[Dixielandjazz] Phil Napoleon & more

[Stephen G Barbone]

On Jun 1, 2011, at 3:46 PM, Marek Boym wrote: (in part)

> Dear Steve,
> Semantics or not, I beg to disagree.
> We do not quite know what Daily played in 1930.  The review does not
> prove anything.  It even claims that "Napoleon's outfit features a lot
> of original players from the 1920s."  This alone casts serious doubt
> on the reviewer's knowledge of jazz history and understanding of the
> music itself.

Dear Marek:

Not to belabor the point, but  music critic Marshall Stearns whose  
review you first questioned as well as critic Bruce Elder disagree  
with you. That you would infer from a Marshall Stearns review that;  
"This alone casts serious doubt on the reviewer's knowledge of jazz  
history and understanding of the music itself"  is a leap to an  
erroneous conclusion.

Far be it from me to defend a critic, however Mr. Stearns besides  
being an author of books about jazz, and writer about jazz in numerous  
magazines like Variety, Downbeat etc., founded the Institute of Jazz  
Studies in his NYC apartment, then negotiated its relocation to  
Rutgers University in Trenton NJ. The Institute now claims to be the  
largest and most comprehensive library and archive of jazz in the  
world. Here is Mr. Stearns mission  statement, circa 1953.

"The general aim of the institute of jazz Studies is to foster an  
understanding and appreciation of the nature and significance of jazz  
in our society. More specifically, the institute proposes to work  
towards this goal by pooling the knowledge and skills of authors and  
musicians, who have pioneered in the field of jazz, with those of  
social scientists and other experts whose techniques and studies may  
be brought to bear on the subject. In this manner, jazz and related  
subjects will be given the rage and depth of scholarly study which  
they so richly deserve, and a vital but neglected area in American  
civilization will be illuminated."

The Institute's Board of Directors, back in the 1950s included John  
Hammond, Rudi Blesh, George Avakian, S.I. Hayakawa, et al. Some of the  
original members of the board of advisors included; Louis Armstrong,  
Dave Brubeck, Duke Ellington, W.C. Handy, Leonard Feather, Nesuhi  
Ertegun, Norman Gtanz, Clarence Williams, Doctor Edmond Souchon, et al.

If you wonder about director S.I.Hayakawa, he was a revered professor  
of English, Psychology and Semantics at various Universities and often  
used Trad jazz pianist Don Ewell as a guest in his lectures on  
semantics, complete with piano, to illustrate the relationship between  
semantics and music. Ewell, as you know was a stride guy who worked  
with originals like Bechet, Ory, Brunies, Bunk Johnson et al. As a  
sideline, Dr Hayakawa was an expert on traditional jazz, wrote  
numerous articles about it as well as album liner notes.

I suspect that Mr. Stearns knew more about the music itself than you  
and I put together.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone
www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband