patricia

Hi Pete, No, I don't, but I'll make an exception in your case, since Slim and Slam were an interesting and entertaining act. As many know, Slim Gaillard and Slam Stewart first got together as Slim and Slam as an act in 1936, having met at a Harlem Club, called Jock's Place. They recorded a hit record together, "Flat Fleet Floogie" which was a huge hit in 1937. SLAM [Leo] STEWART had studied at the Boston Conservatory where he heard violionist, Ray Perry, who was a huge influence on Stewart. Perry was singing in unison with his bowed lines and Slam borrowed the idea, which was singing an octive up from the bass. Peanuts Holland had hired Slam in 1936 and Stewart developed the idea during his time with Holland's group. Stewart often ran his own trio which, when it played the Three Deuces, included Art Tatum, as well as featured a very young Erroll Garner. Errol wrote bass features for the group during the three years he was with Stewart. The very unusual sound that Stewart played set him apart and he also provided an amusing, whimsical quality which was copied by others, notably, Coleridge Good and Major Holley. This is not to say that Slam Stewart was simply comic relief. He was a fine musician, in his own right and was well respected by his peers, working easily with the artists who played with him. He became very well known, having appeared in "Stormy Weather" in 1943 and also won the Metronome poll in 1946. During the 1950's and 1960's Slam continued to work and he was associated with Tatum, Garner, Beryl Booker, Roy Eldridge and Rose Murphy. A completely different from small group jazz style was exhibited, as he played with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra in the 1970's. He also taught master classes, as well as playing on the Today show and writing instructional tutors. He was featured with the New York Jazz Repertory Company in the 1970's as well. By the time the 1980's rolled in, he was still as busy as ever, until December of 1987 when he died.

Not at all. But since you didn't make it clear that it was your work, and the work is of publishable quality, I just wanted to make sure you hadn't neglected attribution. I'm not accusing you of this, but people cut and paste things without attribution all the time, not realizing that the same courtesies to the original author/source should be adhered to even in informal settings. I'm definitely not suggesting that you need a bibliography or footnotes in this case. Anyway, thanks for the research & excellent writing! Carry on. OK. Actually, my mother would be pleased that I am finally using my education to some advantage. I have also assisted in the gathering of information and the locating of interviewees, for a few friends who were working toward their own degrees. I love doing it, and hope that what I write here is interesting. I will indeed credit the source, if I use a quote. I also hope that others who contribute to the thread will too. So far, the only quotes were those from artists who worked with the honouree and they appear [obviously] the same way, no matter what the source. Thank you for the compliment and your interest though.

Recognized and appreciated. Throne? What throne?? Learned? Sometimes. Sometimes not so much.

I am consolodating information from various sources in my own words. I suppose it would be easier to lift entire biographies, as they appear, from one source, but I choose not to do that, but simply use facts of their lives and some quotes from those who worked with them. The sources are websites, biographies and jazz history collections. They are not cut and pasted, or re-printed verbatum, but condensed, re-worked and presented in a conversational way. I was unaware that using available information to write about historical jazz artists was violating copyright. Is that what you're suggesting?

Thanks Peter. That would be great! If you, and anyone else who can add to the list of bios, by nickname, do, it will be even better. I will try to contribute as much as I can, but group participation is always richer. In the meantime, may I draw your attention to "PAPA" JACK LAINE? Papa Jack, who played drums, as well as being a fine alto horn player and leader, was born at the very beginning of the emergence of jazz as a musical artform, not surprisingly, in New Orleans. His nickname was given to him because he was a father figure to many of the young white New Orleans jazzmen. He formed his own ragtime band in 1888. Soon after, he was leading his Reliance Brass Bands. A number of the great names in early white jazz, like Nick La Rocca and Tom Brown worked with Laine, as did many of the best so-called "Creoles of Colour", such as Achille Baquet, who played clarinet. Because the demand for his services was intense, Laine for a long time exercised a virtual monopoly on supplying music to white, upper-class New Orleans society, all over the neighbouring Gulf Coast states. Amazingly, Laine played Ragtime by ear!! He had an extremely successful career, until 1917 when he retired. That, of course, does not mean that he stopped playing jazz. Not at all. When the revival of Ragtime took place in the 1940's and the 1950's, Laine again took the spotlight and performed as a revered and familiar figure. In the 1950's PAPA JACK LAINE's records, "Papa Laine's Children" were re-issued on various labels, bringing his music to a whole new generation. PAPA JACK LAINE died in June of 1966.

