[Dixielandjazz] Ralph Grugel

[SailOhr at aol.com]

Fellow DJMLers,

Today we are greatly saddened by the news that Ralph Grugel, leader of the 
Eagle Jazz Band of the Cleveland, Ohio area has left our midst. The tears we 
shed today at his passing could not have been anticipated back when we first met 
him some ten years ago at the Great International Ragtime and Jastime Festival 
in Alexandria Bay, NY.  We liked him immediately, for he was that sort, but 
soon loved his humor and wit. his trombone style, and his Eagle Jazz Band. 
Ralph was one of a kind.

We can still hear him singing:

Sometimes I'm cramped and I'm crowded here.
And I long for elbow room
How I long to reach for altitude
Where the fairest flowers bloom
It won't be long before I pass
Into that city fair
With fifty miles of elbow room
On either side to spare

Oh, when the gates swing wide on the other side
Just beyond the sunset sea
There'll be room to spare as we enter there
There'll be room for you and room for me
Oh, for the gates are wide on the other side
Where the fairest flowers bloom.
On the right hand and on the left hand,
Fifty miles of elbow room

We're sure Gabriel will meet him at the gates, and he and Ralph will form a 
heavenly jazz band.



Ed and Sharon
Wallingford, CT