[Dixielandjazz] Re: New Orleans 60+ years ago

Fri Jun 10 09:53:11 PDT 2005

And let's not forget Bugle Sam Dekemmal (?) There has always been
controvery about the spelling of his name. In the late 40's, I could get
WWL from New Orleans in Sacramento and on Sunday afternoon, which was early
evening in NO, I could get a program which had the likes of George Girard,
Papa Celestin, Bugle Sam, Sharky and others. I had an early Webcor which
made wax recrds off the air and I recorded many programs. Wish I had them
now.
Burt Wilson

> [Original Message]
> From: Charles Suhor <csuhor at zebra.net>
> To: Patrick Cooke <amazingbass at cox.net>
> Cc: <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Date: 6/10/05 9:31:46 AM
> Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Re: New Orleans 60+ years ago
>
> Wow, you were in the thick of the revival, Pat. My brother Don and I 
> were a bit younger than you, but I'm betting we crossed paths somewhere 
> since we both did spot gigs all around town as teens, then Don went pro 
> for the rest of his life. BTW, I'm doing a short sketch on how Catholic 
> musicians often used to meet after Sat. night gigs at the 3 a.m. 
> "fisherman's mass" at Star of the Sea church on St. Roch Ave. Does that 
> ring a bell with you?
>
> On your other topic, it seems that amped basses are here to stay, and 
> for me it's how they're played that counts--as with acoustic bass, 
> played with an ear towards working as a unit with the rhythm section. 
> And not too loud, dammit. The quality of the sound is important but if 
> the rhythm is flowing, forget the preconceptions and have a great time 
> with what's there.
>
> Charlie Suhor
>
>
> On Jun 10, 2005, at 9:07 AM, Patrick Cooke wrote:
>
> > Hi Charlie.........
> >
> >     Yes, I remember Sharkey in the Blue Room and Tony Almerico at the
> > Parisian Room, Papa Celestin at the Paddock lounge.  At the time I was 
> > one
> > of the 'young' players.  It was around 1947 or 48, or maybe 1949.  I 
> > was
> > playing with Irving Fazola  at the time, doing 3 nights a week at 
> > Tony's on
> > Canal Blvd., plus 2 shows a day on WTPS, and a few off nights with Sid
> > Davilla at Leon Prima's 500 and a couple other spots.  I played with 
> > Pete
> > Fountain and George Girard when they were with the Basin St. Six.  
> > Bunny
> > Franks had the mumps for about 2 weeks, and I subbed for him with the 
> > group.
> >              The tuba was used mainly because without amplifiers, the 
> > string bass
> > could not be heard....also it was too cumbersome to march with.   I 
> > also used to play trombone, and am now trying to get my lip back,
> > though it was never that good to begin with.  I hope I live long 
> > enough to
> > get the lip back.
> >         Well, I have given up plaing the acoustic standup bass, mainly
> > because it is just too cumbersome to deal with.  Also it was designed 
> > for
> > bowing, which I haven't done since I played shows in Miami Beach in the
> > early 60's.  I now play the electric bass which was designed for 
> > picking.
> > Now most purists go into cardiac arrest when they just see an electric 
> > bass,
> > before they even hear a note.  They saw one once before and they 
> > didn't like
> > it, and they assume they all sound the same.  Actually the kind of 
> > strings
> > one uses has more of an effect on the sound than whether it has an 
> > acoustic
> > chamber or not.  My bass does not sound anything like the ones the rock
> > players use, but no matter....the 'elite' purists enjoy thinking they 
> > know
> > something the rest of the world doesn't.  They don't know jack.  Their
> > 'preferences' are really prejudices.  Their attitudes are beginning to
> > tarnish my love for the music.
> >      I went to a festival in Calif last year.  It was a mainstream
> > festival...no trad.  There were none of the prejudices expressed or the
> > usual put downs I hear from the trad purists.  It was refreshing.
> >      Re Palm Court:  Palm court has some fine players, and a few not so
> > fine ones that seem to continuously show up there.  I was there a 
> > couple of
> > weeks ago...Lars on piano, Jim Singleton on bass, Elie on Drums, Evan
> > Christopher on clar, Clyde Wilson on trumpet and I don't remember the 
> > bone
> > player's name, but all the other players
> > were great.
> >      Got to go....I'm spending too much time on this computer!
> >      Pat Cooke
> >
> > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Charles Suhor" <csuhor at zebra.net>
> > To: "Patrick Cooke" <amazingbass at cox.net>
> > Cc: <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> > Sent: Thursday, June 09, 2005 5:27 PM
> > Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Re: Dixielandjazz Digest, Vol 30, Issue 19
> >
> >
> >> On Jun 9, 2005, at 3:38 PM, Patrick Cooke wrote:
> >>> Judy writes:
> >>>> Chris reckons that jazz in New Orleans has moved on
> >>>> since the days when Ken Colyer was there.
> >>>
> >>>    I have to admit I don't know who Ken Colyer is/was, but I was 
> >>> living California and Florida for about 45 years, and just returned 
> >>> to New Orleans 11 years ago.  New Orleans has advanced to using PA 
> >>> systems, and there are a few purists who even stay to listen when 
> >>> there is more than one microphone in use.  There are still a few 
> >>> smug "elitists" who still would rather hear an out-of-tune acoustic 
> >>> piano than an in-tune electronic one, even though the new keyboards 
> >>> can sound like a concert grand.  There are a few other silly notions 
> >>> harbored by a few that make them feel they are above those of us who 
> >>> live in a world of electric refrigerators, TV, computers, and 
> >>> automatic transmissions.
> >>>    But basically the music has survived and even advanced a little, 
> >>> somewhat to the dismay of a few who feel that improvement is 
> >>> impossible. Come to the French Quarter Festival.....It's mostly 
> >>> local New Orleans musicians.  They still play a lot of the old 
> >>> chestnuts, but most of the musicianship is superb.
> >>>     Pat Cooke
> >>
> >> English trumpeter Colyer was in N.O. in '52 or '53, just as the local 
> >> popular revival of early & Dixieland jazz was starting to wind down. 
> >> A noteworthy point about N.O. players "moving on" is that the 
> >> international revival of the 40s and 50s took a very specialized form 
> >> in the city. First generation black players were revived, some of 
> >> them mainly to record on labels like American Music, a few (like Papa 
> >> Celestin and George Lewis' bands) getting gigs and exposure. (Bunk 
> >> rarely played in town.) Seasoned white players, mainly a little 
> >> younger (Sharkey Bonano's and Tony Almerico's bands), did very well.
> >>
> >> The point is that the younger players didn't emulate Oliver or the 
> >> Red Hot Peppers. Nothing resembling Lu Watters, Turk Murphy, or 
> >> Claude Luter, or the Firehouse Five. Tubas and banjos were seen as 
> >> old or corny, or even commercial, suggesting minstrelsy. The fluidity 
> >> and invention they were seeking weren't as easily achieved, the 
> >> youngsters felt, with the insistence of a strummed banjo and the 
> >> enforced "2" feeling of a tuba. And marching and brass bands were 
> >> years from getting the attention of young players.
> >>
> >> Most black and white kids were in fact attracted to modern jazz, many 
> >> black youngsters to the new R&B as well. The was cultivated in the 
> >> city by a good number of white youngsters who took up the Dixieland 
> >> style and "moved on" with it--Fountain, the Assunto brothers, George 
> >> Girard, Roy Liberto, Connie Jones, Murphy Campo, Al McCrossen, Pee 
> >> Wee Spitelera, Paul Ferrara, and others. Exceptions existed, of 
> >> course. Dr. John was a young white R&B comer. The Last Straws used a 
> >> banjo but the band in its early incarnations wasn't taken seriously. 
> >> Like many revivalist bands, they could "play hot," but they didn't 
> >> swing.
> >>
> >> It was the largely the influx of young foreign musicians in the 60s 
> >> that turned interest back to earliest jazz styles, instrumentation, 
> >> and repertoire. Many of them hung out with Preservation Hall veterans 
> >> after it opened in 1961. Lars Edergan, Barry Martyn, and others 
> >> contributed greatly to this. (Tom Sancton was one of the few locals.) 
> >> Danny Barker later worked to bring kids into marching bands, which 
> >> also "moved" on, sometimes nicely, sometimes in R&B and other strange 
> >> directions, and regressing at times to the glorification of arrested 
> >> amateurism.
> >>
> >> The local jazz scene today is a very mixed bag, but updated 
> >> Dixieland, though sometimes too facile, is often the most driving and 
> >> interesting force. I don't get the N.O. that often, but typical bands 
> >> I've heard at the Palm Court are a good example. Musicians integrate 
> >> many styles into the ensembles and solos--listening to each other 
> >> very well, often sounding very modern, all the while keeping the 
> >> spirit of freewheeling Dixieland jazz. You can hear a lot of Clifford 
> >> Brown in Leroy Jones' trumpet, Ray Brown in Bill Huntington's bass, 
> >> etc. It's good, deep, feelingful jazz. Another way of saying that: 
> >> it's to my taste!
> >>
> >> Charlie Suhor
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> >
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