[Dixielandjazz] Re: band put-downs

[Stephen Barbone]

And then there was the bandleader (Fletcher Henderson?) who couldn't directly
fire a sideman. So he would call a rehearsal for say 8 PM but tell the man on
the bubble that it was for 9 PM. The band would be playing when the guy showed
up late and soon as they spotted him, they would switch to "There'll Be Some
Changes Made."

Help me out, who was that band leader?

Cheers,
Steve

Bill Gunter wrote:

> Mike D reports:
>
> >On the subject of put-downs by band members, hows this: Stan Kenton was
> >giving a pep-talk to the band before a concert, saying "Tonight, I want it
> >to be really special! I want this band to do things it's never done
> >before!" To which an anonymous voice from the trombones replied "Like
> >swing, for instance?"
>
> Not exactly a put-down, but sorta related:
>
> Bob Havens tells the story of a time when he was with the Welk organization.
> At a band practice one of the musicians was late (Welk hated tardiness).
>
> Welk glared at the tardy musician and said "You're late . . . what's your
> excuse?"
>
> The embarrassed musician replied, "I'm sorry Mr. Welk, I just late - I
> really don't have an excuse."
>
> Welk replied, "That's no excuse!"
>
> (rimshot)
>
> Respectfully submitted,
>
> Bill "And a-one and a-two" Gunter
> jazzboard at hotmail.com
>
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