[Dixielandjazz] Dixielandjazz Digest, Vol 90, Issue 3

[Ken Mathieson]

Hi Dick,

Thanks  for availability info. I much prefer this clip, which has one of my 
all0-time drum heroes (after Sweep, of course) in action: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_BmeBfV-O4

trafurrynoo,

Ken


----- Original Message ----- 
From: <dixielandjazz-request at ml.islandnet.com>
To: "Ken Mathieson" <ken at kenmath.free-online.co.uk>
Sent: Thursday, June 03, 2010 6:12 PM
Subject: Dixielandjazz Digest, Vol 90, Issue 3


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>
> Today's Topics:
>
>   1. Re: Pessimism is justified....... oh no it's not!!! (Judy Eames)
>   2. Service For Darlene Perry, Sacramento Area (Robert Ringwald)
>   3. Playing where the people are (Stephen G Barbone)
>   4. Guitarist who read music - was pessimism etc. (Stephen G Barbone)
>   5. self-sacrifice (pcrums)
>   6. Hungarian OKOM (Marek Boym)
>   7. Sacramento Jazz Festival and Jubilee (Robert Ringwald)
>   8. Make Your Plans Now... (Robert Ringwald)
>   9. Mother-in-Law (Ken Mathieson)
>  10. Buddy Rich in trouble (Bill Haesler)
>  11. Baby Soda Jazz Band in Rochester NY this Friday
>      (Stephen G Barbone)
>  12. My new favorite band (Beth Schweitzer)
>  13. Re: My new favorite band (M J (Mike) Logsdon)
>  14. Sacramento Jubilee (Stephen G Barbone)
>  15. A couple Birthdays June 3 (Robert Ringwald)
>  16. Lead sheet request - Le Marchons de Poissons (Bob Williams)
>  17. Bing Crosby (Robert Ringwald)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Wed, 02 Jun 2010 20:09:55 +0100
> From: Judy Eames <jude at judyeames.co.uk>
> To: DJML <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Pessimism is justified....... oh no it's
> not!!!
> Message-ID: <4C06AC83.8000309 at judyeames.co.uk>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>
> David M Richoux wrote:
>> I agree with Judy - there are thousands of young music majors who can
>> read and play with a lot of skills.
> So it's a qualified agreement :-)
>> He also said
>> However, improvising jazz on the chords of songs is not taught well
>> enough,
> I'm not sure how easy it is to /teach /improvisation ..... all I know is
> that there are older players whose idea of improvising on the chord
> system is at best  hit and miss.  Our front line "youngsters", Ben
> Cummings, Jamie Brownfield, Amy Roberts, James Evans, Graham Hughes and
> many many others started out playing with traditional bands and there's
> great mutual respect between the generations.  The young guys have
> listened and they solo well. Maybe Euro youth are different from US youth?
>
>
>
> Jude
>
> www.judyeames.co.uk
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Wed, 2 Jun 2010 12:22:46 -0700
> From: "Robert Ringwald" <rsr at ringwald.com>
> To: "DJML" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Service For Darlene Perry, Sacramento Area
> Message-ID: <5A6FFA7FAE7A4B89995DFFCD47F44229 at hplap>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> As some of you might know, trumpeter Renard Perry's wife Darlene passed 
> Thursday night May 27.
>
> Her service will be:
>
> Thursday June 10,
> 1:00 PM
> the Sacramento Valley National Cemetery
> 5810 Midway Road, Dixon, CA.
>
> Cards or letters may be sent to:
>
> Renard Perry
> 139 Prospect Place
> Vacaville CA  95687
> 707/447-5565
> preston.perry at att.net
>
> Please pass the word.
>
>
> --Bob Ringwald
> Amateur (ham) Radio call sign K6YBV
> www.ringwald.com
> Fulton Street Jazz Band
> 916/806-9551
>
> "Critics can't even make music by rubbing their back legs together."
