Getting to New York City for a three-hour recording session was a whirlwind of a trip for Eugene-based jazz saxophonist Joe Manis. After a long trip to Gung Ho Studios in New York City, Manis had a high school flashback when the iconic drummer Bill Stewart walked into the recording studio.
What triggered Manis’ memory was a drum kit that Stewart walked in with. It was the same mismatched kit that he used in a drumming instructional VHS that Manis would watch when he was younger. And that’s when the gravity of the recording session for Manis’ new album began to hit.
“I saw him perform at the Aladdin in Portland before and I’ve heard him on records,” Manis says, “but to stand there and hear him live — it was like something else.”…