I was facinated by how much I was able to learn, randomly, about jazz artists, both from the past and the present, by starting with whether or not they had a nickname and going from there. To look at ALL artists and study their work was simply a a task too vast. Zeroing in on the nickname angle made it more, well, half-vast. It was interesting to me just how many, both obscure and well-known players had a nickname. Although many do, it's not nearly as common as it is with blues artists, almost all of whom seem to have had one. In any case, I'll start this thread and see where it goes. At the very least, I hope it will jog people's memory and at worst............well.... ................................................ The first artist, by nickname, will be TRUMMY [James Osbourne] YOUNG. Trummy was born in Savannah Georgia on January 12, 1912 and grew up in Washington, studying trumpet first. He moved onto trombone, playing what has been described as a high-noted style, which was revolutionary in the late 1920's. In fact, he said of that period, "People used to say I was crazy and ask what I was trying to do." But, in 1933, Trummy was hired by Earl Hines, who was a sympathetic bandleader, who could see the potential of Trummy's style of playing. Trummy's style is said to have been based on Louis Armstrong's, combined with Jimmy Harrison's. He said at the time, "I worked very hard on a sharper, brilliant sound." Young played in Jimmy Lunceford's band in the early forties and added a freshness to the group, with his up front style. As a result, Young became a figurehead for trombonists everywhere. Dicky Wells said, "He really brought a modern turn to the trombone and it was unusual for a trombone player to be featured, as he was." Trummy also had an effervescent personality and was a perfect cornerman for his leader. Unfortunately, in 1943 Young left Lunceford's band, due to low wages. He then worked for Norman Granz's Jazz At The Philharmonic, before moving to Hawaii, where he lived and played. In 1952, Young was heard by Louis Armstrong, in Hawaii and spent the next thirteen years with Armstrong's All Stars. Young was happy with the All Stars and adored Louis. He said, "I try to keep him happy. Louis has got more soul than anyone I ever met in my life." The rough road life with the All Stars, unfortunately caused him to quit in 1964. He moved back to Hawaii. He then re-emerged with Dick Gibson's Colorado parties, special events and major Jazz Festivals, including the one in Nice. The innovative trombone player, TRUMMY YOUNG died in September of 1984, never retiring. He was seventy-two years old and had spent his whole life doing what he did best, playing JAZZ.

She's probably out there on some obscure bulletin board discussing these very subjects with DEEP. Or, perhaps not. As for the appliance maintenance tips, there weren't ever any. The discussion involved the possible detrimental effect the use of specific appliances, by some, may have had in contributing to the East Coast power outage and was a rib. All jokes do not begin, "A guy walks into a bar..."

Patricia, though the area you describe brings memories I can't recall that record shop. The ones I visited had really no interesting jazz vinyls. All I did find was a couple of Diane Dufresne albums that a friend of mine who was infatuated with Diane was looking for. Don't take it bad but am not planning to revisit the city any time soon -_- That's a shame. But, I haven't even looked at any other places, since I am relatively new to Calgary and never go downtown, except to RecordLand. Work interferes with a true exploration of the city. But, I was surprised that there is so much old jazz vinyl here, since it is like an alien world to me, all big hats and pointy boots and C+W, indespersed with loud Rap. My head hurts when I shop, from the Muzak I hear. I understand that there are quite a few places which have vintage vinyl. If you ever end up here again [there is a jazz festival, annually in July] please let me buy you several tipples of your choice.