> --Mel Brooks
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Wed, 2 Jun 2010 16:32:07 -0400
> From: Stephen G Barbone <barbonestreet at earthlink.net>
> To: DJML <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Playing where the people are
> Message-ID: <D0D55458-2415-4603-A92A-4FD6AC39426E at earthlink.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=WINDOWS-1252; format=flowed;
> delsp=yes
>
> The below advice from the CD Baby Blog. (It has worked for us for the
> past 15 years)
>
> Cheers,
> Steve Barbone
> www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband
>
> Get outdoors and make more money!
> MAY 28, 2010
> Summer vacation doesn?t apply to musicians!
>
> Make the most of the sunshine by looking for some outdoor gigs this
> summer. Sure, they?re not always the most high-profile shows on the
> Cool-O-Meter, but they can be far more lucrative and expose you to a
> new audience that probably would NOT attend your midnight set at the
> club downtown. Oftentimes, the booking is handled by people who are
> not in the music industry, so expect to do a decent amount of reaching
> out. Always remember to be polite. Be professional. And make it clear
> why your act would be perfect for their event. The best part of
> course, is that most of these opportunities come with a decent payday,
> and once you make a good impression, they?ll usually have you back
> over and over again.  Here are some opportunities to consider:
>
> Summer Festivals ? Whether the festival is centered around music, art,
> or food, these fun, outdoor events work on the same principle:
> maximize attendance through a diversity of entertainment. You?ll
> probably be performing in front of a lot of strangers, but that is the
> way to win new fans. Contact the festival?s event planner/talent buyer
> about securing a slot.
>
> Farmers? Markets ? These community-conscious, locally-driven events
> are perfect for solo and low-volume acts who want to do their thing in
> front of a crowd of people already primed to support the independent
> spirit.
>
> Go Governmental ? You pay your taxes. Maybe you should let your town,
> city, or county pay YOU back! Contact your local government officials
> about publicly-funded festivals, street fairs, parades, library
> events, etc.
>
> Throw your own shindig ? If you?ve got a decent draw, it can be a
> great experience to put on your own show in a park or camp site where
> fans can congregate and have a good time all centered around a single
> theme? YOU!
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 4
> Date: Wed, 2 Jun 2010 17:04:42 -0400
> From: Stephen G Barbone <barbonestreet at earthlink.net>
> To: DJML <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Guitarist who read music - was pessimism etc.
> Message-ID: <8A8697DB-500E-41DC-8784-8935C1F04BD4 at earthlink.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed; delsp=yes
>
> No doubt a lot of musicians still do not read music well. However, let
> me defend some guitarists.
>
> The 'Session Guitarists" as a generalization, all read very well. Not
> only the chord charts, but single note lead sheets as well, putting
> chords that work where there are no chord signatures. Just about all
> session musicians have to read well in order to survive in that niche.
> Yes, there are one or two who can't read, however they are that rare
> exception, and like Bechet or Bix, or Chet Baker, not your usual muso.
> I'm lucky enough to have a session musician as the guitarist in my
> band. He reads both chord charts and lead sheets, in any key, and
> transposes into any key on the fly. (Of course he's an old guy)
>
> I once looked on in amazement, when we were playing at a wedding,
> while he read the piano music from Cinema Paradiso and along with our
> bass player, backed an opera singer who sang several of the songs for
> the happy couple.  He was sight reading the music that the singer had
> brought for a pianist, who never showed up.
>
> And occasionally I sub for a 22 year old clarinetist in a 20s -30s
> band. We did two gigs together and he sight read Fats Waller music on
> tunes he didn't know. Plus, after a chorus, he could improvise with
> the best of them.
>
> Lots of great young musicians out there. All they need is gigs.
