[Dixielandjazz] : Dick Cary

[Richard Broadie]

Lisa Morrow McMickle's daughter, Christie,  lived is a separate house on
Dick Cary's property and rather took care of him and the place to the extent
it ever got cleaned up.  I met Dick while dropping off some dog food for
Christie.  He invited me in and asked if I'd mind if he finished some work
while we were talking.  I witnessed him rapidly writing a big band
arrangement, one part at a time without any master score.  He told me it's
simply in his head and all he has to do is put it on paper.   While talking
for about 30 minutes on a variety of subjects that I don't recall, I
witnessed him do an entire arrangement that his rehearsal band would run
through the following week.   I met several of his players at Leon's Steak
House in North Hollywood a few weeks later who told me this is the way Dick
always works, and that on the first run-through, they couldn't recall ever
needing to change a note.

Although invited several times, I never managed to attend his band's
rehearsal at his home.  I heard his excellent band at the Sweet & Hot
festival several times and was greatly impressed.  While his music was very
modern, you could still hear his roots, from which he logically extended his
music to a new and exciting level.   (Reminds me of speculation of what Bix
would have written or performed, had he lived 20 years longer - likely would
have sounded like Dick Cary.)

Dick lived in very humble surroundings that he was basically oblivious to.
They were surrounding that were his home and provided an environment  that
was obviously wonderfully conducive to his tremendous creativity.  I never
met anyone with so little in material things that felt so perfectly
comfortable in such surroundings.  Maybe Dick got it right.  When music is
the center of your life, the rest of the stuff just doesn't count.   In
spite of his physical surroundings, Dick was one of the wealthiest people
I've ever met.

Dick Broadie

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bill Haesler" <bhaesler at nsw.bigpond.net.au>
To: "Paul Edgerton" <paul.edgerton at eds.com>
Cc: "dixieland jazz mail list" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Friday, July 18, 2003 5:29 PM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Re: Dick Cary


> Dear Paul, Warren, Bonnie, Burt and Jim.
> I first met Dick Carey when he came to Australia in 1964 with the Eddie
Condon
> Band.
> A few of us took time off work, met the band at the airport and drove them
back
> to the Festival Hall venue for the sound check, then on to the hotel.
> It was here that a shyish Mr Cary introduced himself to me saying that, as
the
> odd man out, we probably would not know who he was.
> I assured him that we certainly did and that I had the Louis' 1947 Town
Hall
> Concert and Victor studio records to prove it, among other records he had
made.
> I don't think he expected Australians to know anything about jazz.
> (Eddie Condon told us on arrival about Joe Rushton's tragic death a few
days
> before, and also about Jack Teagarden (mid Jan). We did not know about
Joe, but
> when I told Eddie that Tea had been given a two-third page obit in our
Melbourne
> daily, 'The Age', he was astounded. "He only got a few lines in Variety!"
said
> Condon.
> But I digress (as usual).
> We haunted the band at the venue and parties all the time they were in
> Melbourne. Buck Clayton, Vic Dickenson, Bud Freeman, Pee Wee Russell, Dick
Cary,
> Jack Lesberg (who later lived and recorded here for a while), Condon,
Cliff
> Leeman and Jimmy Rushing. I also spent several hours with Buck Clayton and
Mr
> Rushing, listening to them catching up and talking about the 'old' days. I
was
> in Heaven!)
> Dick Cary returned to Australia as the special guest of the 31st
Australian Jazz
> Convention in 1976. It was held over the last week in December in
Brisbane, in
> hot and humid Queensland.
> Dick fitted like a glove, sitting in with everyone. He and I spent some
time
> together (he remembered me from the Condon tour) and shared quite a few
'dirty'
> jokes over the week. I was present for the two day 'mix 'n' match'
recording
> session which teamed Carey with top Oz jazz musicians Bob & Len Barnard,
Ade
> Monsbourgh, Neville Stribling (Simon's dad), Ken Herron; Ed Gaston, Lachie
> Thompson, Frank Johnson and Mileham Hayes (who organised the recording).
> A great LP, unfortunately now well and truly deleted.
> Kind regards,
> Bill.
> PS: Apologies Paul. I thought you were putting Dick Cary down.
>
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