tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86163250336292208922024-03-04T20:22:16.654-08:00The Secret WeaponAccounts of A Jazz Clarinetist in MinneapolisThe Secret Weaponhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01458356297570792777noreply@blogger.comBlogger52125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8616325033629220892.post-32791769094743997172016-04-01T05:23:00.000-07:002016-04-01T05:23:27.115-07:00The Crepuscular Clarinet—Or—Songs For An Insomniac<br />
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">There’s this word that entered into my world several years ago, “crepuscular.” It’s kind of an ugly sounding word, especially in juxtaposition to it’s meaning, as it describes anything relating to the time of twilight. It first came into my awareness either from a Fitzgerald passage, or maybe out of one of Stephen Fry’s creations, I can’t remember, and was used to describe the sky. As it has settled into my vocabulary, it bubbles to the surface whenever I see a particular shade of blue in the sky that only happens post-dusk and pre-dawn, well, as I said, during twilight. These days I often get my sleep in chunks—a couple hours late at night, and a few more after the sun rises. Many times during those sleepless middles, tonight for instance, I think, “Maybe I’ll get to see that crepuscular blue today.” </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">There are creatures, insects and animals, which are most active during these times. I like to think of myself as a crepuscular animal, of a sort. I join the ranks of everything from the romantic firefly to the lumbering moose. Come to think of it, that’s not a bad description of my own range of existence. I’ve read that these animals do not necessarily confine their activity to those brief moments around sunrises and sunsets, but will extend the time during bright, moonlit nights and dull, cloudy days. Those are two of my favorite kinds of light. In my personal vocabularic sense, crepuscular also describes a certain feeling. </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">I suffer a vague discontent that can come from examining my life in these quiet, still, most often alone moments. A washed out, questioning feeling. I’m usually tired, but have some sort of energy nonetheless. It’s dark, but not too dark to see. Just enough light left or just enough light coming on, illuminating the things I’ve left undone. But there is real beauty as well, not just in the sky, but also in the rarity of reaching a still point. You might be thinking, “Stop being so fancy, you’re just describing the blues.” But as you know, there are many kinds of blues. And finally that brings me to the music.</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Certain songs, musicians and composers provide perfect soundtracks for these moments. Those three things usually met in any Duke Ellington orchestra that was blessed with Barney Bigard’s presence. Musical expression of the crepuscular was no accident for Duke. He came by it organically. Synesthesia is when a response is produced by one of your senses when another of your senses is stimulated. Duke was one of the most well-known of synesthetes. When notes, tones, and chords came into his ears, he saw colors. To me, he came closer than anyone else in capturing the crepuscular in a musical composition. He also didn’t just use notes and chords, he studied and used the specific strengths of each member of his orchestra. He composed for the specific man. When Barney Bigard was on his palette, that specific blue flourished. Barney played a Crepuscular Clarinet. Check out what I mean in one of my current favorite late night numbers:</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkoVB878Hl0" target="_blank">If You’re Ever In My Arms Again</a></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">As you hear from Sue Mitchell’s vocal, it’s a song of regret mixed with a little, perhaps unrealistic, determination. Barney only plays a small role in the beginning of the recording, but he perfectly sets up that feeling of regret before Sue goes ahead and explicitly tells the story. These are the kinds of sounds and thoughts a person experiences when facing a fast-approaching new day with no way to resolve a regret.</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">There are also darker aspects to the blue, a little more desperate: </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zi0i111p8OA" target="_blank">Lament For Javanette</a></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Barney actually composed this one with Billy Strayhorn, saying, “One night I just got tired and started foolin’ around on clarinet, and that’s how I made up ‘Javanette’.” Apparently he was lamenting the women—whom he said looked Hawaiian—who strolled from table to table selling cigarettes on set breaks when the Ellington band was working at the Sherman Hotel in Chicago. What he lamented, he didn't say.</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">I’m going to take a slight detour now from Barney and Duke for a few minutes to play one of my all time crepuscular favorites. “Smoke Rings” was a huge hit and the theme song for Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra back in 1937. </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmfXhnQ4fM8" target="_blank">Smoke Rings</a></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Clarence Hutchinrider is the clarinetist here. He was not really well-known outside of his work with the Casa Loma band. If I’m honest, much of the credit for the songs crepuscularity (please forgive me, it’s late) goes to Gene Gifford for his arrangement of muted horns for the first full minute of the song. But Clarence took advantage of this gorgeous backdrop. He flirted with the melody, mixing in blue notes and fragile high notes to give the song an extra keening which balances the subdued nature of the muted horns. </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Back to Barney, the ultimate purveyor of the Crepuscular Clarinet. I couldn’t leave off without one of the most perfect expressions of said blueness, “A Lull At Dawn.” I mean, it’s right there in the title! I’m getting crepuscular all over just thinking about it. If you're not sleeping tight, I hope all of this helps.</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqEb3VtPqpk" target="_blank">A Lull At Dawn</a></span></div>
<div style="color: blue; font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><u><br /></u></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The Bigard story about "Lament For Javanette" came f</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">rom <i>Jazz Talking: Profiles, Interviews And Other Riffs On Jazz Musicians</i> by Max Jones</span></div>
The Secret Weaponhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01458356297570792777noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8616325033629220892.post-60361984128950984742016-03-06T23:37:00.001-08:002016-03-07T10:48:10.556-08:00Bix Insanity II<br />
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">“It was 1927!” A few days ago, the Southside Aces rehearsed in preparation for Bix Beiderbecke Night at the Eagles. We’ll be there March 10<sup>th</sup>, that otherworldly Iowan’s birthday. Any contemplation of Bix’s music invariably leads to the above exclamation. You say it with heavy incredulity, and often add a remaining-in-denial shake of the head. Sometimes you might substitute one of the surrounding years in that sentence, but really, much of the music with Bix at the center that still inspires musicians today happened in 1927. Here we are ninety years later still trying to figure out how his way of playing—so swinging, hot and traditional, yet somehow with a modernity fifteen years ahead of it’s time—was channeled through him so early in jazz history.</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">On Friday, February 4<sup>th</sup> of that year, Frank Trumbauer and his Orchestra went into Okeh Studios in New York to wax a few, one of which—“Singin’ The Blues”—became arguably one of their most well-known recordings. When I say “arguably,” it’s because Bixophiles argue a lot. When I say “most well-known,” it’s most often just among Bixophiles that it is most well-known. I say this because my experience has been that if I mention his name out in public, I usually have to say “Bix” at least three times. And countless are the times I’ve had to explain his surmane, “No, it’s not ‘Spiderbeck’, but I can see how you heard that.” It just happened today, in fact. Bix did have a little personal fame outside of musician ranks during his lifetime. But then, as now, it was mostly the musicians who flocked around him. Then, they clogged the floors in front of bandstands, hungry for every note, like a room full of cats running to the sound of a can of tuna being opened. Now, we gather around whatever apparatus we use to play recordings and shake our heads in amazement.</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">But this Bixophile won’t argue if you tell me “Singin’ The Blues” was one of their best. It was a 1920 song Frankie and Bix and Eddie reworked into a masterpiece of melancholy swing. The Eddie was Eddie Lang, the guitarist on the session. Per usual, he played as if he were two guitarists, perfectly accompanying the soloists with rich chording and runs. Trumbauer on his C-Melody saxophone gives us an opening chorus that is an exquisite composition in itself, and Bix follows with his special brand of hot jazz meets French Impressionism. There is a short solo on clarinet by Jimmy Dorsey, who sounds perfectly subdued by the blueness of the proceedings. Bill Rank on trombone; Paul Mertz on piano, Howdy quicksell on banjo and Chauncy Morehouse on drums complete the cast. </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">Apparently, the first take was scrapped because everyone in the band wanted a solo, so they were only half way through when they ran out of grooves. The second take is what was released, with the two centerpiece solos of Bix’s and Tram’s.</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">In <i>The Leon Bix Beiderbecke Story</i> by Phil and Linda Evans, they captured an interview with a Bix contemporary, Richardson Turner, who played cornet with the Princeton Triangle Jazz Band. Turner had this to say:</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">“Bix’s chorus on ‘Singin’ The Blues’ was a great one. They made three takes of it at the date, and every chorus of Bix’s was different. He simply did not know what someone meant when they reminded him of some chorus he’d taken on a record. He wasn’t that kind of musician, which is the point. It had to be different and better every time.”</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">“Trumbology” and “Clarinet Marmalade” were also recorded that day. Memorable recordings themselves, but none match the relaxed poise of “Singin’ The Blues.” There is a wistfulness to this record that makes it one of my go-to songs on any day I have clouds hanging over my head. By the last few bars, Bix and company heat it up, letting you know that no matter how much you like your melancholy, you can just go ahead and walk it off. Not to mention with a little bit of a strut.</span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Listen!</div>
<div>
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86bO53-gpFs" target="_blank">"Singin' The Blues"</a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
The Secret Weaponhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01458356297570792777noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8616325033629220892.post-2994583063044849112016-02-22T19:25:00.000-08:002016-02-22T19:25:55.102-08:00Bix Insanity<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFNavKdfDoWtayXsR8QkYRW08x33MKuoVSgAP3GSQhzZyLxrrnUbvnEI0lL69sAXDQAO0MbD1lhLxV-uoRoDhtZEWNbGQavEYnwFAm907SHpK-1W1kkGQvDPnsCNMV7RZWxpnufI3Wjxc/s1600/bix.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFNavKdfDoWtayXsR8QkYRW08x33MKuoVSgAP3GSQhzZyLxrrnUbvnEI0lL69sAXDQAO0MbD1lhLxV-uoRoDhtZEWNbGQavEYnwFAm907SHpK-1W1kkGQvDPnsCNMV7RZWxpnufI3Wjxc/s400/bix.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span><br />
<div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Thursday, March 10th will mark the 113th anniversary of Bix Beiderbecke's birth. I believe that's the Replace All The Wiring In The House You Built When You Were Married anniversary. If you're married for 113 years...well, it was probably just fifty years and <i>seemed</i> like 113. Har, har. At any rate, the reason I'm celebrating Bix on this odd numbered year, is that this one happens to fall on the second Thursday of the month. That means the Southside Aces are throwing a big Bix bash at the Eagles! This will be the first time we've featured the music of that famous Iowa jazz cornetist. I've gone a little Bix insane at the moment. There's piles of Bix recordings all over my house, my Philip and Linda Evans biography is always close at hand, in the last week I've actually written out C-Melody saxophone parts, and I've been firing off emails and phone calls to my band mates demanding extra preparation. If any of them were in my house right now, they'd placatingly pat me on the shoulder and say, "There, there, Tony, why don't you sit down, listen to 'Singin' The Blues' and drink this gin we made in our bathtub last week." The Aces are rehearsing on February 29th. This is significant because herding all six of us together to work things out is such a rare thing that Dave and I have been joking it's our regularly-scheduled Leap Year rehearsal.</span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">
<div style="font: 16.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
But Bix is worth it. I can't emphasize this enough. He only got to spend 28 of those 113 years walking around on the planet—dying in New York on August 6th, 1931—and didn't get around to picking up the cornet until he was sixteen. He may not have started until he was sixteen, but a year later he already writes his teenage love interest, Vera, that he's "having a good time playing for dances in a hot orchestra making piles of jack..." And think of this: his first recordings began just before his 23rd birthday, and he spent most of the last year of his life ill. It was in those five or so intervening years that he would so profoundly affect jazz for all time. </div>
<div style="font: 16.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
I'm going to write more about this in the seventeen days before his birthday, so for now I'll leave you with this, one of my favorite Bix recordings. This is like when Erik says, "This is one of my favorite songs. I know I say that a lot, but it's true!" I have twenty favorite Bix recordings. More. This one's just hot, and I don't have to say much about it. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
</span><br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKWeLnyq_EU" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">"Louisiana"</span></a><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
The Secret Weaponhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01458356297570792777noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8616325033629220892.post-84257155563021072482015-10-23T15:07:00.000-07:002015-10-23T15:08:35.680-07:00The Southside Aces In Vogue<br />
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Last Friday, for the first time in our existence, the Southside Aces were in vogue. The Vogue Building at 412 South Wells Street in Chicago houses on it’s seventh floor a karate dojo where the members of the 50Fifty dance group hold their monthly dances. They hired us to play music of a Friday and Saturday, so we drove down. Zack was off in Europe somewhere or another, so we enlisted the aid of trumpeter and Chicago native “Kid” Ben Bell Bern. Otherwise, all the usual suspects were in attendance. </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The elevator pours you directly into the hall. Nice wood floor about fifty by twenty feet. Two rows of necessary, load-bearing pillars in the middle of the floor created an automatic increased degree of difficulty for the dancers. Floorcraft is a dancing term that refers to the etiquette of dancing in public. Basically, you try to dance as if you remember that there are other people on the floor besides you and your partner. Giant pillars are unforgiving teachers in this regard. Add the essence of the karate dojo, and I imagined the movie montage where the sensei keeps making the blindfolded Lindy (grass)hoppers bang into the pillars until they achieved floorcraft ESP. </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The Aces were between a couple of those pillars, but were seated so didn’t risk injury. Amongst some of the standard fare, we played great tunes throughout the weekend like “Back Room Romp,” “Honey Hush,” “Blues In The Air,” New Orleans Bump,” “Bogalusa Strut,” “Tootie Ma Is A Big Fine Thing,” “Stardust,” “He’s A Different Type Of Guy,” handfuls of others. But the absolute hit of the weekend had to be the classic “Deep Henderson.”</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">I guess this meandering story is one about circling back. King Oliver and his Dixie Syncopators had recorded it in 1926. It included some musicians that went on to some greatness of their own, including a couple favorites of mine, Barney Bigard and Albert Nicholas. That recording knocked out and inspired the Hall Brothers Jazz Band to play and record it back in the 1970s. Subsequently, both of those recordings inspired us to record it, releasing it on last year’s <i>Second Thursday</i>. It’s favorite status in the Aces happened back in 2012, when we first played it at the Eagles for a feature on the Hall Brothers Jazz Band. </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">So there we were Friday night, done with our work and making plans to go to Lawrence’s for late night shrimp. </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 14px/normal 'Copperplate Light'; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">"Shrimply The Best"</span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 14px/normal 'Copperplate Light'; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Incidentally, the banana pudding with 'Nilla Wafers was also a band favorite.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpPQC5bA37Q_Dg_Uk3i0mlY74ClHbPghk8_pV_EUlLbxtJDRor74QRJHKxBmTe2rR5uGldCdosgrMkYkX54AaooqCSHV2czJ9VNkbF0iQ1mjl_wDV4RqTabLMwwIO6VZbeZ5HN36MEbLY/s1600/images.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpPQC5bA37Q_Dg_Uk3i0mlY74ClHbPghk8_pV_EUlLbxtJDRor74QRJHKxBmTe2rR5uGldCdosgrMkYkX54AaooqCSHV2czJ9VNkbF0iQ1mjl_wDV4RqTabLMwwIO6VZbeZ5HN36MEbLY/s1600/images.jpeg" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Ben was going on about “Deep Henderson,” saying, “That’s the cut!” Those three words are about the highest praise a musician can give a song. I said to him, “I’m not going to repeat too many songs this weekend, but we should definitely play that one again tomorrow night.” Ben nodded in agreement and declared, “Chicago needs to know about ‘Deep Henderson’!” </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">And there’s the circle. A circle that is making all you jazz history nerds, myself included, already begin to chuckle nerdily. King Oliver and his Dixie Syncopators were playing at the Plantation Café in Chicago, 338 E. 35<sup>th</sup> Street, back in 1926 when they recorded the song. A mere five miles from the Vogue Building. A lot further away in terms of the racial geography of the time, but that’s a different story. Chicago has known about the song for nearly ninety years. I admit, there’s a good chance they’ve forgotten about it for probably 86 of those years, but it started in the Windy City, and we brought it back. It was kind of like one of those paintings that gets lost in a war and is restored to it’s rightful country after confirming it’s lineage. In our case nobody noticed, not even most members of the band, I would warrant, but it gave me a small twinge of satisfaction to think about it that way. </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Here's the Southside Aces version off of <i>Second Thursday</i>: </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><a href="https://southsideaces.bandcamp.com/track/deep-henderson">https://southsideaces.bandcamp.com/track/deep-henderson</a></span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
The Secret Weaponhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01458356297570792777noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8616325033629220892.post-75382971275649482332015-10-09T18:26:00.000-07:002015-10-09T18:31:09.144-07:00Jelly Roll Morton By The Seat Of Your Pants<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span></div>
<div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Last night the Southside Aces reported for jazz duty at the Fraternal Order of Eagles, Aerie #34, ready to serve up some Ferdinand "Jelly Roll" Morton off the seat of our pants. I say this because it's been difficult to gather the Gates for rehearsals, so I really have to rely on the strength of our collective trousers. Sometimes the band can be hard on pants. But last night, as one of my mentors likes to say, was "halfway decent." As he also likes to say, "It could have been worse."</span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">
<div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<br />
It could have been a lot worse. There is a lot of jazz music that can be easily played even though one or more of the musicians doesn't know the song. Musicians will often hear phrases like this: "It's in B flat, goes to the four in the bridge." It's a message about the key and chord movement of a song. You could say a simple sentence such as that on the bandstand ten seconds before downbeat, and a musician would have a fighting chance to make great music on a song he or she has never before played. Jelly Roll's music does not lend itself to such easy description. The difference between, say, "Exactly Like You" and Morton's "The Pearls," would, respectively, be like the difference of having to describe a lone gunman wearing a Green Bay Packers hoodie as opposed to each of a team of four bank robbers with different heights, clothing and noses spread throughout a lobby. By the time you were done describing "The Pearls" to your poor, unsuspecting fellow musician, the audience would forget that a band was playing, and during the song your poor, now aware fellow musician would be giving you the hard stare that says, "Why the bleeping bleep would you call <i>this</i> song?!"</div>
<div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<br />
