[Dixielandjazz] Johnny 5/4 Guarnieri

[ROBERT R. CALDER]

When I was a schoolboy copies of DOWN BEAT were on sale in Glasgow Central Station 


and then and there  I found an interview in which Johnny Guarnieri declared that he would in future perform EVERYTHING in 5/4.
I think I still have the magazine -- Deliciously loopy! The Jitterbug one-and-two-thirds-ex-waltz..... ?


and then there was the late Ken Gallacher asking JG in Glasgow how he managed the prestissimo Trolley song.
I think Ken had the impression he had been leaning on the side of a bus,
rather than the piano at which JG was sat socialising,

and suddenly it sped off -- JG just started Clang Clang et cetera 


JG was possibly less selfless than Champion Jack Dupree --
the tale is I think from Jazz Score, of how one night in England there was no Jack and nearly no audience for his gig, 

and the booker strolled over to the "feeder" drinker/ pub across the road 

and Jack was singing and playing the pub piano for all the people who hadn't gone on to the venue 

(I think he was told he'd need to play in the venue and the punters to pay, or he have no fee!)

Why pay a man who likes doing what he's paid for?
Because he might like doing it even more and play even better!

Robert R. Calder