[Dixielandjazz] Dixielandjazz Digest, Vol 73, Issue 26

[Ken Mathieson]

Hi Steve et al,

Yes, I've got Burt Korall's book, so I'm aware of that statement about the 
importance of showmanship in Sid's playing, although he seemed to be able to 
do all the flash stuff without it getting in the way of his music, which is 
something a lot of other drummers failed at.  I once saw the Harry James Big 
Band with Sonny Payne on drums, when it came to Scotland and, during Sonny's 
feature, he was twirling his sticks, bouncing them off the floor and 
throwing them in the air. All very visual, but the actual drum solo made 
little musical sense while all of this was going on. Sonny was on a riser at 
the back of the stage and the unintended climaz of the solo was him reaching 
back to catch a mistimed stick-throw and crashing backwards off the stage. 
There was total silence, followed by sharp intakes of breath from the 
audience, followed by muffled cursing from behind the stage, followed by 
uproarioiusly unsympathetic laughter from the rest of the band. Sonny seemed 
to take forever to climb back up behind the kit and, when he started to play 
again, the trumnpet section yelled out "do it again, Sonny!"

Cheers,

Ken Mathieson
www.classicjazzorchestra.org.uk

> Message: 4
> Date: Thu, 15 Jan 2009 10:59:08 -0500
> From: Stephen G Barbone <barbonestreet at earthlink.net>
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Sid Catlett & Showmanship
> To: DJML <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Message-ID: <9F5C6F8B-7078-442B-8EFD-F7A119D7E791 at earthlink.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed; delsp=yes
>
> Was Sid Catlett a showman?
>
> Excerpts from the Book Drummin' Men, in the section on Sid Catlett.
>
> "Then he (Sid Catlett)  topped off the sequence by doing a stick-
> bouncing and stick-twirling spectacle that caused the entire house to
> burst into applause."
>
> "The band played the show from the pit and then went up on stage. Sid
> seemed so nonchalant, you know, with a toothpick in his mouth. His
> solo was the highlight of the stage presentation. He played on the
> set, then got up and drummed all over the lower floor of the theater,
> up and down the aisles, banging on the chairs, the walls, the floor."
>
> "At the time he began playing with good musicians and bands in
> Chicago, Catlett realized the need to play shows with a flair and to
> be noticed . . . Drummers did their best to live with this attitude;
> many adjusted, learning to call attention to themselves by twirling
> sticks, throwing them in the air and catching them and so on. It was
> particularly hard on those who were very serious about music . . .
> Catlett, however, apparently was not bothered by the emphasis on
> showmanship, accepting it as fact."
>
> "For the rest of his life, Catlett was to have the utmost respect for
> showmanship, something that had been instilled in him from the
> beginning of his career.  During a 1941 interview, Catlet asked
> whether he deemed showmanship or musicianship more important replied;
> 'I'd say showmanship. Think of all the first rate musicians who are
> playing for cakes because they haven't got showmanship. In other
> words, it's not what you do, it's how you do it that counts.'"
>
> From "Drummin' Men" by Burt Korall & Mel Torme. These quotes and much
> other information about Sid Catlett start on page 164. It includes
> recollections about Catlett from Louis Armstrong,
> Rex Stewart, Billy Taylor, Milt Hinton, Tommy Benford, Lawrence Lucie,
> Nellie Lutcher, Eddie Barefield, Earl Hines, Helen Humes, Connie Kay,
> Ed Shaughnessy, Jo Jones, Pee Wee Erwin, and others.
>
> You can find it on line by googling:   Drummin' Men + Sid Catlett
>
> Cheers,
> Steve Barbone
> www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband
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