Many Morton songs follow ragtime patterns, with three different strains, interludes and key changes. I mention "The Pearls" because it is one of my favorite jazz compositions of all time. And that's the thing about that rascal Ferdinand. Though he did go down in history as a rascal, he also is arguably the first person to provide us with jazz <i>compositions</i>. The first to codify ways of playing jazz that musicians take for granted today. Morton said, "In all my recording sessions and in all my band work, I always wrote out the arrangements in advance. When it was a New Orleans man, that wasn't so much trouble, because those boys knew a lot of my breaks; but in traveling from place to place I found other musicians had to be taught. So around 1912 I began to write down this peculiar form of mathematics and harmonics that was strange to all the world." </div>
<div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<br />
As you can see, Jelly Roll was not oblivious to his own prodigious talent. About "The Pearls," he is legendarily supposed to have said he gave the song it's name because he felt each movement was just as perfect as the last. It really is a beautiful song, the third strain being my favorite, filled with a sort of wistfulness, but not lacking in swing and strut. </div>
<div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<br />
The Aces fared well on some great ones last night. "Kansas City Stomps," for instance. The writer and jazz critic Albert Murray was talking about his 1927, fifth-grade self when he wrote, "I was already trying to project myself as the storybook heroic me that I wanted to be by doing a syncopated sporty limp-walk to the patent leather avenue beat of Duke Ellington's then very current 'Birmingham Breakdown'. [That], along with old Jelly Roll Morton's 'Kansas City Stomps,' and Fletcher Henderson's 'Stampede' functioned as my personal soundtrack some years before Vitaphone movies came into being." I don't know about you, but I'm going to start practicing my "sporty limp-walk."</div>
<div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<br />
The Aces also took to menacing the crowd with the dark and lurking "New Orleans Bump," and bounced them about the place with the steamrolling phrases of "Tanktown Bump." Our "bump" set. I want to know what a "bump" is. Our "Jungle Blues" was majestic, which is an amazing testament to Jelly Roll. How did he make an earthy blues song that pretty much has just one chord sound so majestic?</div>
<div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<br />
We did, however, strain the fabric on the seat of our band pants a couple of times. We were slightly frantic on "Black Bottom Stomp," but the said seat of said band pants maintained it's integrity. "Original Jelly Roll Blues,"on the other hand, tore off one of our back pockets and possibly popped a belt loop or two. The song is considered to be one of, if not the first published jazz composition, a century old this year. It combines blues, stops and ragtime effortlessly. We didn't combine them so effortlessly. It was the most confounding 32 bars of music we played the whole night. But you know what? We got to play it. A hundred years later, and the Southside Aces got to play it. </div>
<div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<br />
Our rendering of "The Pearls" wasn't as perfect as Jelly Roll composed it, but it was pretty dang good. We lost hardly any corduroy on that one. Are you tired of my extended seat of the pants analogy yet? My problem is that I consider "pants" to be one of the funniest words of the English language. But I'll give you a break and leave you with Jelly Roll Morton and his Red Hot Peppers from 1927:</div>
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXx2hvbiiyk" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXx2hvbiiyk</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
The Secret Weaponhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01458356297570792777noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8616325033629220892.post-16749493341628527882015-09-28T18:52:00.001-07:002015-10-01T12:56:08.455-07:00Jazz Life Under A Blood Moon<br />
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Yesterday began per my usual Sunday; opening one eye at a time to check for life. I was grateful to discover my limbs fully functioning. I used them to move my cadaver beneath a hot shower. After putting on clothes to avoid unnecessary complications with the neighbors, I stepped outside into a beautiful summer morning. The out-of-control Morning Glories tried to trip me going down the steps, but I didn’t let it bother me. After all, per my usual Sunday, I get to play music.</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">My cheerfulness thusly restored, I appeared at the Aster Café on the river, and was greeted by the smiling faces of the staff there. October will mark five years Patty and the Buttons have held down the job of playing brunch in the establishment, so we’re all together in the cause. The man with the colorful Mohawk who strides the boards is one of the best barkeeps with whom I’ve ever had the pleasure to work. Troy and his cohort Del are instantaneous with the mocha with which I start each Sunday. Troy moves with the speed of an object in an elapsed time photo film. You have to use the kind of care with your gestures one might reserve for an auctioneer; a single raised eyebrow will make a scone materialize before you even knew you needed one.</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">It may be tough some Sunday mornings to make our way down there, but it’s a great job. I love sitting on that stage with my young boss, accordionist Patrick Harison, and my fellow Buttons, Keith Boyles on bass and Mark Kreitzer on guitar and banjo. We’ve been playing together long enough now—nearly seven years—that we aren’t just tossing out songs like a pitching machine. We’re constantly striving to be a tiny jazz orchestra, which supremely suits my sensibilities. I love the improvisation, but I love our set pieces equally well.</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">On this Sunday, Myra, the leader of Miss Myra and the Moonshiners, sings a couple with us. “Ain’t Misbehavin’” and “Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives To Me.” Sam Skavnak, clarinetist for Miss Myra, sat in for our short final set. In addition to the Buttons repertoire, I got to play songs today like “Singin’ The Blues,” “Blue Again,” and “Stars Fell On Alabama.” Just a good ol’ Sunday.</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">From there, I went home to fancy up a bit. The Southside Aces were hired for what I kept calling a “society job.” A couple hours later, I and my black suit were moseying through the front door of the Louis Hill House, 260 Summit Avenue in St. Paul. The place was built in 1902 as a wedding present to Louis from his dad, James J. A decade later, Louis added what amounts to another mansion on to the front of the house. The kind of joint where the center hallway has more square footage than my whole apartment. Near the other end of this hall was a life size statue of a ballerina. She had plenty of room. In my house, we’d have to hang our hats and coats on her extended arms to justify her existence. Next to that was a living room where I began to set up. I kept thinking about Erik’s sousaphone when I looked at fragile crystal lamps and vases. I’m sure any catastrophe could eventually be worked off doing the dishes.</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The event was a fundraiser for the Madeline Island Music Camp, dedicated to providing intensive classical music instruction. We were to be handsomely paid for a single hour of work. I had been impressed by Thomas George, the man who hired us, because he asked for us to play hot jazz, but to temper it with the sweet. “Hot and sweet” is familiar, historical terminology used to describe our music, but I’ve never before had a client specifically request it in that fashion. </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">About this time Nancy, our hostess, descended from upstairs in full gown. I already knew what she looked like from several portraits of her and her family hanging on the walls of the center hall. Whoever the painter was was good enough to capture the combination of mischief and steel that both reside in her eyes in good measure. We chatted looking out the front door. She joked about the summer heat, and implored me to take my coat and tie off. I didn’t. In the next breath, she made sure of a couple of performance details in a businesslike tone. I liked her. She was gracious, funny, a little high-societally naughty, but was very clear in communicating what she wanted, and making sure things got done. </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">I had Steve Rogness on trombone. He was the next Ace to arrive. I stood at the front door and was able to point and say, “Go all the way down the hall and take a left at the ballerina.” The others taking a left at the ballerina that day were Dave on drums, Erik and his crystal-endangering sousaphone, Henry Blackburn and his bristling trio of reeds, and Butch Thompson on piano. When Dave saw where we were playing he said, “That’s nice. I get to play on the good rug.” When Henry was walking up the driveway, about thirty feet away, he didn’t realize that the woman standing next to me was our hostess. He yelled, “Are they going to let us in the front door?” She paused before answering. I swear I could actually hear the gears of her graciousness grinding into place, and she merely beckoned to him to enter. About twelve feet away he still didn’t realize to whom he was addressing his comments. He later told me he for some reason thought it was Claudia standing next to me when he added jovially, “The Hostess with the Mostest!” Ah, these low-down jazz types. </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">We were all there except Butch. She asked who would be playing piano. I told her, and she swooned with excitement. Then she pointed at the baby grand in the living room and said, “I feel bad that this isn’t my best Steinway.” To her everlasting credit, she immediately laughed and said self-mockingly, “Oh, my life is <i>so</i> hard that I can’t provide my <i>best</i> Steinway.” But it was true. She instructed all of us to go upstairs to the ballroom just to look around. Part of the 1913 addition, the ballroom itself boasted of 3,000 square feet. It was here we counted four or five more grand pianos, tucked here and there in corners and up on the stage. The house was lousy with Steinways. The infestations of the rich.</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">It was time to begin. Our hostess had been looking after my comfort when earlier imploring for me to remove my coat and tie. This had to do with my first playing station. Thomas had told me Nancy had put in the invitations something to the effect, “Arrive to the seductive sounds of the clarinet.” While the rest of the band started the cocktail hour set inside, I would play by myself outside, joining them after about twenty minutes. I had been joking all week with the fellas about that one. The band was all sitting in place, talking quietly, when I stood, hitched up my pants with exaggerated gusto, and said, “Well, time to go be seductive.”</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">It was hot out. But despite the invitation of our hostess, and the possibilities of seduction such action may have encouraged, I would not remove any clothing. Obviously, this was to maintain my appearance of high class. I still, however, enjoyed myself out there. I played “Honey Hush,” “Stardust,” “My Blue Heaven,” “Quincy Street Stomp,” (I’m not certain of the seductive qualities of a stomp), and “Where Or When,” the sound carrying out past the joggers on Summit Avenue. I then rejoined the rest of the band to the left of the ballerina.</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Benny Goodman's "Where Or When"</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TED6XVLiDs" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TED6XVLiDs</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Steve asked me if I had managed to be seductive. I said, “Well, they all came into the house didn’t they?” Henry quipped, “Are you sure it wasn’t to escape the sound of the clarinet?” We settled into playing, nothing too strenuous. We would heat it up and bring it down, showing nice restraint and dynamics. During our set, an elderly gentleman came up to us just loving our music, and Butch’s playing especially. He said, “You know, this music reminds me of about twenty-five years ago when I hired a piano player for a party. I wish I could remember his name.” Henry said, “Was it Butch Thompson?” The guy, standing just eighteen inches from Butch, wrinkled his eyebrows which we interpreted as a no, so we suggested Rick Carlson. He said “That doesn’t sound familiar. It was definitely a jazz pianist, though.” Henry repeated, “Was it Butch Thompson?” which made me snort, because all this time Butch was silently looking at the man waiting for him to answer. The man brightened. “Butch Thompson! That’s it!” Henry pointed at Butch, “There’s the man himself” which gave a start to our fan.</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The man himself provided perhaps my favorite musical moment when I had him start “Careless Love” solo. That man does all right on the piano. Henry and me on “Goodbye, Don’t Cry” was also pretty high in my rankings. Afterwards, packed up and on the sidewalk out front, I talked with Erik and Steve. Steve said, “I wonder if I somehow came into millions of dollars if it would even occur to me to have my portrait painted.” Offering no explanation, Erik said, “Probably.” </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">I went back home to fancy down a bit. I ate a sandwich and put on jeans and a tee. I hiked the mile or so over to Palmer’s Bar. It has been there that Miss Myra and the Moonshiners have been holding forth on Sunday evenings for a couple months now. At the beginning of my Sunday, I specifically planned on wanting this juxtaposition of experiences, the Louis Hill House to Palmer’s Bar. Palmer’s, of course, is significantly rougher. “Sorry, We’re Open” says the sign outside. The shoals of Palmer’s Bar make it far too easy to sink your ship. But it is a pretty colorful island on which to become shipwrecked. When I arrived, much of the humanity was gathered outside to stare at the blood moon coming on the heels of the lunar eclipse. </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">I urged Sam to get Myra to introduce them as “Miss Myra and the Blood Moonshiners,” but she wouldn’t bite. The band served up the music, and Seneca, the bartender, served up the bourbon. Even though it had been three weeks since the last time I was there, she remembered my order. She snickered at me and said, “I saw you looking over everything as if you weren’t going to end up with the same as usual.” I replied philosophically, “A man owes it to himself to know what his options are.”</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The music is drawn from the repertoire of early jazz and blues, a lot of songs out of the Firehouse Five fake book. A girl named Angie has learned some drums to be in this band. A boy named Luke plays electric bass. On electric guitar is Zane Palmer. Jeanine, or “Red,” is Myra’s sister and plays trumpet. Sam, of course, on the clarinet. Myra plays rhythm guitar, sings and leads the ensemble. They are a spirited bunch, attacking music some of which was eighty years old before they were even born. They are rough and unpolished, but possess the charisma of earnest youth. I like them. I want them to succeed. </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Then there’s the rest of the Palmer’s landscape. A mountain of a Native American man in a Minnesota Viking’s shirt stood in the middle of the bar with a slide whistle trying to play along with the band. He was terribly out of tune and loud. I was trying to figure out the non-judgmental, personally safe way to get him to stop when Cindy, Sam’s mother, just walked up to him and told him he was being rude. Just like that he ended his solo work. I think the force of Motherhood caused his obedience. But from somewhere I don’t know he produced a pair of bones he claimed were from a buffalo, and began to beat out rhythm on his thigh. This was not so intrusive, so everyone got to be happy. It did make me wonder what other weird instruments he had on his person.</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">A black man with dreadlocks tried to get up a dance with a woman. I think she had actually come in with him, but then pulled out the rug. She sort of sarcastically moved her hips for about seven seconds, then abruptly turned away and walked through the back door out to the patio, leaving him standing in the middle of the floor. I gave him a loud, sympathetic “Awwww!” He came over to me and said, “Man! I just hate to use a cliché, but that’s the story of my life!”</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">I dispensed unasked for music advice to the young kids that are Miss Myra and the Moonshiners before they headed out at the end of the night. In the bathroom before I left, I ran into a handsome black man in his thirties, wearing a porkpie hat. He said his last name was Brunious. I said, “Like the New Orleans music family?” He proceeded to name off Wendell, John and others of the family, surprised I knew of them. “I don’t have any of the trumpet skills of my father or anything, but I know about music. I’m trying to help these kids.” Of course I run into a Brunious in the bathroom at Palmer’s. </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">And what of these “kids,” these Moonshiners? They sure are being looked after by a lot of folks. Brunious, Papa John Kolsted, me and others. It’s like they’re an orphaned jazz band in the perilous Jazz Woods, and we’re a bunch of adult Jazz Bears making sure they survive. Whether they want or need our protection or not.</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">I jumped in a cab. I was full of whiskey, song and thoughts of egalitarianism. That pretty much describes a career in music. I handed out my card in three different places today. To a swing dancer in a middle class river café. To a woman wearing a dress that probably cost as much as six months of my rent, in the middle of her richly appointed living room at one of <i>the</i> Summit Avenue mansions. And to a man trying to live up to the expectations set by the many generations of his New Orleans music family, in the men’s room of a dive bar. Meanwhile, the moon looked down on all of us while it went about it’s business of eclipse and blood. </span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
The Secret Weaponhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01458356297570792777noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8616325033629220892.post-84497559334442110222015-07-13T19:44:00.000-07:002015-07-13T19:45:18.625-07:00Happy Birthday, George Lewis!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I've crawled out from beneath my blog rock to acknowledge one of New Orleans finest, the great George Lewis. He was born today in 1900. A picture of George hangs on my dining room wall where I practice, and I often look to him for inspiration. You can read a lot more about him in a previous blog I wrote here: <a href="http://mplsjazzman.blogspot.com/2011/02/secret-weaponthe-heroes.html" target="_blank">The Heroes—George Lewis</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But mostly I want to sit and think about how George inspired my mentors, who in turn ushered me into this music I love and by which I make my living. Watch this video of him playing his composition, "Burgundy Street Blues." To George!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKL-RJDPH3w" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">"Burgundy Street Blues"</span></a><br />
<br />
<br />The Secret Weaponhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01458356297570792777noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8616325033629220892.post-72110784778898528232015-02-04T23:33:00.001-08:002015-02-05T10:26:24.917-08:00Road Trip to New Orleans, Minnesota<br />
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Do you ever get that deep down hunger for some Cajun dinner? You rush out the door in search of someone with the requisite skills to cook it up, and at that point—if you live in these parts—a gust of snow hits you in the face reminding you of how you’re about 1102 miles from New Orleans. South Minneapolis just isn’t south enough. Last night, however, instead of just curling up on my front porch letting the snow make little eddies around my head, I headed north, all the way up to the town of Circle Pines, Minnesota. While you ponder that seemingly counterintuitive response, why don’t you listen to one of my favorite Professor Longhair tunes:</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UWBO4r11AY" target="_blank"> “Big Chief”</a> </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">No need to send the white coats over to the Balluff house. I’m not going through some sort of cabin fever. Unless you’re talking about a Louisiana cabin. A Cajun dinner and “Big Chief” met me in Circle Pines last night at Bistro La Roux. Chef Tim Glover opened the place last year to be able to serve Minnesota during all four seasons in combination with his bright green food truck called Cajun 2 Geaux. He hails from Houma, Louisiana, and it’s an understatement to say he knows his stuff.</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 14px/normal 'Copperplate Light'; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Chef Tim overseeing a pot</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU12jeXVH1K6fvCcIuAttwiIQkPNkSX-ySYK3lhZvUL3IGaLc3kEuJWMY0Gt-sfKK_ZPEnAWkL3jTRsu56rJwcStDI_owtsBgqWNeheFmp6BL4w3c6P0vDxMdw6HZNBxkjShf5t9Txq7A/s1600/tim_preparing_food.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU12jeXVH1K6fvCcIuAttwiIQkPNkSX-ySYK3lhZvUL3IGaLc3kEuJWMY0Gt-sfKK_ZPEnAWkL3jTRsu56rJwcStDI_owtsBgqWNeheFmp6BL4w3c6P0vDxMdw6HZNBxkjShf5t9Txq7A/s1600/tim_preparing_food.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">My table started with fried green tomatoes, to which Chef Tim adds a little honey, a perfect sweet and savory combination. This was followed by Jambalaya, jalapeno cornbread, crawfish and shrimp etouffee, a catfish platter with gouda grits and greens, and finally a plate of beignets smothered with about a half pound of powdered sugar. </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 14px/normal 'Copperplate Light'; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Said Jambalaya</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjepaJ24kR0Ta6AcFWHceFBiYwIQgTR5OZ3MYAZmuKM5m9eUhbY9c_sDJDfeWb055Np07IXxK3iCIy_p19xr1gIgWAUrGL1P8ZR9M0qkyF3n1depjfZmfuHAEmQW3fjdlVY9TAVLOvbq34/s1600/_MG_3527.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjepaJ24kR0Ta6AcFWHceFBiYwIQgTR5OZ3MYAZmuKM5m9eUhbY9c_sDJDfeWb055Np07IXxK3iCIy_p19xr1gIgWAUrGL1P8ZR9M0qkyF3n1depjfZmfuHAEmQW3fjdlVY9TAVLOvbq34/s1600/_MG_3527.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">This incredible dinner was served with a soundtrack that included, along with the above tune, such New Orleans staples such as “Joe Avery’s Piece,” “Do Watcha Wanna,” and Professor Longhair’s hit, “Mard Gras In New Orleans.” </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">There isn’t a time of the year when I don’t have an ache to visit New Orleans. It isn’t that I’m one of those who believe I am living in the wrong place. I love Minnesota, and it is very likely you will be able to find me living here all my years. But I do love to trek to New Orleans on a regular basis, and the food is definitely one of the biggest draws for me. Last night, I walked out of Bistro La Roux with a pleasantly stuffed belly into cold air to see the diamond snow on a Circle Pines parking lot lit up by that big beautiful full moon in the northern sky. This was not a New Orleans scene by any stretch of the imagination. But Chef Tim had somehow given me that feeling inside that I get when I’m down in Louisiana. And I’m not talking about the pain of overindulgence. It’s that feeling that there isn’t any peace that couldn’t be brokered over a meal like that, that people are good and I’m lucky to be living in the world right now. It’s an invincible feeling that with such magical food my ability to play New Orleans music is unlimited. Frankly, I had a Louisiana buzz going. </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Minneapolis folk, make the drive. You could call it a New Orleans road trip. But this one only takes twenty minutes.</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">More information:</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.s526619858.onlinehome.us/BistroLaRoux/index.html" target="_blank">Bistro La Roux</a></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.cajun2geaux.com/" target="_blank">Cajun 2 Geaux</a></span></div>
