[Dixielandjazz] Pres. Hall's Stories

[fred spencer]

"Preservation Hall" by William Carter (1991) presents the story of the 
New Orleans venue and bands, with several vignettes of the musicians, 
the most interesting of which is Sweet Emma Barrett, the "Bell Gal" 
(1897-1963) who refused to fly, and replied "None of your damned 
business" when asked how old she was. She was paralyzed on her left side 
after a stroke in 1967, but continued to play with her right hand. When 
I saw her, the bass player was resting his gluteal region on the lower 
third of the piano keyboard! Another book is "Preservation Hall 
Portraits" (1968), with 100 black and white reproductions of paintings 
by Noel Rockmore, and text by Larry Borenstein and Bill Russell. Narvin 
Kimball is shown resting on his instrument case, which is a shame 
because there aren't many left handed banjoists. Regards.
Fred