[Dixielandjazz] "Murder, She Wrote"
Dan Barrett
danpbarrett at hotmail.com
Mon Apr 27 00:52:46 EDT 2020
Dear Derek Coller, and other DJML subscribers,
Your Infrequent Correspondent Dan Barrett here. I hope everyone is still hale and hearty, and weathering this strange new lifestyle we all must endure for a while.
My own recent story is, I had to abort a trip to Spain, where I arrived last March 1st. I was to tour that great country with tenor saxophonist Enric Peidro, who has become a good friend, and who has opened several big doors for me there. Shortly after I arrived, to paraphrase a more vulgar phrase, the "poop hit the propeller!" After four gigs, the rest of our tour in Spain was cancelled. After my time in Spain, I was to have flown on to Munich for gigs in Germany and Switzerland with longtime friends Trevor "Zutty" Richards and Frank Roberscheuten. I was to have been in Europe until April 5th. Instead, I flew home on March 15th!
I've been trying to make constructive use of my time here at home, and spend much of each day (and many evenings) working on musical arrangements (at least, I HOPE they're musical) for various friends and clients. I usually change rooms in the house a few times a day, so I can stare at a different wall. I hope all of you are weathering this time all right, and I wish you all good health for the months to come.
Regarding Murder, She Wrote, I have a little inside information about the jazz names used for characters in the show.
For many years, I've been honored to perform at the San Diego Jazz Party (www.sdjp.org<https://outlook.live.com/mail/inbox/id/www.sdjp.org>), which takes place every February in Del Mar, California; just north of San Diego. I get to see, hear, and reunite with many musicians form all over the USA. I also meet the jazz fans who attend. Over the years, many of them have become close friends.
One such fan is a man named Don Robertson. I'd seen Don at the party for a few years before it came out in conversation that he was a retired screen writer. He'd worked on Murder, She Wrote, Hart To Hart, and several other TV shows of that time. He was a hip, witty guy who knew a lot about jazz, and loved it enough that he would use the names (or permutations thereof) of his favorite musicians when their names seemed to fit the characters he'd created. Around the time he was writing for those shows, my friend the virtuoso guitarist Howard Alden and I co-led a quintet that became somewhat popular for a while. Howard and I were thrilled--and very flattered--to learn that for one of the episodes of one of those shows, Don had created a law office, using our names! I think he told me the set designers had created the law office with "Alden and Barrett, Attorneys at Law" painted on the window in big, gold, gothic capital letters. (Maybe I just envision it like this. One's memory often plays tricks.) He didn't recall specifically for which show he'd created the law partners. I still occasionally check out reruns of Murder and Hart, hoping to find that episode. Nothing yet. If any of you happen to see that episode, please let me know, will you?
It just occurred to me that I haven't seen Don for a couple of years. I hope he's OK, and he's simply had other things to do that have prevented him from attending the jazz party. I think it's time for me to do a little detective work, myself. I might need a little help, though. Anyone have Jessica Fletcher's number?
All the best to everyone,
--Dan Barrett
________________________________
From: dixielandjazz-request at ml.islandnet.com <dixielandjazz-request at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Sunday, April 26, 2020 6:15 PM
To: Dan Barrett <danpbarrett at hotmail.com>
Subject: Dixielandjazz Digest, Vol 208, Issue 23
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Today's Topics:
1. Murder She Wrote (Robert Ringwald)
2. Uncle Yoke's Black Dogs (Ken Mathieson)
3. Re: Murder She Wrote (Marek Boym)
4. Re: Uncle Yoke's Black Dogs (Kit W Johnson)
5. Uncle Yoke's Black Dogs (Bill Haesler)
6. Re: Uncle Yoke's Black Dogs (Ross Anderson)
7. Uncle Yolk (ROBERT R. CALDER)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Sun, 26 Apr 2020 12:39:04 -0700
From: "Robert Ringwald" <rsr at ringwald.com>
To: "DJML" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Murder She Wrote
Message-ID: <FF4AF7842DBF4CAE932FEC70B99C4202 at DESKTOPH17A93O>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Derek Coller noted biographer, writer and jazz critic from the UK, Posed the following question. Anyone have an answer?
