[Dixielandjazz] Louis Prima w Butera & Witnesses

[Charlie Hull]

Jack Bryce's mention of the group doing rock and roll reminds me of a 
couple of really corny movies they made trying to commercialize on the 
R&R boom. Louis, Keely, Sam and the band were the featured actors in 
plots which led from one song to another. I have them on VHS tape and am 
going to put them on DVD when I get around to it. The plots and acting 
were so bad I'm surprised they didn't become cult films. No Oscar 
nominations there.

The so-called swing resurgence a few years back had kid bands with crazy 
names and costumes doing Prima numbers, most notably Jump, Jive And 
Wail. Same song, played with great energy, electronic 'enhancement' and 
volume but totally lacking the Prima swing feel and magic. No wonder the 
resurgence petered out. It got a lot of young folks into swing dancing, 
though.

I last saw Prima with Butera and the Witnesses at Lake Tahoe, shortly 
before Louis went into the coma from which he never recovered. What a 
dynamic group. I sat through a couple of shows. During the first set I 
was impressed by the impromptu humor and quips. Second show, exactly the 
same jokes and schtick. So perfectly identical to the first that it 
could have been a movie rerun. Great memories.

I have seventeen of their LP's, which include quite a few trad jazz 
standards done in the Prima style. According to the biography by Garry 
Boulard, Sam Butera did the arrangements and rehearsed the band to its 
tight perfection.

Jimmy "Little Red" Blount, the trombonist who replaced Lou Sinoux with 
the band, was on the DJML for a short while a few years back, having 
retired to Florida.

Charlie Hull