[Dixielandjazz] Sextette from Hunger

[Chris Tyle]

I can add a few bits of info here.

Norrie, the phrase "that's strictly from hunger" was a popular one in 
the 1940s and likely earlier. It meant something wasn't very good, i.e., 
"that band's strictly from hunger." In the case of this band they're 
obviously not "from hunger," so it's meant as a play on words.

Looking at Tom Lord's jazz discography on CD, I found Blake Reynolds 
first listed as an alto player on Artie Shaw's session from March 3, 
1940, where the band recorded "Frenesi." The next batch of recordings 
are by the sextette where he plays clarinet, followed by performance on 
alto again on the Benny Goodman Story soundtrack. The last session 
listed for Reynolds is called "Weekend" jazz, a recording for MacGregor 
with the Sextette from Hunger personal, but there's no actual band name 
listed. I found a listing for a Blake Reynolds at familysearch.com (a 
genealogy webpage), born in 1907, died in 1982, which is likely him.

Charlie LaVere was a well-known pianist born in Salina, Kansas in 1910. 
He went on to spend time in Chicago, working with people like Wingy 
Manone, and then he ended up in Los Angeles where he did studio work and 
was involved with the dixieland scene there. He was leader on a number 
of sessions in L.A. for the Jump label. He also worked as a member of 
Country Washburne's band. He died in San Diego in 1983. There's quite a 
nice session that he led in 1935 in Chicago with trumpeter Jabbo Smith 
in addition to the Jump sides, which are also excellent.

Bob "Gonzelmann"...I think this is Bob Conselman, who is listed on Benny 
Goodman's first recording session under his own name, from 1928, where 
they recorded "A Jazz Holiday" and "Wolverine Blues." (I don't hear any 
drums on either of those sides, however. He can be heard on "After 
Awhile," "Muskrat Scramble" (sic), "Clarinetitis" and "That's a 
Plenty.") I notice in the discography that on the Weekend Jazz sessions, 
his name is spelled "Conzelmann." In Chicago in the 1920s he recorded 
with Charlie Straight's band and Joey Lichter's Strand Syncopators 
(probably was a full-time member of these bands also). He's on some 1931 
dates with Frank Trumbauer and 1933 dates with Jack Teagarden. The 
Goodman sides from 1928 can be heard at redhotjazz.com/goodman.html . Be 
sure to click on the link "Benny Goodman's Boys," but there's also a 
trio session on that page with Conselman. Familysearch.com shows a death 
record for a Robert Conzelmann, born Nov. 1900, died in Studio City, CA, 
Feb. 1979. This is probably him and the correct spelling of his name.

I hadn't listened to those early Goodman sides in a long time, but I 
hear Conzelmann doing some interesting things. On "Clarinetitis," it 
sounds like he playing a wire brush on the bass drum, which is a trick 
that Ben Pollack used to do. Conzelmann's playing is very much in the 
Chicago drum style, ala Pollack, Dave Tough and Krupa. On "That's a 
Plenty" he starts playing sticks on the bass drum shell ala Baby Dodds. 
He can also be heard clearly playing four beats to the bar on the bass 
drum. There's also some very nice Chicago-style drumming on the last two 
choruses. This is a nice recording of Mel Stitzel, a guy who, like many 
of these other players, slipped through the cracks.

George Thow's first session in the discog is as a member of Isham Jones' 
band in 1932, backing up Bing Crosby on "Sweet Georgia Brown." (Nice 
trumpet solo - could it be him?) He worked with Jones until May 1934 
when he joined the Dorsey Brothers band. When the brothers split the 
following year, he stayed with Jimmy, working until 1938 with him, then 
working with Ben Pollack. Thow, like Blake Reynolds, is part of Artie 
Shaw's pickup band for the "Frenesi" session mentioned above. The discog 
lists a lot of LA sessions with different groups, including sessions 
with Pete Fountain. From familysearch again, looks like he was born July 
1908 and died in the LA area in April 1987.

Joe Yukl's first session was with Thow and the Dorsey Bros. band January 
1935. Like Thow, he came west with Jimmy Dorsey when JD was working as 
the backup band for Bing Crosby. Looks like he played with Ben Pollack's 
band with Thow, and also worked with quite a few of the LA dixieland 
bands like Wingy Manone. He led a couple of sessions issued on Jump. Joe 
was born in New York in March 1909 and died in LA March 1981. He coached 
Jimmy Stewart on trombone for his part in the "Glenn Miller." (Louis 
Armstrong gave Stewart some advice, too ;-) )

Enough "from hunger."

Cheers
Chris Tyle
tyleman.com



Eddie Skrivanek is shown in Lord's discog as only appearing on the 
Sextette from Hunger associated sessions. Familysearch shows Edward 
Skrivanek, born April 1907, died in Burbank Feb. 1975.