patricia

Well, Maren, one good thing. You missed my customary solo tango on the bar, after that inadvisable third glass of wine. BTW, I love it here too.

And now, let's talk about HAPPY [Albert] CALDWELL, who played tenor sax as well as clarinet. Happy was known as a trail-blazer in the early days of the advent of the tenor sax. Rex Stewart said of Caldwell that he was "a great unheraleded influence on tenor saxophone". Caldwell stayed very busy in the 1920's and 1930's and toured with Bernie Young's band as well as with Mamie Smith. He followed that with associations with a string of big bands, including Fletcher Henderson's, Vernon Andrade's, Charlie Johnson's as well as Tiny Bradshaw's. I found it interesting that Caldwell and Rex Stewart regularly commuted from band to band. As Stewart described this time, "It was Happy and Rex against the world. Happy knew his way around. We spent part of each day finding a sheltered place to sleep and the rest of the time hustling hot dog money." Louis Armstrong's 1932 sides with Jack Bland's Rhythmakers, which featured Henry "Red" Allen and Jelly Roll Morton's remake in 1939 of "Winin' Boy Blues" are classic records on which Caldwell was a part. Many see a similarity between Caldwell's and Coleman Hawkins' styles, but Hawkins moved forward, while Caldwell didn't choose to relentlessly push forward with his career. According to Kenny Clarke, by 1939 Caldwell was leading a tiny band in the back of Minton's, frequented by, as Clarke put it, "...old men". Caldwell was certainly not old, at thirty-six, but his style, much like Prince Robinson's, just seemed to stay static and there are no records which exist to chart his reaction to the newly emerging BeBop. Nevertheless, his name stayed well-known, at least around New York, leading a band at Small's Paridise and he stayed working until his death in 1978.

J.C. [James Charles] HEARD was a fine drummer, who started his musical journey with Teddy Wilson's band in 1939 at twenty-two. He followed that with periods with Benny Carter in the early forties and Cab Calloway after that. Then, in 1947 Heard had his own sextet for two years. As the fifties began, J.C. played regularly with Norman Granz's Jazz At The Philharmonic, before moving to Japan to lead his own band. This band, for a while, included Toshiko, the well-known pianist. By the mid-fifties, Heard had moved back to New York. He resumed his work with Jazz At The Philharmonic as well as playing with Coleman Hawkins' quintet, when it was led by Roy Eldridge. He also played with society leader, Lester Lanin, before joining with Teddy Wilson for a year. Heard then had a short spell with Dorothy Donegan, the pianist, before leading bands in Las Vegas and Detroit. J.C. HEARD continued to tour and he led an all-star band. Unfortunately, he never achieved the high profile of Jo Jones, or of Gene Krupa. However, J.C. is remembered as a graceful and extremely elegant drummer, who knew everything there was to know about his art. After Jo Jones died, J.C. did everything he could to keep the flame alive. But, in Sept of 1988 J.C. Heard died, at seventy-one years old.

You're just noticing that *now*????

I'm green with envy and hate you quite a bit. Great finds!!

Eat your picnic lunch, including the jellied salad, Chris, or NO DESSERT FOR YOU!!!

HOT LIPS [Henry] LEVINE is next up and he was born in London, in 1907. He had lived in New York from the time he was six months old. Hot Lips learned to play the bugle, when he was in a Boy Scout troop. He then took lessons from Max Schlossberg and later played up the trumpet. He soloed in the Brooklyn Boys' High School, working from then on with bands from one end of New York to the other in the 1920's. One of his closest friends was Phil Napoleon. By the time 1926 came around, Levine had replaced Nick La Rocca in the Original Dixieland Jazz Band. He played with Vincent Lopez and then joined Ambrose's Band in London in 1927. Hot Lips then returned to New York, working for theatre orchestras and band leaders and, starting in 1940 he directed the Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street, which was an in-house Dixieland band. The band had it's own programme called Strictly Dixie and he recorded with Dinah Shore, Jelly Roll Morton and Sidney Bechet. HOT LIPS LEVINE was the musical director for Radio NBK and NBC TV in Cleveland. He worked constantly as a bandleader in Miami a well as in Las Vegas. As far as I know, Hot Lips Levine is still up and around.

TA DA!!!! .....Unaccustomed as I am to public speaking............... Wrong thread, you say?? Not the first time...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ORGANISSIMO!!!! I get one of the TIGGERS from the cake!!! A glass of whatever everyone's having, raised to honour the ORGANISSIMO BB!!! Thanks to everyone for putting up with my charming eccentricities.

So, what time is it, RIGHT NOW??? March 6, 9:24AM here. What did I miss???

