[Dixielandjazz] Hank D'Amico

[Stephen G Barbone]

On Mar 6, 2010, at 8:34 PM, dixielandjazz-request at ml.islandnet.com  
wrote:

> <richard.flecknell at ntlworld.com> wrote (polite snip)
>
> Anyone interested can find D'Amico playing clarinet on the following  
> Red Norvo
> tracks Jazz-On-Line.com.  There are more tracks I'm sure but that's  
> all I can
> remember right now.
>
> Everyone's Wrong But Me
> Russian Lullaby
> I Was Doing All Right
> Do You Ever Think Of Me

Dear Richard:

Thanks for that. Great Site with a plethora of great music on it for  
folks who don't have extensive record collections.

Hank D'Amico was an early mentor of mine. He lived in Flushing NY,  
Queens County, about 3  blocks from my home. I went to High School  
with his son Hank Jr. and dated one of his daughters, Betty Lou. She  
was studying dance.

He often talked about his road time with Red Norvo & Mildred Bailey  
when they were together, and then with Mildred after she split from  
Red. He is probably on quite a few of Red's and Mildred's songs on  
that site. Especially around 1937 and 1938.

He was a beautiful man, humorous, gentle and kind and had a great  
family which, after settling down, he supported mainly through his  
studio work in NYC. He still free lanced jazz on the side with every  
OKOMer there, including Louis Armstrong. He was  a well schooled  
musician with a beautiful tone who died much too young from cancer.
Daughter Betty Lou also died young from cancer.

Lots of great jazz musicians lived in Queens County back then,  
including D'Amico, Basie, Gillespie, Armstrong, Lena Horne, Ella  
Fitzgerald, Clarence Williams, Eva Taylor, Milt Hinton, Fats Waller,  
Mercer Ellington, John Coltrane, Eddie Lockjaw Davis, Illinois  
Jacquet, Russell Jacquet, Earl Bostic, Wild Bill Davis, Slam Stewart,  
Cootie Williams, Oliver Nelson, James (Osie) Johnson, Lester Young and  
Rose Murphy. And even the Godfather of soul moved there in the 1960s.  
after buying a house from Ellington trumpeter Bart Williams.

Yes, they were all black except for D'Amico and lived mainly in the St  
Albans area of Queens, except for Gillespie and Armstrong who lived in  
the Corona section. These days you can take a tour of the "Jazz  
Neighborhoods" in Queens.

Some white jazz musicians besides D'Amico lived in Queens also. Most  
Notably Jimmy Durante way back when he led a jazz band, (between my  
house and D'Amico's) and bassist Jack Fay (often played at Nick's) who  
lived in the Bayside Section.

To see some of their houses, visit: (Paste it all into your browser)

http://queens.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ/Ya&zTi=1&sdn=queens&cdn=citiestowns&tm=8&f=10&tt=14&bt=0&bts=1&zu=http%3A//www.forgotten-ny.com/STREET%2520SCENES/jazztour/queensjazz.html



Cheers,
Steve Barbone
www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband