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

[Don Ingle]

Jackie Coon and I were in our late teens and often got to sit n with 
some of the good guys that had sessions of the old Club 47 in Studio 
City. Owned by three former Bobcat players, it was a haven for musicians 
working in the studios who seldom got to play jazz, so their sessons 
there were the best lessions any young play could get -- a master's 
course for sure. That they let us sit in and learn was their kind gift 
to the next generation.
It was clear early on that Jackie was a player about to bloom into 
greatness -- even as a young guy he could play rings around all of us 
young wannabes and some of us learned from him as well.
Jackie was one of the sweetest guys I even knew. What you heard in his 
sound and tone was a reflection of his gentle personality.
There was a sad time when Jackie got hung up on some bad drugs, and if 
took a toll on him, but he came back playing better than ever.
He was a proud dad -- had a flock of youngun's. And he loved them -- and 
they loved him.
Last time I saw Jackie was a Sacramento in the early 60's with Jake 
Stock's Abalone Stompers. He had ended up primarily playing fluegal 
horn, and made horn was HIS -- it reflected again his tasty and lyrical 
style -- a match made in heaven for those of us who listened to his 
wonderfully original flow of notes -- never  more than were needed to 
convey his ideas, though his technique could be dazzling. But he 
understood that it was quality of notes rather than quantity that 
shoould should be played, and play them well he did.
His brother Gene was a screenwrtier and TV producer who wrote and 
directed many of the early Maverick shows with Jim Garner. Jackie wanted 
to play his horn -- so he made his mark in sound, not words. But talent 
obviously ran in his family.
I miss him -- just the fact that I will never hear him play again, and 
will miss the surprises he might have delivered through his horn for us 
to awe at is the saddest part -- but in his recordings, (frankly not 
near enough) his warmth and tasty love for the  melody first and the 
improv later still makes me glad to have shared a growing up time with 
him as we listened to the masters at the old Club 47, and learned that 
the music you play
should always reflect the personality of the player. For me, Jackie Coon 
was one of the greatest personalities within his ideas to ever put lip 
to mouthpiece.
Thanks for reminded us all, Stan, of a time when a gentle giant was 
among us.
Don Ingle

Stan Brager wrote:
> I second what Lowell and Wally have to say about Jackie Coon. His playing
> was always tasty and lyrical. If you're interested in his music, check any
> of the Arbors CDs he recorded for that label.
>
> Stan
> Stan Brager
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Lowell Busching" <verbose at daktel.com>
> To: <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Cc: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Sent: Monday, August 20, 2007 10:48 PM
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Wally Homes, Director of the Sweet and Hot
> Festival, on Jackie Coon.
>
>
>   
>> 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
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>     
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> To unsubscribe or change your e-mail preferences for the Dixieland Jazz Mailing list, or to find the online archives, please visit:
>
> http://ml.islandnet.com/mailman/listinfo/dixielandjazz
>
>
>
> Dixielandjazz mailing list
> Dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
>
>
>
>