[Dixielandjazz] Oops - Book Notice

[Bob Brodsky]

 Sorry- I sent this out as an attachment- forgetting that such will not work- so you got nothing.  Here, below, is  what appeared in this week's BEACH REPORTER (South Bay - Los Angeles). I believe my book will be reviewed in Sept or Oct. American Rag.  The pix didn't come through.

bob b



 
  


  
  
  

 


 
  
 
  
  
from Archives: Stepping Out           BEACH REPORTER   Aug.  19 2010    p.47
  
  
  
  
 


 
  
  
Beach Books: ‘The World in a Jug, With  Serenades for Mouldy Figges,’ by Robert F. Brodsky
  
by Annie Lubinsky
  (Updated: Wednesday, August 18, 2010 5:52 PM PDT)
  
 
 
  
  
  
 
 
  
  
   
    
    
    
     
      
      
      
     
     
      
      
‘The World in a Jug, With Serenades for Mouldy      Figges,’ by Robert F. Brodsky
      
     
    
    
    
    
   
   
    
    
 
    
   
  
  

  A “mouldy figge” is a music lover dedicated to the  traditional jazz of the late 1890s through the 1920s. Redondo Beach resident  Robert F. Brodsky, DSc, a local mouldy figge, wrote “The World in a Jug, With  Serenades for Mouldy Figges” to reach two audiences: those who love  traditional jazz and those who are new to it.
  
  “For people who know little about traditional jazz,  the book gives an idea what it’s about, what recordings to listen to and what  makes a true lover of that music,” Brodsky said. “For lovers of traditional  jazz, the book tells how things were in the great jazz revival in the 1940s  and 50s, which occurred mainly in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco  and Chicago. It was kind of a new generation that got acquainted with  traditional jazz, but this generation is rapidly dying, so I fear for the  future of the music. The book is to try to get people aware of it.”
  
  Traditional jazz music started in the late 1890s in  New Orleans, Brodsky said.
  “The original players were Creole and black  musicians. A group of them in the French quarter got a band together and  played a new kind of music. They made up tunes that are the standards, like  ‘Dippermouth Blues’ and ‘Canal Street Blues,’” Brodsky explained. “The  epitome of early musicians was early Louis Armstrong and his mentor, King  Oliver, in New Orleans.”
  
  Other famous jazz musicians were Kid Ory, and the  Dodds brothers - Johnny, a clarinetist, and Baby, a drummer.
  
  Brodsky first became interested in traditional jazz  through a friend whose father owned the WCAU radio station in Philadelphia.
  “My friend found early traditional jazz records at  the studio and got about five of us interested,” he said. “We formed a band  after we all got out of the Navy.”
  
  In the Greenwich Village area of New York after  World War II, “there were maybe 70 traditional jazz musicians, and they all  had jobs,” Brodsky said. He played the cornet. The revival of early jazz in  the 1940s meant that in New York there were 10 or 12 venues showcasing jazz  every night.
  
  “I made $25 a week playing every night except Monday  from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m.,” Brodsky remembered. “I played at a place that served  food, so I had two meals a day and all I could drink. My room cost $8 a week,  so I was living pretty well.”
  
  “World in a Jug” includes chapters “Hot Jazz  Defined,” “The New Orleans Story” and “Great Songs from Hot Jazz.” Brodsky  also added “Serenades for Mouldy Figges,” his slide show lectures on New  Orleans and Dixieland jazz. The book concludes with a look at today’s scene.  Throughout, Brodsky pays tribute to ensemble playing, which he calls “the  soul of hot jazz music.”
  
  “This is the music that evokes the emotions,”  Brodsky said. “This is the music that lets the players release the sum of  their life experiences.”
  
  Find the book
  “The World in a Jug, With Serenades for Mouldy  Figges” is available on Amazon.com. Those  interested in hearing traditional jazz can visit the South Bay New Orleans  Jazz Club, which meets the second Sunday of each month from 1 to 5 p.m. at  the Redondo Beach Knights of Columbus building at 214 Avenue I. Cost is $7  for members and $9 for nonmembers. All are welcome.
  
  Local authors can send information about their books  to Annie Lubinsky at annie.beachreporter at gmail.com.