Classic Jazz: A Personal View of the Music and the Musicians PDF
Preview Classic Jazz: A Personal View of the Music and the Musicians
CLASSIC JAZZ This page intentionally left blank CLASSIC JAZZ A Personal View of the Music and the Musicians FLOYD LEVIN Foreword by BENNY CARTER UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS Berkeley Los Angeles London Title page illustration: The author and his wife, Lucille—Emperor and Empress of the 1985 Jazz Jubilee, Sacramento, California. Unless otherwise credited, all illustrations are by the author or are from his collection. University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles, California University of California Press, Ltd. London, England © 2000 by the Regents of the University of California Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Levin, Floyd. Classic jazz : a personal view of the music and the musicians / Floyd Levin. p. cm. Includes index. isbn 0-520-21360-2 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Jazz—History and criticism. 2. Jazz musi- cians—United States. I. Title. ml3508.l48 2000 781.65—dc21 00-022554 Manufactured in the United States of America 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 The paper used in this publication meets the mini- mum requirements of ansi/niso z39.48-1992 (r 1997) (Permanence of Paper). To Lucille, my loving wife and perceptive editor, who shared these wonderful experiences with me. Her sincere praises buoyed my efforts, and her unerring criticisms deftly improved my narration. This page intentionally left blank CONTENTS FOREWORD BY BENNY CARTER xv PREFACE xvii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xxiii INTRODUCTION 1 1 KID ORY AND THE REVIVAL ERA 9 Kid Ory / 11 Kid Ory’s Legendary 1921 Nordskog/Sunshine Recordings / 14 Papa Mutt Carey / 24 Buster Wilson / 28 Andrew Blakeney / 31 Ram Hall / 34 Dink Johnson / 37 Bud Scott / 39 Joe Darensbourg / 42 Ed “Montudie” Garland / 46 Teddy Buckner / 61 viii Contents 2 A PERSONAL VIEW OF THE MUSIC 64 Lieutenant Jim Europe’s Hellfighters— The 369th Infantry Jazz Band / 65 “I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate”— The First Recorded Hit of the Jazz Age / 68 The World Premiere of “Rhapsody in Blue” / 73 “Relaxin’ at the Touro”— Memories of Muggsy Spanier / 78 Spud Murphy / 82 A Memorable Jack Teagarden Record Date / 85 The Duke Ellington Sacred Music Concert— New Orleans, 1970 / 89 Dick Hyman’s Historic Direct-to-CD Recording Session / 92 3 A PERSONAL VIEW OF THE MUSICIANS 97 Benny Carter / 97 James P. Johnson / 99 Brun Campbell and Scott Joplin / 104 Rex Stewart’s Memories of Jelly Roll Morton / 109 Anita Gonzales and the Untold Story of Jelly Roll Morton’s Last Years / 114 Johnny Guarnieri / 124 I’m Just Wild about Eubie— Memories of Eubie Blake / 128 Jess Stacy / 135 Milt Hinton / 139 Spiegle Willcox / 142 Eddie Miller / 145 Morty Corb / 148 Barney Bigard / 151 Wild Bill Davison / 156 Rosy McHargue / 159 Artie Shaw / 163 Andy Razaf / 165 Contents ix Coot Grant and Sox Wilson / 169 The World’s Greatest Jazz Band / 172 4 THE INFLUENCE OF NEW ORLEANS MUSICIANS ON CLASSIC JAZZ 177 The Jazz Journey—From Lulu White’s Mahogany Hall to Carnegie Hall / 177 Papa Celestin and the Voodoo Queen / 181 Danny Barker—The Jazz Troubadour / 190 Lorenzo Tio, Jr., and the Clarinetists of the Crescent City / 195 Willie James Humphrey, Jr. / 202 George Lewis / 206 Alton Purnell / 209 Bill Russell / 212 5 THE GREAT LOUIS ARMSTRONG 218 Louis Armstrong’s Underrated Recordings during the Big-Band Era / 219 “Ambassador Satch” on the World Stage / 222 A Sentimental Journey—Louis’ Funeral / 225 6 JAZZ ON THE WEST COAST 230 Los Angeles in the Swing Era / 230 The Palomar Ballroom Fire / 233 The Firehouse Five and the Good Time Jazz Record Company / 240 The Yerba Buena Jazz Band and the Jazz Man Label / 246 Benny Strickler / 248 Turk Murphy’s Final Triumph / 251 I Remember Bob Scobey / 254 Dave Dexter, Jr. / 259 The Poor Angel Hot Jazz Society / 262 Dick Cary’s Tuesday Night Band / 263
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