Letters to the Editor

What You Say

BLUES, NOT BLUEGRASS

In his article on Philly guitarist Jef Lee Johnson, A.D. Amorosi refers to the great guitarist Lonnie Johnson as a "bluegrass legend" [Cover Story, "Jef Lee Johnson," March 4]. Lonnie Johnson was a blues/jazz legend. He played a sophisticated style of city blues, and made some amazing duet recordings in the 1920s with fellow Philadelphia guitarist Eddie Lang. Lonnie Johnson also recorded with Louis Armstrong and Earl Hines.

As a session musician, I have had the honor of playing on some recordings featuring the guitar work of Jef Lee Johnson. He is indeed a fabulous player and deserves more recognition.

[Editor's note: The online version corrects this error.]

Shipping companies have been quoted in The Philadelphia Inquirer as saying they would expand their operations, bring larger ships — which would require more workers to unload — as well as possibly make Philly a port of call even before New York, which means more cargo would be off-loaded here [Naked City, "Risk and Reward," Holly Otterbein, Feb. 25]. Philly is closer to Chicago and New York than Hampton Roads or Savannah, which is where a great deal of all goods consumed in this country go.

While Philly would never be able to compete with New York, a deeper channel would allow Philly more access to traffic that now goes to New York simply because their harbors are deep enough. They'd have a less-crowded option with more capacity by coming here.

To be sure, port authority officials and Gov. Ed Rendell have been saying this for years, but a December article in the Inquirer quoted such shipping companies as COSCO (China Ocean Shipping Co.) and Maersk as [saying they are] looking to initiate new service or expand their current operations. That article also mentioned companies, such as Dole and Chiquita, who actually use Wilmington's port facilities, as saying they would use larger vessels, or just plain expand their operations, if the Delaware River was dredged.

Larger ships, expanded operations equals the same volume as before?