[Dixielandjazz] Jim Crow

[Larry Walton Entertainment - St. Louis]

St. Louis is basically a Southern City but because of the odd circumstance 
of not being in a state that lost the civil war changes come slower here 
than in a lot of the South and elsewhere.

I don't think you can judge or have a complete picture from how the top jazz 
guys work or what they do on TV but how the Wedding bands do.  Having played 
in a wedding band for many years I can say that Jim Crow was alive and well 
into the 90's here.

The best way to go out of business in the wedding trade was to have a Black 
musician in the group and Black groups typically did not have White 
musicians either.  Occasionally in the 80's you might see a black face at a 
wedding.  By the mid to late 90's there were more but the bands were pretty 
much segregated.  Today that's no longer true.  Black musicians are seen in 
wedding bands and Black persons and mixed couples are freely invited to 
wedding receptions in St. Louis.

Not all is smooth.   I played a concert about 5 years ago and the piano 
player and singer were black.  The band leader got hate mail after that 
concert.  Fortunately most of those people are all mouth.

A few months back I was invited to play at an after hours jam session that 
was with a former student (Tony Simmons) who is a pro here.  I had the time 
of my life playing with them but I was the only white person playing and 
there were about five White persons in the crowd, all personal friends of 
Tony and myself.  This was after a benefit for Tony who was diagnosed with 
kidney failure.   I found the Black musicians to be highly accomplished but 
several were very rude.  I was bumped while playing a solo, I had the mike 
suddenly moved and one guy stood between me and the audience while I was 
playing.  To be completely fair several were very nice to me but some 
definitely didn't want me there.

I think at least here progress is being made but it could be better.  I 
suspect it's pretty much the same in other cities too.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike" <mike at railroadstjazzwest.com>
To: <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Tuesday, December 26, 2006 11:13 PM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Jim Crow


True, the fear of racist reprisals was always a threat
especially if you had gigs in the south. I think all it really
took was the courage to dare. The first step is always the toughest.

Best,
Mike


David Dustin wrote:
> On Dec 25, 2006, at 2:11 AM, Bill Haesler wrote:
>
>
> Sure, every white jazzman must have wanted ³the best players in his band
> regardless of race.² But only a couple guys dared to integrate bands/small
> groups openly, Goodman and then Krupa.


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