[Dixielandjazz] Spargo, Maxted, Stacy, Morton,Bird

[fred spencer]

These are a few thoughts about some of  the topics that awaited me on my
return from  a "Big Apple" trip.
Whistling - On an audiocassette, "Jazz Kings Immortals. Pee Wee Erwin
and his Dixieland All Stars (Jazz Kings - JKC-1202), Side 2 has a
whistling introduction to "Pagan Love Song". I believe the personnel is
Pee Wee Erwin - trumpet, Andy Russo - trombone, Sal Pace - clarinet,
Billy Maxted - piano, Charles Traeger - string bass, and Tony Spargo
(Sbabaro) drums. My assumption is that Spargo whistles, mainly because
the phrasing is sinilar to his later kazoo choruses. Whether he does
this "au naturel" or with some appliance is difficult for me to say.
Perhaps someone with younger and sharper ears may be able to decide
this. Spargo, of course, was the ODJB drummer. My information comes
partly from Warren Vache Sr's Erwin biography, "This Horn for Hire".
Maxted - On the same tape, Billy Maxted plays some stomping choruses,
with a strong left hand. Was he known for his bass power?
Stacy - There are two biographies of Jess Stacy - "Oh Jess. A Jazz
Life"by Keith Keller, and "Jess Stacy. The Quiet Man of Jazz" by Derek
Coller, a Jazzology Press book which is the better of the two. Marian
McPartland's "Piano Jazz" interview of Jess is complete on Jazz Alliance
CD, TJA 12017.
Morton - The Reich biography would sem to be a  padded version of his
long article in the "Chicago Tribune". Whether this is accurate must be
decided by more knowledgeable Morton scholars than I. What I do know is
that, in the article, he completely misreads Morton's death certificate.
I reproduce this, with corrective comments, in my book, "Jazz and Death.
Medical Profiles of Jazz Greats". Jelly Roll died of "Cardiac
Decompensation", a synonym for  heart failure, not " Cardiac
Decomposition", which is not valid medical nomenclature. A good newish
book on Jelly Roll is "Dead Man Blues. Jelly Roll Morton Way Out West"
by Phil Pastras, although it too contains some incorrect medical
information, which I intend to correct in an article in a jazz magazine.

Bird - Thanks, Steve. A "State Hospital" was, and is, generally applied
to a publicly funded mental institution, that may or may not have penal
facilities. In Bird's day, conditions were grim in most state hospitals.
Bud Powell also had several unpleasant experiences. There were some
"Camarillo Concerts" for the hospital's patients, played by great jazz
musicans from outside (Dick Cary, Dick Cathcart, Nick Fatool. Bob
Havens, Nappy Lamare, Matty Matlock, Eddie Miller, Stan Wrightsman,
etc.), but not with inmates, as in San Quentin Prison, or in Huntsville
Jail, Texas, where the prisoners' band had a weekly radio show entitled
"Thirty Minutes Behind the Walls"!
All the best.
Fred