[Dixielandjazz] Keep (it) Swinging

Mon Sep 14 12:03:34 PDT 2015

Thanks for the piece about the Nice Jazz Festival. It was a memory-jogger for me. My pen pal in Petts Wood Kent, England, a jazz fan named Alan Wheatley, sent me an issue of Melody Maker that covered an early Nice festival—probably 1949. It was lively, reporting on the range of then-controversial traditional and bop participants. As I recall, Diz was quoted. When asked about his goatee, “Is that an affectation?” he answered, “No, it’s a fetish.” Re the controversy in the U.S., there was one view that the “rivalry” was fomented in the jazz and popular press because it was good copy and boosted sales. Still, many musicians participated willingly. In 1950 an enlightened grade 11 English teacher, Edwin Friedrich, allowed me to do the required research paper on the controversy rather than the usual stuff. e.g., Color Imagery in The Scarlet Letter. I had good sources from a range of journals—Down Beat, Record Changer, Saturday Review of Literature, etc. My bias at the time was towards early jazz and Dixieland. but it was a fair effort and the only writing I gave a damn about in high school. Wish I had saved it. 

I’ve tried unsuccessfully to hunt down Alan Wheatley, for old sake’s sake. I was 14 and he was 19, so it’s likely that he passed away. Tennyson: “O Death ion Life, the days that are no more!”

