So as a kid I took an art class in school at Albany Academy and the teacher was Jim Reed, a tall, skinny guy, with long hair, who kind of looked like Jim Morrisson from the Doors.

Jim Reed who was an amazing photographer, painter, and a phenomenal pianist. All of the walls in his room had painted designs and the ceiling as well. He had an upright piano in his room which had painted designs on the side and there was no cover so you could see the hammer and the strings. A few feet away he a record player.

I never learned much about art in those years, but I did learn to play in that room and later in Mr. Ellington's band class.

When Mr. Reed would play he would play standing up and his hands would be at an angle while his right foot stepped forward. His music had that fire. He taught a group of us, about 8 of us always surrounding the piano, how to play that boogie boogie style of piano playing that came out of New Orleans and was infused in that early rock n roll sound. We played along with Jerry Lee Lewis records as well as Ray Charles, Three Dog Night, Jimi Hendrix, and others. We even used to try and play backwards like Jerry Lee.

Turns out Mr. Reed was friends with Jerry Lee Lewis, and even opened up for him on the road.

He gave me a book about the pianist and encouraged me to keep exploring the music.

I later joined the school band and was lucky to have of the most inspiring teachers I'll ever know, Mr. Ellington, who introduced us to the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Yes, and so many others....Ellington always gave us the keys to band room at lunch, and the world opened up. I started getting into other styles of music including jazz.

Sending a big hug to Jerry Lee Lewis, the great rock-n-roll pianist from Louisiana who just recently passed on.

Your music had that fire which sparked so many music lovers out there!