>
> Cheers,
> Steve Barbone
> www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 5
> Date: Wed, 2 Jun 2010 14:09:50 -0700
> From: pcrums <pcrums at gmail.com>
> To: djml submit <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] self-sacrifice
> Message-ID:
> <AANLkTimUcKQl1mHVsoD_Wb4PUCnXK2IfOsDY0DlnfZX9 at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252
>
> I don?t really know how to thank Scott Anthony for his considerate and
> erudite announcement regarding my band ? so I won?t.    <grin>
>
>
>
> Is this a great list, or what?
>
>
>
> Phil Crumley
>
> Natural Gas Jazz Band ( your friendly hydrate preventer)
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>
> Scott sez, ?
> I made the following announcement at our final set in Sacramento on Sunday
> that I thought might be of interest:
>
> I just wanted to express all our appreciation for their courage and
> self-sacrafice for the benefit of the entire country to Phil Crumley,
> especially on the 40th anniversary celebration of the band: We heard on 
> CNN
> earlier in the day that BP was going to pump Natural Gas down into the
> broken blowout preventer to prevent the accumulation of hydrates.
>
> :)
>
> Scott Anthony
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 6
> Date: Thu, 3 Jun 2010 00:21:56 +0300
> From: Marek Boym <marekboym at gmail.com>
> To: Dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
> Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Hungarian OKOM
> Message-ID:
> <AANLkTing388VJ6s6D-IZ_EuyLfKRHK1IiwTNCMLRbfxJ at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>
> It so happened (not due to any planning) that recently I've listened
> to som excellent Hungarian OKOM.
> Every listmate should know the Bohem Ragtime Jazz Band, as Thamas is a
> frequent contibutor and often posts links to his band's videos.
> But there are others.  Benko Dixieland Band has played Sacto, and
> drawn very positive comment from such as Buddy Tate, Al Grey, Joe
> Newman and Eddy Davis.  So that band, too, should be known at least to
> some of those who attend Sacto.  BTW, I have just acquired another
> Benko LP, with the four gentlemen listed here.
> Not so the excellent Molnar Jazz Band (I don't know whether it still
> exists), or the Orient Jazz Band that recorded with Joe Muranyi
> (Jazzology JCD 266).
>
> So perhaps listmates should reach out slightly farther and listen to
> all those bands, better tah nmany (not all) of the bands so popular on
> the festival circuit.
>
> Right now, having reached across the Atlantic, I'm listening to The
> Little Big Horns (on You Tube) recorded at the Spotted Cat in 2010
> (they are young folks - the future, OUR future).
>
> But now I'm going to pour myself a beer and listen to another LP I
> bought yesterday (It's past midnight here) - by the British pianist
> Eddie Thonpson's Trio.
>
> Cheers
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 7
> Date: Wed, 2 Jun 2010 14:59:55 -0700
> From: "Robert Ringwald" <rsr at ringwald.com>
> To: "DJML" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Sacramento Jazz Festival and Jubilee
> Message-ID: <B98B1522F103445D959A3DD67DFFDF07 at hplap>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> http://www.sacramentopress.com/headline/28640/TRAD_JAZZ_FANS_FIND_LOTS_TO_ENJOY_AT_FESTIVAL
>
> --Bob Ringwald
> Amateur (ham) Radio call sign K6YBV
> www.ringwald.com
> Fulton Street Jazz Band
> 916/806-9551
>
> "Critics can't even make music by rubbing their back legs together."
> --Mel Brooks
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 8
> Date: Wed, 2 Jun 2010 15:46:57 -0700
> From: "Robert Ringwald" <rsr at ringwald.com>
> To: "DJML" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Make Your Plans Now...
> Message-ID: <62FA9072F39743598E58185606FFF122 at hplap>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> http://www.modbee.com/2010/06/02/1190483/well-be-back-next-year-jazz-festival.html
>
> --Bob Ringwald
> Amateur (ham) Radio call sign K6YBV
> www.ringwald.com
> Fulton Street Jazz Band
> 916/806-9551
>
> "Critics can't even make music by rubbing their back legs together."
