[Dixielandjazz] Brian Rust-- article from Journal of IAJRC by Horace Harris

[Marek Boym]

Oh, the mention of Rex Harris and Brian Rust!
In the mid-fifties, they published "Recorded Jazz: A Critical Guide,"
to whidh I refer as "the Bible" to this day.  Not that I agree with
everything they say, as on should with the gospel; actually, I
consider myself lucky to have heard Red Nichols BEFORE reading the
Book, andf the ODJB - after.
Cheers

On 5 February 2011 17:18, Norman Vickers <nvickers1 at cox.net> wrote:
> To: DJML & Musicians & Jazzfans
>
> From:  Norman Vickers, Jazz Society of Pensacola
>
> Horace M. Harris, our British correspondence on both lists, published this
> article about Brian Rust in the IAJRC ( International Assocation of Jazz
> Record Collectors) Journal in June 2010.
>
> In case you missed it, I posted obituary yesterday from NY Times, although
> he died in early January, NYT just got around to doing the obituary piece
> about him.
>
> Horace  has kindly granted permission to reproduce here.  Thanks, Horace.
> Keep those e-mails coming.
>
> ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
>
> THE  YOUNG  “LIFE  OF  BRIAN”
>
>
>
> By  Horace Meunier  Harris
>
>
>
> The London-based  Melody Maker, founded in 1926 as a monthly and before long
> becoming a weekly,  was the organ of the British dance band profession.  Its
> wartime editor, Ray Sonin, was sympathetic to jazz and in 1941 commenced
> publishing a regular column called “Collectors’ Corner”, which was initially
> controlled by Bill Elliott  and Jeff Aldam, prominent members of the No. 1
> Rhythm Club in London.  Jeff was replaced by Rex Harris, a London optician
> and no relation to myself, while later Max Jones took the place of Bill.
>
>
>
> One of the early regular contributors to the column was Brian Rust, as
> indeed I myself was to become in due course.  From the beginning his
> involvement showed great erudition and before long he became humorously
> known to collectors generally as “The Sage of Edgware” (a town in the County
> of Middlesex where he lived).  Another early and knowledgeable contributor
> was Ralph Venables (call me “Rafe”), who was referred to as “The Oracle of
> Tilford” (after his domicile in the County of Surrey).  The authors of one
> of their joint early discographies were shown in print as "The Oracle and
> The Sage" !
>
>
>
> Brian is four years my senior and worked in a bank, then transferred his
> employment to the extensive Gramophone Library of the British Broadcasting
> Corporation in London.  A lengthy and illuminating jazz correspondence
> ensued between us for a number of years.  His letters were immaculately
> typed and he used a numerical system for filing their copies, which looked
> not unlike English Brunswick catalog numbers.  For example, you might
> receive one with the reference 03712, while its successor a week or two
> later  could bear number  03801  To reply using the appropriate reference
> was de rigueur !
>
>
>
> As the war progressed  a flurry of “little” jazz magazines came into being.
> The first of these in 1943 was Jazz Music - The Bulletin of the Jazz
> Sociological Society, edited by Albert McCarthy and Max Jones, closely
> followed by Discography (For the Jazz Student), edited by Max’s brother,
> Cliff Jones, and Jazz Record (no connection with the Chicago magazine of the
> same name produced by Art Hodes) edited by James Asman and Bill Kinnell, of
> Nottinghamshire.
>
>
>
> Yet another was Jazz Tempo (Official Bulletin of The North London &
> Southgate Jazz Society), edited by John Rowe.  Brian Rust was a major
> contributor to this and  the editorial for  No. 8, dated June 21st, 1943,
> stated, “With this issue we commence the first of a series of discographical
> articles by Brian.  An acknowledged expert on matters relating to record
> matrix numbers, dates, etc., he is in the throes of compiling complete Okeh
> and American Columbia catalogues dating from way back.”   These were duly
> serialised in Jazz Tempo, including complete listings for the O.D.J.B.,
> Bessie Smith, The Goofus Five and others.  You will note that even in those
> early days Brian thought big and immersed himself in many a challenging
> project.
>
>
>
> His introduction in that same issue stated: “For some 2 ½ years I have been
> engaged on the seemingly overwhelming task of tracing all, or as many as are
> humanly possible, of the 30,000 sides recorded by the combined firms of Okeh
> and Columbia in the U.S.A.”
>
>
>
> Another regular column in Jazz Tempo was called “Platter Patter”, conducted
> by the Jazz Tempo Brains Trust.  ("The Brains Trust" was the title of a long
> running and very popular weekly series broadcast on The Home Service
> wireless program of the BBC in wartime.)  The column in Jazz Tempo answered
> questions each month submitted by subscribers and was modulated by R. G. V.
> Venables,  C. W. Langston White, Charles Fox and, of course, B. A. L. Rust.
>
>
>
> Example:    "Do Goodson (flexible) records tie up with American Vocalions?
> Are the Memphis Jazzmen a Ben Pollack bunch?  Do the Dixie Ragpickers
> feature Red Nichols?  - (Elliott Goldman, Hendon)."  Answer:  "No, the only
> tie-up which I can trace is with Van Dyke.  As regards the Pollack and
> Nichols query, the answer is "no" to both.  -
> B.A.L.R."
> .
>                                                                                                                                                            Brian
> also contributed feature articles to sundry publications, for example, “On
> Gennetts”, “Mrs Louis”, “Muggsy Spanier’s Ragtime Band” and similar
> subjects.   However, publication of the epic Okeh-Columbia discography was
> never completed at the time, as all these “little” jazz magazines were
> closed down by officialdom.  Wartime paper was strictly rationed and only
> allocated, sparingly, for the use of publications that existed prior to the
> outbreak of war.
>
>
>
> It would have been early 1944, before  my call-up for military service, that
> Brian and I first met.  I was not disappointed nor surprised to find that he
> looked like, acted like and spoke like the archetypal academic.  He gazed at
> one somewhat owlishly through his glasses, but his thoughts were crystal
> clear.
> .
>                                                                                         .
>                                 Fellow collector Derrick Stewart-Baxter and
> I invited him to Brighton for the day.  There was no petrol for private
> motoring so he travelled the 50 miles from London by train and we took him
> to lunch in the upstairs restaurant of The Cricketers pub in Black Lion
> Street, Brighton.  As I recall, we spent the entire day discussing personnel
> queries!  I remember it clearly because I was so delighted to meet with him
> that I insisted on paying for the lunch, a total of ten shillings and
> sixpence for the three of us and half my weekly salary as a junior clerk in
> an insurance company’s office!
>
>
>
> Twenty years after the above, to be precise on September 30, 1963, Brian
> visited New York City and attended The Collectors' Conclave, organised by
> Robert Mantler and others.  Duncan Scheidt was present and wrote about the
> occasion in the Fall 2000 issue of the IAJRC Journal.   I quote:   "Every
> inch the Englishman, Brian looked like a casting director's cryptologist or
> atomic scientist, and surely, had he chosen, his dedication and mastery of
> detail could have suited him for either field."
>
>
>
> I could not have put it better myself!
>
>
>
> (14 December, 2009)
>
>
>
>
>
> N.B.   There are three useful images of Brian in Nick Dellow's article about
> him on the VJM website.
>
>