[Dixielandjazz] "Punch Archives"

[Charles Kercher]

Many on the DJML will know John "Punch" Thomas, a top-notch jazz cornet player, vocalist, and entertainer. Recently John set about combing through tapes that were made at sessions and concerts over 40-some years and extracting selections that ended up making 23 CDs with 320 tunes. His name for what is really a musical autobiography is "Punch's Archives." Besides giving sets to some family members he had a few requests for sets from close friends. Interestingly, two complete sets were acquired by Music Department faculty at the University of North Florida.

In a foreword to Eddie Condon's "Scrap Book of Jazz," John Steinbeck wrote some great observations about jazzmen that he had known. He ended up writing, "They aim at excellence and apparently at nothing else." "They are hard to buy and if bought they either backslide into honesty or lose the respect of their peers."  Of the many that I have known, John might be the purest example of these statements. 

During the few years that Liz and I were in fairly regular contact with John, he rattled around Florida's length and breadth in an old Toyota carrying a joyful message about jazz to all. An example of this joy received would be a time when the fans that he was regularly entertaining--in one area for a spell--bought him a vintage French Besson cornet. 

Back in the early 80s, John put together a fake book called, "The Dixie Player's Fun Book." After a small first printing its use has, by virtue of copying, spread all across the country and I know of a couple of cases of its use overseas. He says, "I put it together with the hope that it would help a lot of Dixie groups that only knew 25 tunes. It has errors. and I never thought that it would see such general use." 

I hope that John doesn't mind my relating this: The last few years have brought some bad hits to his health and he hasn't played in recent times. I happen to know that he really could use some bucks. Putting this together with his pure drive to bring the joy of this music to all in his purview seems to me to set up a twofer for all who care about such things: one, a chance to give something back to a great giver and, two, a chance to get a CD or many CDs that are a real listening pleasure. No tune is repeated on these CDs and John put a selection of groups on each CD. A listener will find a combination of groups on each CD, some with personnel that we all know, love, and admire, and others that have very good players that have no wide-spread name. I'll assure all that any CD with its combination of these cuts can be addictive.
 
John is not online, and to save postage I am glad to receive any response to this message and pass it along. Or you can write to him at 503 W. 65th St., Jacksonville, FL 32208.  His phone number is (904) 765-6816. 

Chuck Kercher