Bob Ringwald
MURDER, SHE WROTE
Is this the time for a little light relief, before the Spring arrives? A time to reveal my guilty secret?
The long-running television series, Murder, She Wrote, featured Angela Lansbury as mystery writer J.B. Fletcher, the greatest amateur detective since Agatha Christie's heyday. During 2019, repeats of the series were shown as I was settling down to my evening meal, with the result that I watched quite a few.
During one such viewing I realized that some of the characters had names that sounded familiar. My memory is that there were at least six such, all connected with the early Bob Crosby orchestra. I do recall Clark Randall, Sterling Bose and Kay Weber.
Subsequently there were five other episodes where I noted jazz connections. One had Edmond Hall and a detective Gowans, another was set in Paris, with Hughes Panassie, Violet Bechet, Maxim Soury (not Saury!), Lu Watters, Eva Taylor and Peter Appleyard.
One episode with a baseball background included Harry Dial, Pete Briggs, Al Sidell, Flip Phillips, and bandleaders Freddie Masters and Mike Warlop. Another repeated these same names, except for Johnny Eaton instead of Michael (Mike) Warlop. There was also a story set in New Orleans, involving jazz musicians, though I failed to spot any familiar names.
A quick check via Google found that Murder, She Wrote ran for 264 episodes between 1984 and 1996. There is a rather long list of all the actors who participated, with their photographs, and their character names. A short sampling revealed a few more examples - Frances Hunt, Boyce Brown, Larry Shields, Kim (!) Bechet, and Detective Bess Stacy!
Credits are usually difficult to read as they unscroll, but the story editor is generally one Robert Swanson. So the mystery here is, was Mr. Swanson the guilty party? Was he the enthusiast who influenced the writers or was there a secret jazz collector hidden among them? Who can unmask the culprit? Can we put J.B. Fletcher on the case?
Derek Coller
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Message: 2
Date: Sun, 26 Apr 2020 22:45:58 +0100
From: Ken Mathieson <ken at kenmath.free-online.co.uk>
To: bhaesler at bigpond.net.au, Dixieland Jazz Mailing List
<dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Uncle Yoke's Black Dogs
Message-ID:
<6524b31a-f0c7-7ac8-2701-365571c17e33 at kenmath.free-online.co.uk>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed
Hi Bill et al,
When I was with the Edinburgh-based Fat Sam's Band we used to run into
the Dogs on a regular basis in California, British Columbia and all over
Europe, so they all became good pals. Bandleader/trombonist Steve Yocum
was a great entertainer and communicator with audiences and the band was
full of excellent players. Drummer Ed Metz was (and still is) a knockout
player and we became good buddies (indeed I'm still in occasional touch
with him). They had an excellent hot trumpeter/cornetist whose name now
escapes me, but he was a hard-swinging lead and a strong soloist. There
was also a sousaphone player who had rigged his horn with low-grade
blasting powder wired up to a foot switch which detonated it. The climax
of the act was Tiger Rag taken at a lick and when they reached the "Hold
That Tiger" trio part, he'd fire off the charges under the trombone
glissandi. Of course, as well as startling explosions, there were also
vivid flashes and lots of smoke, so it always brought the house down.
Don't ask me how he got the explosives and detonators through airport
security! No doubt Bill will do his usual professional discographical
magic and conjure up their names.
At one festival in Holland I remember them asking about various local
drinks and we inducted them into the Sinbad Society, which was a great
sanity preserver for Fat Sam's musicians on the road. Sinbad stood for
The Society for the Investigation of Novel and Bewildering Alcoholic
Drinks and its rules were very simple: if you encountered a drink you'd
never seen before, you were honour bound to try it and report back to
the other members. We encountered a stack of mysterious drinks like A
Walk in the Woods (vodka, Curacao liqueur and angostura bitters), which
we were introduced to by a Dutch musician in a bar in Amsterdam. It
tasted great, was cheaper than beer and got you there in no time.
Another was a Danish speciality Swarze Svin, or Black Pig (vodka and
dissolved licorice), which had the dual benefit of being "strong licor"
and a laxative.
Does anyone know if the Black Dogs are still working?
