December, 1978 was a busy month for Charlie. He was finishing up his two-year stay at drug treatment center Delancey Street. Old & New Dreams, his group with fellow Ornette Coleman alumni Don Cherry, Dewey Redman, and Ed Blackwell, would be starting their Keystone Korner New Years Eve residency at the end of the month. I wrote about both in a previous episode. Charlie was starting to spread his wings, travel, record, and play out of San Francisco. As you’ll hear Keystone Korner owner-booker Todd Barkan say, “It’s a gift to us all that he’s this close to us for this amount of time.” Sobriety didn’t last long. At least for now, Charlie was able to work and live opiate-free.
