him and you'll see that he has come a long way since high school! He has performed with such musical talents as Cab Calloway, Pearl Bailey, and Louie Bellson to name a few. I tried to find him on YouTube but I'm sorry to say, his name didn't come up. I did find several videos of musicians performing Harlem Nocturne, however. There are many of them there, performing the song on guitar and sax, including Edgar Winter and Michael Lington. But the group I think comes the closest to the performance I remember hearing in that club long ago is called the Viscounts. By the way, Jim responded to my inquiry and was shocked that someone from his high school made contact with him. If you want to hear the song, here is a link to the Viscounts' version of Harlem Nocturne.