[Dixielandjazz] Humor in Jazz

[Dan Augustine]

Folks--
    Before we snip the "humor in music" thread, i thought i would (since nobody else has) mention good ol' Clark Terry's unique (and i mean truly one-of-a-kind) contributions to this.
    I don't know when he started doing this, but the first album i have him on singing incoherent but indescribably funny words is the "Oscar Peterson Plus 1" LP.  He sings "Mumbles" and "Incoherent Blues", and it's priceless.  On a much later CD with Jim Cullum he also does "Mumbles" (besides playing some incomparable jazz), and i almost fall out of my chair laughing every time i hear him do that.  He's one of my favorite trumpet-players of all time, but he's also a funny guy (i'd love to see him do this live).
    Clark Terry, by the way, also says on one of the Singleton Palmer dixieland LP's (a liner-notes quotation) that the Singleton Palmer band is playing the best dixieland in the country (and i think this LP is from the 1960's; i'm at 'work' now, so i can't check), and i'm not inclined to disagree with him.
    But if you haven't heard Clark Terry sing "Mumbles" (or other similar tunes), run right out (metaphorically speaking) and buy it.

    Dan
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** Dan Augustine - ds.augustine at mail.utexas.edu             **
** Office of Admissions, University of Texas; Austin, Texas **
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