[Dixielandjazz] Re: Mr. T's 100th Birthday Anniversary

[Bob Loomis]

Dick Sleeman wrote:
"Yesterday, the 20th august, I returned home from

a short vacation in Paris. This morning, the 21st

august, I checked my mail to see whether or not 
anybody remembered that Weldon Leo 'Jack' 
Teagarden was born 100 years ago in Vernon,
Texas.
Nobody........."

   Actually, here in the San Francisco Bay Area,
we tuned in a show last evening while driving
home on KCSM-FM "The Bay Area's Jazz Station,"
and someone was doing a Teagarden
remembrance/documentary. We'd spent the day
cleaning out a garage, so had missed much of it,
but the 30 minutes or so we heard was great.
Included a segment of him playing with his
brother and a segment with sister Norma playing
Body and Soul in Monterey near the end of his
visit to this planet. Nice, heartwarming stuff.
Teagarden's playing sounded great, esp.
considering the health problems he'd been having.

   During the portion recorded at Monterey,
Teagarden told how his Mama only had to be asked
once to join him on stage and remembered once
when she wanted him to do a reprise of tunes
they'd done in the days of silent movies. When he
protested that he'd forgotten all that stuff, and
urged her to play solo, she said, "Don't worry,
if you make a mistake, I'll cover for you," or
words to that effect. 
   At Monterey, he introduced sister Norma as
"the artist in the family," and to my ear her
playing was top notch. The Monterey material was
recorded in 1963 not too long before Mr. T's
passing in January '64. Amazing to think that he
was only 58 when he died. 
  
Happy Webtrails, Bob Loomis



		
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