[Dixielandjazz] Zep Meissner arrangements and Beebe

[Nancy Giffin]

Larry and list mates:
Sorry I can't answer most of your questions, but here is something related.
Still honoring the memory of Jim Beebe, and since the topic of Zep's
arrangements came up, here is an old post from Jim telling how he first
learned Dixieland using Zep Meissner arrangements.
Note: I also sent Larry, off list, a letter written by a former employee of
Zep's (that I posted back in 2002). Let me know if anyone else wants a copy.
Happy Labor Day Weekend in the U.S.  And away I go to L.A.
Love and hugs,
Nancy


> From: JimDBB at aol.com
> Date: Sat, 13 Apr 2002 01:19:04 EDT
> Subject: [dixielandjazz] Sgt. Jennings Monk and Zep Meissner
> 
> 
> I wonder how many of you remember the Zep Meissner arrangements.  I wonder if
> they are still available.  For many years from the late 40s on they were the
> only Dixieland Jazz charts on the market.
> 
> In 1952 with the Korean War in full heat even though a Truce had been signed
> I found my self in the US Marine Corps.  Many musicians found them selves in
> uniform who ordinarily probably would not have graced our military services
> with their talent and presence.  After a harrowing trip through Boot Camp in
> San Deigo and a Gomer Pylean audition for the Band field I found myself in
> the Dept. of Pacific Marine Corps Band, stationed at Treasure Island, off of
> San Francisco.  Treasure Island was a man made Island next to Yerba Buena
> Island.  It was put up for  a World's Fair after which the US Navy took it
> over.  
> 
> The Dept. of Pacific Band was a 45-50 piece outfit with a common mix of some
> very good players, some passable and some very mediocure.  We had a good
> concert band, a crack parade band, a big-dance band and some combos.  For
> young guys like myself not long out of high school this was a dream as we got
> to play all kinds of stuff.  In addition to military affairs we played
> parades and concerts all over Northern California.  In the 3 years that I was
> in the Marine Corps I got a lot of playing experience in and when you learn
> to play well on parade, you develop iron chops. I love Dixieland Jazz but
> there is no thrill like playing a Sousa classic on parade with a full
> military band cranked up.
> 
> One of the guys in this band was Grover Mitchell, a fine trombonist who
> played lead trombone with Basie for many years and now leads the Count Basie
> Band.  Another was Emil Orth, another fine trombonist who today leads his
> Beale St. Jazz Band in Memphis. Emil and I used to go to Oakland to hear Bob
> Scobey and Clancy Hayes.  Eventually Scobey let us sit in and we would take
> turns...but this is another story for another time.
> 
> There was in this Marine Band and throughout the Marine Corps a number of
> musicians who had been in the Marines in World War II and stayed on as career
> musicians.  Many of them had been in combat in the South Pacific battles with
> Division Bands and some, including our Drum Major, Sgt. Eichmann, had been a
> prisoners of the Japs.  These guys had been around and nobody messed with
> them.
> 
> One of the was Sgt. Jennings Monk.  Sgt. Monk was a trumpet player who had
> come up from being a Field Music (bugler). He was rather a dashing guy who
> looked much like a debauched Errol Flynn.  Sgt. Monk loved Dixieland jazz but
> could not play it without charts.  When I was in high school the late 40s I
> wanted to learn how to play Dixieland but the problem was how to do that.  I
> found the Zep Meissner arrangements. They were for many years the only
> Dixieland arrangements available in music stores. Zep Meissner had made some
> 78 recordings with some top West Coast musicians playing his Dixie
> arrangements and the idea was that you bought both the records and the
> arrangements. I don't remember what Zep, himself, played. Most of the tunes
> were originals of his...one I remember was "Dixie Downbeat."  I shanghaied
> guys out of the high school band and formed my first combo with Zep Meissners
> arrangements and I can still remember stumbling through "Dixie Downbeat".
> 
> Sgt. Jennings Monk had a set of Zep Meissner's arrangements.  As it happened,
> Emil Orth and I had formed a Dixie combo with guys in the band. Emil played
> bone, I was on piano and we had a decent group that did some radio shows and
> whatnot.  All of us in this combo were younger low rank guys.  Sgt. Monk had
> seen some action in the Pacific and he liked his booze.  Once in awhile he
> would go on a real toot and arrive back at the barracks around 2 am. Being a
> senior noncom he had his own room.  Monk would stumble around , get his
> trumpet out and his Meissner arrangements and wake up us guys in the Dixie
> combo.  He outranked us considerably so we didn't have much choice about it.
> Actually, we kind of liked this guy and didn't really mind.  Off we would go
> to the rehearsal hall and would play through the Meissner repertoire while
> monk would sweat and strain along with slugs at his bottle.  This, of course
> woke up the whole band as most of the lower rank guys lived in the barracks
> on base.  A Navy barracks was next door and they were never pleased with
> these impromptu concerts.  We knew and they found out that Sgt. Monk was
> working out his combat experience gremlins and this, in fact, became rather a
> monthly routine...Monk would go into Frisco, come back late and loaded, get
> his horn and arrangments and wake up the Dixie combo guys.  And we would have
> at it for an hour or so until Monk usually passed out.
> 
> I can still see today, quite clearly, Sgt. Jennings Monk with his trumpet,
> his bottle and his Zep Meissner arrangments, though he would have moved on by
> now.  Semper Fi...Sgt. Monk.
> 
> 
> Jim Beebe