> --Mel Brooks
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 9
> Date: Thu, 3 Jun 2010 00:36:30 +0100
> From: "Ken Mathieson" <ken at kenmath.free-online.co.uk>
> To: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Mother-in-Law
> Message-ID: <002001cb02ac$6db0b9c0$4001a8c0 at amd2500>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> Robert R Calder mentioned the hallowed Les Dawson in his posting on this 
> thread. For non-UK listees, Les was a poker-faced North of England 
> comedian who did loads of mother-in-law gags. A typical throw-away would 
> be his description of his mother-in-law having a face like a sack of 
> spanners! He told one about being in his dressing-room relaxing after a 
> show, when a stagehand came in and said "Les, there's 6 guys beating the 
> crap out of your mother-in-law in the lane at the back of the theatre." 
> Les just sat there drinking his tea, so the stagehand said "Aren't you 
> going to help?" Les thought for a bit, then said "No, six should be 
> enough!"
>
> He also had a gag about a guy from a small North of England town, who had 
> left school and gone straight to work in the town's sewage works. He had 
> never been out of the town in his life and, in his fifties, he was 
> persuaded by his workmates to go on the works' outing to a famous seaside 
> resort town, Blackpool. They were all walking along the sea-front when our 
> hero, unaccustomed to the fresh sea air, took a funny turn and collapsed. 
> It took 6 buckets of sh*t to bring him round!
>
> Cheers,
> Ken Mathieson
> www.classicjazzorchestra.org.uk
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 10
> Date: Thu, 3 Jun 2010 08:44:37 +1000
> From: Bill Haesler <bhaesler at bigpond.net.au>
> To: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>,
> Tradjazz at list.okom.com
> Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Buddy Rich in trouble
> Message-ID: <7E6BB332-CF95-460B-8DEB-AC26196CFE45 at bigpond.net.au>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
>
> Dear Friends,
> Buddy Rich and the drum battle of the 20th Century.
> Very kind regards,
> Bill.
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_BmeBfV-O4
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 11
> Date: Wed, 2 Jun 2010 22:02:12 -0400
> From: Stephen G Barbone <barbonestreet at earthlink.net>
> To: DJML <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Baby Soda Jazz Band in Rochester NY this
> Friday
> Message-ID: <8AFAF673-F403-423C-94B5-26710E085E52 at earthlink.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed; delsp=yes
>
> Here's another one of those fine, young, American jazz bands. If
> memory serves me right, this one is a NYC spin off of Loose Marbles,
> is led by Ed Polcer's son, and Ed himself has busked with them
> frequently in the NYC Subways.
>
> From the Rochester NY "City Newspaper".  Hey Bud Taylor and other
> listmates up that way, see them if you can get there. They are another
> example of a fine young OKOM band playing where the kids, and people
> in general, are.
>
> Cheers,
> Steve Barbone
> www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband
>
>
> DIXIELAND: Baby Soda (6/4)
> By Frank De Blase on June 2, 2010
>
> Sure, the cats in Baby Soda play indoors, but they prefer buskin' a
> move on the street and in the subway. This New York City band's
> cadence is Tin Pan Alley all the way, with dashes of gospel,
> Dixieland, and what was once called "hot music" in jazz's formative
> years. It jitterbugs and grooves like an instant party or a parked
> parade. Fans of The Asylum Street Spankers will love these guys. As
> the band refers to itself, "Baby Soda: developed by hoboes, perfected
> through science." This is gonna be a natural ball, I just know it.
>
> Baby Soda plays Friday, June 4 at 6 p.m. at Bop Shop/Village Gate, 274
> N Goodman St. Free. 271-3354.
