[Dixielandjazz] Slim Gaillard

[Marek Boym]

I may not be the greatest admirer of Slim, but does the mention of JAZZ
SCORE bring back memories!  What a lovely programme!
But if those who don't know it think it's about"score," they are greatly
mistaken.  Sure, there was a score at the end (Humph always won - when he
participated), but it really was a stand-up comedy programme.  Only
American participants, when there were any, would give straight answers,
with the exception of Bob Wilber who had bey then lived in the UK for a
while and got the hang of things there; the Brits mostly told funny
anecdotes, often without even trying to answer the question posed.  Aker's
gruff comments...  And there were snatches of very good music.
Oh, memories, memories....
Cheers

On 14 August 2015 at 03:24, ROBERT R. CALDER <serapion at btinternet.com>
wrote:

> There ought to be a recording somewhere of Slim Gaillard's appearance on
> JAZZ SCORE, including the magnificent monologue in response to the question
> what is a tiple. This waxed so lyrical, with the full resources of Slim's
> beautiful bass voice, that the final word "melt" did seem to flow ...A
> transcript of the monologue would be wonderful, although even better would
> be its encapsulation as an mp3.
> I could listen to it over and over...
>
> I do remember a reference to some odd behaviour in a press review of
> Slim's gig on a recommissioned ferryboat during a Glasgow jazz festival.
> The whole tale has been told by Maestro Mathieson in an earlier ennoblement
> of this page.
>
> I cannot remember where or when, but George Melly reminisced about Slim,
> and an extreme unworldiness amounting to being unaware quite how nasty
> things were during the period of factional strife in Northern Ireland.
> Melly had the impression that when Slim saw the armed personnel at the
> airport that he thought it had something to do with him. "Are they
> expecting a race riot?" Slim asked George as they disembarked.
>
> The TV documentary SLIM GAILLARD'S CIVILISATION came in two parts, only
> the first of which I remember having seen on YouTube.
>
>  There was also the ostensibly unrelated documentary film marking I think
> the centenary or perhaps longer, of the Chelsea Arts Club, in London,
> echoes of Oscar Wilde and James Abbot MacNeill Whistler --  the members
> were sitting chatting and consuming the ceremonial but filling breakfast
> and sounding glum talking by and large of Slim's recent demise.
>
> Unfortunately I missed his I think UK debut, at the Queen's Hall in
> Edinburgh, where the efficient review suggested he hadn't quite worked out
> a programme.  Alastair Robertson at Hep Records would doubtless have lots
> to tell.
> Another thing I would like to hear and see again is the TV commercial for
> Scottish Amicable, who invested soundly in Slim as performer.  An admirable
> straight vocal performance -- and the wonderfully spoken closing line "Are
> you an amicable man?"  Mellifluous ... and presumably for Slim modestly
> lucrative.
>
> all the best to Pensacola and other listmates
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> To unsubscribe or change your e-mail preferences for the Dixieland Jazz
> Mailing list, or to find the online archives, please visit:
>
> http://ml.islandnet.com/mailman/listinfo/dixielandjazz
>
>
>
> Dixielandjazz mailing list
> Dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
>