[Dixielandjazz] : Armand Hug legacy

[Norman Vickers]

To:  DJML and Musicians and Jazzfans list

From:  Norman

 

Charlie Suhor, a native  of New Orleans, percussionist, and jazz historian
now living in Montgomery passes along review of CDs by the late pianist
Armand Hug, also from New Orleans.  For those new to the list, Charlie's
book about jazz in post-world war II New Orleans is the definitive work on
that period.

 

Below, I'll give my own personal recollections.

 

 

 

From: Charles Suhor [mailto:csuhor at zebra.net] 
Sent: Thursday, August 12, 2010 1:28 PM
To: Norman Vickers
Subject: Armand Hug legacy

 

Hello, Norm--Here's a short review of three excellent Armand Hug CDs from
the current issue of IAJRC (International Association of Jazz Record
Collectors) journal. I might have overstepped in calling this his legacy,
but when I knew him in N.O. we talked at length and he lamented being tagged
mainly as a ragtime player, and worse, working as a cocktail pianist. My
sense of it is that he would have seen these CDs as his final
testament.--Charlie

Armand Hug, Solo Piano 

reviewed by Charles Suhor

Memories of Old New Orleans, 1971 (Swaggie CD 416)
Huggin' the Keys, 1971-75 (Swaggie CD 418)
Breezin' Along, 1974-75; 4 tracks with Ray Bauduc, 1950 (Swaggie CD 421)

This is an outstanding recorded legacy of a great New Orleans pianist.
Armand Hug's solo piano tracks were originally recorded by Swaggie records
of Australia between 1971 and 1975, two years before his death in 1977 at
the age of 66. The Breezin' Along CD includes four tracks of Hug in duet
with the great Ray Bauduc on drums--a long-awaited resurrection of the 1950
session recorded by New Orleans deejay and impresario Roger Wolfe. 

Hug never left New Orleans, performing most of the time as a single in
various cocktail lounges for audiences that were mainly there to schmooze
and booze or hear pop tunes of the day. In the 70s I was playing drums with
a bland dance combo on Fridays at Claiborne Towers--and Hug was the
intermission pianist! I got to hear him regularly and requested his jazz
repertoire, but the crowd was notably inattentive. 

Ironically, Hug was also limited by his reputation as a brilliant ragtime
player. Many pigeonholed him as a specialist, not knowing the kind of swing
and virtuously he brought to standards and little-known jazz tunes. The
latter (by Peter Boscage, Armand Peron, Clarence Williams and others) are
admirably revived on the Swaggie CDs. There's some rollicking ragtime on the
sessions, but Hug's improvisations are most remarkable--a highly
individualized synthesis of players like Fats Waller, Art Tatum, and Dick
Hyman. In his two-handed, orchestral attack, Hug doesn't jam his way into
the badlands but embellishes successive choruses with ingenious variety.
It's a theme-and-variations approach that keeps you comfortably mindful of
the melody while offering varied left-hand styles, surprisingly inventive
progressions, and often dazzling technical prowess. I heard Hug dozens of
times as a soloist and in combos over the years, but nothing that matched
the mature artistry of this collection. 

I missed the original LP releases of the Swaggie sessions because I was
immersed in an education career and moved to the Midwest for two decades.
Kudos to Swaggie for bringing the Hug sides together in these digitally
remastered CDs. All are highly recommended, but my favorite is the Breezin'
Along. It includes seldom heard songs by Paul Mares, Nick LaRocca and Santo
Pecora as well as the fetching duo tracks with Ray Bauduc. 

________________________________

Memories of Old New Orleans: Solo Piano, 1971 (Swaggie CD 416)
Sister Kate/ Why?/ I Ain't Gonna Give Nobody None of My Jelly Roll /Sweet
Purple Rose of Cairo /You Cooked your Goose with Me/ Sweet Substitute /I
Can't Beat You Doin' What You're Doin' to Me/ Baby Won't You Please Come
Home/ I'm Sorry I Made You Cry/ Ugly Child/ Gulf Coast Blues/ Mama's Gone
Goodbye/ Come Back to Me Mandy/ If You Knew How I love You/ Squeeze Me/
Wildflower Rag/ Mama Knows Where Papa Goes/ Day By Day/ Don't Leave Me
Daddy/ Picnic at Milneberg/ Papa De Da Da/ Pretty Baby/ Four Minute Slow
Drag at the Fern/ Bouncing Around TT: 78:40

Huggin' the Keys: Solo Piano, 1971-75 (Swaggie CD 418) Tin Roof Blues/
Someday You'll Be Sorry/ Buddy Bolden's Blues/ Kiss Me Sweet/ Gin Mill
Blues/ Jelly Roll Blues/ Glad Rag Doll/ Lazy Ade/ Big Lip Blues/ Lazy Mood/
Frog-I-More Rag/ I Gotta Be on My Way/ Huggin' the Keys/ Winin' Boy Blues/
My Linda/ Heliotrope Bouquets/ My Home is in a Southern Town/ Four Minute
Slow Drag at the Fern TT: 78:06

Breezin' Along; Solo Piano, 1974-75; 4 tracks with Ray Bauduc, 1950 (Swaggie
CD 421) My Inspiration/ Float Me Down the River/ It's Too Late to Be Sorry/
I Keep Calling Your Name/ Sugar Babe, Be My Love/ I'm Going Home/ I Never
Knew What a Good Gal Could Do/ The Bobby Dazzler/ Chicago Breakdown/ Give Me
Just a Hug/ Broken Hill/ *Little Rock Getaway/ *Breezin' Along/? *Tea for
Two/ *Fascinatin' Rag/ In New Orleans on a Sunday Afternoon/ Cookie/ I'm
Headin' Down South/ Chimes Blues/ Jelly Bean/ Black Bottom Stomp/ Wang Wang
Blues TT: 79:34
*with Ray Bauduc, drums

 

Norman writes:  Dear Charlie and listmates.  My own romance with Armand Hug
began in the early 1960s.  Although I grew up in South Mississippi , 120
miles from New Orleans, and having lived in NO 1959-61, I was unacquainted
with Hug.  Then living elsewhere, I saw a TV special on PBS about New
Orleans music.  Armand was the featured pianist who could play in various
styles. So, when I moved to Pensacola in 1965 and had occasion to visit New
Orleans, I'd make a point to find Armand.   He was always gracious, played
beautifully and at my request, would give me "listening assignments" of
various musicians in NO.  I own two of the three Swaggie LPs listed above.
Also I would collect other LPs when they were available.  After Armand's
death, I wrote the widow and obtained  remaining CDs  I didn't have.

Armand told of the time that Bix Beiderbecke came through New Orleans and
played "In A Mist" for him.  Armand was quite proud of his own version of
that tune.

Thanks for the memories.

 
--End--