[Dixielandjazz] For the Bones out there.

[Robert S. Ringwald]

Geez is this guy all wet.

hasn't he heard of John Allred?  Or the trombonist who used to work for Jack 
Sheldon in Los Angeles?  First name Andy.  Can't remember his last name.  He 
is now in NY I think.

While both John and Andy play a different style than Teagarden, they are 
both monsters of the trombone.

I once spent all night until dawn, sitting with Teddy Wilson at a close bar 
after his gig.  The only people in the place was the owner, Teddy and his 
two young musicians and me and two other musician friends.


At a certain time during the early hours, one of my friends went over to the 
piano and started playing some jelly Roll Morton.  The two young musicians, 
bass and drums, who had been working with Teddy that night, started putting 
Morton's music down.

Teddy turned to them and said, "Listen here, if Morton hadn't of played that 
music then, you would not be playing what you are playing now."

Needless to say, the two young "whipper-snappers" shut up pretty quickly.

I'm sure both John and Andy feel the same way about Teagarden.

--Bob Ringwald


----- Original Message ----- 
From: <LRG4003 at aol.com>
To: <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Tuesday, March 06, 2007 7:40 PM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] For the Bones out there.


> This should rile up some discussion.  I  forwarded a Teagarden YouTube
> posting to a trombone player with whom I have the  opportunity to play on 
> occasion.
> He isn't on DJML but he responded with  these comments.  I wondered what 
> your
> response would be.  K.C.  Clarinet
>
> Thanks.  I had not seen this one  before.  Obviously, it has been kicking
> around cyberspace for a  while.  I have, in the CD reissues, the two Verve
> recordings that JT made  in the early 60's.  They are wonderful, and they 
> show tht
> JT was still in  top form right up to the end, despite the chemical abuse 
> to
> his body.I   also hope that Verve re-issues the third and very last of 
> JT's
> LP's. I  think the writer is right on about the fallen state of the 
> trombone.  The
> level of trombone playing in the jazz world is for the most part at a 70
> year  low.  There are a few really great trombonists around, but they are 
> people
> that few have heard of, such as Herb Bruce.  None of the current 
> trombonists
> mentioned in the article as examples of contemporary trombonists are
> anywhere near the level of a Frank Rosolino or a Carl Fontana, and 
> needless  to say,
> none of them have anything approaching the emotional maturity and
> musicianship of JT.  At least none that I have heard.   This situation is 
> all the more
> ironic in that classical  trombone playing is at an all time high.  There 
> is a
> wealth of truly  great symphonic trombonists who are making CD after CD of
> phenomenal  recordings.  Technical excellence in trombone playing has 
> advanced to
> the  point where the jazz world can no longer use the old "trombone is a
> clumsy,  awkward instrument that cannot be played in a way to keep up with 
> keyed or
> valved instruments" argument.   Actually, that tired old argument has  not
> been valid for more than 30 years, but I still hear it.  When you  listen 
> to
> any of today's big bands cut loose on a chart with  solos, you always get 
> a sax
> (usually tenor) solo, and frequently a  trumpet solo, but only VERY rarely 
> do
> you get a trombone solo (and usually  then you wish you hadn't).  Even 
> when
> you listen to CD's of today's  jazz groups, you almost never hear trombone
> solos.  The reason is very  simple:  very, very few of the competent 
> section
> trombone men can solo  worth crap.  Part of the reason is that their level 
> of
> technical proficiency is not high enough to be able to translate any ideas 
> from
> their head to the end of their bell.  And that is a  disgrace, given what 
> has
> been going on in the classical arena.   Even when listening to the Cullum 
> band,
> you will notice that the trombone takes  much, much fewer solos than the 
> other
> front line horns.  As far as I  can determine, it has always been that 
> way.
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