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 12
> Date: Thu, 03 Jun 2010 07:58:31 -0700
> From: "Beth Schweitzer" <beth at portafortuna.com>
> To: "Dixieland MailingList" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] My new favorite band
> Message-ID:
> <20100603075831.091fd014feb183f578c457e70c75580e.760f9f8a6c.wbe at email.secureserver.net>
>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> Okay, they might not be STRICTLY OKOM, but they are incredibly good and
> probably already known to most of you. This is a German band, Quadro
> Nuevo, doing my favorite of their songs, "Tu Vuo Fa L'Americano."
>
> Enjoy!
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoNSekIPe7I
>
> Cheers,
> Beth
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 13
> Date: Thu, 3 Jun 2010 08:16:25 -0700 (GMT-07:00)
> From: "M J (Mike) Logsdon" <mjl at ix.netcom.com>
> To: DJML <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] My new favorite band
> Message-ID:
> <21953229.1275578185846.JavaMail.root at elwamui-little.atl.sa.earthlink.net>
>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
>
> Those guys are the best of several worlds in one!  Thanks for that!
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 14
> Date: Thu, 3 Jun 2010 11:42:56 -0400
> From: Stephen G Barbone <barbonestreet at earthlink.net>
> To: DJML <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Sacramento Jubilee
> Message-ID: <07C68C46-6457-4A4D-9D25-2FAD5DC6F1C8 at earthlink.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed; delsp=yes
>
> Bob Ringwald posted a link to a neat report on the 2010 Jubilee. in
> case some missed a link in that report, see the Swing Dancers there at:
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5ydoKnELmA
>
> Great to see the KIDS at an event like this.
>
> Note also the 15 second TV advertisements for the Jubilee courtesy of
> Ace Hardware.
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBSij4AeCjg&feature=related
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjhvPgHKwTA&NR=1
>
> Geared toward YOUNG folks. Yay.
>
> Cheers,
> Steve Barbone
> www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 15
> Date: Thu, 3 Jun 2010 09:29:47 -0700
> From: "Robert Ringwald" <rsr at ringwald.com>
> To: "DJML" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] A couple Birthdays June 3
> Message-ID: <30E212D6174A4965AF13E0C00BC94D26 at hplap>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> 1906: Josephine Baker
> 1930: Dakota Staton
>
>
> --Bob Ringwald
> Amateur (ham) Radio call sign K6YBV
> www.ringwald.com
> Fulton Street Jazz Band
> 916/806-9551
>
> "Critics can't even make music by rubbing their back legs together."
> --Mel Brooks
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 16
> Date: Thu, 3 Jun 2010 09:38:37 -0700
> From: Bob Williams <bob.c.williams at gmail.com>
> To: DJML Mailing List <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Lead sheet request - Le Marchons de Poissons
> Message-ID: <551FA06B-4E50-440B-AF12-A142B299137C at gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed; delsp=yes
>
> A friend asked for a lead sheet for Le Marchons de Poissons and I said
> I would check with my friends on the DJML.
>
> I think it means "The March of the Poison."
>
> Thanks,
> Bob Williams
> World Most Blah Blah Blah
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 17
> Date: Thu, 3 Jun 2010 10:12:10 -0700
> From: "Robert Ringwald" <rsr at ringwald.com>
> To: "DJML" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Bing Crosby
> Message-ID: <57A1FB3FA18841DABD3C139594CB12F8 at hplap>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> Bada Bing: Crooner Bing Crosby Left a Valley Legacy
> by Bruce Fessier
> Palm Springs Desert Sun, June 1, 2010
>
> A push is on again to return Bing Crosby to his rightful place in pop 
> culture history.
> Crosby was a superstar and a scion to such pop icons as Frank Sinatra, 
> Elvis Presley,
> the Beatles and Michael Jackson.
> Bing Crosby Enterprises and Collectors' Choice have just released six 
> deluxe CDs
> of his solo recordings from 1931 until his death in 1977, acknowledging, 
> as music
> critic Will Friedwald wrote in the Wall Street Journal, "while the estates 
> of Sinatra
> and Presley have taken steps to make sure the catalogs of these iconic 
> artists remain
> accessible, the only Crosby music that has been readily available (has 
> been) Christmas
> albums and basic greatest-hits collections."
