[Dixielandjazz] George Rock - Minka

[Bill Gunter]

Hello all,

Stan Brager wrote (regarding the authorship of the Russian melody "Minka")

>As a young teenager, I enjoyed the music of Spike Jones. One of my 
>favorites
>was "Minka" which was a solo feature for trumpeter George Rock. The label
>even credited Rock as the composer.
>
>A few days ago, I was listening to a CD by Wynton Marsalis called
>"Carnaval". One of the tunes is "Grand Russian Fantasia" by Jules Levy. The
>main theme is the same as "Minka". It is a classical trumpet solo with
>orchestra piece written by Jules Levy and it's called "Grand Russian
>Fantasia". For those of you who remember Spike Jones' "Minka", you can hear
>the "Grand Russian Fantasia" at this website:
>
>http://www.fromthetop.org/Radio/Performers.cfm?pid=1669
>
>Please let me know if you agree.

There's certainly no question that "Minka" and the "Grand Russian Fantasia" 
are the same melody.

Is it possible that neither Rock nor Levy actually wrote the melody but 
simply borrowed it from an earlier (possibly folk song) version.  Much like 
Kenny Ball took the song "Moscow Nights" and played it like a dixie tune 
with trombone glisses and all that good stuff and renamed it "Midnight in 
Moscow."

By the way . . . who wrote the children's melody "Twinkle Twinkle Little 
Star?"

Respectfully submitted,

Bill Gunter
jazzboard at hotmail.com