[Dixielandjazz] Oliver and Guarente

[Anton Crouch]

Hello Wim

The absence of any reference to Guarente in the published material on King
Oliver is a good point.

I've always thought that the "Guarente traded lessons with Oliver" story
was a bit fanciful and it may be the case that a casual remark, made many
years ago, has developed into the present received opinion. As Sudhalter
(in "Lost Chords") notes, much of the published material on Guarente may be
a re-working of rather limited original sources.

That said, I've little doubt that Guarente was strongly influenced by the
African-American players in New Orleans, particularly with respect to his
use of mutes. For example, Guarente's solo work on that most improbable of
jazz pieces, "Barney Google", is superb.

All the best
Anton