[Dixielandjazz] New Iberia Blues --Re: Early Jazz Drum solo recordings

[Ralph Blanchette]

Dear Bob,

Your welcome, thanks for the personnel on that track, and I have an update.  I wrote:

>I searched the web for some background on this tune but found nothing other than a mention that Bunk Johnson died in New Iberia, LA in 1949.

I have since learned the following from Dutch jazz man Willem Weijts who maintains a "Bunk Johnson Homepage" in English (http://www.weijts.scarlet.nl/bj.htm). (And similarly on http://www.jazz.com/encyclopedia/johnson-bunk-william-geary.) Weijts writes in part:

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In 1914 Bunk left New Orleans. He travelled a lot and played in many bands.

In 1931 Evan Thomas recruited some musicians for his famous Black Eagles Band. One of them was George Lewis, who played an important role in Bunk's second carreer in the forties. The band started preparations for a tour of the South-west and Mexico. Before the tour began properly, a danceparty was organised in a small town named Rayne. There was a large crowd present, for the Blach Eagles were very popular and they had been out of action for two years. It all ended in a fight in which Evan Thomas was killed and most of the band's instruments were damaged. Only George Lewis managed to save his clarinet, but Bunk lost both his trumpet and his teeth. It was the end of his carreer, for the time being.

He moved to New Iberia and tried to make a living in different jobs. Music was only a minor interest.

Jazz was developping during the years and by the end of the thirties 'swing' was in. However, many people remembered the traditional jazz and were interested in the bachground of it. In 1938 Frederic Ramsey jr. and Charles Edward Smith did research for a book on the subject and involved Bill Russell, a well-known collector of early jazz records. They interviewed many of the musicians of the early days and many of them remembered Bunk Johnson. At last they found him and he indicated that he still was able to play, given two problems solved: trumpet and teeth. Leonard Bechet, Sidneys brother, was a dentist and solved the problem 'teeth'. The members of the Lu Watters band in San Fransisco, who were enthousiastically re-creating the old styles of jazz, collected money and thus solved the problem 'trumpet'. The results were more than anybody had expected. Bunk played like he did in the old days.
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So I can't prove it, but it seems likely that Bunk's "New Iberia Blues" is a musical reflection on how you feel when your band leader and friend is killed, you lose your trumpet, your teeth, and your career in music, and settle New Iberia to try to survive as a farm laborer. Maybe the misery in that piece is not as exagerated as I thought.

Regards,

Ralph


----- Original Message ----- 
From: ROBERT JOHN SMITH 
To: Ralph Blanchette 
Sent: Monday, September 09, 2013 9:25 AM
Subject: Re: Early Jazz Drum solo recordings


Dear Ralph,

Many thanks for your E-mail, and "New Iberia Blues".

Here's what I have on this recording:

Bunk Johnson's Band: Bunk Johnson (tpt); Jim Robinson (tbn); George Lewis (clt); Lawrence Marrero (bj); Alcide "Slow Drag" Pavageau (bs); Sidney Brown (tu); Baby Dodds (d)

"San Jacinto Hall", New Orleans,LA 7:45 to 11:45 pm, 1944-07-31

214 New Iberia Blues     American Music AMCD17 [CD]

Although I have quite a few Bunk Johnsons in my collection, I've not previously had any recordings from the above session, so I was really pleased to receive your mp3. This is now carefully preserved on two hard discs and one MiniDisc.

Kind Regards

Bob