Patricia, Calgary must have changed since 1988 when I stayed there for three weeks during the the Winter Olympics. Looked for record shops around town, found some but did not strike gold, nor silver. No jazz vinyl of interest. Nada! A rare instance when I traveled to a foreign city for a long stay and came back empty handed. Fortunately stopped over in Chicago on the way back to Paris. That was a jazz record city! Brownie, Did you go to RecordLand, downtown?? It's in the really old part of town, near tattoo places and little stores with uneaven wood floors and bars on the windows. I would never go to that part of town, but for the record store. They have a really good Jazz section, everything in excellent condition and I found out recently that the reason I couldn't find any Dixieland was that it has it's own section. They also have some '78's and '45's, but I've never bought any, remembering how I treated my singles. I'll have to take time to look at them next time I'm there. That was where I found a mint copy of Woody Herman's 40th Anniversary concert at Carnegie Hall, as well as some factory sealed records from the fifties and sixties. So, I did, I think, find gold. All their stuff is in at least good condition and most in excellent condition.

THE REAL VICTIM HERE! Yes indeed. Her walker has been yanked away from her, at the top of the single hill in Mayberry.

I know it does. It makes no sense at all. I don't like having to go to a completely different board, having to change my password, that I only have, because I registered to defend myself against comments made on subsequently axed threads. It's making me crazy. Rainy Day who already has her own opinion of me, has posted a sarcastic comment, making her opinion of me clear [Her semi- clever comment was "Maybe a dingo ate your baby". That's from some obscure Meryl Streep movie a few years ago, with a short but pleasant stop on Seinfeld. Droll], and is making an annoying situation worse. Thank you Rainy Day.

OK. Thanks. I've changed my password on Blue Note and hope that does something.

Thanks Chris. But, I know you're not going to agree with me, but we don't know for sure who did this, but if I do find out for sure, I'll do everything in my power to choke the life out of their useless frame. I am MEGA-PISSED off about this.

Chris, Could you mention again, for Rainy Day's benefit the erroneous registration at Blue Note, of you, me and I suppose others, which enables whoever it is to post whatever they want, using our names?? There were several of these posts, under my name, but not posted by me, which appear there, some since deleted, along with the threads, but some remain and Rainy Day has seen fit to post a sarcastic comment that is causing me even more distress than the phantom poster has the last few days. Although I can delete them, or edit them, because they are registered to me, by who knows who. I can't keep doing this every few hours, as, like you, I have a life. I've already notified the moderator at Blue Note, but to no avail. Rainy Day is making this not only stressful, but even more embarrassing. I guess she missed your post, mentioning this erroneous registering of our names on the Blue Note Europe board. She already thinks I'm a flake, or worse and this makes it really distressing. Her opinion of me is immaterial, but I can't just ignore it, because the posts keep appearing. What do you suggest I do??

Happy??? My friends don't use any of the offensive terms that you have. It never occurred to me to be THANKFUL that they don't. They don't punch me in the face either. It also never occurred to me to be thankful for that. Why would they do a stupid thing like that??? As I say, just back off.

BACK OFF and stop being an ass. If you don't understand why I was offended at the "synonym" YOU used, in reference to me, then you probably don't understand why the "N" word is offensive either. I quoted YOUR post, to clarify my comment. Just drop this nonsense and move on.

When I lived in Fresno, then Sacramento, I was paying anywhere from $10-$15 per disc. Here in Calgary, the top price at my vinyl source appears to be about $15. There are many available from about $5. Then, at a secondhand place around the corner the price is a straight $1 per record. So, if it's a two record set, it's $2, or a ten-record set from some mailorder place, it's $10. The selection, of course, is more varied at the more expensive place and they organize their stock and catagorize everything, making sure that the records are in good to excellent condition. It's interesting.

SGud, No offence taken. But, it seems to me that this idea was considered a while ago and rejected, for some reason. If I understand blogs, those who participate in discussions have to be notified of the blog's location in order to do so. That may be a viable choice, given recent events.

I'll add my thanks to Maren and to those who see where Chris and I were coming from.

Perhaps that's possible, Peter. But, if it's not, I can do a similar thing, on a new thread, over a few days. It was fun to put together the first time and will be slightly different if I do it again. The bios were not cut and pasted, but composed fresh, from reference material and put into my own words. Yeah. I talk like that, for better or worse. Thank you so much for your positive feedback. I'm not given to mood-swings, usually, but I was under a little stress then, I suppose.

