[Dixielandjazz] history buffs/ Kress Horns

[Charles Suhor]

Hello, Dan--

The reviewer said some crazy things all around. I wasn't too gentle in 
my own critique of Brothers' new Armstrong bio, but this guy (Jim 
Torok) seemed determined to trash Brothers--claiming. e.g., that 
Brothers invented disrespectful terms like "ratty people," "freak 
music," and "monkeyshines," which Brothers clearly I.D.'d as terms used 
by the early musicians. It's hard to see how Torok could so mis-read 
Brothers' connection of church heterophony to jazz. And so on.

Re the waffle man, it was common for mule-drawn wagon peddlers (fruits 
& vegetables, waffles, taffy) and collectors (the rag man) in New 
Orleans to attract attention in some way--a bugle, chant, cowbell, etc. 
  I remember these from my childhood. But I believe that the particular 
waffle man you mention, who recorded with Sharkey Bonano (probably on 
Roger Wolfe's Bandwagon  label and maybe with Tony Almerico), was too 
young to be part of Armstrong's youth. He was Buglin' Sam  Dekemel, who 
according to Brian Wood was born in 1903. I heard Sam several times at 
Sharkey's Sunday concerts in 1949. He played with great drive but 
understandably kept things pretty elemental with tunes like Dinah and 
I'll Be Glad When, etc., melodies that didn't call for much range and 
didn't have lines that had several notes in them.

Charlie


On Dec 31, 2006, at 4:49 PM, D and R Hardie wrote:
>                Jelly Roll Morton called them Kress horns. You'll find 
> an
> illustration  and excellent description via google  at
> tcjs.org/pdf/Coda_Nov06.pdf . It's a review of a book Charles Suhor
> also reviewed on list recently. The waffle man mentioned was probably
> Buglin Sam  The Waffle  man who played a bugle on his father's waffle
> cart. He recorded with a white band later- Sharkey Bonano or Wingy
> Mannone I think - Bill Haesler will know.  BTW I do not concur with the
> assessment of Buddy Bolden mentioned in the review.
> regards
> Dan Hardie
> http://tinyurl.com/nqaup
>
>