[Dixielandjazz] Pee Wee Russell Revisited

[Don Ingle]

Robert Ringwald wrote:
> Re: Pee Wee Russell.
>
> I have stated my feelings on his playing several times here on DJML so 
> won't go into it, except to say that I am not a fan.
>
> I discussed  Pee Wee's playing with Dick Cary several times, who's 
> opinion I really respected.  We would always come to the end of  our 
> argument with Dick saying, Pee Wee never played on recordings like he 
> played in person. So, what can I say?  I never heard him in person...
>
> --Bob Ringwald
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Stephen G Barbone" 
> <barbonestreet at earthlink.net>
> To: "Bob Ringwald" <rsr at ringwald.com>
> Cc: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, May 26, 2009 7:57 AM
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Pee Wee Russell
>
>
>> Marek Boym wrote:
>>
>> Hello folks,
>> Listening to some of those excellent mid-forties Commodore recordings
>> featuring Pee Wee Russell reminded me of a question that's been
>> bothering me for some time:
>>
>> Long ago someone wrote on the Mississippi Rag Bulletin Board that, in
>> the 1940's, Pee Wee played badly, so much so that the listeners
>> believed he has still been hired because of personal connections.
>>
>> I protested, arguing that I could not conceive of him playing badly,
>> but I was not there; the person who made that claim was.
>>
>> OK, he was not always at the top of his powers, and the Storyville
>> sessions might not have been of the same standard as the Commodores,
>> but BADLY?
>>
>> Now there are some people on the list who should remember those days,
>> and I would very much like to hear their comments; in the meantime,
>> I'll go on believing this to be nonsense.
>>
>> Dear Marek:
>> I was not there in the early 40s (too young), but was there seeing  
>> and talking to Pee Wee in various NYC clubs from 1949 through  1962. 
>> My ownopinion is that he  played great. As far as I can tell, he  was 
>> hired because he was always a tremendous audience favorite.
>> Musos who made fun of Russell, and/or did not like his tone, etc, 
>> included Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw. Musos who heard and 
>> appreciated what Russell had to say included Coleman Hawkins, 
>> Thelonious Monk,  Miff Mole and Kenny Davern.
>> Talking about this (IMO) great jazz player/communicator, always seems 
>> togenerate a lot of opinion, pro and con. But in my opinion, those 
>> who  do notappreciate what Russell had to say may be wonderful 
>> people, but  they have no soul.
>> Cheers,
>> Steve Barbone
>> www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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> I'll enter the fray. I did hear him in person in 1949 at Condon's. My 
> dad's band was on a summer long stay in a New York club. I was out of 
> high school, 18 (and legal then to drink),and spending the summer 
> there,  ready to discover Condon's, Nick's and a couple other jazz 
> clubs I knew about. Dad and I would go out on his night off and we'd 
> hit the main jazz clubs. Condon's was a must stop. So we spent a 
> number of visits there.
On the Condon band that summer were Gene Shroeder, piano, Wild Bill, 
Cutty Cutshall, Pee Wee, Sonny Igoe on drums, Condon on tenor guitar. 
Jack Lesberg on bass. Intermission piano was Ralph Sutton, sporting a 
short hair cut and frameless glasses that made him look like a younger 
Glenn Miller at first glance.
Wild Bill took delight in kidding me, since he and bassist/artist George 
Von Phiester had lived in an an apartment down the hall from my parents 
when I was a fairly new-born brat (Chicago 1931). He said..."well, well, 
little Donnie Ingle. And you were such a pretty baby even if you crapped 
you diapers a lot. And now look what happened - a cornet player. Red, 
what were you thinking?"
   Now about Pee Wee:
He was playing live at Condon's much as he sounded on records - and he 
was smashed and putting more air than reed through his clarinet. Still 
he had his moments. However, I have a recording he made late in life 
with arrangments and full band by Oliver Nelson and he played "The 
Shadow of Your Smile" so lovely you wanted to cry for the beauty of his 
sound and phrasing. I think that was the Pee Wee that Dick Cary talked 
about, Bob, and he was magnificent on every side of the LP, which I 
still have.
A final story about Pee Wee. Matty Matlock, another friend and mentor, 
told me about meeting
Pee Wee in NY. Matty said he'd never met him before in all the years 
where their paths should have crossed. Pee Wee came to hear him with the 
Crosby band in the '60's when they played the Rainbow Room in NY. 
Invited after the gig to Pee Wee's place, Matty said he found the walls 
covered with orignal oil paintings by Pee Wee, who had turned to art in 
his late years. They were bright, modernistic abstracts.
"Gee, Pee Wee," Matty had told him, "they are really nice. I didn't know 
you painted."
"Yeah," Pee Wee told him in his dry Oakie accented voice," and I did 
them ALL BY HAND!!"
A man of contrasts who made his mark in jazz. Love his playing or not, 
Pee Wee Russell was an American original.

Don Ingle
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