[Dixielandjazz] : Dick Cary

Sun Jul 20 15:48:21 PDT 2003

Dick;

If you're talking about the house in Sunland, I've been there several times
to listen to the Tuesday night rehearsal band. All of the charts were
written by Dick. Most of the tunes were Cary originals and a few were well
known tunes which Dick had the knack of creating "new wine in old bottles".
The band would run through each chart just once and go on to the next with
just a few comments. As you mentioned, there were no errors in the charts.
Mistakes were made by individual musicians who noted what they had done as
if to say "I've learned something new."

Dick would play piano but had his horns nearby for an occasional horn part
(trumpet or alto horn) in the music.

The musicians were in a circle with most in chairs. Listeners fit in
wherever possible. After an hour or so, the band would break for a few
minutes, get something to drink and/or eat, then return for another hour.

When Dick died, Jim Turner inherited ownership of the property and of Dick's
arrangements.

The band continued under the leadership of Dick Hamilton a brass player who
also played piano. Essentially, Dick took Cary's place in the band. The
major difference was that the mission of the band was to replay all of Dick
Cary's arrangements in order. However, this time, the band would go though
each arrangement more than once. I never heard them play any arrangement
more than 3 times.

The band went "on the road" briefly. I heard them in a club in Sherman Oaks
and they were also featured at the 1993 Los Angeles Classic Jazz Festival
which was the last public appearance of Dick Cary with the band. To the best
of my knowledge, the band has recorded only 2 CD's - one on Arbors which was
actually recorded at Dick's home with Cary leading the band in 1993 - and
another on the Klavier label which was recorded in a studio in 1997 and Dick
Hamilton was the leader.

For more stories about Dick Cary, Bob Ringwald would be a good source - Dick
graced Bob's Great Pacific Jazz Band for several years.

Stan
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Richard Broadie" <richard.broadie at gte.net>
To: "Bill Haesler" <bhaesler at nsw.bigpond.net.au>
Cc: "DJML" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Friday, July 18, 2003 11:00 PM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] : Dick Cary

> 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.
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Dixielandjazz mailing list
> > Dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
> > http://ml.islandnet.com/mailman/listinfo/dixielandjazz
> >
>
>
>
>