[Dixielandjazz] Who were the Saints of Bleecker Street?

[Dick Baker]

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I've found a curious LP lurking on my shelves:  "When Jazz Came Up 
the Volga" by the Saints of Bleecker Street, on the Village Gate 
record label (VGLP-2004, 1964).

I don't know when or where I bought it, but the Russian connection 
presumably prompted the purchase, since I was a professional Russian 
speaker for much of my government career.  All the tunes on the LP 
are Russian or pseudo-Russian played in fairly commercial Dixieland style.

The breathless liner notes by Village Gate owner Art D'Lugoff rave 
about the great Dixieland revival and its effect on Greenwich Village:

"Today, the tide is once again turning.  Banjo bars, ragtime music 
and Dixieland jazz are on the upbeat.  Al Hirt, Pete Fountain, the 
Dukes of Dixieland, the Village Stompers dominate the hit charts.

"Certainly one of the best of the all-star groups, The Saints of 
Bleecker Street (veterans all of Nick's, Eddie Condon's, the 
Stuyvesant Casino, the Central Plaza) call the Village Gate home 
base, and there in the mammoth caverns at Bleecker and Thompson 
Street (hence their name) the joint really rocks when they are at home.

"This their newest release is a completely new gambit....  The source 
that inspired this album is obvious.  Jazz has come up the Volga with 
a vengeance as Kenny Ball and 'Midnight in Moscow' can well testify 
and Dixieland is a great favorite among the Muscovite and Leningrad hip set."

I know that you folks are also all part of the hip set, so here's my 
question:  Who were the members of the Saints of Bleecker 
Street?  The instrumentation seems to be
         guitar (often emulating a balalaika)
         trumpet
         trombone
         drums
         bass
         clarinet
         Hammond organ (wishing it were an accordion)
         banjo

If you want to hear the music, see the LP covers, or read the full 
text of the liner notes, point your browsers to

         http://dickbaker.org/Bleecker/

and see for yourselves.



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      Dick Baker
  djml at dickbaker.org