[Dixielandjazz] Slim Gaillard

[Charles Suhor]

Sad. I’m glad I didn’t know about SG’s flaws. Just working from some of his recordings, we could hear him as a hip, witty m*********. Standing back, I think it’s useful to know about the downside of artists we admire (that includes Bix, Bird, Billie, and so many others) but important to carry with us the pleasure they provided. 

Charlie



> On Aug 20, 2015, at 10:45 AM, Ken Mathieson <ken at kenmath.free-online.co.uk> wrote:
> 
> Hi Folks,
> 
> I mailed Alastair Robertson of Hep Records about his recollections of recording Slim and here's his reply:
> snip>
> Slim was essentially a con man - he parlayed his considerable personality to make up for a basic lack of knowledge. He made a lot out of almost nothing but who hasn't? He wasn't an uncle Tom but I don't think he cared much for Whitey other than a source of income. I don't think many people over here knew exactly what made him tick but I don't think he knew either but was happy to ride his luck.
> <snip
> So there you have it: in a single favourite Glasgow word - a chancer! The audience at the Black Bull Jazz Club didn't know what to make of him as his performance consisted of a small number of musical pieces, mostly in the same key and with the same chords (I Got Rhythm and its common variants), interspersed with long interludes of McVouty chat which quickly became pretty repetitive. He also seemed completely indifferent to the fact that his guitar was wildly out of tune during the first set and didn't seem to notice that the house bassist had retuned it during the interval. Aside from that he was pleasant, if eccentric, company.
> 
> Cheers,
> Ken
> 
> 
> 
> 
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