[Dixielandjazz] Condon at Town Hall

[Marek Boym]

> What are you disagreeing with?

With what he said abiut the rcordigs from the '50's.
>
> Bob Rawlins said the Town Hall sessions were "among" his favorites. And,
> like you and me, he adores Pee Wee Russell's playing. I do have one point of
> disagreement where he implies that Pee Wee had poor technique. Shoot, he was
> playing quarter tones before the rest of the reed players knew what they
> were. I always believed that Pee Wee played that way because he wanted to.
>
> I think Bob would also agree that Russell communicated with his clarinet as
> opposed to players who master the instrument. but don't say much.
>
> On my part, my favorite Condon memories are listening to his various groups
> live, at his joint. IMO, there is nothing on records that comes close to
> what that band really sounded like. Unfortunately, the Town Hall sessions
> and others are subject to the imperfect state of recording art at the time
> and just give the listener a hazy idea of how great they were.
>
> Kind of like listening to King Oliver. Even the latest technology of
> Archeophone, as good as it is cannot give us an idea of what he really
> sounded like. One has to listen "through" the recordings, best done with a
> glass of Cardhu and one's imagination, helped in Condon's case, by those who
> saw/heard his various bands live, in performance.
>
> Cheers,
> Steve Barbone
> www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband
>
>
> On Oct 24, 2008, at 3:40 PM, Marek Boym wrote:
>
> > I beg to disagree!
> > I have only one Town Hall double album (I'm really not interested in
> > commercials for war bonds, or news announcements about what the allies
> > had liberated at the time of the concert), but I have most of the
> > Condon gang pre-war records.  Nevertheless, Bixieland and Coast to
> > Coast Jam Session (With the Rampart St. Praders on the flip side) are
> > my favourite Condon records (I have quite a few more, including the
> > 1940's Deccas).
> >
> > Oh, and I've never been convinced that Pee Wee played badly in the
> > forties; I even protested when this was mentioned on the Mississippi
> > Rag Bulletin Board.  My ears (even though I am a BG admirer) tell me
> > taht Pee Wee was great - but then, by the time I came to jazz, his
> > sound was widely accepted.
> > Cheers
> >
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