[Dixielandjazz] Lonnie Donegan/Boondockers

[Bill Gunter]

Hi Listmates . . .

Rob Van der Plas wrote:

>There I was, yesterday afternoon (Sunday), being entertained by the
>musicianship and humor of the Boondockers during the last set of the 
>Arizona
>Classic Jazz Festival. They bill themselves as a "skiffle" group. That may 
>be
>a bit of a stretch but it has probably something to do with the washtub 
>bass
>and the washboard. This band is essentially about laundry, mostly dirty!

Thanks, Rob, for talking about our musicianship and humor. We try to do our 
best in both departments.

And yes, we are a skiffle band because our approach to a performance comes 
from both jazz and "folksy" roots. Indeed, the washboard and washtub bass do 
contribute to that but only in a visual way. Musically we play bass and 
percussion.

The comment about "dirty laundry" is interesting. Admittedly, our humor does 
involve a few "adult" themes but the band is essentially about combining 
good music with elements of humor. We are not above donning the funny hat 
now and then and our humor does tend to get a bit slapstick at times but we 
guage our success on how well we are received.

Rob mentioned:

>Point is that they played a Donegan tune (I forget the title) and gave 
>credit
>to Donegan. Then we learned to-day that Lonnie died on Sunday. The universe
>moves in strange ways. Perhaps I am getting too old, but more and more I am
>beginning to believe that these are no random coincidences.


The Donegan tune was "Does your chewin' gum lose its flavor on the bedpost 
overnight?" - One of his most popular songs.

Incidentally, when I was at the Edinburgh festival with the Cell Block 7 
jazz band a few months back, Donegan did a "final" performance at the 
festival which I got to attend. The last song he sang was entitled "This May 
Be The Last Time" . . . turned out to be pretty prophetic.

Donegan was one of my early heroes (along with Spike Jones, Red Ingle and 
the Hoosier Hot Shots).

I'm going to pour some extra good single malt this evening and raise a few 
to all those wonderfully gifted musicians and entertainers. Heaven is a 
better place now that Lonnie is there!

Love to all,

Bill "Love That Skiffle" Gunter
jazzboard@hotmail.com

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