ANDY SIMPKINS
April 29, 1932 - June 02, 1999


The jazz world has lost a great human being and an extraordinary
musician. Andy Simpkins was loved not just for his soulful basslines, but
for his warmth, kindness and complete devotion to music. Andy's passion and
heart were present in every note he played. One of our close friends, Cath
Eckert-Conner, said, "the only mean thing about Andy was his groove."
Andy was born in Richmond, Indiana to two very supportive parents who
gave him the encouragement and support to pursue his love of music as a
career. Andy studied clarinet and piano but ultimately found his true love to be the bass.

After a stint in the Army, Andy teamed with pianist Gene Harris and
drummer Bill Dowdy to form the Three Sounds - originally, the Four Sounds.
The Three Sounds recorded for Blue Note and enjoyed commercial success. Andy
stayed with the Three Sounds until 1966.

George Shearing heard about Andy through the jazz grapevine and Andy
spent a number of years with him. I will always remember the big smile on
Andy's face any time we talked about Shearing. He loved playing with
Shearing and loved him as a friend. He always told the story of giving
Shearing a year's notice before leaving.

Andy had a ten -year tenure with Sarah Vaughan. When he spoke about
Sarah, he always got back to her musicianship - the fact that she knew the
music inside and out, not just emotionally, but technically. Andy cherished
the years he worked with Vaughan and also considered himself fortunate to
have traveled the world, meeting kings, queens and presidents. But mostly,
when on the road, he loved to meet the fans and see old friends. That was
very important to him. The last time I saw Andy and his wife Sandi in
January, they spoke of taking a cross-country car trip later this year to see
friends and family.

Sandi Simpkins, Andy's wife, was very much a part of her husband's
life. One only had to spend a few minutes in their company to see the
special closeness and love they shared. Previous to his marriage to Sandi,
Andy was married to another very special woman for over thirty years, Kay
Simpkins. Kay passed away in 1992.

Andy's professional life on the west coast was a good one. Andy
could, and sometimes would, work six or seven nights a week at times in a
variety of different settings. He loved working with everyone, but had a
special closeness with his friend, pianist Gerry Wiggins. They had a musical
kinship like no other. When Andy was on the road with Sarah for an extended
period of time, he often would say, "I can't wait to get home and get my Wig
fix!" Pianist George Mesterhazy fondly remembers hearing/seeing Andy and Wig
at one of the jazz clubs in L.A. and spoke of the musical empathy and most of
all, FUN these guys were having up on stage.

My personal memories are as much about the fun times just "hangin'
out" as they are about the many special musical moments I was so fortunate to
witness. Andy enjoyed cooking and on one occasion while he was staying with
me, he insisted on cooking dinner, his "meatloaf special" and took great
pride in its preparation…it was GREAT! Andy loved to drive and during this
same trip, was thrilled that I'd let him drive my car from Jersey City to his
gig in NYC every night. We had a ball on the ride in, as he'd make believe
he was a race car driver, without ever speeding or driving recklessly. I
also have fond memories of many holidays spent with Andy and have always
treasured my picture of Andy with a red apron, assisting in the preparation
of holiday dinner. I also remember the bear hug I would get when I hadn't
seen Andy in sometime. These are just some of the many precious memories I
have of a man who touched my life in a special way.

I must also make mention of Andy's very special friendship with drummer,
Harold Jones. Besides being from the same hometown, Harold and Andy spent
about 9 years together with Sarah Vaughan and worked on various other gigs
together, when their busy schedules allowed. Months could pass by between
Harold and Andy and when they'd meet up somewhere, it was like yesterday.

About a month before Andy's passing, I briefly interviewed him, with
absolutely no knowledge of what life was about to bring this dear man.
Following are some excerpts from our talk:

The Future - Andy would have liked to do a recording with a number of friends
on different tracks. The people he mentioned were Bill Cunliffe, John
Hammond and Monty Alexander. He also mentioned that he had spoken with John
Clayton about doing the writing for the project and also mentioned having
Sandy Megas involved in the project.

Andy was also excited about a group he was working with consisting of Larry
Koonse on guitar, Jon Mayer on piano and Frank Capp on drums.

He also spoke of having just finished a pre- Hollywood Bowl Playboy Jazz
Festival gig and having a ball with his soulmate, Gerry Wiggins. He also had
a great time at a jazz festival in Chandler, Arizona with Hank Crawford, John
Clayton, Jeff Hamilton, Bill Cunliffe and Ray Bryant. Andy exclaimed, "Ray
Bryant sure is sounding great!"

Andy and his wife, Sandi had also been in a number of television commercials.
Andy spoke of doing commercials for Honda, GM and Blue Cross.

Andy was also very excited about a gig in July he was going to do at
Arrowhead in southern California with Bill Cunliffe, Stacey Rowles, Al Grey
and Paul Humphrey.

His Bass - at the time of our interview, Andy's bass was being repaired. He
got his bass around 1965 through the recommendation of Ray Brown. Ray found
the bass while in Cincinnati with Oscar Peterson. Andy went to Horen's in
Cincinnati, played it and bought it for $700, which Andy said was a "steal"
at that time. He felt he was blessed to get that instrument and proclaimed
he is the super klutz of all times, meaning that he and his bass have been in
some tight situations..

The Road - Andy said he didn't miss the road, but did miss the people and
associations and certainly loved traveling when he did it. Stated that he
wouldn't want to travel that extensively again and home time was more
valuable. He said he was fortunate to have been offered some real choice
gigs out of town but preferred not to go out of town for more than a week
unless the situation was right musically. He missed the good times and
remembered the not so good times, especially with Sarah. Said he has a hard
time remembering the bad times that made him angry while he was on the road
with her and now enjoys remembering the good times…the bad things weren't
that important. Andy said in retrospect, he realizes now that towards the
last years he spent with her, she wasn't well and it had a lot to do with her
disposition…her energy was strange - she had to stop and rest in airports and
he now is so sorry he didn't realize it.

The jazz world mourns the passing of Andy Simpkins.

MEMORIAL SERVICE

A memorial service will be held for Andy on Saturday, June 19, 1999 at 1:00
p.m. at the City of Angels Church located at 5550 Grosvenor Avenue in Los
Angeles.

Last Revision Date: 4/1/01
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Copyright (C) 2001, Rebecca Parris