[Dixielandjazz] Rhythmakers tribute this week on Riverwalk Jazz

[Donald Mopsick]

Many of you are already familiar with the remarkable set of 1932
recordings The Rhythmakers, also known variously as Eddie Condon or
Billy Banks and the Rhythmakers, or Jack Bland's Rhythmakers. The
sessions were commissioned by Irving Mills to publicize appearances at
Connie's Inn by the vaudeville female impersonator Billy Banks, who is
remembered today only for his presence on these recordings. Condon
hired the musicians.

Riverwalk Jazz this week presents a tribute to these records starring
trumpeter Duke Heitger and Clint Baker, who in this case plays guitar.
Howard Elkins also plays tenor banjo, thus evoking the sound of the
originals that had both Bland and Condon on plectrum lutes
manufactured by the Vega company for banjoists who didn't want to go
through the painful process of learning new fingerings to play the
standard 6-string guitar, newly popularized at that time by Eddie
Lang. The rest of the originals included Red Allen, Pee Wee Russell,
Tommy Dorsey, Joe Sullivan, Fats Waller, Zutty Singleton, Gene Krupa,
Al Morgan, Pops Foster, and others. Because it was a mixed-race band,
live appearance at that time was out of the question.

If you are a fan of Jurassic Jazz and haven't heard Duke Heitger yet,
now's your chance to discover this great artist. If you manage to go
through life without ever hearing Duke, consider your life
significantly diminished. There are only a handful of trumpet/cornet
men alive playing with this much fire in the Armstrong/Allen style.

I was responsible for putting together the music for this show. It
wasn't difficult, I pretty much followed the original arrangements.
The ensemble does swing rather hard, in my opinion. The rest of the
players: Mike Waskiewicz on drums, Jim Cullum, cornet, Ron Hockett,
clarinet, Kenny Rupp, trombone, Howard Elkins on banjo and vocals,
John Sheridan, piano.

The following story comes from marty Grosz:

After making The Rhythmakers recordings and headlining at Connie’s
Inn, Billy Banks worked around New York for a short while, then went
on tour in Europe, eventually settling in Tokyo.

Three decades later in 1964, on tour with the Eddie Condon All-Stars
in Japan, Pee Wee Russell had a reunion with Billy Banks. Pee Wee had
not seen Banks since The Rhythmakers sessions in 1932 in New York.
After an initial greeting, Pee Wee asked Banks, “So—you got any more
gigs?”

Stream it here all this week.

http://riverwalkjazz.org

mopo

-- 
http://about.me/donmopsick