[Dixielandjazz] Fonk

[Bill Gunter]

Hello all,

To update my query on the FONK I will quote Fra Don Ingle:

"[Spike Jones' sidemen] John Stanley and King Jackson were the first two of 
these trombonists, one
described it as play a lower note while belching at the same time. A second 
description was playing the low note and puking at the same time."

Now when Brother Don wrote to me in a private e-mail that he was impressed 
with Boondocker Jim Maihack playing a "FONK" there at our gig in Ohio, I 
could only think of one unusual thing that Maihack did and so I assumed that 
was the "FONK" to which Don was alluding. The Maihack stunt was to hold one 
note (I believe the dominant) on one long breath through his entire trombone 
solo in "Tiger Rag."

Now as impressive as that was, I was off the mark. It wasn't the LONG note 
that was the FONK, it was the LOW note that Maihack plays from time to time. 
  Basically it occurs in our commentary preceding a song. It is about a 
horse making a deposit on the prairie floor which may seem a bit gross to 
some of you but is actually quite amusing when we all point to a spot on the 
stage and Jim blows his FONK.

I know, I know, but you had to be there!

In my original post asking for the definition of a "FONK" I posed the 
question: "Is it a Funky Honk?"

Turns out that this was pretty close to the mark.

Respectfully submitted,

Bill "How Low Can You Get?" Gunter
jazzboard at hotmail.com

ps - There's nothing like educational postings such as this that help make 
you a well rounded personality and a more complete human being.