[Dixielandjazz] 1950s New York City OKOM Reminisces

[Stephen Barbone]

Bill Biffle wrote:

> :-)}
>
> I wonder if Kenny has ever been called "tavern" before.  My spell checker
> did that whilst I was distracted.
>
> Sorry, Mr. DAVERN.

> > Mr. Tavern moved last year to Santa Fe, New Mexico.  Played a benefit for
> > our local jazz venue with a couple of excellent local guys.  KID is still
> > wailing!  A fairly recent CD called "Kenny Tavern and His Rhythm Men" is a
> > real favorite of mine.  Classy, intelligent, swinging stuff!

Hey Bill:

No need to apologize. Davern is, as he loves to say, half Irish and half
Jewish. BUT, most folks think he is Italian. So they mis-pronounce his name as
DA VERNE with the emphasis on the Verne.

Actually, his name rhymes with Tavern, easy to remember because his dad was
Irish. ;-)

So, you were closer in pronunciation than about 90% of the people.

I'm with you, he is a witty and intelligent player who does so much more than
just run the changes. I would rather listen to him than any other clarinetist,
and posses almost everything he ever recorded.

He is my hero. Who was his hero? Originally Benny, but then he heard Pee Wee
Russell and changed his whole approach to playing the clarinet. Focused on
"communicating" through the horn, like Pee Wee and Shaw, rather than the
Goodman approach of treating the clarinet as a a device to be to be mastered.
He and they play music first and clarinet second.

Cheers,
Steve (who is half Italian and half German) Barbone