[Dixielandjazz] DeParis Dickenson et al was Buck Clayton & Terrassi's

[Stephen G Barbone]

On Oct 10, 2009, at 6:46 PM, Marek Boym wrote:

>>
>>
>> Clayton's experiences were similar to those of a lot of black, big  
>> band
>> "swing" musicians around that time
>> in New York City. Big band swing gigs virtually disappeared and so  
>> guys like
>> Clayton, Vic Dickenson, Jonah Jones, Wilbur DeParis, Sidney DeParis,
>
>
> I though so, too, until I heard the DeParis Brothers' Commodores, and
> later - Sidney de Pris' Blue Notes.  Other swing musicians (Webster,
> Eldridge) recorded swing for Commodore.  Not so the de Paris Brothers
> - they recorded Dixieland.  The de Paris band on Blue Note  also
> played dixieland.  So it seems that, for them, it was a matter of
> choice, not lack thereof.
> As to Dickenson and Sandy Williams - I don't know.  I first encounered
> both as Dixieland players (although, on some records, the numbers are
> Dixieland warhorses, but the playing is hardly Dixieland; for example
> - listen to The Golden Era of Dixieland Jazz on Design).

Dear Marek:

To what Commodore records do you refer? Here is Yanow's bio of Wilbur  
DeParis:

Begin quote: "Wilbur DeParis, an adequate soloist, was an excellent  
ensemble player and an important bandleader who helped keep New  
Orleans jazz alive in the 1950s. He started out on alto horn and in  
1922 played C-melody sax while working with A.J. Piron before  
switching permanently to trombone. In 1925, DeParis led a band in  
Philadelphia and then had stints in the orchestras of Leroy Smith  
(1928), Dave Nelson, Noble Sissle, Edgar Hayes, Teddy Hill  
(1936-1937), the Mills Blue Rhythm Band, and Louis Armstrong  
(1937-1940). Not as well-known as his brother, the talented trumpet  
soloist Sidney DeParis, Wilbur was with Roy Eldridge's big band and  
Duke Ellington (1945-1947) and recorded with Sidney Bechet during  
1949-1950. However, it was in 1951 when he put together a band to play  
at Ryan's that included his brother and clarinetist Omer Simeon that  
he found his niche. Wilbur DeParis' New New Orleans Jazz Band did not  
just play Dixieland standards but marches, pop tunes, and hymns, all  
turned into swinging and spirited jazz. Throughout the 1950s, the  
group recorded consistently exciting sets for Atlantic (all of which  
are unfortunately long out of print) and they were the resident band  
at Ryan's during 1951-1962, touring Africa in 1957. DeParis continued  
leading bands up until his death, but his last recordings were in  
1961". ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide: End quote>

DeParis, put his Dixieland Band together in 1951. He modeled it partly  
on what Conrad Janis was doing with New Orleans Revival music in NYC  
at Jimmy Ryans. The he cut the price and took the gig from Janis.  
Prior to 1948, he was clearly a big band trombonist. Then the big band  
business ceased to exist for most musicians. He sat in Ryan's for a  
while soaking up what Janis was doing, even to copying routines and  
then formed his own New Orleans/Dixieland Band using a real New  
Orleans clarinetist (Omer Simeon) to make it "authentic". List mates  
who know Conrad Janis can get his take on that situation.

The reason DeParis formed a Dixieland Band is because that's where the  
jazz work was in NYC from 1947 or so on, not because after 25 years of  
big band work, he suddenly decided he preferred to play Dixieland. He,  
like many others, had to play Dixieland in order to make a living.  
Ryan's was a long running steady gig when big band steady gigs had  
become virtually non-existent for him.

You may disagree, however, the above is what really happened, not what  
you or others may infer from record collecting.

Also for your edification, here is a short Vic Dickenson bio. He was  
also clearly a big band player who switched to Dixieland in NYC when  
the big band business died.

"Like most working jazz musicians of the era, Dickenson played with  
many different bands in many different cities during his career. He  
worked with Speed Webb in 1927, Zack Whyte in 1932, Blanche Calloway  
(legendary band leader Cab Calloway's successful sister) from 1933 to  
1936, Claude Hopkins from 1936 to 1939, and Benny Carter in 1939 and  
again in 1941. Count Basie hired Dickenson in 1940, when his band was  
at the height of its success. He then worked with Frankie Newton in  
1941 and again from 1942 to 1943, and with Eddie Heywood from 1943 to  
1946. He worked as a freelance trombonist on the West Coast in 1947  
and 1948. In 1949 he relocated to Boston, leading his own band and  
working as "house trombonist" at the Savoy until the mid-1950s. He  
then settled in New York City, playing with Henry "Red" Allen, in  
1958. He led, with Red Richards, the successful group the Saints and  
Sinners, toured with George Wein's All Stars, and worked regularly at  
Eddie Condon's club in the 1960s. He played with Wild Bill Davison  
from 1961 to 1962. Dickenson's tours abroad include Europe with George  
Wein several times in the 1960s, and again as a soloist. He also  
toured Europe with Bobby Hackett and the quintet they led together  
from 1968 to 1970. He toured Australia and Asia with Eddie Condon in  
1964. During the 1970s he performed frequently with the World's  
Greatest Jazz Band, and mostly played freelance through the 1970s and  
1980s".

Cheers,
Steve Barbone
www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband
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