Ken
------------------------------
Message: 3
Date: Mon, 27 Apr 2020 00:47:19 +0300
From: Marek Boym <marekboym at gmail.com>
To: Robert Ringwald <rsr at ringwald.com>
Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Murder She Wrote
Message-ID:
<CABGvO8B+vVD3EsVEOQv0gf3f3yhJR9cTbpX7myuDrPLBzMXuFg at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
Hi Bob,
Maxim Soury was not a jazz musician. Maxim Saury was a French traditional
clarinettist who passed away in 2012.
Cheers
On Sun, 26 Apr 2020 at 23:20, Robert Ringwald <rsr at ringwald.com> wrote:
> Derek Coller noted biographer, writer and jazz critic from the UK, Posed
> the following question. Anyone have an answer?
>
>
>
> Bob Ringwald
>
>
>
> MURDER, SHE WROTE
>
>
>
> Is this the time for a little light relief, before the Spring
> arrives? A time to reveal my guilty secret?
>
>
>
> The long-running television series, *Murder, She Wrote*, featured Angela
> Lansbury as mystery writer J.B. Fletcher, the greatest amateur detective
> since Agatha Christie's heyday. During 2019, repeats of the series were
> shown as I was settling down to my evening meal, with the result that I
> watched quite a few.
>
>
>
> During one such viewing I realized that some of the characters had
> names that sounded familiar. My memory is that there were at least six
> such, all connected with the early Bob Crosby orchestra. I do recall Clark
> Randall, Sterling Bose and Kay Weber.
>
>
>
> Subsequently there were five other episodes where I noted jazz
> connections. One had Edmond Hall and a detective Gowans, another was set in
> Paris, with Hughes Panassie, Violet Bechet, Maxim Soury (not Saury!), Lu
> Watters, Eva Taylor and Peter Appleyard.
>
>
>
> One episode with a baseball background included Harry Dial, Pete Briggs,
> Al Sidell, Flip Phillips, and bandleaders Freddie Masters and Mike Warlop.
> Another repeated these same names, except for Johnny Eaton instead of
> Michael (Mike) Warlop. There was also a story set in New Orleans, involving
> jazz musicians, though I failed to spot any familiar names.
>
>
>
> A quick check via Google found that *Murder, She Wrote* ran for 264
> episodes between 1984 and 1996. There is a rather long list of all the
> actors who participated, with their photographs, and their character names.
> A short sampling revealed a few more examples - Frances Hunt, Boyce Brown,
> Larry Shields, Kim (!) Bechet, and Detective Bess Stacy!
>
>
>
> Credits are usually difficult to read as they unscroll, but the story
> editor is generally one Robert Swanson. So the mystery here is, was Mr.
> Swanson the guilty party? Was he the enthusiast who influenced the writers
> or was there a secret jazz collector hidden among them? Who can unmask the
> culprit? Can we put J.B. Fletcher on the case?
>
>
>
> Derek Coller
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> 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
>
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------------------------------
Message: 4
Date: Sun, 26 Apr 2020 16:34:53 -0700
From: "Kit W Johnson" <kit at bscjb.com>
To: "'Ken Mathieson'" <ken at kenmath.free-online.co.uk>
Cc: 'Dixieland Jazz Mailing List' <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Uncle Yoke's Black Dogs
Message-ID: <005e01d61c23$4b3f48c0$e1bdda40$@bscjb.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
I don't think that the Black Dogs as a full group are still working at all.
Occasionally I see some name association with combo groups around one or
more of the former players (e.g. Tom Hook's (p) Terriers) who used to show
up every year or so in Penticton, BC, though I think Tom said a couple of
years ago that he wasn't planning on any more festival travel. The tuba
player was Dave Gannett. I think Dave is largely out of music now, though he
may still play some electric bass in the midwestern US. His CD titled "Tubas
from Hell, Music from Heaven" from a few years ago is much admired by the
low brass ilk, myself included. I think the cornetist was Davey Jones.
