[Dixielandjazz] More on Condon

[Steve Barbone]

Seeing that Condon video brought home again how much more exciting that band
was at his joint on 3rd street in "The Village". As clarinetist Jack Maheu
would later say, "You'd open the door and that music would hit you in the
face, like a fist. It was powerful and the most exciting music I ever heard"

A year or so ago, I posted about how LOUD that band was. Like they were
going for the sacculus.

A short time later Conrad Janis and I were talking about the music in NYC
during those years and he reminded me that Condon's group was at its loudest
when George Brunis held down the trombone chair. We agreed that Brunis and
Wild Bill had a sort of "loud" competition going on and they drove the rest
of the band. Anybody else see them live?

After Brunis left, he was replaced by Cutshall. Cutty did not play as loudly
as Brunis, and did not compete with WBD so the band got a little (but not
much) quieter. WBD? He kept on blowing loudly.

Either way, that Condon video is but a pale reminder of what those guys were
like in the flesh at Condon's. Man oh man, what a band and what great music.
That energy seems to have died along with Eddie Condon 30+ years ago.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone