漫步在綠海豚街上

【Bud Shank‧1926.05.27~2009.04.02】

　　曾在 2006 年以八旬高齡遠道來台，於台中爵士音樂節開幕音樂會壓軸演出的爵士樂吹管老將 Bud Shank，上週四不幸因肺動脈栓塞，病逝於美國亞歷桑納州土桑城，享年八十二歲。猶記得兩年多前，老先生在台上的嚴肅神情，對音韻走勢的細緻掌控，以及讓人難以置信已有八十高齡、只能嘖嘖讚佩的吹奏火候，如今成了只能在虛空裡追憶的絕響，唏噓之餘，重又審視當時所記錄的影像，最深刻的片段，還是當老先生演奏暫歇，盯視著身旁合奏成員的凜然目光。我覺得那便是他對音樂態度的最佳註腳，就如同以下這段摘自報導中的最後傳奇一樣：

　　Mr. Shank had two other passions besides jazz, his wife said, sailboat racing and his three dogs: Andante, Allegro and Rubato. But music was paramount. On the day before he died, he was in a San Diego recording studio as a musician for hire.

　　“He knew it was his last shot,” his wife said. “The doctors told him if he went he would die. And he went.”

adapted from Bruce Weber's article on New York Times, 2009/04/07

（轉譯上文）Bud Shank 的遺孀表示，除了爵士樂，Bud Shank 還熱愛兩件事：帆船競賽以及他的三隻愛犬 Andante、Allegro 和 Rubato。不過他最看重的還是音樂。就在他去世前一天，他還應邀在聖地牙哥錄製專輯。

　　「他知道這是他的最後演出。」Bud Shank 的遺孀說：「醫師們告訴他若去便會危及生命，但他還是去了。」　（譯自：紐約時報，原文：Bruce Weber）