Hear Me Talkin' To Ya: The Classic Story of Jazz as Told by the Men Who Made It

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One of the most beautiful sounds in the city of New Orleans was Fate Marable playing his steam calliope about seven in the evening every night. Those calliope concerts from the riverboats J.S. and Bald Eagle started in the first couple of years after the boats started using music--around 1916 and '17, I'd say. Well, fate would play the calliope in the evening to let the people know the boats were going to cut out on excursions. All over the river, Fate Marable had a fabulous reputation.

This is how the river boats got music on them. Those boats had roustabouts [oil-rig laborers] on them, and half of those roustabouts played guitar, and nearly all sang. Well, when those boats went up the river, the roustabouts were on the lower deck and the passengers, the gamblers, et cetera, were on the upper deck. But when the people on the upper deck heard the singing and playing of the roustabouts, they would come downstairs, and that gave Strekfus, the owner of the boats, the idea of putting music on the boats.

excerpt from 'Hear Me Talkin' To Ya: The Classic Story of Jazz as Told by the Men Who Made It' pp. 75 (180 words)

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