<div style="color: blue; font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><u><br /></u></span></div>
The Secret Weaponhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01458356297570792777noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8616325033629220892.post-34598323672389091102015-01-27T22:24:00.000-08:002015-01-27T22:24:40.462-08:00New Old Jazz II<br />
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Can a toddler compose 1930s swing with a Johnny Jump Up? That’s the question I will answer today. To tell this story properly, I need to rewind again to that moment at the Eagles in December of 2013 when I issued a challenge to the band to come up with original music for the upcoming recording. We were toasting the year behind us with some backstage bourbon. Just to assure you, this refers to where we were when we were drinking the bourbon, not where we found the bourbon.</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Right then Steve stepped up and surprised us. It was as if he was soda pop and my challenge shook him up, causing his bottle cap to pop off! If I may interrupt for a second, and you know I will, I’m pretty sure if Steve were soda pop, he would be the old style Mountain dew:</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 14px/normal 'Copperplate Light'; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">You have to admit, Steve “tickles your innards.”</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg54yN9htHXvyyeILWaHFYpoN7NzzzZ_0jEyC684lFYcKEHgylhv9p-gYjF95pQ1AqpC_Jnu_s53M54TFA6S5SK2v8rfaf4d9V7yhOlVDU9tYKGM4UtIU73H6u1GSQbTXSEwhqLEqru4Hc/s1600/image_mountaindewthrowback10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg54yN9htHXvyyeILWaHFYpoN7NzzzZ_0jEyC684lFYcKEHgylhv9p-gYjF95pQ1AqpC_Jnu_s53M54TFA6S5SK2v8rfaf4d9V7yhOlVDU9tYKGM4UtIU73H6u1GSQbTXSEwhqLEqru4Hc/s1600/image_mountaindewthrowback10.jpg" height="320" width="147" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Psssshh! A tune erupted from him with no more preamble than, “How about this?” It was a swinging, up-tempo, wordless number in a minor key. He kept saying, “And then there’s this part,” and another theme would pop out of his mouth without any false starts. I waited until I was sure this musical geyser had safely come to a rest before asking, “When did you write that?” It seemed so fresh in his mind I would have guessed he’d composed it during dinner before the Eagles. The story goes, however, that his son, Micah, possessed tireless hopping muscles as a toddler. He would express himself vertically in one of those Johnny Jump Up contraptions. </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 14px/normal 'Copperplate Light'; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Micah in his chosen medium, along with Uncle Jim and Zippy. Zippy is the dog. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf69b7XgdpzEjpXm6avYbY8HqNzR4xGVa8F6mkNFu3Bw5G6-vtj4pe9HZY2d3s-vnjLiDClGP7RMJ0-sGGcjf_AhTLoN82Lr6Sm6kE1nQAgrEhqmg1-d8nPz0f_mYTDTfpU-5Si2p6kDI/s1600/Micah+Johnny+Jump+Up.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf69b7XgdpzEjpXm6avYbY8HqNzR4xGVa8F6mkNFu3Bw5G6-vtj4pe9HZY2d3s-vnjLiDClGP7RMJ0-sGGcjf_AhTLoN82Lr6Sm6kE1nQAgrEhqmg1-d8nPz0f_mYTDTfpU-5Si2p6kDI/s1600/Micah+Johnny+Jump+Up.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">So there’s Steve, about a quarter century ago, watching his son bounce around, and out popped music. Though he had committed the flashes of melodies to paper, they had lain dormant for many years, never really reaching the light of day. Yet, as we heard at the Eagles, the song seems to always reside in an easy-to-reach file in Steve’s brain. After a successful archeological dig at his house, he produced the physical evidence of his composition, two old sheets of staff paper scribbled with six different melodies. Atop one of the sheets was written the title, “J For Jump.” It sounds like one of those alphabet books, with a picture of jumping next to the letter J. Actually, J is Micah’s middle name. So it’s more like one of those times when you say, “If you look up jump in the dictionary, you’ll see a picture of J.” Steve asked if I would arrange it for the band.</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">We only had a little over two months before the recording, so I set to work. After pounding away at my piano for a bit, I realized these six seemingly disparate melodies all had a cohesive feel. Maybe watching a toddler employing a Johnny Jump Up causes your brain to scatter handfuls of short, related tunes all about the place. Do you know how when you listen to a ‘20s/’30s swing recording—maybe Fletcher Henderson or somebody—and it amazes you with all the twists and turns the band takes in such a short time? That time was limited by the recording technology of the day, so they made the most of it. From main themes and secondary themes, to underlying riffs and interludes, you really find out how much a band can get done in three minutes! Well, this is how Steve’s melodies felt to me. Separate, but all of a species. Though I don’t quite have Micah and Steve’s handle on Johnny Jump Up composing, I had the temerity to add a couple of my scribbles to his scribbles—some chords here, and a harmony or three there.</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Then I assembled the six pieces in an order I felt would make for a great single expression. Kind of like a wedding photographer herding relatives. Suddenly, there it was. From a Bouncing Micah, through the Mind of Steve, to the judicious use of Tony’s Music Arranging Hot Glue Gun, the Southside Aces had our own 1930s three-minute swing odyssey! New Old Jazz. Our good friend Dave over at <a href="http://hymiesrecords.com/second-thursday/" target="_blank">Hymie’s Vintage Records</a> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">likened the feel of it to Benny Goodman’s “Sing, Sing, Sing.” Listen to it now; Micah and Steve’s Johnny Jump Up masterpiece!</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i59WGjDPdhg" target="_blank">J For Jump</a></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><u><br /></u></span>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<br /></div>
The Secret Weaponhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01458356297570792777noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8616325033629220892.post-56355939874603473722015-01-04T14:58:00.000-08:002015-01-04T14:58:42.398-08:00New Old Jazz<br />
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">As you may have figured out by this recent barrage of posts, I have strong, unchecked urges to tell you all about the Southside Aces new release, Second Thursday. I remember back on a cold night in December of 2013, when the Aces had just finished our Christmas Pageant at the Eagles. I had an impromptu band meeting regarding our upcoming February nights in the studio. I said, “Guys, I have a goal of having at least three original tunes on the new record.” </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">There is debate in the early jazz world, or maybe mostly in my own early jazz head, about whether or not a person should bother writing new material. The question revolves around the fact that despite diligent effort on the part of any musician, there is very little chance said musician has enough time to get around to playing all the great tunes that were written in the way back. So why throw new ones up on the heap? Even if I confined myself to three of my favorite guys, Jelly Roll Morton, Sidney Bechet, and Duke Ellington, after all the tunes I’ve already learned I still have about 29,000 to go. I may be hyperbolic, but you get the idea.</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 14px/normal 'Copperplate Light'; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">One of the 29,000.</span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 14px/normal 'Copperplate Light'; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">by Duke Ellington and Harry Carney. </span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 14px/normal 'Copperplate Light'; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3ifivfRNUo" target="_blank">"Demi-tasse"</a></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">I mean, just listen to that! For a long time, I kept myself safely entrenched in that school of thought. But then, coinciding with my decision to become a full-time musician at the end of 2012, I had an epiphany. I can break it down into a drama in two parts:</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>Part One: Artistic Man</b> </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">(classic orator pose—standing center stage, one arm extended with palm facing up)</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">“The Great American Invention called Jazz is a living, breathing organism! I shall compose original music inspired by the masters as well as my 21<sup>st</sup> Century life. This shall invigorate Old Jazz, like a puppy to an old hound!” </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The dog analogy wasn’t actually a part of my original epiphany. I have to tell you, though, the next time I bring a dog into my life, I have to strongly consider naming it “Old Jazz.”</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>Part Two: Pragmatic Man</b></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">(classic problem-solving pose—sitting at breakfast table, staring off and to the right, twisting the lips to the left, furrowing the brow, and slowly nodding head)</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">“Hmm. The more originals I put on my next album, the less I have to pay in royalties. Take that, Sonny Bono!”</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">My seemingly random pot shot at Congressman Sonny is a subject for a whole other post. Depending on your perspective, he did a good thing or a frustrating thing, or both. No matter what, though, its fun to say, “Take that, Sonny Bono.” Try it.</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The truth of my philosophy combines elements of all the above. I do believe that the music of the ‘20s through the ‘40s would be more than enough for any musician to be getting on with. I also believe that fresh composition injects new life into the art form. I also like saving money when I record an album. Dead horse, high horse, pack mule. At that time in 2012, I surprised myself with a creative need to resume composing, something I hadn’t done in years. I sat down at my piano in January of 2013, and out flowed “Little Duke.” </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Do you hear how that Ellington recording above behaves? “Demi-tasse” features tight, swinging harmonies, with all the solos backed up by underlying riffs. It and its ilk really is some of the happiest music ever, and will put all kinds of bounce in your step. It's on the modern end of my jazz-listening spectrum (true modern jazzers will laugh), but is some of my favorite music of all time. Though there isn’t a particular song to which I can point, t</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">hat famous Washingtonian’s small group stuff was definitely a guide in my composing</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">.</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Inspiration comes in many forms, however, and sometimes in small packages. I am the jazz uncle to a little man name of Edward. Just a few years ago, not long after Edward came into the world, his father asked me which famous jazz guys were named Edward. I told him Duke Ellington seemed kind of famous. So the youngster wasn’t yet out of infancy and he had already earned a righteous jazz nickname. "Duke!" Incidentally, in case you historians were thinking of writing in, don’t imagine I didn’t think of Kid Ory. But I’ll go on record right now: “Duke” is a much better nickname for a child than “Ory.” Edward loves music SO MUCH. To watch his deep connection and response to it reminds me every time I see him of how miraculous it is that I get to be a musician. True inspiration for the song came from him. He <i>is</i> “Little Duke.”</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">So there you have it. New Old Jazz. Ellington gave me the form, and my jazz nephew filled it in with the wonder and joy of it all. A combination of a jazz master and my 21<sup>st</sup> Century life made me write a song, and now you can hear it:</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEXaFH12K2o" target="_blank">"Little Duke"</a></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
The Secret Weaponhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01458356297570792777noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8616325033629220892.post-9874184208897407502014-12-24T11:40:00.000-08:002014-12-24T13:21:38.315-08:00Getting Cozy With The Southside Aces<br />
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">“Yeah!” Out of all the people who’ve ever uttered that singular word of excitement, out of the entire history of being excited, I think Fats Waller arguably uttered it best. I think his inflections could give it about seventeen different meanings. Of course, you add an “Oh” to it, and the honor shifts to Mr. Armstrong. But we can debate Yeah Semantics another time. My point is to talk about “Winter Weather.” Upper case. This song appears on the slowly-being-released Southside Aces album, <i>Second Thursday</i>, a vocal feature for Steve. As far as your lower-case winter weather goes, this year Minneapolis might lose it’s status as the go-to spot for a white Christmas. What we have instead is a rainy, foggy, sunless dreariness. The go-to spot for Rudulph! But it doesn’t diminish my enthusiasm for the tune.</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">It was 1941 when pianist Ted Shapiro wrote this holiday classic. When I call it a “holiday classic,” I’m saying it because the Internet tells me to. It’s more apt to call it a “seasonal” classic, as it maintains a strict focus on weather, not Christmas. At any rate, I confess it didn’t cross my radar until a few years ago, and I even like holiday tunes. Ted also had the distinction of being Sophie Tucker’s musical director for some forty years, and for her he wrote, “Nobody Loves a Fat Girl, But Oh How A Fat Girl Can Love.” I must be out of the loop, because that song never even bothered to come within the same county as my radar. Only “The Last Of The Red Hot Mamas” could sing a song like that! It included the line, “I’m just a truck on the highway of love.”</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 14px/normal 'Copperplate Light'; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Red Hot Mama and Ted</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiflUdQ2QLRIauMlv5ypwOy7pIE_TjC30dBuL0sZ3ZdzPWwuja7nyyw7aOHyDnHuKZrvSQQLAHZX5OlXFFR6Su738vlCb55IXCiEp7a_Tv9ZazeuzEiicbqGi1oGi_0Za-27xDj9_YKh7I/s1600/6898.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiflUdQ2QLRIauMlv5ypwOy7pIE_TjC30dBuL0sZ3ZdzPWwuja7nyyw7aOHyDnHuKZrvSQQLAHZX5OlXFFR6Su738vlCb55IXCiEp7a_Tv9ZazeuzEiicbqGi1oGi_0Za-27xDj9_YKh7I/s1600/6898.jpg" height="320" width="318" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">I do digress. “Winter Weather” has a few things going for it. The melody has a falling, sighing quality perfect for a lyric that champions the benefits of spooning. But chief among its virtues is the fact that Fats Waller recorded it.</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Click to hear Fatsy Watsy: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDMG32j5lhg" target="_blank">Winter Weather</a></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">He brings it in on piano in that jaunty yet sly way that was his specialty. Even while he was being masterful, Fats always made you feel like he was winking at you. Then he sings a chorus. I’ve mentioned before how Shapiro’s lyric puts Mother Nature in the roll of wingman (see my previous post about that and the other songs Fats recorded in that session: <a href="http://mplsjazzman.blogspot.com/2014/03/how-to-get-through-long-winter.html" target="_blank">“How To Get Through A Long Winter”</a>).</span></div>
<div style="color: blue; font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><u><br /></u></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">I’m going to again boil the story of the song down to one paraphrased sentence: “When the temperature drops I get to snuggle with my sweetheart, so I’m going to go ahead and say I love the cold!” Fats is saucy, as you’d expect, making the innocent song blush just a little. “I love the winter weather,” he sings, “because I got my love to keep me warm.” He thoughtfully lingers on how warm his love is in the coda, “So warm, so nice and warm,” and concludes with one of his aforementioned famous exclamation points. “Yeah!” </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 14px/normal 'Copperplate Light'; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Did I mention naughty?</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-AZhF9Fz3ujJJLXwhR39Uk70f7SXIWW7iheZ_8QYZBG6lp7rEbgEHisUePHFlJfN5PDT4oAoSIsNykRoh8STtgXsyHxGObIj0THNmp54IffA6uiRPnAg-XxAEqFD39orPoWu3V4mnAv0/s1600/images-1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-AZhF9Fz3ujJJLXwhR39Uk70f7SXIWW7iheZ_8QYZBG6lp7rEbgEHisUePHFlJfN5PDT4oAoSIsNykRoh8STtgXsyHxGObIj0THNmp54IffA6uiRPnAg-XxAEqFD39orPoWu3V4mnAv0/s1600/images-1.jpeg" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">A young Peggy Lee had a hit singing it with Benny Goodman. I like it; it swings. But it’s speed makes the kissing and cuddling a little perfunctory. So we took our cue from Fats. In our recording, I copped Fats’ introduction for the horns to play, then we trade choruses with Steve, the band going first. The tune inspires a certain amount of lazy warmth, and we play as if we’re saying, “Hey. It’s cold out. Wanna come cuddle with the Southside Aces?” In case the image of cuddling with the whole band makes you a little uneasy, I won’t mention it again. Steve’s vocal on the other hand is sweet and personal, a slow dance. The rest of us cut in to say, “But if you want to take a nap with the whole band…” Sorry, I promised. Steve takes it back and finishes, down to the last “Yeah!”</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Now. We made a mistake. When the Aces were going through the mixing stage of the album, we sort of forgot about “Winter Weather.” There’s quite a bit of reverb on the song that we never pulled back. At first we smacked our collective foreheads. But the more I listened, the more I thought “Happy mistake!” To me, the song comes on like a 1960s network Christmas special. </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 14px/normal 'Copperplate Light'; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">I’m using Dino as my template</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLM38j_lGarr6Wjkd_22jXUA-pprfAZCfuAacud_CPjWXHktbS3H4wGZUemjsBHkzEW3a4UmUqin6yXU2JwjQ6SvtaU5xPzKSpy_WFAnC3FCHAqut30PN_aSgtb3f7l1J53Dh0SXAaB4c/s1600/600_Dean_Martin_Christmas_-_a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLM38j_lGarr6Wjkd_22jXUA-pprfAZCfuAacud_CPjWXHktbS3H4wGZUemjsBHkzEW3a4UmUqin6yXU2JwjQ6SvtaU5xPzKSpy_WFAnC3FCHAqut30PN_aSgtb3f7l1J53Dh0SXAaB4c/s1600/600_Dean_Martin_Christmas_-_a.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">I picture Steve in profile looking to his left at the camera, fake strolling in front of a rolling winter diorama, soap flakes falling all about. Or maybe Steve in a smoking jacket lying on a plush white rug in front of the fireplace winking over a snifter of brandy, the band backing him up from the stairway that goes to a nonexistent second floor stage right…</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">I know I covered this, but are you sure you don’t want the Aces over for some cozy time? Come on, just put your head on our shoulder.</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Click: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXkX_mfsIOg&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank">Southside Aces “Winter Weather”</a></span></div>
<div style="color: blue; font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><u><br /></u></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<br /></div>
The Secret Weaponhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01458356297570792777noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8616325033629220892.post-69219097169393934882014-12-21T18:56:00.000-08:002014-12-21T19:02:22.982-08:00The Bud Scott Breakdown<br />
