[Dixielandjazz] By Ned, we invented the genre

[Dave Gannett]

Wow - a night to treasure!  I always LOVED quizzing the "old-timers" about 
their days in the business - walking time machines with hilarious and often 
stunning insights into their contemporaries.  When I was with the Don Ellis 
band I lived with Manny Klein, the great studio trumpet of Hollywood's 
Golden Age, and would talk with him about such matters.  He had AMAZING home 
movies of the Dorsey brothers, Jerry Colona and a host of other well knowns 
in full party mode, which included ample evidence of ignited materials being 
used in a sport context.  Sure wish I had those movies!  Same with Wild Bill 
when I played with him in the '70's - man, the STORIES! (and what a grumpy 
old cuss...)  Like you, I did countless nights in clubs such as Rosie 
O'Gradies.  I thought I would quite literally GO MAD if I had to play "The 
Saints" or the Can-Can one more time!  My drink of choice was a double 151 
rum on the rocks on each break.  Never got drunk or disorderly, just knocked 
the crowd back a notch or two.  As you well know, you hit "the wall" like 
runners do at a certain point and you either get through it or kack.  Once I 
got through the wall though, I apparently had a callous on my brain and the 
tunes no longer bothered me.  During the heyday in the '70's and '80's in 
Orlando, it was entirely common to work 7 days a week day and night for 
months at a time, doing two eight hour gigs plus casuals on the side.  We 
had the same experience at Rosie's - huge book but played the same basic 
group of tunes 'cuz THAT'S WHAT THEY WANTED.  Fortunately we had some great 
players, great subs, great arrangments (though by far most of our stuff was 
"head") and a crowd of 1500 for each show 3 and 4 shows a night.  I can 
remember literally falling asleep with my tuba, sitting on my stool and keep 
right on playing - I'd wake up a couple of measure later and my subconscious 
had taken care of business while I was gone.  A weird feeling.  It was kind 
of cool though, after weeks and months of only 4 hours of sleep a night, 
everything became a giant dream - sometimes wasn't sure whether I was 
dreaming Mickey or he was dreaming me!

You had some great experiences playing in the apple, Steve.  One day I'll 
proceed with the book stuff.  Meanwhile, those interested in reading some of 
my stories (at least, those I haven't pissed off by being honest) can go to 
http://www.tubagear.com and click on "Today's Tuba Talk" at the top of the 
page.

Keep playing like you need the money...

dave

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Stephen G Barbone" <barbonestreet at earthlink.net>
To: "Dave Gannett" <evidence at otelco.net>
Cc: "DJML" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Saturday, July 11, 2009 4:41 PM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] By Ned, we invented the genre


> Please write the book Dave. Too much will be forgotten if you don't.  Like 
> last night I did a gig with Marty Grosz and we talked about life  and jazz 
> in the "good old days." I have to say it was one hell of an  interesting 
> night. He should write a book too as he played with just  about everybody 
> and he has a hell of a perspective on the music. His  stories about Joe 
> Sullivan are hillarious. And his opinion that  Reginald Kell ruined Benny 
> Goodman's sound and energy level was  interesting. It made even me, who 
> hates musical archeology, want to go  back to the records to check it out
>
> Back in the late 1950s I worked 6 hours a night, 6 nights a week for 3 
> months straight in a Dixieland joint in NYC. Our book was no more than 
> 150 tunes but we rarely got to play even them in a week because the 
> customers demanded the same 30 or 40 Dixieland War Horses time and  again. 
> I can well understand how earlier musos got into booze and  drugs in that 
> scenario. I quickly became a Dixieland zombie and my  booze intake soared 
> to a pint of gin per night. I had great chops  during that gig, but 
> creativity suffered and I was thankful when it  ended and I got to gig 
> with other bands.
>
> You could see that kind of thing with Wilbur DeParis at Jimmy Ryan's. 
> Even the great Omer Simeon got pretty routine, playing High Society at 
> least 6 times a week for a couple of years. He just stared off into  space 
> on the tune, but unlike Sullivan who played intermission piano  there, he 
> didn't curse out the college kids who asked silly questions,  or made 
> those war horse tune requests.
>
> Cheers
> Steve Barbone
> www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband
>
>
> On Jul 11, 2009, at 4:26 PM, Dave Gannett wrote:
>
>> Hah!  A worthy observation.  Steve, if you'd spent a couple weeks 
>> touring with The Black Dogs, you would'a thought you were back in  the 
>> '30's for sure!  One of the reasons the band was so wildly  popular was 
>> that we brought to our performances the LIFESTYLE of  that era's jazz 
>> musician, which spilled out all over our stage  presentation, the music 
>> and the overall time traveler vibe.  Each of  us felt in the deepest part 
>> of our souls that we were born 20-30  years too late and that somehow, we 
>> could go back to the time where  we belonged.  Someday I will write a 
>> book about our incredible  adventures. Suffice to say, our performances 
>> were just the tip of  the iceberg.  Thanks for your insights...