[Dixielandjazz] Hoyt(e) D. Kline & Johnny Dodds

[TBW504 at aol.com]

Is there anyone on the list who knew, or knows of, Hoyt D. Kline? All I know 
is the following: Next time you play AMCD-6 offer up a prayer for the 
righteous soul of Hoyt Kline. He was a record collector who was known to Bunk Johnson; 
Bunk having sent Hoyt a message via Mary Karoley. Hoyt Kline had a pact with 
Bill Russell that whoever died first would leave his record collection to the 
survivor. Poor Hoyt was killed on military duty by a mine in Italy, ironically 
several weeks after the war had ended. His widow honoured Hoyt's wishes and 
Bill got his valuable collection. But Bill, being Bill, sold most of the 
collection and divided the money between Hoyt's wife and his project to record 
Bunk's Brass Band and the session was dedicated to the memory of Hoyt D. Kline. 
That is some memorial. Worth a minute's silent contemplation I would say. Just 
recently I spotted in an old issue of the 78 Quarterly volume 1 number 10 a 
reference to Hoyt in an article by Bernard Klatzko on Johnny Dodds. It seems that 
in March 1939 when Johnny was down on his luck and playing an old clarinet 
that was falling apart, Hoyte (their spelling)  gave him a new clarinet - half 
Albert - half Boehm - that is pictured in the article alongside a letter of 
thanks from Dodds that is now in the Williams Research Center, New Orleans.
- All this new information seems to support the view that Mr. Kline was a 
regular sort of guy we should remember with pride and affection.
Brian Wood