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">As I mentioned in the most recent post, the Southside Aces are about to host the donnybrook that celebrates the release of our latest recording, <i>Second Thursday</i>. It’s been nearly a year in the making, and I’m dang excited about it. From whence the name? Most often you name a record after what you consider to be one of the best tracks, or at least a track that makes for an evocative title. This is why, a million times in your life, you have heard DJs say, “That was the title track off of so-and-sos new blah-blah, blahbidiblah.” Despite the jaded tone of that last sentence, I actually like that method. The Aces named our last three albums after songs. So a while back, Erik and I were gently stirring a couple Manhattans in his kitchen trying to figure out which track made the best album name when I said, “You know something? I think just about every song we picked for this thing is in the Aces book because of an Eagles feature.” The Fraternal Order of Eagles, Aerie #34, has been the Southside Aces habitat once a month for the last few years. Erik sort of threw out, “We could call it <i>Second Thursday</i>.” This, the day each month on which we come together. And now you know that story.</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 14px/normal 'Copperplate Light'; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">P.S.A. Don’t use this for Manhattans. Only for cleaning drum kits.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaTBO5CCgN5ykQyO8rGEO8H78fplySpSGLYYiPET8IaCzwYaoWQxEEe54yedWljtRhZP4ImYQ8Zj6F3_O-IURQrqx8-D5l1vvsCF4vCzIeD9P4YlIs-U9RDJHnbi3rrCL9WeLKeR8iHjQ/s1600/IMG_9478.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaTBO5CCgN5ykQyO8rGEO8H78fplySpSGLYYiPET8IaCzwYaoWQxEEe54yedWljtRhZP4ImYQ8Zj6F3_O-IURQrqx8-D5l1vvsCF4vCzIeD9P4YlIs-U9RDJHnbi3rrCL9WeLKeR8iHjQ/s1600/IMG_9478.JPG" height="251" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 14px/normal 'Copperplate Light'; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Much better.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUKOmeGoKgPZdihpu0WxAP_2MgXhFMQkA5v4UTfQNJ8bJ9Tl524AXLk_wPUrRo2mNnBlUUq38FSLKSgwV_po_5saSXs-LLPL9k09JFuBzFn3wBlXjCoEFwkIH6O83s4llYa2LsLH_i-yk/s1600/21834_1300045414860_1725283_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUKOmeGoKgPZdihpu0WxAP_2MgXhFMQkA5v4UTfQNJ8bJ9Tl524AXLk_wPUrRo2mNnBlUUq38FSLKSgwV_po_5saSXs-LLPL9k09JFuBzFn3wBlXjCoEFwkIH6O83s4llYa2LsLH_i-yk/s1600/21834_1300045414860_1725283_n.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">“What songs did you pick?” might be the natural follow-up, and I’m glad you asked. Sit down, because here’s where I really dig in. As my friend Judith would entitle it: This is the story of the Southside Aces and “Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives To Me.” The song title was rejected early on as our album title, but it is one of my favorites off of Second Thursday nonetheless. This minor key song is one of my favorites, period. I’m going to first tell you about what I consider to be two of the finest instrumental versions ever.</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The first time I ever heard it was about ten years ago off the amazing 1928 Jimmie Noone recording. Jimmie is one of my all time clarinet heroes; his versions of tunes always appear at or near the top of my lists. I set myself to learning it forthwith, and got to perform it with the Bill Evans New Orleans Jazz Band now and then. In the Noone recording, Earl Hines starts with a left hand tremolo lead in the lower end of the piano. Slow and insinuating. The song creeps in like a villain out of a fog. But this is no whispy, attenuated villain. Earl is accompanied by guitarist Bud Scott who, instead of strumming chords, peppers the air with fiercely accented eighth notes. The villain has a henchman, and the henchman knows how to punch.</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 14px/normal 'Copperplate Light'; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Click: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PdILJqshL4" target="_blank">The spectacular Apex Club Orchestra</a></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieArteyJdUC5mkdv-KUVnkx509OCl5B-X-8lO_B6lGjm58k9DC97ZaLjMh49Wgr2kXo31Plcr8iTFfNeKjMQ8yRAld28ZBEGX_pPDCRufR2FpFS4TEQ3IVWJCQrmoUvKS3AWKv6S-k3lU/s1600/images-2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieArteyJdUC5mkdv-KUVnkx509OCl5B-X-8lO_B6lGjm58k9DC97ZaLjMh49Wgr2kXo31Plcr8iTFfNeKjMQ8yRAld28ZBEGX_pPDCRufR2FpFS4TEQ3IVWJCQrmoUvKS3AWKv6S-k3lU/s1600/images-2.jpeg" /></span></a></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Listen to the two of them go through a whole chorus like that! When Jimmie finally comes in with his plaintive Creole tone, he weaves the melody into his improvisation. His technique is marvelous, while at the same time he brings out the melancholy nature of the melody without being too lugubrious. After his chorus, the song builds with the full band playing the last eight bars as a coda, Jimmie with his top to bottom cascades. I really like that record.</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">A few years later, I was standing around on break playing a swing dance in Wisconsin. The DJ spun the 1951 Sidney Bechet version of the tune. I’d never heard it before. Though Sidney has his band moving at a full forty beats per minute faster than the Noone version, I was taken by how much it swings. Sidney’s arrangement owes something to Noone’s, beginning with piano, ably plunked by Don Kirkpatrick. But what really makes the song swing is Pops Foster and his rock solid, doghouse-slapping, thumping four-beat bass. Sidney, per usual, wails and growls, spits and churns. He’s offset wonderfully by the other Sidney on the record, trumpeter Sidney De Paris, who keeps things grounded with a strong melody throughout. I really like THAT record.</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 14px/normal 'Copperplate Light'; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Click: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6MNx_WvY4E" target="_blank">The Fabulous Sidney Bechet</a></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzh3Mdqt7w3Oyq-WSjYml42jY70wLyXA0ENAAdV3DNH7GUx9nTWk8QGFAsp7EqxJv8376S0A1IUCPFC68FsbO9U_0WeHvfBoHoRHOIWstKN-9XvGGg9wCC2Qq2CqiBlpuGq5mWz0Caqyo/s1600/images-3.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzh3Mdqt7w3Oyq-WSjYml42jY70wLyXA0ENAAdV3DNH7GUx9nTWk8QGFAsp7EqxJv8376S0A1IUCPFC68FsbO9U_0WeHvfBoHoRHOIWstKN-9XvGGg9wCC2Qq2CqiBlpuGq5mWz0Caqyo/s1600/images-3.jpeg" /></span></a></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Since it’s 1919 publication, many people have recorded the tune, though none quite so slow as Noone’s. The idea of the quicker tempo wasn’t Bechet’s. One of the first versions, a cylinder put out by Harry Raderman’s Jazz Orchestra in 1920 is even faster. But by the time Bechet recorded it, the song had become a vehicle for spectacular acrobatics, sometimes reaching speeds of more than 100 beats per minute faster than Bechet! They make his forty beat increase seem very reasonable indeed. To me the acrobatics work best when someone decides to sing the song. The vocal contains a double time lyric which, when attempted, can ratchet the tension of these jackrabbit performances until ladies are fainting in the aisles. When Patty and the Buttons first started playing the tune, we stumbled upon a version by John Denver, of all people, singing on the BBC, of all places. </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 14px/normal 'Copperplate Light'; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Jazz singer, John Denver.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi23v1BLXpNqf2aWPWQA_Hau5eDqCcexaI3a9a8nzIPgEhq7jk43f15sa2ZoaAVmulhuiKfS063Ad0UaeKj5O9Qbmoh6XaPetNX75eoqeqT0w_CN5KQAb66devi3ItojQDOI7gShLVx9bE/s1600/images-1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi23v1BLXpNqf2aWPWQA_Hau5eDqCcexaI3a9a8nzIPgEhq7jk43f15sa2ZoaAVmulhuiKfS063Ad0UaeKj5O9Qbmoh6XaPetNX75eoqeqT0w_CN5KQAb66devi3ItojQDOI7gShLVx9bE/s1600/images-1.jpeg" /></span></a></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">He sings the hell out of it, including a John Denver kazoo solo. If you watch the video closely, you see he hid the kazoo up his sleeve until the last second. Maybe 1973 British sensors didn’t allow kazoos on air. But the real stunner is a section where he sings the double time lyric twice again as fast! Double-double time! The surreal quality of the thing is augmented by His Rocky Mountain Blondeness bouncing with both of his arms hanging down like he’s the animatronic John Denver. He screams, “Yeah!!” at the end, apparently surprised he pulled it off. This is one of those things I watch with a mixture of one part embarrassment, two parts absolute admiration. At any rate, the Buttons took a hack at it on their just-released <i>Mercury Blues. </i>Speaking of admiration, Patty knocks the lyrics out wicked fast, but all the while still swinging like the master of swing that he is. I can’t even order breakfast as clearly as he spit out those words!</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 14px/normal 'Copperplate Light'; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">There’s a nimble tongue in that bullhorn</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmh8NR1iG_fEswZpjEB1-m1m2z7gHT-cyQ-CZvDJKh343vUz_nTfC-6W7qC-MmAUyIe1w-siYISncM88qQ-TjaW4A4Muji3gUoR78nXWWhixGI-WHquXvwELdf_wsG9tShK3H2KdYCOeA/s1600/buttonsprphotowebsize.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmh8NR1iG_fEswZpjEB1-m1m2z7gHT-cyQ-CZvDJKh343vUz_nTfC-6W7qC-MmAUyIe1w-siYISncM88qQ-TjaW4A4Muji3gUoR78nXWWhixGI-WHquXvwELdf_wsG9tShK3H2KdYCOeA/s1600/buttonsprphotowebsize.jpg" height="265" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">But I confess that my favorites are still the Noone and Bechet instrumentals. Which brings us to the Southside Aces version. When we did a Jimmie Noone feature at the Eagles Club a couple years back, I had Robert pluck away in an homage to Bud Scott. We don’t run with a piano in this band, so I assigned the Earl Hines part to Erik on his sousaphone. This makes for a great rhythm section feature, and I get to try to channel Jimmie in my chorus. I really like playing it that way. But then, at a dance here or there, I’ve counted off the song at the Bechet tempo, with the whole band all falling in at the top. I really like playing it THAT way. </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">For our recording, I split the difference. We move it along at a tempo that recalls the Bechet without going all the way there. But my first love was the Noone version. I’ve become so enamored of the 1928 Bud Scott work that I wanted to hear Robert’s guitar and Dave’s drums do it all on their lonesome. I hear tell the kids call that a “breakdown.” I want to start calling it the “Bud Scott Breakdown.” You heard it here first. Erik’s sousaphone creeps in halfway through, like a stranger walking through the door at a roadhouse. I get my clarinet chorus before the whole band is finally together. Before we stick a fork in it, you hear a reprise of the “Bud Scott Breakdown.” I’ve listened to it at least thirty-eight times now, and I really like THAT record, the leader of the band says back-pattingly.</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">A man has song loves, and this is an early love, but a lasting one for me. I never tire of playing it. Here’s our version to put up on the top of your “Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives To Me” pile:</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Aces breaking it down!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgYU-IyvcQ0&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank">Blues My...</a></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Oh, and in case you haven’t cared about anything I’ve said after the words “John Denver kazoo solo,” go here:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSrtzJMWHyM" target="_blank">His Denverness</a></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
The Secret Weaponhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01458356297570792777noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8616325033629220892.post-41048665187756255222014-12-18T16:41:00.000-08:002014-12-18T16:41:40.474-08:00The 2014 Tony Balluff Record Brochure<br />
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">I have these memories of visiting my grandfather, Hank, when I was a youngster. He could be a taciturn man. I think I first learned how to be comfortable with silences by being around him. The Balluff men I know and have known, myself among them, can be an odd combination of taciturn with the ever-present threat of a happy kind of garrulousness. Months might go by between visits, and when Hank would talk, he’d just start up at the point he left off the last time we sat together. The man was truly at ease with intervening silence. Hank never lived to know what a blog was, but with me I think you get a good idea of how he’d have run one.</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">So hello! It’s not as though I haven’t had a lot to report. For instance, this year’s been a good year for the recording side of music life. I started the year in Humans Win! studio with the Southside Aces during a chilly February. We’ll celebrate the release of the music that came out of those wintry nights with our fifth album, <i><a href="http://southsideaces.bandcamp.com/album/second-thursday" target="_blank">Second Thursday</a></i>. </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 14px/normal 'Copperplate Light'; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">We try not to be too handsome, so as to not cause distress amongst the public.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkzadafvj3FgoE9eueS5CtiQ1YVdqzs_-tLGkF51nHp09lxYbQfL55hIH0EkIFRfpnH8qRZcgtAxpXruTbdK9f36BX0c9hfQv1iL8lxWjD9rpCQWNSucu69bPJmG0BjXnsFlU8Rfwumbk/s1600/SecondThursday+Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkzadafvj3FgoE9eueS5CtiQ1YVdqzs_-tLGkF51nHp09lxYbQfL55hIH0EkIFRfpnH8qRZcgtAxpXruTbdK9f36BX0c9hfQv1iL8lxWjD9rpCQWNSucu69bPJmG0BjXnsFlU8Rfwumbk/s1600/SecondThursday+Cover.jpg" height="320" width="314" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: blue; font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">We’ll be at the Eagles, well, on the second Thursday of this coming January. I’m proud of my Aces! Look here in the next few weeks to learn all about it. </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">In between the February recording and the January release (what’s with the Aces’ penchant for ice and snow?), I also spent time making records with other musicianers. I’m the first chair clarinetist in the quartet Patty and the Buttons, so therefore was involved in two projects in 2014. The first one was a six-song collection of obscene songs from the ‘20s and ‘30s recorded right in my dining room. </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTBQ7YOYK3LxcFsnVNw9dgPamLcBs-8lwZC6LWORSAGGaFua41UZUkwqHgEQy-J8EOz-rXdaDyALWfUvA_qmdJ5epsNyJ9Qk1NYDZCuROviaMX6ogw7QwUl5fCa_CbTBaIbsncZhEXkCU/s1600/images-1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTBQ7YOYK3LxcFsnVNw9dgPamLcBs-8lwZC6LWORSAGGaFua41UZUkwqHgEQy-J8EOz-rXdaDyALWfUvA_qmdJ5epsNyJ9Qk1NYDZCuROviaMX6ogw7QwUl5fCa_CbTBaIbsncZhEXkCU/s1600/images-1.jpeg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">It’s good music made by good musicians, with a good-sized load of ear-burningly scandalous lyrics. This album goes a long way to proving that there have always been folks with filthy minds. My dining room is still embarrassed. In September, we played on top of the White Castle at 33<sup>rd</sup> and Lyndale to bring this one to the public. It gives me a smile every time I think of how my resumé now contains “Smut Concert Atop White Castle.” </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 14px/normal 'Copperplate Light'; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Look closely—I'm the big head sticking out over the music stand in the middle</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp0jiqgDoB_ytWfNvbnT15InfAHDjHcJZBC-eNNmk4xpnelqiy4VzYkUrMFGjY3BQmRyER00tMnUJDBBugQEPOg4UfbLeWAcuKelMUB6sxMuDKDpgPjTrrlMoFI783K4OYPvNVBm4bs4Y/s1600/10547377_10204990857595235_5177577117179226165_o-520x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp0jiqgDoB_ytWfNvbnT15InfAHDjHcJZBC-eNNmk4xpnelqiy4VzYkUrMFGjY3BQmRyER00tMnUJDBBugQEPOg4UfbLeWAcuKelMUB6sxMuDKDpgPjTrrlMoFI783K4OYPvNVBm4bs4Y/s1600/10547377_10204990857595235_5177577117179226165_o-520x300.jpg" height="184" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The band recommends, however, that most parents, grandparents, children under the age of 21, religious leaders, teachers, men and women who hold political office, ice cream truck drivers and school crossing guards not ever be caught with one of these discs on their person. In fact, forget I ever mentioned it.</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: blue; font: normal normal normal 14px/normal 'Copperplate Light'; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i><a href="http://pattyandthebuttons.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Mercury Blues</a></i></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkoz2eSMIlYoZ6ig7cBJNt7DJ3i6R3MRcqr8fFA2gYpKy7FIrrCYUDmp1MdvXEc8DfHsS4JjoS0t_161Bq_rmkXglQDB4BuFwTT-xKtR5gR2JkkClUwRkl3d7dnQX6wyLTuE6_8zB_ga4/s1600/images-3.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkoz2eSMIlYoZ6ig7cBJNt7DJ3i6R3MRcqr8fFA2gYpKy7FIrrCYUDmp1MdvXEc8DfHsS4JjoS0t_161Bq_rmkXglQDB4BuFwTT-xKtR5gR2JkkClUwRkl3d7dnQX6wyLTuE6_8zB_ga4/s1600/images-3.jpeg" /></a></div>
<div style="color: blue; font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: blue; font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The second one, <i>Mercury Blues</i>,</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">saw a November birth with a CD-Release Spectacular at the Heights Theater in Nordeast Minneapolis. This was a show to beat all shows, with tap dancing, knife juggling, bullwhipping, rising pit organs, silent films, and, what was it…oh yeah, the music. This record is safe for children, and you’d be proud to bring it home to your parents. There are great songs on it, my favorites being the originals our fearless leader, Patrick Harison, penned. I love the music I make with those guys.</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">I also contributed a tiny part to Davina and the Vagabond’s May release, <i>Sunshine:</i></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixuq2vMWSH5tHyIr4Erp1_kwitJ19LoIJbuDl6ZGXnu78E20qYhiJvCakhaD97cT35UJpzMbehUOIOUMWIQVgURhUngt8qdMAb7p39W5zZRgvydkjtB0xrCmqSXDbWr3XoiwxjnbvhmEE/s1600/images-4.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixuq2vMWSH5tHyIr4Erp1_kwitJ19LoIJbuDl6ZGXnu78E20qYhiJvCakhaD97cT35UJpzMbehUOIOUMWIQVgURhUngt8qdMAb7p39W5zZRgvydkjtB0xrCmqSXDbWr3XoiwxjnbvhmEE/s1600/images-4.jpeg" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">And finally, a few songs on December’s two-CD set put out by guitar virtuoso, Sam Miltich, entitled <i>Sam Miltich and Friends Live at the VFW</i>. I made the trip up north to help Sam launch it. If you’re ever in Grand Rapids, Minnesota of a Wednesday evening, stop by said VFW for the good stuff.</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_0A3cZTZJfE5GyI6bFFikW69qP5NCf34QC85LlvgUWyQteAAN0fQ0Y2Zs4Qwah6wtkWWpPaKnSupoqkJ6-FQx3NcNjQIamQxnHQRLE5X81RZQdhC1kHjuSz-eGG5TU_jqOGZIzxbr9fo/s1600/images-5.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_0A3cZTZJfE5GyI6bFFikW69qP5NCf34QC85LlvgUWyQteAAN0fQ0Y2Zs4Qwah6wtkWWpPaKnSupoqkJ6-FQx3NcNjQIamQxnHQRLE5X81RZQdhC1kHjuSz-eGG5TU_jqOGZIzxbr9fo/s1600/images-5.jpeg" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">I guess this reads a little more like the 2014 Tony Balluff record brochure than a “What I Did Last Summer.” I promise my historical perspective will go further than last February for my next one. Until then I’m going to settle into a nice, comfortable silence. </span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
The Secret Weaponhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01458356297570792777noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8616325033629220892.post-29108606629086740042014-06-28T20:17:00.000-07:002014-06-28T20:26:01.900-07:00Jazz Band Heroism—or—How The Southside Aces Showed Pluck<br />
