[Dixielandjazz] George Buck, Jazzology and Preacher Rollo

[Will Connelly]

Not too long ago, there was a lot of discussion about Preacher Rollo's
Saints and Bill Haesler chimed in with the information that he had an
out of print Jazzology CD - JCD-51 - of the band.

Now I knew Rollo and I was quite sure that Tommy Justice, his trumpet
player, had no idea that he'd been released on CD. So I called George
Buck to ask if he had any idea where I could get a copy of this
recording.

The long and short is: From Jazzology, 1206 Decatur Street, New Orleans,
Louisiana, 70116 USA tel (504) 525-5000 (thanks to Nancy). And WOW!!!
What a recording it is!

The whole thing is air shots off the old Mutual radio network from back
in the '50s when Rollo did a nationally broadcast show each week. The
band was Rollo on drums, Tommy Justice, clarinetist Tony Parenti,
trombonist Jerry Gorman , Marie Marcus on piano and Al Mattucci on bass.
These players were uniformly superior players and all, in their
thirties, were at the top of their form. 

There are 20 tunes on this CD, including some rarities (Ostrich Walk,
Praulene, Cottage for Sale), standards (Wolverine, Rocking Chair,
Whispering) and a few things you'd never expect from a Dixieland band
(String of Pearls, Over the Rainbow). Rollo had a tremendous
entertainment sense and the mix of songs on this album demonstrates his
careful balance in offering different (Dangerous Blues) tempered with
downright groveling for the masses (You are My Sunshine). But the band
does credit to everything it plays.

George told me that late jazz writer Jack Sohmer was to have done the
liner notes for this album, but stalled for so long that George finally
opted to do them himself so he could release the record. Good idea! Buck
is a good writer who knows as much about jazz as any mortal and his
unusually lengthy insert delves far more deeply into the personas of the
sidemen than is common in such scrivenings. His appreciation for the
vastly underappreciated Tom Justice naturally won my admiration because
the truest measure of a man's intelligence is the extent to which he
agrees with you, and George is definitely on my wavelength. 

My sincere thanks to Bill for mentioning this CD and to Nancy for
reminding me with Buck's phone number that I wanted to tell all of you
about this. 

Kindly,

Will Connelly