> Crosby's grandson, Phil Crosby, also is performing songs of the 1930s and 
> '40s with
> an eight-piece band and telling stories about his grandfather. Palm 
> Springs-based
> promoter Les Michaels has him playing Vitello's in Studio City on Sunday 
> and says
> he may bring him to the desert on a subsequent Sunday.
> Of course, Bing Crosby's Restaurant and Piano Lounge was christened in 
> Rancho Mirage
> less than three years ago by his widow, Kathryn Crosby.
> Crosby, who was called "the first hip white person born in the United 
> States" by
> the late big band leader Artie Shaw, also deserves to come out from the 
> shadows of
> Sinatra and Presley as a significant desert pioneer.
> He wasn't the first superstar singer to retreat here. His idol, Al Jolson, 
> spent
> his honeymoon with Ruby Keeler at the El Mirador Hotel in Palm Springs in 
> 1929. Crosby
> continued the Coachella Valley honeymoon tradition with his second wife, 
> Kathryn,
> in 1957. Elvis and Sinatra followed in 1967 and 1976, respectively.
> The late Bob Hope once told me Crosby wasn't much of a desert person. But 
> his wife,
> Dolores, said one reason Bob agreed to host his golf tournament was 
> because Crosby
> had one in Pebble Beach.
> Crosby also:
> - Was one of the first residents of Thunderbird Country Club, the oldest 
> 18-hole
> golf course in the Coachella Valley.
> - Hosted President John F. Kennedy at his Palm Desert home in a move that 
> helped
> break up Sinatra's Rat Pack.
> - Co-founded one of the nation's first luxury mobile home parks in Rancho 
> Mirage,
> which he named after his Irving Berlin hit "Blue Skies."
> Early jazz influences
> Crosby, born in 1903 in Tacoma, Wash., was the first white singer with a 
> major band
> to synthesize the sounds of jazz artists like Louis Armstrong and Bix 
> Beiderbecke.
> After going solo in 1927, Crosby charted 368 records under his name, plus 
> 28 as a
> vocalist with various bandleaders. By comparison, Sinatra had 209, Elvis 
> had 149
> and the Beatles had 68.
> Jazz critic Gary Giddins says no one came close to his number of studio 
> recordings.
> Crosby was also a radio star longer than anyone, from 1931 to 1962, and 
> the No. 1
> film star at the box office five times.
> He was at his peak of popularity when he rang in 1940 at the Palm Springs 
> Racquet
> Club. He also hung out with such local friends as band leader Phil Harris, 
> songwriter
> Jimmy Van Heusen, and that fellow Hope, with whom he had performed at the 
> Paramount
> Theatre in New York, and who he'd soon star with in their legendary "Road" 
> movies.
> Crosby's first wife, Dixie, died in 1952 and Bing bought a home at the new 
> Thunderbird
> Country Club.
> He was seen as something of a desert recluse living across Highway 111 
> from Harris,
> but Kathryn told me the reason he bought that home was to be near the golf 
> course
> and not in the line of fire of golf balls.
> "He would scoot across the main highway on his little golf cart and play 
> golf," she
> said. "He'd smile at Phil because golf balls would come in his glass 
> windows every
> day."
> Kathryn met Bing while he was living at Thunderbird. They were engaged to 
> be married
> in Hidden Lake, Idaho, in 1956, but the wedding was canceled when Kathryn 
> let it
> become a media circus.
> "The church was full of reporters and photographers," Kathryn said a 
> couple years
> ago. "I had confided our plans to 10 or 12 close friends in strict 
> confidence, and
> you know how that is."
> They didn't speak for a year.
> Kathryn went to Spain to make the film "The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad," and 
> Crosby
> began writing her notes. He also began building a more reclusive house in 
> Palm Desert.