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Do you want to read a story of Jazz Band Heroism? When I say the Southside Aces were “heroes,” I don’t mean firefighter pulls kid out of burning building hero, or Medal Of Honor recipient hero. I’ve never had to discover if I am in possession of that kind of bravery, and for this I feel fortunate. I believe, however, heroism has several different levels, and frequent use of the word is just fine, as long as you understand how quickly the situation can reach parody. For instance, if, after an exhaustive search, my bartender found the last bottle of Blanton’s bourbon in the back of the storeroom, you might hear me exclaim, “My hero!” The definition of hero, in this case, is just a man holding this:</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1jgzy5If_zqjGTCAGLc_1WWMPQwFhYtacqmUG_nowo8oPdCNzsIIupMQbdBhv7PW1Lvfs6FQTlPI287dJZ0yubYTUrSAtgmHdgOf3qAYlNDAXGq36IUEkg3gDfir5uCAMr8MiFwobZoY/s1600/B_original.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1jgzy5If_zqjGTCAGLc_1WWMPQwFhYtacqmUG_nowo8oPdCNzsIIupMQbdBhv7PW1Lvfs6FQTlPI287dJZ0yubYTUrSAtgmHdgOf3qAYlNDAXGq36IUEkg3gDfir5uCAMr8MiFwobZoY/s1600/B_original.png" height="320" width="162" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">In today’s story, however, I’m talking about Jazz Band Heroism. This kind of valor, depending upon your views on bourbon, falls slightly higher or lower on the Hero Parody Scale than the above pub scenario. Bourbon was made America’s “native spirit” by an act of congress, after all. And June 14<sup>th</sup> was National Bourbon Day. So in conclusion, I love bourbon! Wait, what was I talking about?</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"> </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The Southside Aces were hired for the Twin Cities Jazz Festival this year. Yesterday, we played over at Episcopal Homes, otherwise known as Iris Park. This action does not speak of heroism, although we intrepid men did pull off a pretty ripping version of Jelly Roll Morton’s “New Orleans Bump,” which certainly exhibited some musical bravery. No, I’m talking about today. I stood under the sun and enjoyed four of the Twin Cities finest vocalists take the stage right in front of the Union Depot in downtown St. Paul. </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikbAMl4DP55eE1VXiAFUZxuTyy1SfiqpUu1ikAhUbodCfUXLD7_h7lPROfwZ8ghONeRwHJcwGMLZY5e8TTK1yR06F_4YCY_FPNaI9z7pHGZKAPee_r9TZTlNnQptRtHQ0o1C-vmA1grV4/s1600/union_depot_current_10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikbAMl4DP55eE1VXiAFUZxuTyy1SfiqpUu1ikAhUbodCfUXLD7_h7lPROfwZ8ghONeRwHJcwGMLZY5e8TTK1yR06F_4YCY_FPNaI9z7pHGZKAPee_r9TZTlNnQptRtHQ0o1C-vmA1grV4/s1600/union_depot_current_10.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">You might say they were “pillars” of Twin Cities jazz vocalist society. Lucia Newell, Maud Hixson, Debbie Duncan and Prudence Johnson, all backed up by the Wolverines Quartet. This was some good music, I can tell you true. Rick Carlson, pianist of said quartet and the villain of the piece, finished playing his last notes, walked up to me and laughed an evil laugh as he said, “We used up all the weather!” </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Sure enough, as various Aces men assembled, the deluge began. The people handling sound rushed around throwing tarps at anything that used electricity, and the whole thing was shut down on account of the lightning. The lightning…it seems like there’s something a person should remember about standing on wet aluminum staging during a thunderstorm. What was it? Anyway, for some reason the band decided to remove ourselves to beneath the overhang of the depot behind the stage. Many of the folks who had come to listen to the music were gathered there between the pillars as well. Erik looked at me and said, “Let’s just play right here. All these people are still here. Come on, let’s do it.” He had his sousaphone up on his shoulder faster than he can eat a sandwich. Before you know it, my clarinet was out, and “Bourbon Street Parade” was echoing up and down the pillars. Dave pulled out sticks and began pounding on the pillar stage left. He was playing the Union Depot, literally. It has to be the largest drum in his arsenal. Soon Steve’s trombone joined the fray, Mark Kreitzer slung his guitar over his shoulder, and Zack put his trumpet to his lips. We had a concert! What mettle! </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 14px/normal 'Copperplate Light'; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">You can tell it was raining by how wet Dave's shirt is. This is also when he began beating upon our CD suitcase. Resourceful.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitJ7A8zigRsceRWV-_jEXyL-nWwuI2Yu7uoBi_IxBgsWEPVed8Q4w6I_7yUUlmXdBryhrGtx-VXcN933uDssywc9Pf51BC8smjTIFLfxukMmtUL-aaC0qJvZ-ikVtuoJz0FmZg1VuHHRY/s1600/BrQG1m4CYAAiKQ3.jpg-large.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitJ7A8zigRsceRWV-_jEXyL-nWwuI2Yu7uoBi_IxBgsWEPVed8Q4w6I_7yUUlmXdBryhrGtx-VXcN933uDssywc9Pf51BC8smjTIFLfxukMmtUL-aaC0qJvZ-ikVtuoJz0FmZg1VuHHRY/s1600/BrQG1m4CYAAiKQ3.jpg-large.jpeg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Accounts of most heroes involve them risking life and limb. The Southside Aces can’t claim that. Although Erik is 6’5” and had a large metal lightning rod in the shape of a sousaphone wrapped around his body. But we did save something today. We resuscitated a drowning concert. The folks, thank them up and down, stuck around. Collected beneath the front porch of the depot with the band, or underneath umbrellas out in front or, as in the case of Stan and Mercedes, just swing dancing out under the rain. A word of advice to all you outdoor jazz festival promoters: If you’re going to have torrents of rain hit your festival, make sure you have the Southside Aces hired during that slot. </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">On second thought, I'm not THAT heroic. This was fun but let’s not get ridiculous. </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
The Secret Weaponhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01458356297570792777noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8616325033629220892.post-16672010101654247972014-04-17T18:50:00.002-07:002014-04-17T19:01:59.722-07:00Skokiaan—Or—How A Motion Picture Influenced The Southside Aces<br />
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Watch <i>The Impostors</i>. I’m not normally given to issuing commands, but this is highly important. I’ve mentioned this 1998 movie in a previous post, <a href="http://mplsjazzman.blogspot.com/2013/10/recognizing-dcd.html" target="_blank">Recognizing DCD</a>.</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>The Impostors</i> was written and directed by Stanley Tucci, and starring himself along with Oliver Platt. I’m talking about a fantastically funny farce that tells the story of two starving actors who find themselves accidental stowaways on a cruise ship. You need every single one of your digits plus a few of your cat's to count up all the shenanigans, which begin the moment the movie opens, and don’t end until the credits are done rolling and you start watching <i>Terms Of Endearment</i> just to balance out all the laughing. I’ve hurt my gut from the laughter each of the eight times I’ve seen it so far. Laughter hernias. Plus, I say PLUS, it’s all accompanied by a soundtrack that knocks me out every time. This is how I was introduced to one of my favorite Louis Armstrong recordings, “Skokiaan.” From the movie to my brain, my brain to the Southside Aces book, and now what do you know, we’ve recorded it ourselves.</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">But first let’s head back to 1947, when The African Dance Band of the Cold Storage Division of Southern Rhodesia released the original, the B-Side of which was a rough but spirited version of “In The Mood,” By the way, I’m serious, that’s the name of the band. I mean, it would be like if the Southside Aces were called The New Orleans Traditional Jazz Band of the Men Who Are Aces Department of South Minneapolis. I’m not here to criticize marketing choices, but just imagine the band stationery! How much you’d have to pay to make teeshirts! In 1954, the same recording was released under the band name Bulawayo Sweet Rhythms:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: 'Copperplate Light'; font-size: 14px;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1RFfQBfULA" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1RFfQBfULA</a></span></span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 14px/normal 'Copperplate Light'; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: 'Copperplate Light'; font-size: 14px;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvsvCjezbV2-c_pS4zMX3OLIOzyNoP5gPnRgko35gCnsWgXX98is-TmsP0Z9wQ3PsAOjZGuq3C4XZkNRjpF6La6_mdr63874eW-G0OV_SJs-34cH346xS2GWo-fp1-Rj3qonkH7svZ7Wc/s1600/DownloadedFile-1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvsvCjezbV2-c_pS4zMX3OLIOzyNoP5gPnRgko35gCnsWgXX98is-TmsP0Z9wQ3PsAOjZGuq3C4XZkNRjpF6La6_mdr63874eW-G0OV_SJs-34cH346xS2GWo-fp1-Rj3qonkH7svZ7Wc/s1600/DownloadedFile-1.jpeg" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Doesn’t that feel better to your tongue? Can you imagine there must have been some days before the name change when someone asked one of the musicians what the name of the band was, and they started, “The African Dance Band of…oh, forget it.” Sometimes a man can’t be buggered to finish a sentence. The leader of the band, August Musarurwa, published his tune in 1952—</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 14px/normal 'Copperplate Light'; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">This is the sheet music I have...Secret Weapon!</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4i9aYmI6PisAnE-Vo1lPc_43ql1X-Etx28sUyU96xr9uOptUfG9n-0Z7I5a_CVaiGWtG5AadOr7qJybYA8CXPzDBmcpI3bL4yNQ8NDgbEjyS5uylYeUzEdh5O3WHRHgf2fOsswsPGjgw/s1600/images.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4i9aYmI6PisAnE-Vo1lPc_43ql1X-Etx28sUyU96xr9uOptUfG9n-0Z7I5a_CVaiGWtG5AadOr7qJybYA8CXPzDBmcpI3bL4yNQ8NDgbEjyS5uylYeUzEdh5O3WHRHgf2fOsswsPGjgw/s1600/images.jpeg" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">—and the 1954 release became a nice hit for the Zimbabweans. The melodies and rhythms really are great. I mentioned "rough but spirited." The rough playing may have had something to do with the source of the title. Skokiaan is a type of African homemade liquor. It’s usually pretty harsh stuff, a single-day brewed moonshine concoction that can sometimes include ingredients like kerosene or battery acid…for flavor. When you listen to the Bulawayo fellas play it, notice how the trumpet enters at about 1:08 and only lasts about twenty seconds. Like a barstool debater, who interrupts </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">with slurry eloquence </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">to say what's already been said, and subsides shortly afterwards when he forgets he's the one talking. Spirited indeed. Too much skokiaan will do that to a person. I imagine him tipping out of his chair. I don’t have any proof of the high proof—the session may have been a sober affair—but I may or may not have personal experience with how a horn sounds after an unwise amount of imbibery. </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The record reached the ears of the western world that year, and several diverse artists decided to cash in:</span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 14px/normal 'Copperplate Light'; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghQ2nhE51eTFAFfdbZyn5uv3uwNcr0gAAV9jtbkdSOqTfrhKyZ8u3E0Cwyh-rpLu_9u1OQ_Ze4qoTnHJA-4FZW_DkmIm0WCCzHKflH7MiRpRP8JE0yGTYVRIoAoG4TChXp-VjeZFDwRuQ/s1600/DownloadedFile-2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghQ2nhE51eTFAFfdbZyn5uv3uwNcr0gAAV9jtbkdSOqTfrhKyZ8u3E0Cwyh-rpLu_9u1OQ_Ze4qoTnHJA-4FZW_DkmIm0WCCzHKflH7MiRpRP8JE0yGTYVRIoAoG4TChXp-VjeZFDwRuQ/s1600/DownloadedFile-2.jpeg" /></a></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 14px/normal 'Copperplate Light'; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4LQE1kfFhAsGwWChcZhG4dhSDOU3MYBTTIimgquXrO5r5qo1kZ9oRxrOyIEfyJkejW7yCF2pJFMfOv8ec7Oi7C3ZZqNO0krGgvnrzdFMH2Q4aXXtSHbebIUKo8nvcfESYoqjr1ANHtbQ/s1600/images.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4LQE1kfFhAsGwWChcZhG4dhSDOU3MYBTTIimgquXrO5r5qo1kZ9oRxrOyIEfyJkejW7yCF2pJFMfOv8ec7Oi7C3ZZqNO0krGgvnrzdFMH2Q4aXXtSHbebIUKo8nvcfESYoqjr1ANHtbQ/s1600/images.jpeg" /></a></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 14px/normal 'Copperplate Light'; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHoQJWMTzLctJ2rlqEHa_L50wpYIXdMmTDnBoIigVdSey88i2XMSNrdsRcL62CTrwxr287jMotnq_dh4Bhxq6Ly8Zcok5NqHoyu-BKZEXB2OvIois6iaGkGOFsfr5KGUBMlFw4YWBdl7I/s1600/DownloadedFile-3.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHoQJWMTzLctJ2rlqEHa_L50wpYIXdMmTDnBoIigVdSey88i2XMSNrdsRcL62CTrwxr287jMotnq_dh4Bhxq6Ly8Zcok5NqHoyu-BKZEXB2OvIois6iaGkGOFsfr5KGUBMlFw4YWBdl7I/s1600/DownloadedFile-3.jpeg" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3XEr9vUEiTkyjr3pNlLaTbf6NqBiJ1Zg6MwxjHbtP1ZuXqMQGgq80bUKuLe6-lDMRmyrhk-lvK-LVmOKr3iZicjJo74mtV2xz9VCDSMfsxpBGGh56-ATUHihzScU0vozdzkiI8AINRUk/s1600/images-2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3XEr9vUEiTkyjr3pNlLaTbf6NqBiJ1Zg6MwxjHbtP1ZuXqMQGgq80bUKuLe6-lDMRmyrhk-lvK-LVmOKr3iZicjJo74mtV2xz9VCDSMfsxpBGGh56-ATUHihzScU0vozdzkiI8AINRUk/s1600/images-2.jpeg" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj98NibvqzgjazXWpoYrGjlEcuwsPh5pGpPlxxIe367QSDzczs0UA6uuOYXpmARYJIJhX3TznDGWGZIjcbw1pBrh2I2OXkTwUVbeHbBDQcvvlW4qSrDpU3LQnopi4lK56BukKhxplM-h3M/s1600/images-1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj98NibvqzgjazXWpoYrGjlEcuwsPh5pGpPlxxIe367QSDzczs0UA6uuOYXpmARYJIJhX3TznDGWGZIjcbw1pBrh2I2OXkTwUVbeHbBDQcvvlW4qSrDpU3LQnopi4lK56BukKhxplM-h3M/s1600/images-1.jpeg" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9X_g4-tmJcs0wA05SWBshH1IQI5dtgYVYFGZ3-q8bzZ0JyCSs-1-VfOYo-TM3zadn-8U8I8qHduLLwDHUqKafVGIv-mk7mnADrOOmQDFCwqbe7RioH4Ue42yxwqNhi9JHiixpjj5wPMQ/s1600/DownloadedFile-4.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9X_g4-tmJcs0wA05SWBshH1IQI5dtgYVYFGZ3-q8bzZ0JyCSs-1-VfOYo-TM3zadn-8U8I8qHduLLwDHUqKafVGIv-mk7mnADrOOmQDFCwqbe7RioH4Ue42yxwqNhi9JHiixpjj5wPMQ/s1600/DownloadedFile-4.jpeg" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">But my favorite, of course, was by Louis. His All Stars recorded it with the Sy Oliver Orchestra. If you compare the original instrumental’s great rhythms and melodies to the Armstrong recording, you can really tell Louis absorbed the Bulawayo Sweet Rhythms version. But he also sings! Where’d those words come from!? Now, here’s the thing about the lyric. An American, Tom Glazer, added words during the 1954 American craze for the tune. It comes off like an African tourist bureau song. </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Oh, ho, Far away in Africa, happy happy Africa, (nonsense, nonsense, nonsense)…</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Oh, ho, Take a trip to Africa, any ship to Africa, (nonsense, nonsense, nonsense)…</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">You get the idea. As far as I can find out, nobody consulted August to see if any insult was brought about by what I like to call “racist fluff.” “Skokiaan” was from that era of song when it was considered harmless popular diversion to write lyrics with minority stereotypes. But don’t underestimate Louis! He never was one to let a silly lyric get in the way of a superb performance:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: 'Copperplate Light'; font-size: 14px;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YTS9jFB084" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YTS9jFB084</a></span></span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 14px/normal 'Copperplate Light'; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: 'Copperplate Light'; font-size: 14px;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirnO8ykBG5fFoj70jntcqu6ot0iLfgsRZPNsyqzgWWjF-L5ilmr5TssnruLtfhV0_fDCxAwOKknnbsZA4Ttdk5M35eZIsCEs0G9Vt0vcnRI_iKNDHYyj1EIHOFaOMduVo02py5tK-rCLw/s1600/DownloadedFile.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirnO8ykBG5fFoj70jntcqu6ot0iLfgsRZPNsyqzgWWjF-L5ilmr5TssnruLtfhV0_fDCxAwOKknnbsZA4Ttdk5M35eZIsCEs0G9Vt0vcnRI_iKNDHYyj1EIHOFaOMduVo02py5tK-rCLw/s1600/DownloadedFile.jpeg" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Now here we are sixty years later about to put it on the next Southside Aces record! It was one of those where we go, "Eh, if we get a good take, we'll put it on the record." If it didn't make the cut, we wouldn't have exactly been despondent. As it turns out, it's becoming one of my favorites. It's a strong cut! We, however, dispensed with the singing. The Zimbabwe tourist office never got back to me. My arrangement, though, is obviously influenced by the Louis version; Zack even nails the high B-flats at the end. We’re in the mixing and mastering stage right now, so you’ll have to wait a little. In the meantime, get your hands on that movie, <i>The Impostors</i>. Do it! And if you can’t find it, let me know and I’ll have a screening over here at the house. </span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br />
<br /></div>
The Secret Weaponhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01458356297570792777noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8616325033629220892.post-14420762056814222002014-03-17T18:22:00.000-07:002014-03-17T18:22:25.079-07:00How To Get Through A Long Winter<br />
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">February 24<sup>th </sup>was one of those days this winter with which we Minnesotans became so familiar. It spent a few hours below zero, and the rest of the day not much warmer; mostly single digits above zero. The Aces were in the studio that night recording “Winter Weather” among other things. It’s a 1941 tune that’s been recorded by folks including Fats Waller, Peggy Lee and Jo Stafford. Fats has my favorite. The first line of the vocal starts, “I love the winter weather…” I remember laughing at the rest of the guys on account of the cognitive dissonance they were experiencing. None of them were loving the winter weather at the moment.</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Listen to what Fats was talking about:</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDMG32j5lhg" target="_blank">Winter Weather</a></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">It’s been a doozy of a winter so far. But that’s not a complaint. I’m a winter man. Of this there is no doubt. Snow and cold give me a thrill. I actually don’t remember a year in which I have once stated the common refrain, “I’m so ready for this winter to be over!” I don’t ski or skate, so it’s not about the athletics of the season. In fact, I abhor having anything beneath my feet that has blades or wheels. I’ll leave that to you adventurous types. No, there’s something about the solitude and introspection that gets me. It sparks my creativity. The amount of music I learn and arrangements I put to paper generally increases dramatically during late autumn and winter. Then, around this time of year, I get a little perverse and sadistic. You know those six-inch snowfalls that come after two weeks of spring weather has raised the hopes of the populace? I get downright gleeful. In the last couple of weeks I’ve been saying things like, “It’s too bad we couldn’t hold out for another ten days of below zero so we could break the all-time record.” I <i>wanted</i> that record. I’m probably lucky people have other things to do, or I might find myself the victim of a grisly murder brought on by my hibernal cheerfulness. “How do you like winter now?!” shouts the mob as they dump my pummeled earthly remains into a snowbank. </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">So now you can see how for me “Winter Weather” is a theme song of sorts. Nine days later we were in the studio again to have Steve sing his vocal. I know it was a struggle for him to keep the sarcasm out of his voice. He cracked us up when he sang “I love the winter,” through his gritted teeth. But what are we talking about, really? It IS a song of love. But Fats loves the winter weather for ulterior motives. What with the cold temperatures he can pull his honey closer so they can both warm up! Mother Nature as wingman. </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">He and his band recorded it the day after Christmas, 1941, in New York, along with a few other sides. He ostensibly urged America to apply themselves to the WWII scrap drives in “Cash For Your Trash.” But if you listen closely, and remember Fats’ history of naughtiness, you can’t be certain that “Cash For Your Trash” might not be a euphemism for the oldest profession. It is a debate that rages to this day. At any rate, in “Don’t Give Me That Jive,” he admonished the object of his missive to basically hush up and “come on with the come on.” And my favorite title of the day, “Your Socks Don’t Match, “ wherein Fats proves to be somewhat of a perfectionist in regards to his women. “Winter Weather” is easily the sweetest, warmest song of the session. Although I can’t resist the cleverness of “Your Socks Don’t Match.”</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Fats was so very playful. He had enough twinkles in his eye for eleven men. Imagine him and his band gathering in the studio after Christmas to put down that great, just-a-little-bit-naughty music. That’s what I’m thinking of tonight when I reminisce back all those three weeks ago to when six Southside Aces assembled at a mere four degrees Fahrenheit to make sweet winter music. </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Get some more Fats in your diet:</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjN1n-a1tZk" target="_blank">Your Socks Don’t Match</a></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yun5Kv4kM1k" target="_blank">Cash For Your Trash</a></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xy65g4_fats-waller-don-t-give-me-that-jive_music" target="_blank">Don’t Give Me That Jive</a></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: blue; font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><u><br /></u></span></div>
<div style="color: blue; font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><u><br /></u></span></div>
<div style="color: blue; font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><u><br /></u></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<br /></div>
The Secret Weaponhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01458356297570792777noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8616325033629220892.post-42429571800213412942014-03-08T10:51:00.000-08:002014-03-08T10:51:06.684-08:00The Curse—or How Bob French and Butch Thompson Saved The Day<br />
