[Dixielandjazz] Re: Weary Lip blues

[Mike C.]

I totally agree. I always felt that Trummy's was a better suited sideman
for Louie than Teagarden. Trummy's style was more simple and it contrasted
really well with Louis. Teagarden on the other hand, the master trombonist
he was, was sometimes a little too complex with what the group was doing.
I don't mean that in a bad way. Everything Jack played
was...well...perfect. Maybe a little too much so for this style. Trummy
had the perfect kind of roughness required. Not too much and not too
little. He could be sugary sweet as well as boisterous when it was called
for (Like on 'the bucket's got a hole in it'). Teagarden perfect and sweet
and masterfully melodic. Kid Ory boisterous, rough and melodic. Trummy
kind of bridged the gap between those two. Just an opinion.





> For what it's worth, I totally agree, although Louis acted like he was
> having a great time (as all performers should), watching him cut up with
> Velma and especially Trummy was a true treat - there was no secret that
> these folks added heart and soul to the All-Stars. Although Teagarden was
> thought to be a more essential star, Trummy's Lycos biography sums up what
> I
> have thought for years:
>
> "A superbly gifted trombonist, Young's early playing style showed him to
> be
> a completely rounded soloist with an approach to his instrument that was,
> in
> many respects, very advanced for a 30s big band musician. His playing
> style
> changed after he joined Armstrong, with whom he used a deceptively simple
> approach. The change was highly appropriate for Armstrong's band and Young
> was in many ways a more suitable partner than his predecessor, the sublime
> Jack Teagarden, had been. His blistering solos and delightfully melodic
> ensemble lines, allied to his engagingly casual singing, helped to give
> the
> band a strength of character that it lacked after he departed."
>
> Louis was heart-sick after Trummy left, and Velma and Billy died, and if
> you
> watch any recordings of gigs played after, say the "Hello Dolly" era - it
> shows on his face.
>
>> Date: Sun, 07 Aug 2005 21:04:44 -0600
>> From: "Mike C." <mike at michaelcryer.com>
>> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Re: Weary Lip blues
>> To: dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
>> Message-ID: <42F6CBCC.907 at michaelcryer.com>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>>
>> You have to consider that Armstrong played constantly. Two shows a day,
>> the majority of the year for decades. Plus, Louie had a heart attack
>> back in 1959. The man was just plum tired and it started to show in the
>> early 1960's. Not only that, trumpet is a very demanding instrument to
>> play and it doesn't get any easier when you get older. I was told that
>> the departure of Trummy Young in 1964(At trummy's wife's insistance) and
>> the deaths of singer Velma Middleton (in 1961) and pianist Billy Kyle(in
>> 1966) really weighed on him heavily.
>>
>> Mike
>>
>>
>>
>>  >>Truth is, Armstrong's lips looked like they had been through a meat
>> grinder-pieces were actually missing from his lips due to his
>> "exaggerated  playing."
>> I remember reading that at one performance he bled all over his  white
>> shirt
>> and had to quit blowing.
>>
>> No amount of rest would have helped. Perhaps this is why he sang more
>> and
>> more, and played less and less as he grew older. While I liked his scat
>> songs, I
>>   was always disappointed when a recording I purchased failed to have
>> the
>> sound of  his trumpet- Just a personal preference I guess-
>>
>>
>> tradjazz
>
>
>


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