MERRY BIRTHDAY ORGANISSIMO!!!! Presentable???? You ask too much. The time that's shown here is always different that my time [right now, 9:22AM] so I have no idea whether I should be setting up the chairs, because I'm way early, or folding up the chairs, because everybody's leaving. So, what time is it for everybody else??

Just remember the Box-Lunch Social down by the creek on Sunday! As long as I can bring my giant tuna-noodle casserole with the potato chips on the top, or the chicken/prune/broccoli surprise [the surprise being that anyone would eat it] or an array of jellied salads. Better yet, I volunteer to bring the water for the lemonade!!!

OK, now, a brief departure from strictly jazz artists, to somebody who captivated me when I saw him perform, live, several years ago. This man was pure magic!!! His name was BIG [Clerence Heratious] MILLER. I still remember the impact he had on me when I was a teenager, although by then he was close to the end of his long career. Big had begun his musical journey as a teenager in Kansas City, as one of the so-called "blues shouters". He also sang with Count Basie's band, as well as Duke Ellington's. His career really took off with his involvement with Jon Hendricks' "Evolution of The Blues" revue in the 1950's. His powerful voice and charismatic stage presence served him well over the years and hadn't diminished by the time I saw him. As his nickname suggests, he was a man of very large persuasion, but that only made him more compelling, with his by then silver hair and gorgeous eyes. Wow. When he opened his mouth to sing, the most beautiful, rich, smooth voice slid over you and you were hypnotized. The man could sing. Big was doing a promotion tour for his album when the tour ran out of money in Vancouver B.C. He was totally broke, but decided that he would work his way across Canada and back home to the East Coast. To that end, he played every major venue in Canada, from Vancouver to Edmonton, right over to Toronto and Montreal. During this time Big had befriended Tommy Banks, an Edmonton jazz musician/promoter and decided, rather than move back south, he would make his home in Edmonton Alberta, which he did. He loved it there and made that his base, although he travelled all over Canada and the U.S. as well as to Europe. A few years after he settled in Canada, he became a Canadian citizen. BIG MILLER was a well-respected musician who endeared himself to his new home and, after he died, a statue to honour him was erected in Edmonton.

I didn't mean to be nosey,, but I found that as my circle of friends expanded and I had a chance to hang with people who shared my taste in jazz, it wasn't so hard to find kindred spirits. Have you jazz clubs in your town, or any other venue in which jazzers congregate?? I live in big-hat, pointy boot country and it was a good two years before I found my niche. It's so much easier if you can share your love of jazz.

Vibes, I know I shouldn't ask a gentleman his age, but...........how old are you?? I ask because you mentioned in passing, that you had no friends who listen to jazz.

Well, we do what we can.

Sure, SGud. Flaunt your musicality in my decidedly workmanlike, musically speaking face. People beg me not to play the violin and barely tolerate my sojourns on the piano. BUT I have excellent ears.

EEEE-HAW!!!! I have an uncontrollable urge to put on a flowered housedress, a pair of sensible shoes and a really ugly hat, with flowers on it and play the musical saw. Just stop........

So, in a way, he was your mentor. I too actually had, and have two irreplaceable mentors, who helped ease me into jazz, recommending music to me and actually sending me examples of big band, vocalists, small-group and other stuff that piqued my interest which continues to grow. My near-obsession with jazz history grew out of my love of the music and I credit my mentors, Dan and Don with the passion which developed. In turn, I have passed along my knowledge of jazz, such as it is, to many younger people, including my two daughters' friends. My youngest daughter is very interested in pre-1940's jazz, as well as Edith Piaf. Since she was only seventeen when I first exposed her to alternatives to punk, I consider that a particularly fine plume in my personal beanie. I also brought jazz CD's with me to work, when I was labouring at a libation emporium, part-time and managed to turn some of the guys who had, on to that point, been C&W listeners to the passion of jazz. It was in self-defence originally, but resulted in some of the MUZAK being Miles, Parker and Lena Horne, as well as some Jimmy Smith and Herbie Hancock. Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now" and Etta James' "Mystery Lady" were favourites. We do what we can to spread the word.

With my luck, I'd end up in the "Smooth Jazz, New Age" section and end up with a passell of Kenny G. and Yanni. However, pointed in the right direction, I would probably forget that they were free and be as discriminating as I usually am and come away with about 25 CD's, instead of the barrel-load which would be possible, given the quite generous length of time, if you've ever actually counted it out. Possible HEAVEN!!

