[Dixielandjazz] Forrie Cairns and Cy (was Wally Fawkes Birthday)

[Steve Voce]

'Trad' was the commercial boom that came during the '50s when you didn't 
need much talent to get rich. It was the age of 'gimmicks' - bowler hats 
etc.

Chris Barber's1949 band was not trad and was in fact one of his most 
interesting. It had Ben Cohen on cornet (there were two cornets) and a 
good clarinet player). Chris didn't compromise, and although parallel to 
it, didn't play 'trad'. Nor did Humph, of course. After Humph, Past 
Halcox was the outstanding trumpeter in that field. Chris was always an 
accomplished musician,  while the 'trad' fellows tended to learn on the 
job, as far as they were able to.

Steve Voce


On 26/06/2017 14:37, Marek Boym wrote:
> Forrie Cairns is not sufficiently well known  I have a Clyde Valley 
> CD, but nevertheless have no real opinion on Cairns.
> As to Steve's comment re. "Trad" - aren't we pigeonholing too much?  
> When did "Trad" start?  Was the 1949 Barber trad (the name had not yet 
> been used)?  And George Webb?
> Cheers
>
> On 26 June 2017 at 01:25, Ken Mathieson <ken at kenmath.free-online.co.uk 
> <mailto:ken at kenmath.free-online.co.uk>> wrote:
>
>     Hi All,
>     I'm not taking sides in the Cy Laurie stand-off, nor indulging in
>     lists pointless or otherwise, but the absence of one name from
>     this thread has been conspicuous: Forrie Cairns. He's retired from
>     playing now, but still to the fore in Edinburgh, having spent most
>     of his career in London and Zurich. His pro career involved
>     playing with the Clyde Valley Stompers before leading his own
>     Clansmen until trad jazz slipped off the radar of most of the
>     British public. He had a spell of free-lancing around London
>     before moving to Switzerland, where he was based for many years
>     working with Bob Wallis as well as the Picadilly Six. He returned
>     to Scotland about 20 years ago, settling in Edinburgh and still
>     playing as forcefully and inventively as ever until his retirement
>     for health reasons recently.
>
>     Forrie was recognised by Sandy Brown in The McJazz Manuscripts as
>     giving "...Sandy cause for concern on the occasions they occupied
>     the same bandstand." And "...Forrie made him more uncomfortable
>     than anyone except Tony Coe." And "...given the freewheeling ,
>     uncommitted atmosphere of Sandy's band Forrie could have been
>     unbeatable: he was never provided that climate, and was
>     consequently under-rated." Sandy described Forrie's playing as
>     being a "fierce amalgam of a number of New Orleans originals,
>     notably Ed Hall..." There were certainly traces of Ed Hall in his
>     sound, but his improvisations always struck me as unlike anyone
>     else's due to their unpredictability. He was always a delight to
>     play with as ideas just bubbled out of him and his rhythmic
>     attack, swing and intensity were often fierce, but he could play
>     with great sensitivity when the material called for it.
>
>     It's a great pity that he's not better represented on recordings,
>     but you can catch him here along with some other fine local
>     players on the Scottish scene:
>
>     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5PVwxmtJ5s
>     <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5PVwxmtJ5s>
>
>     Cheers,
>     Ken
>
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