[Dixielandjazz] KC/NYC Dixieland - The need to make a living.

[Stephen Barbone]

List mates:

There is a genre of New orleans Jazz (Dixieland) of which very few fans
of the music are even aware. It was never recorded, so you had to have
been there in NYC to see/hear it live. The below is excerpted from Jim
Uhl's article about Conrad Janis as printed in the "Mississippi Rag" a
while back. It is a fascinating look at what was going on in Jazz during
the 1950's/60's in the jazz capitol of the world. Also interesting is
what Max Kaminisky did in his band with,  . . . gasp . .  choke,
bebopper Kai Winding on trombone in a Dixieland band.

Those were the days. The gigs and loft sessions were a joy to behold as
the masters put their own stamp on the music. I was fortunate enough to
play some gigs with both Coleman Hawkins and Roy Eldridge. They were a
joy to do, a great lesson in how to swing, and an influence to this day.

Who else out there in cyberland heard this joyful music live?

Cheers,
Steve Barbone

Excerpted from A Conrad Janis Interview, by Jim Uhl in "Mississippi
Rag". Janis, as we know, is/was a devote of New Orleans Jazz and Kid Ory
in particular. He always swung the music too and over the years had
quite a few Kansas City musos in his band.

"On the other hand, Henry (Red) Allen, who was a great player and
fabulous character, preferred staring at himself in the mirrors as he
played. (At the Metropole)  Conrad speculates on the influences that
made jazz what it is today. Now, here is something interesting. Guys
like Coleman Hawkins, Vic Dickenson, Roy Eldridge,  Lester Young  were
not New Orleans or Dixieland musicians. They played a very
sophisticated, sizzling hot Kansas City style, often with driving,
screaming trumpets. But they couldn't make a living those days playing
their own music. Nobody wanted it. So, they either had to play modern
jazz , you know, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, where they were not
really welcomed or, in order to work,  play Dixieland. Or what they
called Dixieland, Royal Garden Blues, Tiger Rag, the Dixieland tunes,
but with a difference.

So, in New York,  you had a Kansas City influence on New Orleans music,
making it swingier, a further development from the influence that the
Chicagoans had. Then there were the more modern  musicians  expanding
the range of Dixieland still further. It was very interesting to hear
guys like Charlie Shavers and Coleman Hawkins playing Muskrat Ramble and
Clarinet Marmalade. One time, between sets at the Metropole, I was
sitting  at the bar of the Copper Rail across the street with Red Allen
and Jo Jones. You didn't drink at the Metropole because the other band
was on. We alternated 45-minute sets and every hour and a half we had a
15-minute jam session.

Red and Joe were arguing the merits of New Orleans jazz versus Kansas
City jazz. Red learned trumpet in New Orleans; Joe was a Kansas City
drummer. The argument heats up. Finally, Joe says: Listen, man, we were
swinging in Kansas City while you guys were still marching in New
Orleans. That shut Red up. I told that story to a Kansas City audience
and it got a big hand. I don't think it would have done so well in New
Orleans. I used to drop in at the Metropole on my night off there to
hear maybe the greatest small combo I ever experienced in person after
the Kid Ory band. Coleman Hawkins, tenor; Roy Eldridge,  trumpet; Joe
Knight, piano; J. C. Heard, drums, and I forget who on bass. They played
their style, Kansas City. Stompin at the Savoy, Jumpin at the Woodside.
Great tunes. They were so hot, so swinging that it was unbelievable.
They were at the Metropole on Monday and Tuesday nights. The Metropole
didn't pay that much; it was just a gig; better than sitting home. They
were there for several years.

Nobody recorded them. They got no notice in Downbeat or Metronome.
Nobody cared.  So to make the rest of the week, Roy played at Jimmy
Ryan's, played Dixieland. He would take a Dixieland tune and turn it
into a kind of Swing thing.  But at least the music was hot. It was done
with emotion and passion. It wasn't that cool stuff where you try for
extended harmonies. That has its place, I suppose, but I'm not
interested in it. Roy could play hot; Dizzy Gillespie and Thelonious
Monk, too. That's the unifying thing, the heat. I like all jazz, from
the early into a lot of modern. I certainly like some Bebop. I don't
play it, but I admire the guys who
do. Even the most modern music, I may not understand, but if it has
passion, I'll try to."