[Dixielandjazz] Front Line / Back Line / Yerba Buena Jazz

[Phil Crumley]

Someone recently posted:  "There always seems to be a debate about YBJB set
up. Does anybody have
anecdotal or published insight from the originals themselves?"  And I think
Bob Ringwald said somethig about putting the rhythm section in front so
they could hear the horns. 

I remember someone of importance in San Francisco jazz history telling me,
many years ago, that "Lu put the rhythm section in front because one of
them did NOT have a good sense of rhythm."  Sitting in front of two
trumpets, a tromb., and clarinet would certainly tend to keep one on the
beat  - at least until deafness set in.  :-)

Lu was a very loyal friend to a lot of musicians and it would not surprise
me a bit that he decided to handle a band personnel problem this way
instead of replacing the individual.   However,  "one will never know, will
one?"

Phil Crumley,
Natural Gas Jazz Band