[Dixielandjazz] Who were the Saints of Bleecker Street?

[David M Richoux]

Thanks for posting the files  - I saw a copy of this LP in a used  
record store but they wanted too much for it!

After a quick sampling of the tracks, I think there are a lot of the  
folks from  The Village Stompers ( Dick Brady, Don Coates, Mitchell  
May, Ralph Casale, Frank Hubbell, Lenny Pogan, Al McManus and Joe  
Muranyi ) but I can't prove it.  I think a Bass Guitar was used on  
some tracks.

Did Art d'Lugoff write a biography or is there a discography of  
Village Gate?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_D'Lugoff

Dave RIchoux

On Apr 9, 2010, at 10:56 AM, Dick Baker wrote:

> 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.
>