[Dixielandjazz] West Coast tunes questions

[Bill Gunter]

Hi Sheik . . .

Regarding your "west coast" efforts, you write:

>I have "Down home rag", "Creole belles", "Trombone rag", "Big bear stomp",
>"Sage hen strut". Any other Watters-Murphy tunes that would be considered
>absolutely essential for newbies to learn as an introduction to the West
>Coast repertoire?

I'd certainly like to recommend "Emperor Norton's Hunch" and some of the 
tunes from the Watters Antigua Series (you've already included Sage Hen and 
Big Bear). I think these five tunes, "Annie Street Rock," "Sage Hen Strut," 
"Antigua Blues," "Big Bear Stomp" and "Hambone Kelly" were written only a 
few days apart while Watters was on the USS Antigua during WWII and are an 
important part of the West Coast style and repertoire.

Lu didn't write a large number of compositions and his contribution to the 
style consisted as much in his arranging of earlier dixieland standards 
(King Oliver, etc) as well as his original stuff.

One of his last tunes, "San Andreas Shake," was written after Watters had 
retired and he had gathered some musicians to play a concert to protest the 
construction of a nuclear power plant along the San Andreas Fault near 
Bodega Bay in California (Lu was an ardent environmentalist). It's an 
interesting tune, and possibly worth considering.  It may not be one of his 
best tunes, but it's part of his legacy.

Cheers,

Bill Gunter
jazzboard at hotmail.com