[Dixielandjazz] Sextette from Hunger

[Stan Brager]

Chris;

I just happened to have selected the Benny Goodman's Boys with Jim and Glenn 
recording of "Wolverine Blues" for a talk I'm giving. Conselman played vibes 
on this cut. He can be heard about 2:14 minutes into the recording. Also on 
this cut was Jimmy McPartland on cornet and Benny's brother, Harry, on tuba.

Stan
Stan Brager

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Chris Tyle" <jazzchops at isp.com>
To: <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Cc: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Friday, February 29, 2008 11:41 AM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Sextette from Hunger


>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.
>
>
>
>
>