[Dixielandjazz] Re: muted trumpet origin

[D and R Hardie]

Dear Bill and Luis ,

            I don't think we should continue to
disseminate the Chris Kelly story as fact. I
researched him last year. True he used a mute on
his favourite blues "Careless Love".Your  so
called '*Oral History' refers to one report from
one of his listeners who averred this was his
innovation. Another  similar claim was that he
composed "Careless Love", a tune that was played
by the Bolden band before 1906 and appears to have
been an old Kentucky Mountain air later
copyrighted I think by WC Handy. Another oral
history source said that Buddy Bolden composed the
words to "Careless Love".
           Kelly came New Orleans no earlier than
1916 to play for Jack Carey and then went to the
war. He  took over the Jack Carey band in 1919.
Before him Mutt Carey played in that band as early
as 1913 and Mutt was well known to use the cup 
mute, so much so that people thought he was the
first to use it. However when he was asked he
insisted he learned it from King Oliver who
started playing in New Orleans as early as 1908
not long after the incarceration of Buddy Bolden.
I don't know the source of the story that Oliver
used a beer glass.
        In an interview recorded at the Hogan Jazz
Archive Bill Matthews said Bolden had a (tin) cup
mute that made the cornet sound like the moans of
a Baptist preacher.This would have to have been
before 1907. Much the same was later said about
Kelly. No disrespect to Kelly, but  whose *Oral
history do you believe? Bolden was in the asylum
10 years before Kelly came up from the Country. I
decided not to include the Kelly mute invention
story in either of my books. He may have used a
plunger mute.
            As for the traditional orchestral
style mutes I cannot find any evidence of their
use in New Orleans before the recording era
really  took off in the twenties.
         Of course these early people played valve
cornets (not the orchestral valve trumpet,) an
instrument that appeared around 1820 according to
my Encyclopedia, before that the keyed bugle was
apparently used to great effect by the great black
composer Frank Johnson.
best wishes
Dan Hardie

Bill Haesler wrote:

> Dear Luis,
> The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz has 4 pages
> (with sketches and photographs)
> devoted to the Mute for trumpet, cornet and
> trombone.
> Contained in the article are the following
> 'facts':
> *The 'Harmon' wa-wa mute was patented in 1865.
> This would imply that mutes were
> in use prior to this.
> *Oral histories credit Chris Kelly with having
> been the first jazz musician to
> play with a mute.
> Sorry Dan Hardie.   8>)
> *Beer glass mute. Its introduction is attributed
> to King Oliver.
> Penguin's 'A Dictionary of Music' refers to the
> first trumpet with valves
> superseding that without valves in the 19th
> century.
> Kind regards,
> Bill.
>
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