Kit W. Johnson
Black Swan Classic Jazz Band
503-970-1251
kit at bscjb.com
www.bscjb.com<http://www.bscjb.com>
A musician has to expect to be excited. There is no way you can be a fine
musician and just be placid and dull. Life involves many exciting
experiences and you express all aspects of life in music just like an actor
would.? ~Arnold Jacobs
-----Original Message-----
From: Ken Mathieson <ken at kenmath.free-online.co.uk>
Sent: Sunday, April 26, 2020 2:46 PM
To: Kit Johnson <kit at bscjb.com>
Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Uncle Yoke's Black Dogs
Hi Bill et al,
When I was with the Edinburgh-based Fat Sam's Band we used to run into the
Dogs on a regular basis in California, British Columbia and all over Europe,
so they all became good pals. Bandleader/trombonist Steve Yocum was a great
entertainer and communicator with audiences and the band was full of
excellent players. Drummer Ed Metz was (and still is) a knockout player and
we became good buddies (indeed I'm still in occasional touch with him). They
had an excellent hot trumpeter/cornetist whose name now escapes me, but he
was a hard-swinging lead and a strong soloist. There was also a sousaphone
player who had rigged his horn with low-grade blasting powder wired up to a
foot switch which detonated it. The climax of the act was Tiger Rag taken at
a lick and when they reached the "Hold That Tiger" trio part, he'd fire off
the charges under the trombone glissandi. Of course, as well as startling
explosions, there were also vivid flashes and lots of smoke, so it always
brought the house down.
Don't ask me how he got the explosives and detonators through airport
security! No doubt Bill will do his usual professional discographical magic
and conjure up their names.
At one festival in Holland I remember them asking about various local drinks
and we inducted them into the Sinbad Society, which was a great sanity
preserver for Fat Sam's musicians on the road. Sinbad stood for The Society
for the Investigation of Novel and Bewildering Alcoholic Drinks and its
rules were very simple: if you encountered a drink you'd never seen before,
you were honour bound to try it and report back to the other members. We
encountered a stack of mysterious drinks like A Walk in the Woods (vodka,
Curacao liqueur and angostura bitters), which we were introduced to by a
Dutch musician in a bar in Amsterdam. It tasted great, was cheaper than beer
and got you there in no time.
Another was a Danish speciality Swarze Svin, or Black Pig (vodka and
dissolved licorice), which had the dual benefit of being "strong licor"
and a laxative.
Does anyone know if the Black Dogs are still working?
Ken
_______________________________________________
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
------------------------------
Message: 5
Date: Mon, 27 Apr 2020 09:58:21 +1000
From: Bill Haesler <bhaesler at bigpond.net.au>
To: Ken Mathieson <ken at kenmath.free-online.co.uk>, Dixieland Jazz
Mailing List <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Uncle Yoke's Black Dogs
Message-ID: <FA069AB8-8DE4-4277-B9E7-5CD554692F3D at bigpond.net.au>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
> On 27 Apr 2020, at 7:45 AM, Ken Mathieson <ken at kenmath.free-online.co.uk> wrote [in part]
> ...Drummer Ed Metz was (and still is) a knockout player and we became good buddies (indeed I'm still in occasional touch with him). They had an excellent hot trumpeter/cornetist whose name now escapes me, but he was a hard-swinging lead and a strong soloist...
Dear Ken,
On the 1989 cassettes I was referring to the band had:
David Jones (c ) Steve Yocum (tb,vcl) Jim Buchmann (cl,sop,bassax) Tom Hook (p,vcl) Bob Leary (bj,g) Dave Gannett (tu) Eddie Metz, Jr. (d,vcl)
And I agree with you regarding the drummer and cornet player.
Kind regards,
Bill.
------------------------------
Message: 6
Date: Mon, 27 Apr 2020 11:08:55 +1000
From: "Ross Anderson" <rossanmjband at iprimus.com.au>
To: <kit at bscjb.com>
Cc: 'Dixieland Jazz Mailing List' <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Uncle Yoke's Black Dogs
Message-ID: <005101d61c30$6e7be6b0$4b73b410$@iprimus.com.au>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
In 1990 We "The New Melbourne Jazz Band" were invited to 8th TerrifVic Jazz
Party".
The Uncle Yokes Black Dogs were there and We got to Meet them and were
knocked out by their presentation .
At the final We and Them very invited to play at the final concert,
Rules were "Each Band had a 15 minute spot" ,
The Black Dogs came stage and Steve "Nodded" To Eddy and he started a
"10 Minute Solo " !!!!!!
They finished their spot right on the "15" minute !!!!
A really GREAT BAND.
It was the first of our (the NMJB) 6 invites the Victoria on the Island,
Great Memories !!
