Follow Your Heart: Moving with the Giants of Jazz, Swing, and Rhythm and Blues

12. After the Manhattans

chapter twelve After the Manhattans Iwas sitting in my office considering options, when I heard an announcement over the radio: “You can go to college on weekends, in the evenings, even on Sundays; just come to Essex County College for more information.” Essex County College was just a few blocks away from my office on Clinton Street in downtown Newark. I could take some business courses to rebuild and strengthen Carnival. The following day, during my lunch break, I went to the registrar at Essex and started asking questions about certain courses. I thought there would be a bunch of kids in there, but instead, I saw other adults in my age range. I thought to myself, “I might be all right here.” In the section of the application about where I attended high school, I put Washington High in Pensacola, Florida. The next item was, “Year graduated.” “Damn, look here. I forgot that I didn’t get my high school diploma,” I said with some embarrassment to the person taking the applications. 135 13 . follow your heart Without so much as a flinch, the registrar asked, “What grade did you complete?” “I think the eleventh and part of the twelfth.” “That’s okay,” he said. “You can get a GED.” “GED? What’s that?” “That’s a high school equivalency exam. There are two ways you can do it. You can take courses until you get enough credits to get a GED, or you can just take the test.” It was obvious to me that this young man had been through this scenario before. “When is the test offered?” I asked. “Every month. You just pay the fee for the exam.” “Well, sign me up for the next test.” The young man looked a little concerned. “You want to take this test without any preparation?” “Sure,” I said. Within a few days, I was back to take the test. Even though I hadn’t formally finished high school, I had been an avid reader and thought the test couldn’t be too bad. It wasn’t and I passed it. My counselor told me that I didn’t have to take any remedial courses, but I did take the placement test. Although I had exempted out of remedial English and math, that algebra course kicked the hell out of me. The funny thing is that although I just wanted to take a business course, I was registered for everything but business. After my first semester as a full-time student, I was hooked. My education became my new priority. I reconciled myself to the reality of being unable to keep Carnival Records active and be a committed full-time student , too. I decided to lease parts of the Carnival catalog and go to school. This was my new challenge. I took every course I could manage—Western civilization, philosophy, sociology, history, and whatever else was offered. There was no half-stepping. I was the classic older-than-average student. I read even more than I had before and was always willing to participate in class discussions. There were many great instructors at Essex from whom I learned a good deal. They were always willing to help you. Among them was my old friend Aaron Bell, who had played with me in Andy Kirk’s band and in my group, Joe Evans and His Bell Boys, some years earlier. He was working on a doctorate at Columbia at the time and was teaching in the music department at Essex. After receiving his Ph.D., he became the chair of the department. The education bug infected the Evans household. Anna also started taking classes and received an associate’s degree in sociology. It was the spring of 1973 and just a few months before I was supposed to graduate from Essex. I noticed an announcement on the advertisement board outside the counseling office about a Ford Foundation scholarship. I spoke to my counselor, Calvin Woodland (who was also working on a doctorate), and he thought that with my good grades I should apply for it. In fact, he did most of the legwork for me, and he even helped me fill out the application and edited the required essay for the competition. The institution had to support the candidate and do the formal nomination. I was informed a few months later that I had won one of the grants...