[Dixielandjazz] Other guys axes.

[Don Ingle]

Well, my horns have had lips other than mine  tooting them. To name a few
who have played my valve trombone, there are Sid Dawson, Randy Reinhardt,
Carl Helin, and Dan Barrett.
I have a tape of the Sons of Bix playing Da Da Strain  -- just before
kicking it off Randy decided he wanted to play it on my valve bone, so I
took lead on his cornet on that tune. Came off well, though I kidded him
that it was no way to humble an old man by playing a man's horn better than
its owner.
But then I have tooted the horns of others as well. Red Nichols, who
mentored me, once handed me a beautiful real gold plated Olds Cornet with
his name engraved on the bell. "Try this for a couple weeks, Don, and if you
tell me you like it it's yours." I played it for that long and then stopped
off at his place in Toluca Lake and handed the horn back to him, and told
him that much as I would have been honored to have that horn, I thought it
played stuffy as gell. "Yeah -- that's what I thought, too. I'm sending it
back to the factory and telling them they missed on this one." (What a
keepsake that would have made -- only 16 at the time, and in awe of Red, it
one time I should have lied, but then Red would thought I'd lost any sense
of intonation.)
The ultimate horn sharing was at Breda, Holland in 1979 between Jim Cullum
and myself and one cornet (Jim's) which we played using each other's own
mouthpiece. Thank Jim for that idea. We had been on breaks with his band and
the Sons of Bix that I was with, and were sitting chatting on a riser in an
outer foyer. Jim's guitarist and bassist were there and started to play
rhythm licks and Jim got his cornet out and said let's play a duet. I said
my horn is on the other end of the building and all I have is my cornet
mouthpiece. Good enough he said, we'll just share the horn, and so we
started off trading choruses, passing it back and forth and sticking our own
mouthpiece in. Then he said let's play eights. Okay, I said, so we swapped
fours switching mouthpieces at each trade of horn. Then he said let's do
fours. By then we were getting a little giggle-prone, but did several chorus
of  fours on the tune. Then Jim grinned and said okay let's do twos, and
things sort of fell apart after that. Time to play about two or three notes
before swapping mouthpieces and horn. We ended up unable to play for our
laughing. The many Dutch folks watching it all thought we had done it as an
act on purpose and we got a huge round of applause..
Don Ingle

----- Original Message -----
From: "Richard Broadie" <richard.broadie at gte.net>
To: "DJML" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Monday, August 04, 2003 6:12 PM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Liberace and other jazz greats


> If this isn't off topic, I'd like to mention that I attended Liberace's
> funeral at Our Lady of Solitude Catholic Church here in Palm Springs.  In
> fact I played a vital role.
>
> No one knew how to engergize the organ or the amplifier or where the mics
> were stored in the choir loft.   I saved the day because I unlocked the
case
> contining the mics and I flipped the switch that powered up the organ and
> the amp.
>
> Some of my critics acknowlege that this was likely my greatest
contribution
> to the music industry, so far.  :-)
>
> Possibly the only thing that topped it was when I loaned Rufus Ried my
> upright bass so he could play a concert locally with Stan Getz.   I can't
> claim to have ever played with Getz but my bass has great credentials, if
> you happen to like that kind of music.  (The airline failed to "download"
> Rufus' bass which went on to San Francisco leaving him with a bassis of
> needing mine.)
>
>
> Trad content:  "Momma don't allow no complainin' folks 'round here!"
>
> Dick
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <lswain at penrose.com>
> To: <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>; <TCASHWIGG at aol.com>
> Sent: Sunday, August 03, 2003 9:57 PM
> Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Re: Better Players
>
>
> > > >  Remember the same mocking and disparagement's directed at Liberace.
> > > >  the
> > > >
> > > > truth is that Lib was a hell of a pianist.
> >
> > Before the glitz and glitter of his TV career, I heard on the radio
> > his recording of "Twelfth Street Rag" as a little kid of 10 or 11,
> > taking piano lessons from a guy whose teaching credentials were his
> > career as a piano player in silent-movie houses.  My teacher wrote it
> > out at my request (in Eb, melody and chords, in fake-book fashion, as
> > he would do for each weekly hour of instruction, at $1.25 per hour),
> > and I wowed my fellow campers at the YMCA summer camp I attended in
> > Marstons Mills, Cape Cod, with my version of it.
> >
> > He was in fact extraordinary, and that got lost in the glitz and
> > glitter.
> >
> > Larry Swain
> >
> >
> > L. R. Swain
> >
> > Penrose, Inc.
> > Professional Real Estate and other Web presence creation
> > http://www.Penrose.com
> > 617 571 7885
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> > Dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
> > http://ml.islandnet.com/mailman/listinfo/dixielandjazz
> >
>
>
>
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