The Sad Tale of Coleman 'The Shaker' Slim

‘Man alive!

This weather.

There are stories of him

in this here Jazz history.

But you’ll have to look hard

(maybe too hard)

to find them.

Libraries won’t do.

Nor will that fussin’ Internet.

You have got to go deeper,

much deeper.

Have you got a minute or two?

Can you hold your hat awhile?

In this rain?

While I tell you of the streets of Bradford maybe?

In the North of England?

Yeah, that’s the place to start.

A fellow with one shoe once told me

at his Gravestone in Fresno, California.

A hot day.

So I went there.

To Yorkshire.

It’s the real

and only place,

to start the sad tale of Coleman ‘The Shaker’ Slim.

You want a coffee?'