[Dixielandjazz] Re: African Americans in Jazz

[dhs at ev1.net]

Dear Listers:

Over the years, I have had a few interesting experiences with black dixielanders.

I once played in a Philadelphia-area band called Judge Chaz, led by a Jewish lawyer and trombonist named Mark Charleston.  His original group had two fine black players: Tommy Simms on trumpet and Skeets March on drums.  Tommy had played with Jimmie Lunceford and Benny Carter in his earlier days, but was too frail for road work, and spent the rest of his life as a local musician in Philadelphia.  Playing with him was like taking music lessons in phrasing.  I wish I had some recordings of our sessions, because playing with Tommy was a revelation.

Skeets played a tour with Count Basie, subbed with Benny Goodman, and drove many a big band in the Philadelphia area.  He sometimes forgot that there were only six of us in Judge Chaz, but his rhythm was steady as a rock, and he did some very interesting things technically.  He once introduced me to a friend of his as "the best bass man in Philadelphia."  I felt ten feet tall.

I might add that in the late 1970s and early 1980s, I was still in my late twenties, something of the boy wonder in the Philadelphia jazz scene.  The original Judge Chaz, which was quite good, is long gone now.  John Weber, the clarinet player, and I are the only ones left, having lost Mark, Tommy, Skeets and Bob King, the piano player.  I am 51 now, and when I look at a 1981 photo of Judge Chaz, I feel a little old.  It was a privilege to play with such fine musicians.

When I moved to Paris, IL in 1996, I found my way to Carlyle Johnson and the New Orleans Jazz Machine in Champaign, 70 miles away.  Carlyle is a retired middle school band director and plays clarinet with the Machine.  He plays all of the saxophones, and I will never forget one raucous night in a Champaign restaurant when he brought his baritone sax along.  Carlyle is a good player and a great guy, and I had a lot of fun playing with the Machine for two years.  Everybody who played dixieland in the area was happy to get a call from him.  My day job went from bad to worse, and eventually I moved away, leaving Paris in the spring.  Good riddance!!  However, I have many fond memories of my times with Carlyle, and we stay in touch.

Thanks for sharing my memories.
Dave Stoddard
tuba and valve trombone
Round Rock, TX