[Dixielandjazz] Pee Wee Russell

[John Blegen]

----- Original Message ----
From: Robert Ringwald <rsr at ringwald.com>
Regarding Pee Wee Russell, Marek said:

> someone told BG that he wanted to play like Russell, BG quipped: "He
> is great!  But if you wont to sound like him - don't practice."


Well, there it is.  Nothing more need be said.  Benny nailed it.

All of us musicians have wasted years and years of practice time.  Gee, we 
could stumble around on our instrument, miss notes, play wrong notes, get 
lost in the tune and we could all sound like Pee Wee Russell.
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I'm definitely in the Benny camp, but I don't think there's any doubt that Pee Wee was an important figure and one worth listening to (though not for long periods of time).  I don't play like Pee Wee.  I don't play like Benny either, but I'd like to.  However, I do know that Pee Wee's sound was a choice and not the result of lack of technique.  The reed section in the original pit orchestra for Gershwin's "Strike Up the Band" was composed of Benny and . . . Pee Wee, and in those days you didn't cut the New York theater scene without technique.   And, if you listen to Pee Wee play in an ensemble, he manages to blend and handle harmonies quite beautifully.  (Bill Hanck, a fine Chicago area trombonist who played with Pee Wee, told me that Pee Wee's ensemble playing was impeccable.)  Actually, Benny's statement above needs to be read carefully (BG was a man of few words, but he made them count): it's probably true that no amount of practice will produce that
 sound.

John Blegen