[Dixielandjazz] December...

[Rick Knittel]

Jim;

One of the swinginest recordings of Christmas Jazz I have ever heard is
"Ira Ironstrings Plays Santa Claus". It was made in 1959 by Alvino Rey
and a bunch of studio musicians including Red Norvo. Each cut alternates
between straight, swing and Dixie. It is available through Google. I can
make a copy and send it to you if you are interested.

Happy Holidays


Rick Knittel - JAZZBONE
37 Ship Channel Road; South Portland, Maine 04106-5136
Phone; (207)-741-2407; fax 2409; Cell: (207)-233-3480;  
E-mail; Knittelsportland at juno.com; Winter (mid Jan to mid April) Office; 
7657 Bergamo Ave; Sarasota, FL 34238; Phone/Fax; (941)-924-5186



On Sat, 18 Dec 2004 15:50:45 +0100 "James Kashishian" <jim at kashprod.com>
writes:
> Busy month for me, December!  Arrived back from 7 days in Indiana 
> visiting
> my Mother & sister, and meeting DJML member Don Boyer at what is 
> billed as
> the "largest wind instrument shop in the world" in South Bend, 
> Indiana.  We
> had a coffee together and chatted about our mutual love of music, 
> and some
> notes Don had collected on Jelly Roll Morton for English DJML member 
> Mike
> Meddings.  Apparently
> Jelly Roll spent some time in South Bend.
> 
> Returning to Madrid from Indiana in the early morning with a pending 
> gig
> that very evening, I was pleased (but disappointed at the same time) 
> that
> our gig that nite had been cancelled.  However, we have played every 
> night
> since my return (on Dec 7th), except for two nights when I flew to 
> London to
> attend a graduation ceremony (one of my son's was awarded his 
> Master's from
> London School of Economics). Was able to send the notes on Jelly 
> Roll to
> Mike from London on Friday about noontime.  British Mail is really 
> fast,
> Mike!  You wrote me this morning that you had received the package.  
> That's
> less than 24 hr delivery!   
> 
> I got to my home at 9:20 last nite on a flight from London, ready to 
> grab my
> horn as we had a sound check at 9:45pm.  Made it fine, and the gig 
> was short
> & sweet...1.5 hrs, being one long set, and "outa there"!.  Had 
> dinner at
> 2am!  Really enjoyed that gig last nite, but several of the guys in 
> the band
> were moaning!  I was mainly hopped up on the fact that there was a 
> huge
> crowd of people who looked like they had never heard jazz, and were 
> having
> an absolutely grand time....even dancing. The other guys that were 
> put out
> was 'cause the sound gear was at "disco" level.  Well, it was a 
> disco!
> 
> Tonight, we have a private "garden party" in a tent set up in the 
> garden at
> the home of the director of one of Spain's larger companies.  There 
> will be
> 200 dining, and we have had to include 6 Christmas songs to our set. 
>  We
> found that Deck the Halls swings very well in Dixieland!  You don't 
> really
> want to hear me sing White Christmas!
> 
> We had 4 days at a club next week, but cancelled two so we could do 
> another
> Christmas party for the same company.  The clubs are generally 
> understanding
> about these things, as a party pays well over 10 times what a club 
> does.  We
> will do the following two nights at the club, ending on the 23rd for 
> our
> annual "Christmas Break"!
> 
> Merry Christmas to everyone,  
> 
> Jim
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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