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

urn:iso:std:iso:639:ed-3:eng

76-77

text excerpt

There was a saying in New Orleans. When some musician would get a job on the riverboats with Fate Marable, they's say, "Well you're going to the conservatory". That's because Fate was such a fine musician and the men who worked with him had to be really good.

[...]

The riverboat bands played dance music mostly. But Fate had things like Jelly Roll's tunes in the book. Numbers like The Pearls and Jelly Roll Blues. And he had songs like Frankie and Johnny. As a matter of fact, Frankie and Johnny, with Fate's band, was the first record I was ever on. At that time they brought the machines along with them and we made the record for Okeh in New Orleans. The other side was Piano Flight.

I remember when Baby Dodds, who was in the band that Louis [Armstrong] was in on the Capitol steamboat, somehow got me on the stand so I could listen to Louis. It was bitterly against the rules but somehow Baby did it.

The bands on the boats then were made up of two trumpets, one trombone, mellophone, violin, banjo, drums and bass.

excerpt from 'Hear Me Talkin' To Ya: The Classic Story of Jazz as Told by the Men Who Made It' pp. 76-77 (189 words)

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1433869608693