[Dixielandjazz] Pee Wee Russell

[George Thurmond]

Stan Brager writes of his great admiration for Pee Wee playing.

            I want to go on record as agreeing with all he says about Pee
Wee.  The more one listens to Pee Wee the more he grows on you.  I first
heard Pee Wee on a Commodore 78 in a Condon group playing St. Louis Blues -
I thought his tone, squeaks, etc. were strange, even terrible, and that he
didn't measure up to the greats he was playing with.  That was many years
ago, and in the interim I've listened to many more of his recordings, read
what great things have been said and written about him and his playing, and
I do believe now that he is right up there with the greatest of jazzmen.  I
just got the Mosiac package of the old Louis Prima-Wingy Manone recordings,
and those who tend to not like Pee Wee's clarinet or sax work should listen
to him swing with Prima!  As they say in this day and time, Pee Wee is
awesome.

George Thurmond

> While many may be taken aback by his tone, it may take a while to
> appreciate. Compare it to scotch whiskey. For more information about Pee
> Wee, read "Pee Wee Russell: The Life Of A Jazzman" by Robert Hilbert.
>
> I've never met Pee Wee except on record.
>
> Stan
> Stan Brager
> Trombonist-in-Training
>