[Dixielandjazz] Original 'Moldy Fig'

[Dan Augustine]

Moldy Fig fans--
     All right, here's the scoop on the what seems to be the first use
of the phrase 'Moldy Fig' to describe fans of traditional jazz.  The
phrase would seem to be pejorative if one doesn't like figs that are
somewhat affected by mold.  Still, one wonders why the original
writer chose that particular term for _himself_.  Mold suggests age,
but organic matter aged past its prime, in decomposition, is not
particularly palatable to the average non-Frenchman.  So why fasten
it to oneself?  It doesn't sound like tongue-in-cheek, but might it
be?
     On my lunch break here at UT, i hied myself over to the UT
Perry-Casteneda Library to look at the issues of _Esquire_ magazine
from 1945, which the OED claims to have had the earliest use of
'Moldy Fig'.  Here's what i found, exactly as they were printed, in
their entirety (including ellipses, typos, etc.):

1) _Esquire_ (March, 1945, Volume 23, #3), page 10 ("The Sound and
the Fury", letters from readers):

                     "Home Thoughts from Abroad"
     "For a long time I've been reading articles pertaining to Jazz,
lists of famous hot records, reminiscences of famous 'kicks,' etc.,
in your intellectually stimulating magazine...  And now the time has
come for me to throw in my two cents...
     "This I shall try to do by means of the tried-and-true Socratic
method of asking questions.  To wit:
     "1. Why do Esquire's exponents of the real and righteous insist
upon confusing Jazz with Swing?  Isn't Jazz polyrhythmic music based
upon four part ensemble--freely improvised?  Is it not true that
these four parts--freely improvised--consist of first and second
melody (trumpets), obligato (clarinet), and counterpoint (trombone),
played by one each--with rhythm section, of course?  And on the other
hand; does not 'swing' consist of highly arranged sections of brass
and reeds alternating with each other as backgrounds for powerful
rhythmic phrases (i.e., 'riffs')?...  Or, as the case may be, is
swing not merely a series of solos--improvised and original, but with
a crowded, arranged, sectional background?...
     "2. Why do aforementioned connoisseurs insist upon maintaining
that the Chicago and New York (white) styles are the real Jazz, when
it's perfectly obvious that New Orleans was--and is--the birthplace
of the true 'stuff'?  Witness Oliver, Bunk Johnson, Morton,
Armstrong...
     "Please do not misconstrue the meanings of the above questions,
nor misinterpret my intentions....  Good swing, as exemplified by B.
G. in '36, T. D. in '36, A. Shaw in '36, and various other big bands,
trios, quartets, sextets, etc.--is fine stuff indeed.  But it is not
'Jazz'!  And as for popular, commercial, schmaltzy songs--and said
songs' respective orchestral arrangements, with cute, 'curly-hair'
boys, chirpies, diamond-studded bandstands and other stupid effects
of showmanship--words fail me...!
     "Good swing can be heard almost any place where spirited
musicians are to be found--in the flesh and on records.  But,
contrary to what Feather and Goffin say, good Jazz exists largely on
records.  The only true Jazz I ever heard off the record was that of
Lu Watters in San Francisco, and Brad Gowens & Co. in New York.  (The
former by far superior)...
     "Among my records I consider these the finest:
         'Canal St. Blues'|
         'Snake Rag'      |  King Oliver
         'Weatherbird Rag'|

         'Doctor Jazz'     |
         'Cannonball Blues'|  Jelly-Roll

         'Dallas Blues'--Ted Lewis

         'Cakewalkin' Babies'--Clarence Williams

         'Muskrat Ramble'  |
         'Potatohead Blues'|  Louis Armstrong

         'Panama'           |
         'Down by the River'|  Bunk Johnson

         'Irish Black Bottom'|
         'Maple Leaf Rag'    |  Lu Watters

         'Riverboat Shuffle'|
         'That Da Da Strain'|  Muggsy Spanier

etc., etc., etc.
     "Got the idea?...  Keep up the good work."

                         "Sincerely,
"France                                         Moldy Fig"

2) _Esquire_ (March, 1945, Volume 23, #5), page 10 letters:

                     "Moldy Fig Gets a Fresh One"

     "I read Moldy Fig's letter in your March issue with a great deal
of interest and more than a little scorn.  For a person who who
considers himself an authority on jazz as Mr. Fig evidently does, he
displays a woeful lack of information and common sense.
     "To say that anything arranged is 'fine stuff indeed--but not
jazz' is really the height of something or other.  To deny arranged
jazz is to deny Duke Ellington, Eskine Tate, Fletcher Henderson, Doc
Cooke and a host of others.  To deny these jazz immortals is to deny
jazz itself.
     "Mr. Fig seems to belong to that group of people who live in a
pre-historic era of jazz glory, for whom nothing is good unless it's
old.  For this clique, a chorus by Dodds, Simeon or Noone is hip and
righteous, while a take-off by Goodman, Shaw or Fazola just 'ain't
nowhere.'  Would Louis Armstrong have been any the less great if he
had been born twenty years later in, say, Peoria, Illinois.
According to Mr. Fig and his fellows, that would have made Louis a
bum.
     "In reply to Mr. Fig's list of pre-1930 jazz records, admittedly
excellent, I'd like to offer a list of my own, made up of records
pressed since 1930:
       _Flying Home/Rose Room_--Benny Goodman Sextet.
       _Sweet Lorraine_--Benny Goodman Trio.
       _Sing, Sing, Sing_--Benny Goodman.
       _I Can't Get Started_--Bunny Berigan.
       _Cafe Society Uptown Blues_--Edmond Hall
       _Sitting' In_--Chu Berry
       _Ugly Chile_--George Brunis.
       _Billie's Blues_--Billie Holiday.
       _Echoes of Harlem_--Cootie Williams.
       _Summit Ridge Drive_--Artie Shaw's Gramercy Five.
       _Shoe Shiner's Drag_--Lionel Hampton.
       _Battery Bounce_--Art Tatum.
     "Get the idea, Mr. Fig?

                           "Paul Wachtel, AM2/c, USN
     "Pacific Area"

3) _Esquire_ (June, 1945, Volume 23, #6), page 10 letters:

                     "Gentle Reminder to Jazz Atavists"

     "As an ardent jazz fan I feel compelled to write at least a
little thanks for your very literate although fractional coverage of
the jazz scene--
     "Also I wish to protest against the 'Moldy Fig' genre of music lovers.
     "There seems to be some perverse streak in critics such as
Avakian or 'Moldy Fig' which prevents them from liking anything but
the very oldest available; for years they revered King Oliver--the
oldest available, and then when a Buddy Bolden contemporary arrives
Oliver is forgotten in favor of something older--Bunk Johnson with
whom they can have only a very slight acquaintance at best, due to
his long obscurity and the scarcity of the perfectly foul recordings
he made.
     "As a further objection to a critical viewpoint such as Avakian's
it seems to me that critics have no right to condemn an art form
(i.e. swing as they interpret it--modern big bands) simply because
they don't like it or some such equally arbitrary standard.  The
critical position is to adjudge which is the good and bad, not which
kind is best, especially as only time will tell which is trivial and
which is not.  And certainly it seems unwise when what they so
derisively cast aside is the perfectly legitimate outgrowth of the
early jazz.
     "Perhaps some of their objections to modern jazz are based on the
premise that skill and technique abolish inspiration, as in the
polished graceful and mournfully boring paintings of Fragonard.  It
might do them good to recall the vigor that lies under the technique
and polish of a Grant Wood or Georgia O'Keefe painting.
     "It often seems to me that critics could be a little broad-minded
and concentrate more on getting _good_ jazz, swing or what you will,
a wider audience and leave the academic squabbles until later."

                                                          "Sam Platt
"USNTC, Farragut, Idaho"

     So there it is--the original 'Moldy Fig' items.  It would be
interesting, but probably impossible, to know who actually wrote that
letter.  Even though it says 'France', i detect an American, writing
from France.  We'll never know.

     Dan

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**  Dan Augustine     Austin, Texas     ds.augustine at mail.utexas.edu  **
**  "Do not try to be a genius in every bar." -- Advice to students   **
**                 by Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924)                       **
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