Charlie

> 
> The 1948 Jazz Festival in Nice - # 1
> <http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/KeepitSwinging/~3/ODrZ3zNkcvQ/the-1948-jazz-festival-in-nice-1.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email>
> 
> Posted: 13 Sep 2015 05:23 AM PDT
> The *Nice Jazz Festival* was founded by *Hugues Panassié* and lasted from
> the 22 to 28 February 1948. It featured a repertory of traditional jazz,
> swing, and bop music and was the first international jazz festival. Georg
> Lankester writes an extended essay about the festival. The text in Dutch
> was published earlier here
> <http://keepitswinging.blogspot.dk/2015/05/het-jazz-festival-van-1948-in-nice-part.html>,
> the second part in English will be published later.
> 
> *A World Premiere*
> 
> <http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vEnVcJDWuLU/VVy9L_W_jgI/AAAAAAAADSs/DJxGrNM1AZo/s1600/HuguesPanassie1.jpg>Hugues
> Pannasié
> In early 1948, when the greatest misery of the war slowly faded, president
> of the *Hot Club de France* organization *Hugues Panassié* had the idea to
> organize a jazz festival from February 22nd to 28th (- immediately after
> the carnival) at the Riviera in Nice. He relied on the earlier success of
> the film festival in Cannes and the ideas of the committee which organized
> festivities in the city of Nice.
> 
> It would be an absolute premiere, for never before had such a festival
> occurred in the world. Even the Americans had not organized anything of the
> like.
> 
> But Pannasié's initiative, announced in the magazine *"Jazz Hot"*, was
> primarily intended to get the traditional jazz into the spotlight. Because
> .... ..What was the state of art in Jazz? From the beginning of the 1940s
> had started a new jazz movement in the USA, the *bebop*. The swing was more
> or less on its peak.
> 
> <http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2EU9PtnyZBY/VVy98pV6RcI/AAAAAAAADS0/FIt1M0PapuU/s1600/Dela0001.jpg>Charles
> Delaunay
> Secretary *Charles Delaunay* (whose efforts had resulted in *Django
> Reinhardt’s* fame) was particularly fascinated by the new style, unlike
> Panassié. Even Django liked all modern. There was thus already registered
> the start of a conflict within the Hot Club de France organization.
> 
> While Panassié’s festival was sponsored and musicians like *Louis Armstrong*
> with his "All Stars" band had been invited, as well as other greats like *Earl
> Hines, Barney Bigard, Baby Dodds, Jack Teagarden, Rex Stewart* and *Mezz
> Mezzrow*, Delaunay contributed with 17 men counting on the orchestra of *Dizzy
> Gillespie* to participate. Bebop trumpeter Dizzy was shortly before the
> festival invited by Delaunay and now arose among jazz fans two camps:
> traditional or modern jazz.
> <http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MF9SyeM16Qs/VVy-pkE7cTI/AAAAAAAADTA/I6x06v5gWYo/s1600/dizzy%252C%2Bfrance%2B1948.JPG>Dizzy
> Gillespie, 1948
> Before he came to France, Dizzy was dogged by bad luck. In Paris, he gave a
> series of concerts at the famed *Salle Pleyel*. But Panassié, who attended
> the first concert, was extremely negative and stated that this was not
> jazz. On subsequent appearances there were clashes between supporters and
> opponents and even the gendarmerie had necessarily been involved.
> 
> 
> In the month prior to the Festival, *Django Reinhardt* played in the ABC
> theatre, near Les Halles. Dizzy went there one night after his performance.
> He found the guitarist along with bassist *Emmanuel Soudieux*. Django was
> positively surprised, because he had already met the trumpeter during his
> visit to America in 1946 and the two musicians had become good friends and
> admired each other.
> <http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-C8n_kI2JSts/VVy_bjt-VrI/AAAAAAAADTM/jetkpxyGTZY/s1600/dizzy-and-django.jpg>Dizzy
> Gillespie & Django Reinhardt
> Spontaneously that night resulted in a jam session which Soudieux
> remembered how great both musicians played and exchanged turns and what a
> pleasure they experienced doing it.
> 
> *Delaunay*also arranged a concert for Dizzy in Marseille plus - as
> mentioned earlier - participation in the great jazz event in Nice.
> 
> <http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UxDQAl9omxw/VVzAWGyk3WI/AAAAAAAADTY/BFGpx4FNz3g/s1600/signed%2Bfrontpage%2Bof%2Bfestival%2Bprogram%2B1948.jpg>Festival
> program
> *Jazz and Entertainment*
> 
> Now something about the actual festival: To maximize the attraction of the
> public to this event there had been reserved rooms the first day where
> could be danced to the music of famous orchestras, while later that week
> could be attended concerts.
> 
> <http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zGDMEnsDMzU/VVzBAqtxbkI/AAAAAAAADTg/E0GiJMW1Q-Q/s1600/hotel%2Bnegresco.jpg>Hotel
> Negresco
> It was mainly the Americans who entertained dance lovers in the large halls
> of the *Hotel Negresco*. But afterwards several band members joined - to
> the delight of many Frenchmen - jam sessions in other places, i.e. "*Monte
> Cristo*" or "*Christies*". Well known American musicians were treated with
> admiration and with all respect by the staff at Negresco. Especially the
> drummer of Armstrong's orchestra, *Sidney Catlett* and vocalist *Velma
> Middleton* led to the astonishment of the Negresco staff when ordering the
> most expensive drinks and meals at 4 o'clock in the morning.
> <http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-X7sInQlPNkE/VVzBgcVhwaI/AAAAAAAADTo/TcvWk2Irac0/s1600/group_Hotel%2BNegresco%252C%2BNice%2B1948.JPG>Hotel
> Negresco: l-r: Louis Vola, Barney Bigard, Django Reinhardt, Earl Hines,
> Stéphane Grappelli, Sidney Catlett, Arwell Shaw
> And there was, of course, enormous attention and praise for *Satchmo* and
> to a lesser extent, the famous French artist *Boris Vian*. Nice to say is
> that among the celebrities were also young European jazz musicians
> like *Humphrey
> Lyttlelton* and *Toots Thielemans*, who - as we know - later would make
> great furor.
> 
> During the "Nuit de Jazz” there was also a "Tour de Chant" with French
> singers *Yves Montand, Suzy Delaire* and coming from Nice *Henri Betti*;
> all naturally attracted extra crowds. The hall offered for this event for
> 600 visitors claimed 5,000 francs for each seating.
> 
> *Georg Lankester*
> 
> *--- *
> *Jo*
> *keepitswinging.domain at gmail.com <keepitswinging.domain at gmail.com>*
> 
> 
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