Bunk Johnson in New Orleans - early 20th Century

from Hear Me Talkin' To Ya: The Classic Story of Jazz as Told by the Men Who Made It, pages 7-8:

That was the Crescent City [New Orleans] in them days, full of bars, honky-tonks, and barrel houses. A barrel house was just a piano in a hall. There was always a piano player working. When I was a kid, I'd go into a barrel house and play 'long with them piano players 'til early in the mornin'. We used to play nothin' but the blues.

I knew Mamie Desdoumes real well. Played many a concert with her singing those same blues. She was pretty good-looking, quite fair, with a nice head of hair. She was a hustlin' woman. A blues-singing poor gal. Used to play pretty passable piano …   more >>

cite as

Nat Hentoff and Nat Shapiro, Hear Me Talkin' To Ya: The Classic Story of Jazz as Told by the Men Who Made It (London, 1992), p. 7-8. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1433339501662 accessed: 30 October, 2024

location of experience: New Orleans

Listeners

Bunk Johnson
cornettist, Jazz trumpeter, Bandleader
1879-1949

Listening to

hide composers
Blues performed by Mamie Desdoumes

Experience Information

Date/Time early 20th Century
Medium live
Listening Environment in the company of others, indoors, in public

Originally submitted by 5011Henning on Wed, 03 Jun 2015 14:51:41 +0100
Approved on Sat, 20 Aug 2016 15:39:26 +0100