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Well, we’ve gone and done it again. On Wednesday, the Southside Aces warbled away into microphones in order to stick a fork into the perfectly barbequed, tender meat of our latest recording. That made me sort of uncomfortable to say. Steve insisted that what we were doing wasn’t overdubbing vocals, but “underdubbing.” If you want to know exactly what that means, you’ll have to ask him. He conducts workshops and autograph sessions after gigs at the Stop and Shop on 17<sup>th</sup> and East Lake Street. Confession: I appropriated, purloined, pirated and otherwise directly stole that joke from Erik. Although how do we know Steve doesn’t sign autographs at the Stop and Shop? We don’t keep tabs on him. We again employed Mr. Lance Conrad, the owner and talented engineer of <a href="http://www.humanswin.com/" target="_blank">Humans Win!</a> studio (the exclamation point is his). Before our vocal night, we Aces men first spent two chilly February nights up in his Nordeast, Minneapolis joint to capture all the sounds necessary from the brass, reeds, strings and skins. The chill was kept outside, though, as all six of us were staring at each other in this room:</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6torKbgYk4VGR0yOP2EFnLe-7b0ygv-A5HYynDrbKrEstUFXSPhssSFw3LiSZJB2FTULO5JZqNeYNumqui6F45PQ5XxMilKvrrPUwmGa_DRJDn_7hNTfYvinzGu6AmVRx_DKLwoCyYs4/s1600/HW!LRlow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6torKbgYk4VGR0yOP2EFnLe-7b0ygv-A5HYynDrbKrEstUFXSPhssSFw3LiSZJB2FTULO5JZqNeYNumqui6F45PQ5XxMilKvrrPUwmGa_DRJDn_7hNTfYvinzGu6AmVRx_DKLwoCyYs4/s1600/HW!LRlow.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Now with the vocals, we have a carton chock full of jazz, some assembly required. It will be a good handful of months, however, before you can put your ears to it, so until the time comes I’ll be building up your excitement. Can you even tolerate the thrill? All sarcasm aside, I’m actually in a tizzy wanting to get it into your hands! Instead, for the time being I’m going to have to content myself sharing with you some of the originals that inspired us to play and record these great tunes. </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">I’m going to begin with The Curse. Over the years, you may have heard Erik announce “Bogalusa Strut” from the stage as his favorite tune. It’s a great song that gets in your hips and stays there, moving you around despite yourself. Back in 2005, when we were figuring out which tunes we wanted to record for our 2006 release, <i>Bucktown Bounce</i>, it was a natural selection. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The Aces found the song from a couple different directions. There was Erik, who came to the tune through one of his mentors, the late New Orleans drummer Bob French. </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 14px/normal 'Copperplate Light'; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Bob in the New Orleans Times Picayune. Click here for his <a href="http://www.nola.com/music/index.ssf/2012/11/bob_french_longtime_original_t.html" target="_blank">obituary</a></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0VzVGutz3lK5HxocsnT2w-n6JoyvAg38RwOV8MIiBni1oQwvFh8W7PHTbM3b9w3kitsp7o2Xw_ozAHOPB9HsjbMUR3buc-rYz5JXUWN8hBR9OOi5oej8mm4f9I2Px2Md11dhwEra_jI4/s1600/DownloadedFile-3.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0VzVGutz3lK5HxocsnT2w-n6JoyvAg38RwOV8MIiBni1oQwvFh8W7PHTbM3b9w3kitsp7o2Xw_ozAHOPB9HsjbMUR3buc-rYz5JXUWN8hBR9OOi5oej8mm4f9I2Px2Md11dhwEra_jI4/s1600/DownloadedFile-3.jpeg" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">My route to the tune was through my mentor Charlie DeVore of the Hall Brothers Jazz Band. The original was written by Sam Morgan and recorded by his band in 1927. It all came from this:</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJ1EMW18hk8" target="_blank">Bogalousa Strut</a></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">In the video, check out the first picture of the Sam Morgan Jazz Band. You can see a young Jim Robinson on trombone. You may also have noticed that Sam spelled his tune “Bogalousa Strut.” That is how they spell the name of the Louisiana town down there, after all. At some point we jazz folk all dropped the O after the L. Maybe it’s because silent Os are dangerous. </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">So while you were listening to that, did you run and get your copy of <i>Bucktown Bounce</i>? Maybe you scanned the tune list up and down and couldn’t find the song. It’s because we simply couldn’t get it done. We tried and we tried, until we got fed up with ourselves and left it alone. “Oh well,” you think. You try to be philosophical because there’s always going to be a tune or two that doesn’t make the cut. We were disappointed, but didn’t yet think of the song as cursed. But then came the 2010 sessions for <i>A Big Fine Thing</i>. Take after take of the tune only served to produce enough wincing to get a headache. I believe Erik was the first to say, “That song is cursed.” What was wrong with us? Dave, our band archivist, likes to point out that we could release a whole album of failed “Bogalusa” takes. Don’t worry. That won’t happen unless we get really famous, pass away after long and glorious careers, and our record company (because we’d actually have a record company if we were famous) thinks they could drag a few extra bucks out of you, the fans, if they released all our garbage. They could call it <i>Bogalusa Cut</i>. Or how about <i>Bunch-a-Losers Strut</i>.</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">It wasn’t the song’s fault, though, and we still loved it and kept working it out on our many stages. The Bob French version originally guided us. He had even added a vocal about a troubled girl—not in the Morgan version—that we used. On top of that, we began to dig into the Hall Brothers recording. Young Butch Thompson produced an epic clarinet solo with the band building up behind him all the way. He starts out alone, and on each chorus they keep adding instruments until they run out of musicians. It’s exciting stuff. </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 14px/normal 'Copperplate Light'; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Check out young Butch on the left. If you have your magnifying glass handy.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE21VuqxCvz9IwN0AaybQlpIg0S08XzofgtFSc2gYLcoOsbeYlA3JibZqbvxg4SHFMW39GCMxzVD3lzywwb4oQVax4qgdqDxVCtycdc9LB9PjrHyfqpsJnTYaKS_DGeALZN4jdTBAR-_U/s1600/DownloadedFile-2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE21VuqxCvz9IwN0AaybQlpIg0S08XzofgtFSc2gYLcoOsbeYlA3JibZqbvxg4SHFMW39GCMxzVD3lzywwb4oQVax4qgdqDxVCtycdc9LB9PjrHyfqpsJnTYaKS_DGeALZN4jdTBAR-_U/s1600/DownloadedFile-2.jpeg" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">So here we are in 2014, after all this absorption and hard work, ready to break The Curse! Right? For us, it would be a double homage. Maybe The Curse could be overcome by the inspiration of two bands. In fact, Bob just passed away in 2012, and this year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Hall Brothers recording. Talk about inspiration! We better do it right.</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">We set a good Bob French tempo, not quite as slow as he liked to do it, but still with that great mischievous bounce that he perfected. Like a man walking by a bunch of women hanging out on a stoop. We all relaxed into that for a couple of minutes, followed by the middle section, where the rhythm guys laid down a couple of choruses by themselves. This was so we could “underdub” Bob’s vocal later. Then came my clarinet odyssey, the Hall Brothers portion of the homage, where I was supposed to burble along by myself to start things, just like Butch did half a century ago. What happened? Dave accidentally played through for a bar, almost yelling an expletive as he did it. </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">You have to understand something. Dave NEVER makes a mistake like that. I’m not exaggerating. He NEVER does. We all finished the take, sort of pounding away at it with a lack of dynamics born of frustration, and looked at each other mystified. None of us blamed Dave. It had to be supernatural causes. Did The Curse grab Dave’s arms and force him to play through, like some sort of evil windup monkey drummer?</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglue5cHBJEt-Hfe3dmnNsmVqF852L1djj6GcAO1j_zIg0W4CGnN6UEhXmycbsFK1EuCgHo2MZz4e99wvRv_9nwdxyBv81PcvLCx1FuvTVa1Pscj37eZKU8Fb-mBJDVF9pGEai21hBRo8s/s1600/DownloadedFile.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglue5cHBJEt-Hfe3dmnNsmVqF852L1djj6GcAO1j_zIg0W4CGnN6UEhXmycbsFK1EuCgHo2MZz4e99wvRv_9nwdxyBv81PcvLCx1FuvTVa1Pscj37eZKU8Fb-mBJDVF9pGEai21hBRo8s/s1600/DownloadedFile.jpeg" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">I’d like to build the drama here. Tell a story of a baker’s dozen of takes each ruined mysteriously. A mistake here, a power outage there, the ghost of a Gypsy woman appearing before Robert pointing her long, bony finger at him, a ceiling tile falling on Zack’s head. The camera spinning around the room showing the men, pale and sweaty, lashing out at each other in frustration as the tension grows and the night wears away, but then…just when they were going to throw in the towel someone grittily says, “We’re going to break this curse if it’s the last thing we do!” They take deep breaths and you see a finger hit the record button, and they valiantly forge on to victory! That’s a good tale, but I’m actually glad I don’t have to tell it that way. As it turned out, victory was right around the corner. We got it on the next take. No drama, we just plain got it! The Bob French mischievousness combined with the Hall Brothers buildup is story enough. The Curse was lifted, and I can’t wait for you to hear it. </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Copperplate Light; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<br /></div>
The Secret Weaponhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01458356297570792777noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8616325033629220892.post-43021458887619046472013-12-20T18:01:00.000-08:002013-12-20T18:01:26.023-08:00Janssen's Temptation<br />
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">In terms of jazz content, the following story has to be the most oblique rambling I’ve submitted to you thus far. It would be like writing about the Oscar Meyer hotdog factory in your baseball blog. Your ears would have to stick out as far as Bix’s to find the jazz herein. That being said, this is a subject of too great importance to be ignored.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">No wonder he heard things no one else could!</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEnOqd5zT2d3g27drVL8BSZd6dG50A7wt6rkN15pYyg9mVbeU4T1Y9M1S7e4xYb495-Kt-09byztz7y2JW2h8o1wADXz-reQ3GXtF_g_ktOARecfndFm1GllpEGy72KUJoDjBCXRe8iCc/s1600/DownloadedFile.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEnOqd5zT2d3g27drVL8BSZd6dG50A7wt6rkN15pYyg9mVbeU4T1Y9M1S7e4xYb495-Kt-09byztz7y2JW2h8o1wADXz-reQ3GXtF_g_ktOARecfndFm1GllpEGy72KUJoDjBCXRe8iCc/s1600/DownloadedFile.jpeg" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">My wife and I were invited to attend a Scandinavian potluck the other night. Erik Jacobson, a.k.a. “Santaphone,” a.k.a. “The Swedish Mink,” co-hosted. After a few minutes on the W3—I think that’s what some of the kids call the World Wide Web—Claudia stumbled upon something called “Janssen’s Temptation.” The first word is pronounced “yahn-sens.” The second word is pronounced “temp-tay-shun.” The name alone should be enough to make a person want to stick a fork in it! I hadn’t been this intrigued by a Swedish dish since Ingrid Bergman. For some reason I pictured Jackie Mason when I wrote that last sentence. Who is this Janssen, and what happened to him when he succumbed to his Temptation? </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">As it turned out, it’s basically a casserole made with potatoes, onions, cream and tinned anchovies. Not just any anchovies, but “Swedish anchovies,” which are apparently treated like a traditional pickled herring. When cooked in the casserole, they give the potatoes the salt they need, plus that unique pickled sweetness that I normally associate with herring. It really ended up quite delicious. Tempting, some might say. But before I could stick my fork in it, I had to rustle up the ingredients. </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">When faced with a purchase involving any sort of Norse edibles, our house always first thinks of Ingebretsen’s. This is a shop right in the neighborhood over on 17<sup>th</sup> and Lake. They’ve been serving Northern European food and gifts in this town since 1921, so they know a little bit about what they’re doing. When I had to buy a raffle prize for our feature on the Hall Brother’s Jazz Band last year, I went there. I figured with a Minnesotan band playing New Orleans jazz, what better than to procure a prize from one of the most distinctly Minnesotan stores we have? On that occasion, I found Cajun herring. Perfect! Herring for the Minnesota, Cajun for the New Orleans. The guy behind the counter said that day, “I don’t know why we even call it that. You’d think Cajun food would have some spice, right?” He may have been disparaging the nearly non-existent spice levels in the cuisine of cultures of the northern climes, but let me tell you something. If you want herring, you really should try overwhelming yourself with the choices at Ingebretsen’s.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijYnnJGriUOvt4rJI3RJKZzv-DB5HlFhB9G-FFrz5aY_9jkS1oOkj1sdD9OJhYxk7L-ioaI95yh7gt0leA9fuaBUFCqeXiYUtyfQdLiSJgPPaSOEXcsqgdXkwse-yMffeHQnERjoqEU5M/s1600/DownloadedFile.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijYnnJGriUOvt4rJI3RJKZzv-DB5HlFhB9G-FFrz5aY_9jkS1oOkj1sdD9OJhYxk7L-ioaI95yh7gt0leA9fuaBUFCqeXiYUtyfQdLiSJgPPaSOEXcsqgdXkwse-yMffeHQnERjoqEU5M/s1600/DownloadedFile.jpeg" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Anyway, I made my way over there last Saturday. People were streaming in and out. Being the gentleman I don’t have to tell you I am, I ended up holding open the door for about fourteen people. I stood there long enough I was almost arrested for loitering. Finally, I entered into Scandinavian Heaven. It must have been heaven, because there were three young girls, teen angels, standing in a row wearing full white robes. Each held before them silver trays filled with ginger snaps, all the while singing Scandinavian carols. I knew I was still on Earth, however, because if it was heaven I don’t think a man would have to take a number to buy some tinned fish. I found that my forty-six years of Minnesota living had given me enough social preparation to be able to handle the Scandiheavenly Host without any fear, so I waded through the throng in back, where stands the meat counter, grabbed up number 84 and began my vigil.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">While waiting, I overheard this exchange. A customer, a lady of seven decades or thereabouts was speaking to a similarly aged man working behind the meat counter. He was dressed in a blue sweater with a yellow shirt beneath, the colors of the Swedish flag.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Imagine a blonde man’s head poking out from the top of this:</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_f6un9FoW_TMAhPIc8kI_QAKxax40xF0EULBp51tgvZWH1uYMEQuxjNxBKdECPe7WHh2dfDtb_2ygPqLAUHY3tlHhg1BxRYQMFdvjdof8p98iwGXLcMNDzISEulgxSwCUYjOjwaF7rC0/s1600/DownloadedFile-1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_f6un9FoW_TMAhPIc8kI_QAKxax40xF0EULBp51tgvZWH1uYMEQuxjNxBKdECPe7WHh2dfDtb_2ygPqLAUHY3tlHhg1BxRYQMFdvjdof8p98iwGXLcMNDzISEulgxSwCUYjOjwaF7rC0/s1600/DownloadedFile-1.jpeg" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The woman said, “I don’t know if I can trust you.” Another guy behind the counter laughed and pointed at Blue Sweater, “He’s actually Norwegian. Can’t you tell?” The woman didn’t laugh, so I’m really not sure she was joking when she said, “I don’t want to talk to a Swede.” </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">I decided to mind my own business. I resumed staring at about twenty-eight different kinds of canned fish, many without English language labels. An apron-clad Ingebretsen’s man was next to me neatening the shelves in the cooler. “Say,” I inquired, “Where do you keep your Swedish anchovies?” This made it sound as if I were knowledgeable on the subject. “Do you mean anchovy-flavored herring?” he asked. It only took him that one question to destroy the flimsy camouflage I had constructed around my ignorance. “Well,” I stammered, “it’s for some sort of potato dish.” I pointed at my list of ingredients as if it were the list’s fault. Like flashcards, a series of expressions passed across his countenance. First, there was a kind of disdain for my idiocy. Next, the look of resignation upon remembering that it’s his job to cope with the Scanda-challenged. Finally, he softened somewhat into pity. Pity for a man attempting to function in the world without a complete knowledge of canned fish from the Baltic Sea. He looked me in the eye. “Are you making Janssen’s Temptation?” “Yes!” I answered, in surprise and excitement. Before the sibilance of my “Yes!” finished traveling through the air, his arm swung in an arc with his index finger leading the way, and landed without hesitation on a specific pile of cans. This unhesitating action made superfluous any further speaking on his part. The whitening of the distal joint of his index finger as he pressed his fingertip down on the cans indicated our conversation had finished. I thanked him with what I thought was a proper amount of humility.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">When my number was called, I took my two cans up to the counter. I set them down, and another Ingebretsen’s man looked at them and stated in the manner of a jovial, confident Swedish detective, “<i>Somebody’s</i> making Janssen’s Temptation!” </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">I’m determined to contrive future Eagles Club raffles in order that they consist of goods from that wonderful shop. I never did look up Janssen to find out how he’s doing. And I wonder. Is he only tempted around Christmastime? That casserole is Balluff’s Temptation now. Don’t tell Ingebretsen’s that a German/Polish man said that!</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
The Secret Weaponhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01458356297570792777noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8616325033629220892.post-12287941688394347662013-10-14T18:03:00.000-07:002013-10-14T18:03:32.148-07:00Recognizing DCD<br />
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">“Oh wait! You have to hear this!” There we were, comfortably ensconced in the post-prandial, wine-sipping candlelight of my dining room, and instead of my friend being able to finish a sentence in a story of meeting a medicine man in the mountains of Guatemala, she has to listen to what Louis Armstrong does with his vocal at about 1:40 in “Hotter Than That.” Afterwards comes my excited response. It might be brief. Sometimes I’ll merely emit a sort of punched-in-the-gut noise when a musician achieves something that is unfair to all other musicians for the rest of time. The people who know me probably feel lucky when all they get is that visceral response. But many times a single moment in a recording acts upon my brain like the last left turn of a spanner wrench on a fire hydrant, and from my mouth streams a history of the recording, the musicians responsible, what the temperature was that day, and about the time they injured their leg. In this instance, to my meager credit, I remembered all on my own to wander back to the previous conversation and bid my friend to continue HER story. My etiquette, however, does not always rise up to being so barely adequate. Fortunately for me, my friends seem to love me despite this “charming” trait of mine. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">I have decided to call this DCD, the DeVore Compulsive Disorder. I should probably ask my mentor’s permission before naming a disease after him, but I think he may understand. Do you suffer from this malady? This is a disease who’s chief characteristic is that no matter where a person is or what they’re doing, their ears will hear any and all traditional jazz no matter how faint, and said sufferers will commence struggling, or not, to squelch the urge to illuminate it’s presence. Charlie is stricken with an advanced case, wherein he displays all of the above, but also the symptom of providing music from his own head if there is none in his immediate ambient vicinity. He’ll also provide a song if you happen to string three words together that almost match one of the thousands of lyrics he stores in his noggin. I'm well on my way to this expression of the disorder.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">"O-81, O-81. That reminds me of that Gershwin chestnut, 'Oh, Lady Be Good.'"</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgbUKG_8QEWEuRmPTj2TAmYPGNtRGvf4RmMYWqA_twkjGcyyoWcZHLQ4vTvcs_Zc1yE0d4psa3Ud3OsBRNCQGZjw2EpNW2jshy3xUgtCcMtV6fkhxHUuh0TT681q4yHh9VHRM0aHSYVrQ/s1600/IMG_6935.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgbUKG_8QEWEuRmPTj2TAmYPGNtRGvf4RmMYWqA_twkjGcyyoWcZHLQ4vTvcs_Zc1yE0d4psa3Ud3OsBRNCQGZjw2EpNW2jshy3xUgtCcMtV6fkhxHUuh0TT681q4yHh9VHRM0aHSYVrQ/s320/IMG_6935.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Despite all of that, I consider myself a good listener. In my previous career as a reflexologist working with patients in a hospital, my years of experience taught me to just be quiet and open my ears. That it’s best to not even tell your own stories of how you can relate to a patient’s pain and suffering. Doing that, in it’s own way, can diminish a patient’s narrative, and most patients want you to know what’s happened to them. The advantage in those circumstances was that in my twenty-four-year career, I think traditional jazz was playing within earshot maybe a total of four times. I almost never had that itchy feeling fever up my brain, making me want to ask questions in the middle of a session like, “Which Fats Waller is that?”</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">But I no longer do that work, and have been released into the world on my own recognizance. Maybe I’m sitting in a restaurant and my left index finger spasms up in the air, demanding the attention of those at my table as I stare into the middle distance. The middle distance is where I keep all my jazz esoterica. Somewhere buried in the noise of cutlery, other diner’s conversations, ice being restocked at the bar, and that patron yelling at the umpire on the overhead tv, the thread of a Sinatra tune reaches my ears. “That’s from his Columbia years,” I might let slip out of my piehole, while I nod appreciatively. Then I’ll oh-so-smoothly come back, my eyes refocusing. “You were saying?” I ask, as if I were the one waiting. I have actually perpetrated a version of the above scenario on an anniversary dinner. Again, I want to point out how I am a lucky man, having married someone with a high degree of tolerance for my disorder. Her tolerance is partly born of her own love of the music, but still, at our anniversary dinner? I guess, darling, I only have middle distance eyes, but not ears for you, as it were.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The same happens with soundtracks for television and movies. One of my favorite movies of all time is the 1998 film, The Impostors. </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYIpkk-ByjAji5Pc_xH8VViLPB5TZdJD3yDCvCDIDPSRCOztgscSiM9No6HkDZb49YlvABFu7PCerlF4fDXd_KVopyNnYzNSrjT-QI9rWz84FMWu-JwpwOhYByP0cjLVgtpQKppVtjsFc/s1600/DownloadedFile-1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYIpkk-ByjAji5Pc_xH8VViLPB5TZdJD3yDCvCDIDPSRCOztgscSiM9No6HkDZb49YlvABFu7PCerlF4fDXd_KVopyNnYzNSrjT-QI9rWz84FMWu-JwpwOhYByP0cjLVgtpQKppVtjsFc/s1600/DownloadedFile-1.jpeg" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Throughout this fantastic farce, they use a 1962 Eddie Condon release of the song “China Boy” for the chase scenes. Other jazz recordings populate the soundtrack, including a brilliant use of an Armstrong recording of “Skokiaan.” The movie knocks me out every single time I see/hear it. Now that I've taken in about seven viewings, I largely restrain myself from comment, but that first time? I wonder how many times I said, “Are you hearing this? What a soundtrack!” </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Yet another classic presentation of the illness may occur with live performances, especially those that are part of a party. In this case, based on true events, a musician—I’ll call him McHenry Henryson—thought it a lamentable state of affairs that another musician on the bandstand—whom I’ll call Sam Miltich—wasn’t being given full attention, despite his stellar playing on the song “Swing Gitan.” Understand that when I say “bandstand,” it was actually the space in a basement rumpus room formerly occupied by a ping pong table, and that same rumpus room was elbow to elbow with happy, happy wedding guests shouting, drinking, hugging, and otherwise celebrating the nuptials of good friends. Also understand that when I say “rumpus room,” I’m saying it pretty much so that I can use the phrase “rumpus room,” which makes me laugh. At any rate, McHenry’s desire was that one of the grooms be dragged from the middle of the fracas and planted directly in front of Sam’s guitar, so that he could know what kind of genius music was being played right in his very own rumpus room. I don’t really blame him. Many a time I’ve asked someone at a club if they heard the way the band did this or that, only to be given the I’m-sincerely-trying-to-remember look before they answer, “I must have missed it.” But I had to stop him from insisting.