I guess, like a lot of the kids I grew up with, my dad's collection of jazz was pretty typical, Armstrong, Basie, Ellington, some Dixieland and vocalists of the forties and fifties. And like a lot of the kids I grew up with, I rejected it, as old-guys' music in favour of r&b, Elvis, Psychedlic, folk and other stuff for years. I also had a brief romance with classical music, despite my total lack of talent at both piano and violin lessons as a young child. I can pinpoint my original interest in jazz to the Brubeck hit, "Take Five", which was nothing like any of the jazz I had heard around the house and it intrigued me, along with Moe Kaufmann's "Swingin' Shepherd Blues". I wasn't totally hooked though, until about seven years ago. I happened to pick up a compilation of hits from the late forties and early fifties and thought that they were interesting and pursued the music, acquring several CD's and managing, through my associations on a couple of jazz boards to meet my two most important mentors. Since then I have been unstoppable, even getting a turntable in order to buy vinyl, along with an alarmingly exploding collection of jazz on CD as well. I have a lot of catching up to do, but that's OK. I seldom listen to anything but jazz nowadays, except for the occasional flamenco guitar, notably the great Canadian guitarist, Jesse Cook, who actually has a jazz slant to his Flamenco guitar recordings. So, I'm HOOKED IRREVOCABLY on the magic and the passion of JAZZ!!!!

My bias once again evident, I will now talk about the fabulous drummer, SHADOW [Rossiere] WILSON. Shadow was born in Yonkers, New York in 1919 and his first professional work was with Lucky Millinder. He then went to Jimmy Mundy in 1939. The forties brought Shadow into the bands of the greats of the day. He worked with virtually all of them, from big bands to small groups. Wilson worked with Benny Carter, Lionel Hampton, Earl Hines, Count Basie, Woody Herman, Illinos Jacquet, Georgie Auld and Louis Jordan as well as Billy Eckstine's band. Eckstine's organization had among it's satellites, Charlie Parker, Sarah Vaughan, Dizzy Gillespie and Freddie Webster. Shadow was also the drummer in Billy Eckstine's band in the forties, but was replaced by Art Blakey, apparently because Shadow did not want to tour in the south. Blakey said of that time, "I had the band at the Tic Toc in Boston. Meanwhile, Billy had organized his band, and it had Shadow on drums, and they had a certain clique that hung out together: Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie and Freddie Webster and Sarah Vaughan...Shadow left, and in the meantime they had to get somebody to take Shadow's place. So somebody told Billy about me. Billy knew me, but he didn't know about what I was doing, and he sent for me and I came round and joined the band, and that was the turning point of my life." Along with his associations with all of the above, Wilson also kept himself busy freelancing. He was widely known as a quintissential drummer of great flexibility and versatile musicality. As the fifties rolled in, Shadow was still going strong, backing Errol Garner from 1950-1952, then the great Ella Fitzgerald from 1954-1955. Then came his stint with Thelonious Monk, from 1957-1958. After his sojourn with Monk, Shadow continued to take jobs around New York, until his death at only forty, in 1959.

Who remembers?? If it fits in a glass, it's good.

You SAVED that cake???

Thank you, EKE BBB. Terrific PEANUTS!!!! Next up......MUTT [Thomas] CAREY, who was born in Hahnville Louisiana in 1891 and was the younger brother of Jack Carey, who ran the Crescent Brass Band in New Orleans. Despite this musical connection, Mutt didn't take up his trumpet unit he was twenty-two years old. His first professional work was with Frankie Dusen, Joe Oliver, Jimmy Brown and Bebe Ridgeley in parades and in clubs. Starting in 1914 Mutt began a partnership with the great Kid Ory and it was a thirty year path, often strewn with contention, but the partnership endured. Mutt was acknowledged as one of the most popular New Orleans trumpetmen. His style is described as mellow-tone and mid-ranged. He had a special way of playing very softly, which reminded many of the muted techniques of King Oliver, who was a great friend. Dubbing himself "Blues King of New Orleans", Mutt re-located to California in 1919 in order to work with Kid Ory. I was amused to learn that when King Oliver moved to California in 1921, to step in for Ory, audiences referred to him as a Carey imitator!! King Oliver quickly went on to greater glory in his career in Chicago and in 1925 Carey took over Ory's small group, giving it the new name, the Jeffersonians. He then expanded it to big-band size and worked extensively in the silent film studios. Interestingly, but not all that unusual for the time, Mutt, during the 1930's worked at a couple of regular jobs, as a Pullman porter and as a mailman as well as his music. Then he got back to music, full-time again with the Standard Oil broadcasts which were narrated by Orson Welles and was a major part of the revivalism of Dixieland in the mid-1940's. MUTT CAREY remained a very popular performer until his death in 1948 at forty-seven years old. A short, but productive life in which he brought beautiful Dixieland music to thousands of people. Not such a shabby legacy.