> They were married in Las Vegas in October 1957 and returned that afternoon 
> to Bing's
> new house near what is now Ironwood Country Club.
> "He had a wonderful builder-designer, Howard Lapham," Kathryn said. "All 
> there was
> outside was pyracanthas, smoke trees, sand, cacti and two palm trees at 
> the end of
> the swimming pool."
> Their primary home was in Holmby Hills, near Beverly Hills, but Kathryn 
> said Bing
> was so enamored by architecture and construction that he wanted to build 
> homes everywhere
> they went.
> "Every time we went on vacation, he would come back with architects' plans 
> and lot
> availabilities," she said. "It was always, 'No, you don't really want a 
> home in Jamaica.
> No, visiting Hawaii is great, but let's don't build there.' He loved to 
> plan buildings.
> He loved to build homes."
> In 1955, Bing took an idea by Pete Petito, road manager of his four sons' 
> singing
> group, and built the luxury Blue Skies Village mobile home park in what is 
> now Rancho
> Mirage.
> It didn't feature cookie-cutter designs, like many of the mobile home 
> parks built
> after World War II. The streets were named after movie stars.
> "The idea of having a community center in the middle for everybody to be 
> part of
> -- to make a community out of this instead of just a lot of mobile homes 
> stacked
> one after another was a new concept," said Kathryn. "It was fun."
> Bing and Kathryn had three children. When they got old enough to go to 
> school, they
> moved to Baja California so Bing could fish and be around his children, 
> too.
> "What happened was, (Bing) found a place he loved to fish in Baja 
> California," Kathryn
> said. "Huge marlins went right outside your door. So when the children got 
> to be
> school age, we could take them out of the country. Since I was a teacher, 
> we could
> teach them there. I was one of the early home-school girls. If we had gone 
> down to
> Palm Desert, we would have had to put them into school there."
> The Crosbys were in Baja when President Kennedy decided to visit former 
> President
> Dwight Eisenhower in the Coachella Valley. Sinatra, who had helped get 
> Kennedy elected,
> was so looking forward to the visit, he expanded his compound for Kennedy 
> to use
> as a Western White House.
> But Kennedy's brother, Bobby, the attorney general, was wary of the 
> president staying
> with a man known to have ties to organized crime. JFK instead stayed at 
> Crosby's
> vacant Palm Desert home.
> When his brother-in-law, Rat Pack member Peter Lawford, told Sinatra of 
> JFK's plans,
> Sinatra erupted and never spoke to Lawford again.
> Sinatra had idolized Crosby. He wouldn't lash out at him. But, when 
> filming began
> on Sinatra's next film, the 1963 Chicago Mafia spoof "Robin and the Seven 
> Hoods,"
> Crosby replaced Lawford as the articulate "do-gooder," Alan A. Dale. They 
> finished
> shooting after President Kennedy was assassinated in November.
> Kathryn said if Bing had known his hospitality would cause Sinatra such 
> distress,
> "I don't think he would have opened his house to the president," she said.
> "But when the president's people call and say, 'May he stay at your 
> house?' Of course
> he can. You can't say no to the president."
> But when the Crosbys tired of Baja California in 1964, they moved to 
> Hillsborough
> instead of Palm Desert.
> Crosby made only one more film, "Stagecoach," in 1966. But he never 
> stopped recording.
> The Bing Crosby Enterprises series shows the breadth of his music, from 
> jazz to traditional
> pop with inflections of Latin and Hawaiian styles. You can check it out at
> http://www.ccmusic.com/room.cfm?id=212
>
>
> --Bob Ringwald
> Amateur (ham) Radio call sign K6YBV
> www.ringwald.com
> Fulton Street Jazz Band
> 916/806-9551
>
> "Critics can't even make music by rubbing their back legs together."
> --Mel Brooks
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
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> End of Dixielandjazz Digest, Vol 90, Issue 3
> ********************************************


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