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">His motivations are noble. This is not a man who bases his self-esteem on how many people at the party are paying rapt attention to the band. He is not an Artiste demanding, “Silence!” before a performance. We sufferers of DCD see our actions as a sort of public service announcement. For instance, there exists in our world the <a href="http://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/" target="_blank">British Hedgehog Preservation Society</a>. Their whole purpose is to bring awareness to the little buggers, essentially so that those folks who live in Hedgehog Land don’t run them over. There is even a Hedgehog Awareness Week in May. </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Hedgehog Crossing</span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">I didn't know they carried bindles.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji0wgzUaykEDDohnJ_R_KtxblurxI-10Ek19INM94SqIlcrfcohHCYvgw_nb-EQX6HwjxcsdJQvBAod9CqjwVhYbdW_wK_sWwK7JOgGZbwb_ZVqOnU2cw6heAlFjVctjqJaRbh7de_tbM/s1600/DownloadedFile.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji0wgzUaykEDDohnJ_R_KtxblurxI-10Ek19INM94SqIlcrfcohHCYvgw_nb-EQX6HwjxcsdJQvBAod9CqjwVhYbdW_wK_sWwK7JOgGZbwb_ZVqOnU2cw6heAlFjVctjqJaRbh7de_tbM/s1600/DownloadedFile.jpeg" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">This makes two blog postings in a row where hedgehogs have come up. I think I have an infestation. Anyway, whether it’s me at a candlelit table, or Charlie in a movie theater, or McHenry Henryson at a rumpus room reception, we’re just providing the same service. Jazz Awareness. “Look! Jazz!! Don’t run it over!” Where our nobility falls flat, however, is in our utter disregard of the etiquette of each situation. A man shouldn’t oughtta drag his friends away from their lives every time he hears the Bix and Tram recording of “Singin’ The Blues.” Of course, those of us with terminal cases of DCD believe that it’s everyone else in the world that is failing to observe proper etiquette for when jazz is crossing the road. </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">As the years go by, it occasionally occurs to me that there are some areas of my behavior in need of improvement. In the case of my DCD, I have had to develop a conscious ability to be aware of my surroundings and maintain a state of repose when confronted by the tunes about which I’m so keen. I once had to actually tell myself, “No, Tony. Right now you don’t need to mention how amazing it is to hear the Bechet/Spanier ‘Four Or Five Times’ in a coffeeshop. Let your friend tell you about his seasonal depression.” To my friends, I would have you all know that I truly do value your conversation and your company. My distraction has nothing to do with a boredom brought about by the stories of your days. I always want to know what’s going on in your lives. It’s purely a mechanism of my brain and spirit that automatically lights up when I hear this music I love. But I love you more. Really, I do. Really…Oh! But check out Barney Bigard on this trio recording! Zutty Singleton’s on drums and…</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhg05VkJPVI" target="_blank">Barney Bigard, “Barney’s Bounce”</a></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><b>Here are the other links to the highly distracting soundtrack for this post:</b></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TV5J24we_dQ" target="_blank">Louis Armstrong, “Hotter Than That”</a></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KhlsrGYGz0" target="_blank">Fats Waller, “Latch On”</a></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XExDJJ_G30M" target="_blank">Frank Sinatra, “One For My Baby”</a></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9P5n-ljWrhA" target="_blank">Eddie Condon, “China Boy” (live version)</a></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_z1RTtMumkw" target="_blank">Louis Armstrong, “Skokiaan”</a></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_Ofdj_N7hQ" target="_blank">“Swing Gitan”</a></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uo11LQGu3X8" target="_blank">Bix Beiderbecke, “Singin’ The Blues”</a></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-z7jMqH7TM" target="_blank">Sidney Bechet, “Four Or Five Times”</a></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<br /></div>
The Secret Weaponhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01458356297570792777noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8616325033629220892.post-60026269779836789312013-09-29T17:42:00.000-07:002013-09-29T17:42:14.673-07:00A Decade Of Aces: Part Nine '13<br />
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-align: center;">
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This is the Ninth and final installment in a series of historical retrospectives covering the first ten years of the Southside Aces, in celebration of their tenth anniversary.</span></b><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW7tRJLXo1DABNSqZT3T0q8PQl7seqyG5JI0TnJ3yg3Cap3MWrCDKRls0VShawv2fHr174aj1fv7O_Y7VEJ8KIVmYnfZQh568Ro46Ff5keK6BxGXclrf66mfeXepOAPPAvUiaPGEYxGIo/s1600/562275_10151759176020693_2071884374_n+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW7tRJLXo1DABNSqZT3T0q8PQl7seqyG5JI0TnJ3yg3Cap3MWrCDKRls0VShawv2fHr174aj1fv7O_Y7VEJ8KIVmYnfZQh568Ro46Ff5keK6BxGXclrf66mfeXepOAPPAvUiaPGEYxGIo/s320/562275_10151759176020693_2071884374_n+copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">It took a while for me to recover from our big tenth anniversary party last month and find my way back to the last chapter of this story. According to the people who make this stuff up, a tenth anniversary is often celebrated with aluminum. I tried to get the Aces an Alcoa sponsorship, but my “Does your local jazz band shield their homes with aluminum?” ad campaign fell on deaf ears. So did my offer to change the band’s name to “South Siding Aces.” Some ideas take time to gain acceptance.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">It took a few weeks before we touched down in 2013. We re-entered that hallowed hall of ribs-and-such called Famous Dave’s. We were offered more money and a year’s worth of dates. Our previous negative experience was just enough in our past for us to say yes, so there we were. I decided we would go in there as the “Southside Aces Big Five,” always as a quintet, to make the money slightly better for each man, and to give guys the option of not always playing. Famous Dave’s didn’t exactly come off firing on all cylinders for us this first night back, advertising us as “Jack Knife and the Sharps.” A bemused band, we. At the end of the first set, Erik introduced Zack as “the brass knuckles of the band,” me as, “the Secret Weapon of the band,” Robert as, “Mr. Class,” Dave as being “all the way from St. Paul, Minnesota,” and himself as “Santa Claus on the Santaphone.” The legend continued.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Our appearance at the Eagles was considerably classier than usual. And Robert wasn’t even there! A satellite looking down on that portion of the earth would have detected a huge surge of sophistication beaming from the south ballroom. A Johnny Mercer flare. Maud Hixson and Rick Carlson joined the Aces to feature the music of that Savannah legend, from “Moon River” to “I’m Old Fashioned,” to “That Old Black Magic.” Maud and Rick were incredible, as were the raffle prizes. Mercer’s hometown is also famous for it’s hushpuppies, so one lucky fan walked home with a $1.99 package of hushpuppy mix. Like I said, classy.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Some hot oil away from deliciousness!</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP0lQg9YCl7OzXI5Crw72NKn3FnoxAwRHhBRidBRFeuD13gmkr8AgN4s5QcazHKrMYdj8aoNEPe1MmOmQOPwwYTrTGJ585en9JL3-A8VHf-KjohfyG8XWCVSU8DIxi3EkFOxNaujCjE3I/s1600/DownloadedFile.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP0lQg9YCl7OzXI5Crw72NKn3FnoxAwRHhBRidBRFeuD13gmkr8AgN4s5QcazHKrMYdj8aoNEPe1MmOmQOPwwYTrTGJ585en9JL3-A8VHf-KjohfyG8XWCVSU8DIxi3EkFOxNaujCjE3I/s1600/DownloadedFile.jpeg" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The jazz was played on the first Monday of February at Famous Dave’s, with Steve Pikal on bass and Reid Kennedy on drums. We launched with “Under The Bamboo Tree,” and stuck a fork in it with Kermit Ruffins’ “Goodnight.” How’s that for a 95-year span of jazz? In between we comported ourselves well on tunes such as “Blue Again,” “Comes Love,” and a very hot “China Boy.” </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Check out Kid Ory on that 1901 classic, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GJ8RG4qBTQ" target="_blank">“Under The Bamboo Tree.”</a></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The following Sunday found us the unfortunate recipients of a huge, wet snow storm, which fell right on top of our Mardi Gras Tea at the Sokol (Czech Hall) in St. Paul. Not enough folks emerged from their hibernaculums to ensure the Sokol a profit that day. I believe I still take issue with the people who were scared off by the snow, on account of the example our good friend, Mimi, set by driving TWO HOURS from Wisconsin so she could get her second line on. Let that be a lesson to you people! A good ol’ time was had nonetheless. The Southside Aces with New Orleans caterer <a href="http://cajun2geaux.com/" target="_blank">Cajun 2 Geaux</a> in a beautiful 1897 hall made sure things were done right. From “If Ever I Cease To Love” to “Mardi Gras In New Orleans.” Jim, one of our fans, gave us one of the best compliments a performer can receive. “You guys! You could have folded up your spirits with this small crowd. Back in my younger days, I played in a crummy scab band and we couldn’t hack a small crowd. But you guys just shined, played all out!” It’s my blog. I can let you know when someone is patting me and my band mates on our respective backs if I want to.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">One of six stage backdrops at Sokol Hall painted in 1932</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMWeEpp5_8I-EvC9gkOCwHAldbk2HzP2MANmqOOzJrAFZ6j71ardDRO8kc8Np7yXbeWMbB27yFSjzCTT1JA7u2tpP5-yg3y9LRuHkMLP_9_eg8rvJgXuE1G3MhjO1-qB6CtWPrj9QPfE4/s1600/6-town-square-w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMWeEpp5_8I-EvC9gkOCwHAldbk2HzP2MANmqOOzJrAFZ6j71ardDRO8kc8Np7yXbeWMbB27yFSjzCTT1JA7u2tpP5-yg3y9LRuHkMLP_9_eg8rvJgXuE1G3MhjO1-qB6CtWPrj9QPfE4/s1600/6-town-square-w.jpg" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Mardi Gras proper found us doing our “Thirty Minute Brass Band” routine in between Cajun bands at the Eagles again. The Aces with Chuck DeVore on snare, and Wittacee on sousaphone. Six musicians, twenty-seven minutes, three hundred dollars. Wittacee had received the call to sub for Erik less than an hour before we played. I met him at the bar, handed him a PBR Tallboy and $60, ten dollars more than everyone else received. “You get the twenty percent bonus for the rush job,” I told him.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">I entitled our Valentine’s dance at the Eagles, “Sweethearts On Parade.” Unprecedented in our history was our online auction of a romantic night for two. Peg and Emily won this unbelievable prize package: two entries, a table for two up on the stage with the band, pizza from bartender Royal’s toaster oven, two vending machine deserts, $2 in quarters for the skill crane (Peg actually won something called a “Love Bear”), ten song requests, with the band committed to honoring two of them, and three opportunities throughout the night to yell “Hit it, boys!” All of that was beside the raffle! A heart-shaped tin of strawberry lollipops with Yoda on the lid, Valentine-colored peanut M&Ms, chocolate-covered dried Bing cherries, an oinking Valentine pig that pooped candy into a tray by it’s butt, and a pair of predominantly red Popeye boxers that said, “Thinking of you” across the butt. Oh yeah, and we played some music.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">On March 1<sup>st</sup>, we traveled to Des Moines to play the Heartland Swing Festival. I recommend Velma’s homemade rhubarb pie that she sells out of the second story of the red barn that is the rest stop part of Diamond Jo’s Casino and rest stop off of 35. I had that with some Dr. Pepper and Cheetos. I bought the Cheetos so I could get some protein in my lunch. </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP6FyNCiIsT2vOjUsGDrdrjD3rMQnZgUF1Lekgn6CN4WRBFnh7LRSWYOZybXU54GVoA12xpeRnGCmZtHrWrBQHwhmXSrmcocztHLnZzoVU9F76ScPgDqDtT5UvJCkdFWHz5lowLk7JY_k/s1600/DJ+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP6FyNCiIsT2vOjUsGDrdrjD3rMQnZgUF1Lekgn6CN4WRBFnh7LRSWYOZybXU54GVoA12xpeRnGCmZtHrWrBQHwhmXSrmcocztHLnZzoVU9F76ScPgDqDtT5UvJCkdFWHz5lowLk7JY_k/s320/DJ+001.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">We featured the music of Fats Waller at the Eagles, with pianist Steven Hobert subbing for Robert. Before the show, Dave tells me a clove of garlic fell out of his suit when he took it out of his closet. This from the late night pizza we had after the last job. There’s where a fella can be happy he didn’t have his suit pressed between shows. We began the feature set with “Ain’t Misbehavin’.” Erik wanted to announce it as Waller’s “most popular hit.” I told him it wasn’t necessarily true, and Zack made sure I remembered how much of a nerd I am. Erik announced it as, “<i>arguably</i> his most popular hit.” I washed my hands of him, saying, “I ain’t protecting you from the Charlies out there!” referring to how Charlie DeVore was sitting fifteen feet away, and would probably know exactly which tune topped the Fats Waller hit parade. He and Zack laughed at me. Erik displayed mock fear, “When we’re done, I’m just going to run out of the building, talk to no one!” The very next song, “Honeysuckle Rose,” he also announced as, “arguably his most popular hit,” thus diluting his original declaration, and perhaps saving him from the wrath of historians.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">In April, Henry Blackburn gave us what for on our show, “The Alto in Jazz.” Captain John Handy, Joe Poston, Harold Dejan, and “Singin’ The Blues,” Frankie Trumbauer’s famous recording. I know Frank was technically on a C-Melody saxophone, but who—except for you three people who sent me emails— is going to argue? Among many greats, the crowd heard “You Can’t Escape From Me,” “Ice Cream,” and “Curzon Hall Boogie,” a tune I got off of an album Henry did with Kid Dutch. Henry told the story of how I had asked where Curzon Hall was in New Orleans. The piano player on the date with Henry was named Andrew Curzon Hall. Not a place but a man! Erik said, “I hope someday someone names a song ‘Owen Jacobson Boogie.’”</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">We played Famous Dave’s in May with Keith Boyles on bass. Zack wanted to dig deeper into our book, so I took him at his word and called several that don’t usually come across our desk. A couple of Irving Berlin numbers, including “The Song Is Ended.” When I sang my high E flats on that one, it sounded like someone was cinching me too tightly. “Jazz Me Blues,” Bix style. A King Oliver “Riverside Blues.” In the second set, I called three from the A.J. Piron repertoire, “Red Man Blues,” “Bouncin’ Around,” and “Mama’s Gone Goodbye.” Keith admitted that he’d been liking the repertoire, but he begged, “Tony! Can we play something I know?” Zack chimed in, seconding the motion. I looked at them, perhaps a bit too triumphantly, and said, “I broke you guys! I broke you!”</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The Guitar in Jazz was our feature at the Eagles. We added guitarist Dean Harrington in order to hot club it up. We played “Montmartre (Django’s Jump),” and a great version of “Nuages” with the stormtrooper introduction. Our instrumentation on “Minor Swing” was Zack on rhythm guitar, Dave playing brushes on HIS guitar, Dean, Robert and Erik. Four guitars and a sousaphone. That can’t have happened before. Robert did the famous Santo and Johnny solo, “Sleep Walk.” </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1st_9KudWB0" target="_blank">“Sleep Walk”</a></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">For the raffle, I had done my research. One of Django’s favorite foods was roasted hedgehog, or as he knew it, “niglos.” I even found a recipe for it’s traditional preparation. Needless to say, however, I didn’t have time to find, kill, herb up, roll in clay, throw in a fire, de-quill and package one of the little darlings, so I settled for a large bag of in-the-shell peanuts and a best of Django recording. The peanut bag was at least in the shape of a hedgehog. Erik told the crowd I had made a mistake not calling him first. He said, “I have hedgehog.” Then he added, “I’m not saying it’s fresh…”</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Uncooked hedgehog</span></div>
</div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBFkdkkm7_jm-nxnkwbzKZ3GtYB1saQZGNaR8U2JPVGphLmc8xfPw4N-KF4FdDullk1fFjTVfwKEdgYKbYGrLib-aApNBtWmkarEdkIXJY_xj5EQf39uz2S6EvnAJuN7nUFxbBpJ1V8h8/s1600/images-3.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBFkdkkm7_jm-nxnkwbzKZ3GtYB1saQZGNaR8U2JPVGphLmc8xfPw4N-KF4FdDullk1fFjTVfwKEdgYKbYGrLib-aApNBtWmkarEdkIXJY_xj5EQf39uz2S6EvnAJuN7nUFxbBpJ1V8h8/s1600/images-3.jpeg" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The Aces played at the Dakota on Mother’s Day. Craig Eichhorn told me “It’s not a performance, but it’s not a background job either.” Somewhere between the spotlight and the potted palm, I guess. I remember the incredible grits they made that day. We had Matt Peterson on bass both for that one and the June Famous Dave’s. Matt and Robert spent every non-music moment talking feverishly about their other shared passion, bikes. </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">On the sixth we played at the Harriet Tap Room over on Minnehaha Avenue. We were able to partake of their beer, and Chef Tim from Cajun 2 Geaux brought his food truck out and was very generous to the band. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">It was a bit cool and damp for June, but not unlike most of the nights by this halfway point of 2013. Steve said with a straight face, “This winter isn’t going too bad.” We had a regular sound check. “Kick,” said the soundman, and Dave played his bass drum. “Set for the overhead,” said the soundman, and Dave flailed around on the rest of the drums. “Oboe,” said the soundman for me, and the band cracked up. Zack called me “Kid Oboe” that night. Outside of the comedy highlight, we knocked out a sweet version of “Smoke Rings,” like you do when you play in a brewery.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The Minnesotan legend, cornetist Doc Evans, is whom we featured that month. We recreated the record that was made of his 1953 appearance at the Walker Art Center. We began with one of Doc’s quotes regarding how he was happy to play anywhere: “Jazz doesn’t know where it is, and it doesn’t care.” Then we launched with “Under The Double Eagle.” Doc tended to play with West Coast Dixieland tempos, meaning that they really stepped on it. Be careful not to fall off the back of the truck! But the Aces are the Aces, so we marked the difference between Doc and us right off the bat. Our “Double Eagle” had a groove, despite it being an 1893 march. Charlie DeVore came right up to the stage upon the last note to shake my hand. “That was the perfect tempo!” he extolled. “None of that racehorse business with you guys!” In response, Erik said on mic, “You have to feel pretty good about the way you played a song when Charlie DeVore comes up and shakes the band’s hand!” As an introduction to “Muskrat Ramble,” Zack had Erik tell this story to the crowd:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">“We’re all adults here right? So, the other day Zack was standing on a bank doing some fishing when he noticed a couple of Muskrats, well, in a romantic situation.” I said in an aside to Zack, “A ramble, so to speak.” Zack got up to finish the story. “When they saw me, the male muskrat ran back into its cave, and the female was so mad at me for the interruption!”</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Muskrat, perhaps angry, I'm not sure</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHkVIRch-BtE_wCIBQxXxQD8LWr3VvQWBNjFbYWq0Ppzjhl2qPCCjnrRO9OyUoDNhcBnVtkx5GFWJJXFcw3l9-6OJA9Psqtqq03ZgHWe5Sp8S1swZ6igezL7Do-5SV_qP2-yqaQbsH7uM/s1600/images-2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHkVIRch-BtE_wCIBQxXxQD8LWr3VvQWBNjFbYWq0Ppzjhl2qPCCjnrRO9OyUoDNhcBnVtkx5GFWJJXFcw3l9-6OJA9Psqtqq03ZgHWe5Sp8S1swZ6igezL7Do-5SV_qP2-yqaQbsH7uM/s1600/images-2.jpeg" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">We had a rehearsal at my house for an upcoming big show at the Old Log Theater in July. With twenty tunes to get through, I set the bar low for what passed for moving on to the next song. “That’s my goal,” I told Rick Carlson, “a minimum of familiarity. That way, when the band has entirely forgotten about the music by next month’s show, they can open the books and experience déja vu.” </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">July Famous Dave’s featured the Southside Aces Big Four Brass Band on account of Robert being in Wisconsin at the start of the night. I, too, once received that phone call that gives you that terrible sinking feeling, when someone tells you that you aren’t where you signed up to be. But we rolled with it just fine. At the Eagles the next week, we featured the music of Benny Goodman, with Keith Boyles on bass and Rick Carlson on piano. My personal pantheon of clarinetists tends toward the New Orleans men, but the King of Swing has been impressing my listening ears as of late, especially his small group recordings. We performed tunes like “Shivers,” “Pick-a-Rib Part 1,” the trio version of “Oh, Lady Be Good,” with the four key changes, and “Slipped Disc.” I had a ball! </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycxIbcVYuPY" target="_blank">"Slipped Disc"</a></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The Southside Aces Big Four—this time Zack, me, Robert and Steve Pikal on bass—made our way down to New Ulm to please the denizens of that famous German town at the Grand Café. Steve is the nephew of a legend in those parts, Wally Pikal. Wally was famous for being able to play three trumpets at the same time while on a pogo stick. When I told Zack this, he sort of frowned and said, “Why would you do that?” I also remember how we couldn’t fulfill five requests in a row. FIVE. The crowd still liked us that night, but I’m not sure if they trusted us.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">On July 15<sup>th</sup>, we went into the Old Log Theater with Maud Hixson and Rick Carlson to do it up in large fashion on the music of Johnny Mercer. This was one of the last shows in which owner Don Stolz involved himself. He had sold the theater after 73 years of running things! Maud and I began collecting what we called Don Stolz Hangups. Don is great to work with, but we had to accustom ourselves to his way of using a phone. The <i>second</i> he obtained whatever information he needed from us he would hang up. No wasting time on the usual niceties. For instance:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Me: “So do you write up a contract, or would you like me to put one together?” </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Don: “Could you do that?”</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Me: “Sure. Where…” </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Click, dial tone</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Or the time Don called Maud to ask her to change the date:</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Maud: “I’m looking at our calendar, and that looks fine with us.” </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Don: “You’re a good girl! And I love you for it!”</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Maud: “Thanks, Don, I lo…”</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Click, dial tone</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">We would always find ourselves finishing sentences to a dial tone. We sort of became perversely proud of these. “I got another one!” we’d say when reporting in to each other. At any rate, we were very grateful to Don for having us out there. I really felt like it was a magical night, and a perfect place to present that music. Maud sang beautifully, Rick made you go “Dang!” and the band proved we belonged in a concert hall just as much as we do a joint. Charlie DeVore made an appearance as well, laying us all low with his rendering of “Strip Polka.” This was one of my favorite nights as a musician.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">At the end of July we played for Abbot Northwestern Hospital in what’s become an annual occasion. The beginning of August had us at the Social Dance Studio on 23<sup>rd</sup> Avenue and 38<sup>th</sup> Street and, of course, Famous Dave’s. Steve Pikal subbed for the rib joint hit. I think Erik is going to drop in on that job maybe only once every four months or so, like a retired uncle who comes back into town from his travels once in a while to tell stories and hand out souvenirs. </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Speaking of stories, this wraps up ten years and brings me up to the actual anniversary show. I’ll have to tell that one another time. For now, I want to thank all the fans who’ve made it out to a decade’s worth of the Southside Aces. I am always grateful that I get to play this music I love so much, and that there are people who want to hear it. And I want to thank my fellow musicians for being such good Aces. To another ten years! Cheers!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