Sadly, in an uncharacteristic snit I jettisined them. I was miffed when not a small amount of effort on my part was dismissed out of hand, and not just by the thread originator. It was originally a futile attempt to gentle the thread and pass on what I thought was interesting info in a random manner. I know that to some it was like the little old man, last week, who came into the patent office with his revolutionary invention for talking over long distances. He thought he might call it "the telephone". But, because I haven't spent my whole life, as many here have, listening to and loving jazz, this was a way of talking about obscure and not so obscure artists whom we don't discuss, or even hear, that often. I know that it was old hat to most, who already knew about them. But, I can create another if there is any interest. Thank you for the kind words.

Thanks Brownie.

Jeez, I hope you don't think I was talking about you because I wasn't. I haven't followed DEEP's exploits here. I saw this thread and wondered what had happened THIS time. Turns out it's just the usual Then may I suggest that you actually read a few of the threads before coming up with those sweeping generalizations? Example: "How ironic that DEEP's chief apologists have washed their hands of him after he went after them personally." I certainly did defend DEEP's right to participate in this forum; however, I am no apologist for him. I even enjoyed some of his posts. I did wash my hands of him, but he never went after me personally. I saw him go after others with a vengeance. I saw the ugly side taking complete control. I was speaking specifically of Patricia and Chris. There, better, now? I've followed their undying undevotion to DEEP for a couple of years and it's interesting to see them wax righteously indignant about what an ass he is. I could have saved everyone a lot of time and trouble and told you: DEEP IS AN ASS. I have no intention of reading his stupid threads. I'm not that hard up for entertainment. O-fricking-kay? Rainy Day, I know that you had issues with Dan when he was still posting at JC. I am not his "apologist" and I don't appreciate being catagorized as one. Perhaps you might want to read my comment on the other [*can't take the heat*] thread. I was asked about my tolerance and have answered that question as thoroughly as I can. You and I have seldom seen eye to eye on anything, not just whether there is any good in some people and we will probably always disagree about who is worthy of redemption. Nobody is just one thing. Not me, not you and not Dan either. Wouldn't life be so much easier if we were?? Don't presume to judge my motives. You don't know me.

As has been mentioned, there are few who post here who know as much about jazz, first hand as Dan does. Over the last few years I have been generously mentored by this very person who has now been banned. Much of what I know about the artform is directly due to his influence and the recommendations he has made and the encouragement he has extended to me. There are other reasons, which I won't go into, that I consider Dan my friend. He held my hand through a very difficult couple of years, just because I reached out to him. Things were black and now they're not perfect, but not so much black. I think that Christiern was also puzzled by the stranger we have encountered here in recent months. I too, thought we were friends. I kept hoping that some of Dan's unique, ascerbic wit would surface, but it never did. His musical talent is undeniable. His intelligence and kindness seem to have been replaced by something else. I really don't know what to make of it. I hope whatever it is, is temperary.

You weren't the only one Patricia. And I thought very highly of you for raising the issue. My own personal inclination was to not grant DEEP the attention he seemed to be seeking, both because it seemed like he would twist any attention into gratification, and because it seemed he would end up being nasty to anybody eventually. Hence, his use of the "c" word (which I first saw today, because I've been offline most of the week) -- but he probably thinks it's a compliment. As for the very beginning of his appearance here -- I communicated directly with Christiern about that, again because anything posted on the Board just seemed like it would quickly become grist for the DEEP-mill. But the way DEEP was talking to Chris struck me as highly offensive, and not "just kidding." And finally, one point I did address on that 90-page thing was this identity question: Maybe WINGY(I STAY BOMBED) would like to weigh in on this subject... To which DEEP immediately replied: Thanks Maren. I thought that I was alone and that scared me. The impression I got was that I was some sort of party-pooper and that what everyone, but me, could see by the content of the questioned posts was different than they appeared to me. I went back and re-read them and came away with the same impression. The assumption, on no evidence, seemed to be that the "surprise" was consentual. That's not what the original story said and I couldn't understand why everyone but me saw what wasn't there. Anyway............................