[Dixielandjazz] Wally Homes, Director of the Sweet and Hot Festival, on Jackie Coon.

[Lowell Busching]

 From the August 2007 American Rag by Wally Homes. (Additional comments 
at the end by Mad Dog.)

Jackie Coon died at his home in Hawaii sometime near the end
March, 2007. Congestive heart failure took him down and after
a few weeks took him out.

To say he was one of the great jazz players of the 20th century might be 
stretching it a little, but not by much. And to say he was one of the 
great classic jazz players is not stretching one bit.  Jackie, an 
absolute original, played with a thirties sense of swing so 
unobtrusively invigorating it gathered in every jazz musician he took 
the stand with. He could play with trad, swing bop or straight ahead 
musicians and fit in.  Why?  Because he always played Jackie Coon music, 
his music, and when you're blowing your own mind, your very own, nobody 
can take that away from you.

I don't think anyone who ever played with him can describe exactly what 
it was that set him apart.  I know I can't. But whatever special elixir 
he gently mixed into every set, it was always there.  And a Jackie Coon 
chorus -man would I like to hear another one right now -one of those 
lilting floaters he always played.  Jackie's sound moving lightly over 
the top of the rhythm section, quietly creating a center, a focal point, 
a feeling of jazz tranquility that always managed to permeate the 
players as well as much of the audience.  One more thing about a Jackie 
Coon chorus: he'd be swinging along, making us all feel good when 
suddenly, from somewhere (maybe that Jazz Utopia all jazz players keep 
looking for) he'd play a phrase so fresh, so original, you'd have to 
shake your head in disbelief.  Maybe it was only four or five notes put 
together in some unusual way but it was enough to let you in on a moment 
of truth.

And Jackie as a person: He was one of the most gentle people I've ever 
been around.  Find me anybody who ever heard Jackie say something 
negative, about anyone and I'll buy you a drink. And by the time you 
finish it I'll bet I can convince you Jackie didn't say it in the first 
place.

Don't look for Jackie on the internet.  He never got famous, not even 
well known.  Every time he had a shot at becoming big (and their were 
several) he walked away from it.  But if you want to find out more just 
ask Jake Hanna, Eddie Erickson, Howard Alden or any musician who had the 
good fortune to be on the stand with him over the last forty years--and 
man will you hear some stories.

The end. (unquote)


If someone else has not posted the above to the DJML, I think it should 
be, for Jackies fans. There must be a few on the list that remember 
Jackie. I know I do. It has been a long time since I last saw and heard 
Jackie, but I always hoped I would again someday. Not just as a musician 
who was fun to listen to, but as a person. A true "gentle giant".

My own remembrance is a personal one also, but I remember it like 
yesterday. At a time long before many of the musicians would condescend 
to even speak to a sound mixer or learn your name, Jackie would always 
act like a long lost friend when we saw each other. Of course as Wally 
says, he was that way with everyone he knew even casually. There are a 
few others like that. Eddie Erickson, for one, one of those mentioned by 
Wally as a friend of Jackies, is cut from the same cloth. Perhaps it 
rubs off! Or is part of the common area of Ca. they come from?

You would often see Jackie even before it was his time to come on stage, 
something not true of all musicians. The last conversation I remember 
having with him, long ago now, was when he came into the Hangover Room 
at the LA festival for a set and said to me,  "You and I are the only 
ones in this room that never seem to look any older."   That was still 
at a time back when I still looked younger then my age. No longer the 
case. Jackie, of course, also always looked the same over the years.  He 
definitely was one of a kind as Wally said.

The Hangover Room is still at the Marriott for the now "Sweet and Hot 
festival", and thanks to Wally, many of the faces are still the same 
over the years, but the likes of Jackie Coon will not be seen there again.

As the probably tin pan alley Hawaiian Song says. "Farewell until we 
meet again."  Aloha Jackie.

Lowell aka Mad Dog