[Dixielandjazz] Marshall (Tiny) Rips..deceased

[Len Nielsen]

I have transcribed here, an article that appeared in our local paper, 
for the benefit of anyone who may have known Mr. Rips and are unaware of 
his death.

It strikes me, while reading this article, that there are many people 
out there who are passing on their knowledge and experiences to others, 
and that this generosity is often not known or acknowledged.

It is good to read a story like this.

Len Nielsen
Victoria Canada


Jazz musician shared his talents with Victoria artists.
by Joseph Blake
Times Colonist staff

A large chunk of jazz history died June 5 with the passing of musician,
composer, arranger, music store owner and teacher Marshall (Tiny) Rips.

He was 83.

After graduating from Texas A&I in 1939, the Tulsa born, Texas bred, 
towering Rips began his professional career playing a New Orleans 
Bourbon Street club called the Puppy House. Marshall's next gig was with 
the Houston legend Peck Kelly.

"Jimmy Dorsey, Paul Whiteman, Bix Beiderbecke...They all came down to 
the club to hear Peck, and they all carved their initials into his old 
stand up piano" he said once.

A member of Musicians Union Local 47 for than six decades, Rips' life 
spanned the history of jazz, including club dates with legendary stars, 
a stint in a military band during the second World War (where he served 
as a code detection specialist), studying for his master's degree in 
arranging and composition at the University of Southern California, 
playing in one of the first night clubs in Las Vegas and almost 25 years 
owning several music stores in southern California.

With the tragic traffic deaths of two of Marshall's and his wife May's 
sons in the early 1980's, the couple moved north to a waterfront home 
  in Victoria overlooking Juan de Fuca Strait. For the next two decades, 
Rips resumed his life as a full-time professional musician.

Many members of the Victoria jazz community visited the veteran musician 
at his home studio to learn firsthand about the music's roots.

A talented, prolific composer who was a fixture on bandstands at local 
clubs and an instructor at the Conservatory of Music and the University 
of Victoria, Rips and a team of local jazz musicians produced a 
treasured recording of 18 of Tiny's favorite originals in 1992.


At his memorial service at Sands Funeral Chapel on June 10, a local jazz 
sextet featuring three tenor saxophones to approximate Tiny's big, Texas 
tenor sound, played several of Rips' witty, playful songs. During and 
after the service friends, family and fellow musicians remembered Rips' 
humour, musical genius and warmth.

"Marshall was the kindest most generous man I have ever had the pleasure 
to know" said Catherine Allison co-owner of Allison Piano. "The love of 
life and music that May and Marshall shared was a true inspiration for 
all who met them".

"I had the opportunity of involving Tiny in some of the jazz history 
classes that I taught at the University of Victoria" said Brian Dale. 
"He was a natural born teacher and illustrated his presentations with 
anecdotes, offered performances on a vast array of instruments that he 
brought to class, and taught with a wealth of humour that delighted the 
participants. He was funny, generous, knowledgeable and a true 
Renaissance man".

Marshall and May's family and friends in California held a second 
memorial service for Tiny on June 14, which would have been his 84th 
birthday.