[Dixielandjazz] Wynton & Wild Man Blues (With BOB WILBER)

[Steve Barbone]

on 1/30/07 7:00 PM, Bill Haesler at bhaesler at bigpond.net.au wrote:

> Dear Steve,
> I took off both eye patches for that one - and wholeheartedly agree - it is
> a great performance.
> We must certainly thank Mr Marsalis for presenting this 1920s Classic on his
> stage. His own fine trumpet playing was suitably restrained for this Jelly
> Roll Morton - Lil Armstrong original.
> Clarinetist Bob Wilbur, as usual, shows just how deeply and genuinely
> steeped he is in our music and thereby revealed that the other fine
> clarinetist did not really have an ear for 'the early stuff'.
> The trombones (Lucien Barbarin and Wycliffe Gordon) with their touches of
> hokum certainly didn't bother me either, as I could hear shades of Tricky
> Sam Nanton (Ellington) and Trummy Young (Louis' All Stars).
> A unique performance. I'm glad that you gave us that YouTube link.
> Kind regards,
> Bill. 

Dear Bill

You are welcome. I've been a fan of Marsalis and his presentation of early
New Orleans jazz since about 1999. And that "hokum" was a part of New
Orleans Jazz, wasn't it? From Livery Stable on. (if not before)

As a clarinetist, I enjoyed the contrast between the two reeds. One trad,
and one more modern, yet playing within the genre. I keep re-playing their
trading and love both.

Wynton can't win. He gets blistered by the modern guys I associate with (on
occasion) as being too wrapped up in Trad Jazz, and not enough in what's
current in jazz. On the other hand, many traddies say he and Burns left all
these trad players out and is too wrapped up in modern jazz. Go figure.

Some of us say he left Woody Herman out of the Burns program. Maybe so, but
Woody is well represented in the companion book, complete with a picture of
the 1937 "Band that plays the blues. . . the first of a long succession of
hard swinging orchestras he would organize and lead for over 3 decades . . .
hundreds of musicians passed through his bands, but they always echoed
Herman's own infectious love of playing. 'My business' he would say, 'is
excitement'. 

Also a picture of his 1938 band at Randall's Island in NYC, a one day swing
festival hosted by Martin Block that included 25 bands. Among them, Herman,
Basie and Ellington, whose "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue" was as big a
hit there, as it was at Newport 2 decades later with MANY PEOPLE jumping up
to dance. 

Wish I had been there among the 25,000 fans that day. It was a swinging,
peaceful event according to the news reports of the day, despite fears that
a fully integrated audience might cause some tension.



Cheers,
Steve Barbone