[Dixielandjazz] Prohibition / Criminals & Jazz -was -Beer

[Stephen Barbone]

Yes indeed, where would jazz have been in the formative years in the USA
without prohibition and criminals?

Many of the joints where it was played were Mafia owned. Even in New
Orleans prior to 1918, the joints where Louis and King et al played were
mostly owned by criminals.

In Chicago, the joints were mostly owned by criminals. Al Capone was
responsible for the hiring of a lot of jazz musicians in the windy city
during that time.

In New York City, the Harlem clubs were owned by criminals.

It was brash, noisy music. If you asked any one to be quiet so you could
listen to the "art" you would have been immediately thrown out on you
bum, if not severely beaten or killed.

Even in the 1950s, that "shady" character of jazz and jazz musicians was
highly evident in NYC. In the early 1950s, Joe Sullivan, the marvelous
pianist then playing intermissions for Wilbur DeParis' band at Jimmy
Ryans was always introduced at the end of each set by Wilbur D with;
"And now, Al Capone's favorite pianist, the legendary Joe Sullivan."

What fun it was to be associated with that stuff when I was a wannabe
jazz muso. My first steady gig was at the Melody Lounge in the Woodside
section of NYC. 4 nights a week, $16 a night. I had to get a "Cabaret
Card" to play there. Early 1950s.

Yep, "Go down to the Central Police Station, kid, get photographed and
fingerprinted. Then they'll put your face, prints and address on file
and give you an identity card, showing them, for you to flash when
queried by the cops, the Local 802 AFM business agent, or the bar owner"

"Why", says I. "Because since prohibition days, musicians, especially
jazzers, are shady characters or druggies." says the cop printing me. We
want to make sure we know where you are. The card was good for two years
and then you had to repeat the process. I still carry my last on, circa
1962, in my battered clarinet case. Part of my dues.

The Melody Lounge, what a place. The band room downstairs was a full
length cellar below the venue. It had art deco murals, pictures of
champagne bottles, the words jazz, musicians, etc., painted on the walls
and was the location of the old speakeasy in the 1920s. What stories
could it tell, we wondered. What stories we could tell about the
groupies who visited us there. ;-)

Those were the days, when the music was brash, the musos were brash and
the mob still owned a lot of joints. I drove by the Melody a few years
ago. It is now a Electronics Retail Store. TVs, Computers, etc. Ah well,
I guess you really can't go home again. Pity.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone