Very sad news indeed... Willie was a great guy, one of the best bass players around, and a great excuse for many excellent musicians like James Wheeler and Willie Davies to get together and play... his band was always one of the best bands in Chicago, where everyone had the chance to play and sing... Last time I saw Willie Kent was a bit after Wheeler played in Russia (in Novosibirsk) for the first time (August 2003)... he was all so excited about one day playing in Russia as well... a bit later he fell sick to cancer, and the rest is history... so sad... so sad...

At this moment maybe the only great remaining bass player is Bob Stroger, since Nick Holt is pretty much retired and my best buddy Dave Myers passed away a few years ago... I talked to Bob last week and he is also all excited about coming to Moscow, after talking to James and hearing all the good stuff he had to tell him about the clubs and the people here... Bob will come to Moscow in early September 2006...

My best regards to all the r&b lovers in this website,

OEI...