It is my sad duty to inform the readers of Gulf Coast Bluenote that its author, Paco Malo, has passed away.

As you may have imagined, "Paco Malo" was a pen name. I want to say a few words about the man I knew as "Jim".

We met in high school, and were friends for more than forty years. Jim was a gentleman and a scholar. He held a PhD from Johns Hopkins, and a JD from U of Maryland Law School. He loved to laugh, and did so in spite of a life too often touched by pain. He was a compassionate and generous soul. Jim was that guy who really would have given you the shirt off his back.

And he loved music, man did he love music. The GCB blog was his way to share that love and his wide-ranging knowledge of all things musical. Jim loved the community of blogging, the back and forth of comments, the connection with his readers. On his behalf I say to every reader of this blog, thank you.

For me this post completes a circle. Back in the day when blogs were a new thing I ran a blog, now long shuttered. Jim was fascinated, and had the idea to contribute guest postings, always about music. After a bit of that, he decided to go solo, and Gold Coast Bluenote was born.

Over the years Jim and I shared many a musical discovery. The last note I sent him contained links to a couple of performances I think he would have enjoyed. I don't know whether he got the chance to watch them. I will post them here, for you his readers, his friends.

The first is a bluegrass cover of "Wild Horses" by Old and In The Way. Jim was huge Stones fan, and he appreciated good bluegrass. The second performance features the superb Ana Vidovic. Jim never could resist a guitar.

I hope you enjoyed those, Jim. Ave atque vale, my friend.

One more thing. One of Jim's musical collaborators is going to try his hand at running GCB. That's a tall order, but I think Paco would have been pleased.

drc