Best wishes to All the this Great List.
Cheers, Ross
www.newmelbournejazzband.com<http://www.newmelbournejazzband.com>
-----Original Message-----
From: Kit W Johnson [mailto:kit at bscjb.com]
Sent: Monday, 27 April 2020 9:35 AM
To: rossanmjband at iprimus.com.au
Cc: 'Dixieland Jazz Mailing List' <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Uncle Yoke's Black Dogs
I don't think that the Black Dogs as a full group are still working at all.
Occasionally I see some name association with combo groups around one or
more of the former players (e.g. Tom Hook's (p) Terriers) who used to show
up every year or so in Penticton, BC, though I think Tom said a couple of
years ago that he wasn't planning on any more festival travel. The tuba
player was Dave Gannett. I think Dave is largely out of music now, though he
may still play some electric bass in the midwestern US. His CD titled "Tubas
from Hell, Music from Heaven" from a few years ago is much admired by the
low brass ilk, myself included. I think the cornetist was Davey Jones.
Kit W. Johnson
Black Swan Classic Jazz Band
503-970-1251
kit at bscjb.com
www.bscjb.com<http://www.bscjb.com>
A musician has to expect to be excited. There is no way you can be a fine
musician and just be placid and dull. Life involves many exciting
experiences and you express all aspects of life in music just like an actor
would.? ~Arnold Jacobs
-----Original Message-----
From: Ken Mathieson <ken at kenmath.free-online.co.uk>
Sent: Sunday, April 26, 2020 2:46 PM
To: Kit Johnson <kit at bscjb.com>
Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Uncle Yoke's Black Dogs
Hi Bill et al,
When I was with the Edinburgh-based Fat Sam's Band we used to run into the
Dogs on a regular basis in California, British Columbia and all over Europe,
so they all became good pals. Bandleader/trombonist Steve Yocum was a great
entertainer and communicator with audiences and the band was full of
excellent players. Drummer Ed Metz was (and still is) a knockout player and
we became good buddies (indeed I'm still in occasional touch with him). They
had an excellent hot trumpeter/cornetist whose name now escapes me, but he
was a hard-swinging lead and a strong soloist. There was also a sousaphone
player who had rigged his horn with low-grade blasting powder wired up to a
foot switch which detonated it. The climax of the act was Tiger Rag taken at
a lick and when they reached the "Hold That Tiger" trio part, he'd fire off
the charges under the trombone glissandi. Of course, as well as startling
explosions, there were also vivid flashes and lots of smoke, so it always
brought the house down.
Don't ask me how he got the explosives and detonators through airport
security! No doubt Bill will do his usual professional discographical magic
and conjure up their names.
At one festival in Holland I remember them asking about various local drinks
and we inducted them into the Sinbad Society, which was a great sanity
preserver for Fat Sam's musicians on the road. Sinbad stood for The Society
for the Investigation of Novel and Bewildering Alcoholic Drinks and its
rules were very simple: if you encountered a drink you'd never seen before,
you were honour bound to try it and report back to the other members. We
encountered a stack of mysterious drinks like A Walk in the Woods (vodka,
Curacao liqueur and angostura bitters), which we were introduced to by a
Dutch musician in a bar in Amsterdam. It tasted great, was cheaper than beer
and got you there in no time.
Another was a Danish speciality Swarze Svin, or Black Pig (vodka and
dissolved licorice), which had the dual benefit of being "strong licor"
and a laxative.
Does anyone know if the Black Dogs are still working?
Ken
_______________________________________________
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
_______________________________________________
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
------------------------------
Message: 7
Date: Mon, 27 Apr 2020 01:14:54 +0000 (UTC)
From: "ROBERT R. CALDER" <serapion at btinternet.com>
To: dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Uncle Yolk
Message-ID: <587061284.1189275.1587950094261 at mail.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdQh0kiGf3M
I know full well it's a terrible Jolk
but it might be a pity that Uncle Yoke
seems not to have poached with Eggy Ley --
admittedly spellings get in the way --
chief among Anglo-Saxon Sopranopholk.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Coe4hE3CYg
Robert R. Calder
------------------------------
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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
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End of Dixielandjazz Digest, Vol 208, Issue 23
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