The Secret Weaponhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01458356297570792777noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8616325033629220892.post-46929494498811750842013-08-14T09:56:00.000-07:002013-08-15T13:23:47.575-07:00A Decade Of Aces: Part Eight '12<br />
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:UseMarginsForDrawingGridOrigin/>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 24pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 18.0pt;"><b>This is the Eighth in a series
of historical retrospectives on the Southside Aces, in celebration of their tenth anniversary.</b></span><span style="font-family: Times-Roman; font-size: 18.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 24pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 18.0pt;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm0CEprAmImm4SNxkKYO6v0yLbtOYAPfbHSkapIKDnbAmV8eCMap5qf0dMf4DhNXi4e1DMQXvUZvgc-deA-ucn1tG5Mw8bcyLrugsFvEv8lm2WMmsUUnZpnYXfhA0iHMyqb587rxXi3QA/s1600/562275_10151759176020693_2071884374_n+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm0CEprAmImm4SNxkKYO6v0yLbtOYAPfbHSkapIKDnbAmV8eCMap5qf0dMf4DhNXi4e1DMQXvUZvgc-deA-ucn1tG5Mw8bcyLrugsFvEv8lm2WMmsUUnZpnYXfhA0iHMyqb587rxXi3QA/s320/562275_10151759176020693_2071884374_n+copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24pt; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<br />
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">We began 2012 with a changing of the guard. Andy put in his notice. If these trumpet men were actual guards, and the Decade of Aces was the night watch, Zack drew the first two hours, tried to get some sleep for the next four hours while Andy peered over the wild jazz frontier, and finally returned to duty. I would be dishonest if I said that in the end Andy and I had no differences, that the situation was as cheery and flip, crisp and clean as the above analogy suggests. But we are peaceful and reasonable men, and managed to come to the conclusion of this chapter without fisticuffs…even though he is from Wisconsin.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">He served the rest of his time with two shows. The first was at the Eagles on January 12<sup>th</sup>. We featured the music of Duke Ellington that night. Some of my favorites in our repertoire, including “The Mooche,” “Stevedore Stomp,” and... </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-4NS8c2yW8" target="_blank">“Five O’Clock Drag.”</a></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipHgSLilVOXXVVnh4rCnuRlWIVFAuXHxeJ6YWdgN5KhAVFbwvytlAKvICMtFGbleG9um2eo1b88F44szv5lLgQNJAllHrxZNOG-6703B1uDus-Jbc0MFC-Ogxk85czgIqdZ1E0B6O_gPY/s1600/DownloadedFile.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipHgSLilVOXXVVnh4rCnuRlWIVFAuXHxeJ6YWdgN5KhAVFbwvytlAKvICMtFGbleG9um2eo1b88F44szv5lLgQNJAllHrxZNOG-6703B1uDus-Jbc0MFC-Ogxk85czgIqdZ1E0B6O_gPY/s1600/DownloadedFile.jpeg" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Before the show, a dancer who had never seen us, and wished to know what kind of music we played had approached me. I thought I had given a good explanation, but then he asked, “Well, tell me this: do you perform polkas?” I dryly replied, “The New Orleans repertoire is not famous for its polkas.” He persisted for several minutes, “But could you play a polka?” Eventually I smiled and explained we might be able to provide a “New Orleans polka.” Later, I called “Moulin a Café,” and the band tried to create a polka feel with this nineteenth century ragtime. I think it created more doubtful expressions than a polka feel.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Zack was on the Famous Dave’s in January, but Andy did his last shows with us at the Ritz Theater in February, for the Fifth Annual Best of Midwest Burlesk. The headliner that year was a woman from New Orleans, Perle Noire, who featured a Josephine Baker act. </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8XSagUqJ7pSlmr1eVn-ty3lJ4iNAbRQNa4JDvBVoL9eR2-Br5cRHTzA3rSbxOKeL_5l53i1avV7ookiT_LtZAJub0N9NstDK2ZO_vxeBL3D-yet_yh4-09J7M_mEqSpoV-5_GAmUS7uk/s1600/BOMB_2012_Poster_2012_final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8XSagUqJ7pSlmr1eVn-ty3lJ4iNAbRQNa4JDvBVoL9eR2-Br5cRHTzA3rSbxOKeL_5l53i1avV7ookiT_LtZAJub0N9NstDK2ZO_vxeBL3D-yet_yh4-09J7M_mEqSpoV-5_GAmUS7uk/s320/BOMB_2012_Poster_2012_final.jpg" width="207" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">I often commented how my work to pay ratio on those shows would have made the union wince, but I also liked to say, “It’s a burlesque house, not a coalmine!” I really enjoyed the sense of accomplishment I got from these shows, but a last-minute request from a performer sometimes required a reality check. This was my somewhat labored analogy: “Asking me to write out a full band arrangement of a Prince tune the night before the show would be like me asking you, in the same amount of time, to assemble a Statue of Liberty costume by stitching together two thousand Mr. Yuck stickers.” </span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTI959ZbAJDSzemNqWLAI2azcsES-kbEv_GwhyTHrzl3SBvHdaec-SlGsWlNho5C2db6BvFS7d_ApjBZ9UuEOIHxFnu-FQY8hANtrpRYdmr5gv6hKpTus2RhdcXE0d2tP0_oXyMm-bg3k/s1600/images-2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTI959ZbAJDSzemNqWLAI2azcsES-kbEv_GwhyTHrzl3SBvHdaec-SlGsWlNho5C2db6BvFS7d_ApjBZ9UuEOIHxFnu-FQY8hANtrpRYdmr5gv6hKpTus2RhdcXE0d2tP0_oXyMm-bg3k/s1600/images-2.jpeg" /></a></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I think you could make the colors work.</span></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5hl9WPAvCrV6dGGir-xuYDRfrvLBVHfaHNNl5zIDlFQeXApVHBMPGvlUnfYLyjrdNQsgHYxdQAbOZAWeOyAnUdRC2LcNWg9ZppMGvMjCZzvjku-pvmIvIUPKtFXbGim7KuByUlV8Es0M/s1600/images.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5hl9WPAvCrV6dGGir-xuYDRfrvLBVHfaHNNl5zIDlFQeXApVHBMPGvlUnfYLyjrdNQsgHYxdQAbOZAWeOyAnUdRC2LcNWg9ZppMGvMjCZzvjku-pvmIvIUPKtFXbGim7KuByUlV8Es0M/s1600/images.jpeg" /></a></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">One of my favorite memories from that year was backing up a singer named Big Mama Red on a old New Orleans dance band tune, “Mama’s Gone, Goodbye.” She knew how to belt ‘em! We also unveiled my arrangement of “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga. But what has to stand out for the band was our own unveiling! Four acts into the last show, we ditched our trademark black suits to reveal full red Union suits beneath! This went over well, I can tell you. I've always wondered why Andy kept his black dress shoes on. In case of fire? We wore our red union suits beneath our suit coats at the cast party later. Something Jelly Roll Morton would have called “Shootin’ the agate.”</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">What a cast! As you can see, Union Suits provide flexibility in your wardrobe.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw9t8V1R2Gsi602o5mvtSZPs72gJ_QDPybPgFGDob3uZQVFa7fZ3wXEjoWJPyrU1zXCog0MDv5b3uVjTE2TRd3wT6ajpKtIcX19LAqzwMdEKftOv7sv2PnVJw4go_dWZxdZ9u5Nrw7www/s1600/BOMB2012-175-560.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw9t8V1R2Gsi602o5mvtSZPs72gJ_QDPybPgFGDob3uZQVFa7fZ3wXEjoWJPyrU1zXCog0MDv5b3uVjTE2TRd3wT6ajpKtIcX19LAqzwMdEKftOv7sv2PnVJw4go_dWZxdZ9u5Nrw7www/s320/BOMB2012-175-560.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://kriss-abigail.smugmug.com/" target="_blank">Kriss Abigail Photography</a> </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Lundi Gras at Famous Dave’s included Charlie DeVore working with us and producing his famous “Tiger Rag.” After “When My Dreamboat Comes Home,” which begins with ten bars of Bb, Erik said, “Dang! That’s a long time on one chord!” Robert said, “Like a desert!” Erik, “Yeah. I kept seeing mirages making me think the next chord was coming!” And two jobs for the Aces the following day made sure we celebrated Mardi Gras right. </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">It bears repeating. I walked into the Eagles of a March evening to set up our stage, and hear this inquiry coming from the bar—“Hey, Rick! What was that that shot my dad’s finger off?” With that proof of place, I prepared for an evening featuring the music of the Hall Brothers Jazz Band, with Charlie DeVore leading the proceedings. See my blog of that time, <i><a href="http://mplsjazzman.blogspot.com/2012/03/lineage-of-inspiration.html" target="_blank">The Lineage Of Inspiration</a></i>, for the whole story. </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">At Famous Dave’s, Erik let loose a sentence that was probably a historical first. “Now we’re going to play a Duke Ellington song followed by a Lady Gaga song.” The Lady Gaga garnered us a new friend, a young woman who said, “I basically have two things on my ipod, Big Band and Lady Gaga.” It was a good night, but the music booker at the Big Barn of Baby Back had told us he wanted “to shake things up a bit,” so we weren’t offered another show until deep into the summer. We were a bit miffed after three years of history, so turned down the belated offer. At 11:03 that night we began what I'm choosing to call our leave of absence. </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">In April, we went into the Social Dance Studio on 38<sup>th</sup> Street and 23<sup>rd</sup> Avenue. Terry Gardner of TC Swing had offered us the First Saturday Dance. This was the one where Erik couldn’t wait to get home to eat, so he ordered a pizza delivered while were on the bandstand. Once he was nourished, he was able to drop yet another unbelievable introduction to Robert’s version of “Sweet Sue.” “Half and half poured over perfectly ripe peaches. It’s a warm, rainy night with the windows open. Clean, white sheets. Satin! And Robert Bell stretched out naked! That’s what this song sounds like!” Everyone in the room was either laughing, or uncomfortable, or both.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjgWqMmYP8qd4om1XtCd4xwCpACVg_2eOqZM3WMOI4FPovUj9Cvn8gv1ybt8m_CYeYh0BeP-I57LL-OEGEd4828uYHZ5ilLFH2rdP74_6zx7Tm6z1N5AoUeMxtYUzpZaVMxS9F320az_M/s1600/895_9521+copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjgWqMmYP8qd4om1XtCd4xwCpACVg_2eOqZM3WMOI4FPovUj9Cvn8gv1ybt8m_CYeYh0BeP-I57LL-OEGEd4828uYHZ5ilLFH2rdP74_6zx7Tm6z1N5AoUeMxtYUzpZaVMxS9F320az_M/s320/895_9521+copy.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Dreamy!</span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">April Eagles bring Louis Armstrong flowers. We started the feature with “West End Blues.” Zack planted his flag on the peak of that particular Armstrong mountain. We ended the set with “Mahogany Hall Stomp,” Zack holding the chorus of high Bb with the mute in! Another peak scaled for the French Tickler. In between, Dave McCurdy, subbing for Robert, sang his beautiful “What A Wonderful World,” and Zack finished the night with a vocal on “When It’s Sleepy Time Down South.” And it was around this time Erik began raffling off “A hug from the sousaphone player.” What a night!</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The Eagles seems to always provide high moments of music and comedy. In May, six minutes before our feature on Jimmie Noone was to start, I was the only member of the band in the house. I opened the stage door and peered out into the parking lot. It was there I spotted Erik in jeans and a tee shirt helping Dave load firewood from the back of Dave’s Checker Cab to Erik’s trunk. It was a new one on this bandleader, but long years experiencing my band’s relationships with clocks allowed me to merely nod philosophically and say to myself, "Why <i>wouldn't</i> they be doing that right now?" Miraculously, nine minutes later (only three minutes late!) we started the show with everyone suited up. We played great Jimmie Noone tunes, including one new to our book, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxutkmGurvQ" target="_blank">“Japansy.”</a> </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">All six of us played a great job overlooking the pit of the Grain Exchange in May, where we were well paid and given free whiskey. Four of us played for that swanky affair, Retrorama, at the Minnesota Historical Society again. They put us in the same third floor, marbled corner next to the elevator as the year previous. If we continue to do this job every year until we shuffle off the mortal coil it will become known as “The Southside Aces Memorial Nook.” </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbU5q32TbpUg1d4WfvpGxpl_-2wc01ecqdm-4J5_Pt6q7BoIPtpauxHsQGvLRRvChhhkZHNbNaIAGF1_MH62mtepcQktoPYC1GLTU9C0C2L0LyCXa5Zb1LrD9vWjPn8qQBsmDQlmI7_pM/s1600/RR20121-e1337712155130.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbU5q32TbpUg1d4WfvpGxpl_-2wc01ecqdm-4J5_Pt6q7BoIPtpauxHsQGvLRRvChhhkZHNbNaIAGF1_MH62mtepcQktoPYC1GLTU9C0C2L0LyCXa5Zb1LrD9vWjPn8qQBsmDQlmI7_pM/s320/RR20121-e1337712155130.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">We also played the late show at the Dakota Memorial Day weekend. They were using us to lure over some of the Preservation Hall guys after their show at Orchestra Hall. It worked! A good handful did come over, and it was a memorable evening. Evan Christopher and Irvin Mayfield and others sat in with the band for a fantastic night of music that didn’t end until 2:30, late by Dakota standards. We spun together a version of “Just A Closer Walk With Thee” that came in at sixteen minutes! Normally my warning klaxons go off when a song heads north of SIX minutes, but I didn’t feel nervous for a second. </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgBqgvBZt1k" target="_blank">Just A Closer Walk With Thee</a></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Irving Berlin was featured at the Eagles on National Bourbon Day in June. I wasn’t going to have us play one of Berlin’s biggest hits, “God Bless America,” on account of how he wrote one or two other hits, until I realized it was also Flag Day. Erik kept calling it, “National Buy The Sousaphone Player A Bourbon Day.” We raffled off kosher foodstuffs. Chuck Sweningsen won the hug from the sousaphone player. After he uncomfortably accepted Erik’s hug, we gave him one of our CDs to avoid a lawsuit. </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Earlier in the year, when I had asked the owner of Humans Win! studio what he thought about having the Aces in to record some Christmas tunes, he replied, “What could be better than a New Orleans Christmas album recorded in the middle of summer by an atheist Jew engineer?” So there we were on June 27<sup>th</sup>, at the start of a heat wave. I’m sure folk in southern climes are accustomed to accompanying their Noels with dripping sweat, but it’s a bit surreal for we Northern Men. I had a great time with this project. From a rollicking brass band version of “Deck The Hall,” to our hot swing version of “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen,” to brand new originals—one by me and Erik and one by Claudia and Randi—to songs I called my “Christmas Postcard Arrangements.” These were the ones I fully arranged, with very little, if any soloing. In the studio one night we were recording one of those when Robert asked if he should put a flourish at the end. Zack called out, “Yeah, Robert! You put the stamp on that postcard! Lick that stamp!” We put a Rick Rexroth-sung version of “Away In The Manger” on there, which included a sousaphone introduction. Steve said, “I’ll never be able to look at a Nativity scene again without seeing a sousaphone in the manger.” </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCZbC5RUi0KWP92U3gnTlJbe95pNMH_rcLngWoZn5BCdC-m7PB0Isr-3ooYvHZu6sG7XCurB6yd5znE1u3rZv7xAvmw5M2LhUIBlGpcXNcCWgr6EbYtbndkA2d33JO1Ho9OEmMnCX254I/s1600/Santaphonejpg+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCZbC5RUi0KWP92U3gnTlJbe95pNMH_rcLngWoZn5BCdC-m7PB0Isr-3ooYvHZu6sG7XCurB6yd5znE1u3rZv7xAvmw5M2LhUIBlGpcXNcCWgr6EbYtbndkA2d33JO1Ho9OEmMnCX254I/s320/Santaphonejpg+copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="color: blue; font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: blue; font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">An extremely hot July 3<sup>rd</sup> evening found we men of the Aces on the hill behind the Minnesota Historical Society to kick off their Nine Nights of Music series. At the Eagles I presented an arcane and scholarly feature—Songs of the Public Domain! If I’d have had a logo made for that night, it would have been an image of an index finger pushing eyeglasses up the bridge of a nose, in the international sign language for “Nerd.” We had half Bill Evans band—Bill, Charlie DeVore and Dave McCurdy—and half Aces. </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Later in the month, we had the joy of participating in a chautauqua! “Drinking The River” featured us along with an historian who spoke of the brewing history along the Mississippi, a presentation by a waste treatment scientist, a singing Park Ranger and some dude in fur trapper attire. I want you to contemplate for a moment what kind of twists and turns your life would have to take in order to find yourself in the position to make some of your livelihood by slipping into your fur trapper get-up. </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Band on Boat</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1Wmt8IY6nMnzMAnscI81iGGi6WPS7iTbuSExXQGdZeKiudTsTnrgQ9eteEUOdZJ2QjVWjkM5Yd_LBeLD5IQAtY9pCz4GoksldoDVSVh8Ah3xqTHYWzBPDNLKR2gbI1922HXBHOEdaFMg/s1600/DownloadedFile-1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1Wmt8IY6nMnzMAnscI81iGGi6WPS7iTbuSExXQGdZeKiudTsTnrgQ9eteEUOdZJ2QjVWjkM5Yd_LBeLD5IQAtY9pCz4GoksldoDVSVh8Ah3xqTHYWzBPDNLKR2gbI1922HXBHOEdaFMg/s1600/DownloadedFile-1.jpeg" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Fur Trapper on Boat</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhHCkYkNvCrNK5juXdfHvzc9kBkuXcM2ppyeXxSaz2ZqX36J9yxEtfc1B4fIDt3_FKM-AJxaaBDggyc9NRGkdaYn9X76jLohuvEKuy9MMDsNAND7hbumHB8v_10EkibODN8U8TcYwp_WA/s1600/DownloadedFile-2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhHCkYkNvCrNK5juXdfHvzc9kBkuXcM2ppyeXxSaz2ZqX36J9yxEtfc1B4fIDt3_FKM-AJxaaBDggyc9NRGkdaYn9X76jLohuvEKuy9MMDsNAND7hbumHB8v_10EkibODN8U8TcYwp_WA/s1600/DownloadedFile-2.jpeg" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">For our August Eagles, we brought in special guest Henry Blackburn on soprano saxophone, alto and clarinet to feature the incredible music of Sidney Bechet. It was a wonderful night, and a lot of people saw it, one of whom went home with a raffled copy of Bechet’s autobiography, <i>Treat It Gentle</i>. Bechet’s famous “Petite Fleur” and “Si Tu Vois Ma Mere,” were dished up along with “Promenade aux Champs Elysees” and “Moulin a Café.” Henry is fluent in French. Because of all those Bechet compositions with French titles, I joked how Henry was there to judge my pronunciations. “So here we go with the next one,” I paused, “Passport To Paradise.” I looked to Henry for approval, “How was that?” He considered for a moment, “Not bad,” he nodded. Steve chimed in, “What does that mean in English?”</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">A sultry day on the berm at Abbott produced some lazy tempos to go along with the heat. Zack reminded Erik that Erik owed him twenty dollars, which had been going on for some time. Erik was without the cash that day, too. We usually stand up for solos and for the last choruses, but in deference to the muggy day, I suggested an alternative. “Some of the New Orleans bands just stand up for last song of the set.” Zack said, “I’m in. If some guys did it once in New Orleans, I’ll do it.” Erik saw an opportunity, “Once, in New Orleans, there was this guy who said I didn’t have to pay him the twenty dollars I owed him.” </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">September at the Eagles was dedicated to the Gershwins. The raffle prizes included “Potahtoes” and “Tomahtoes” to go along with the tune, “Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off.” This is also where we had a post-show photo shoot for the upcoming Christmas album. If any of you have a copy, you’ve seen the inside cover. Well, here’s one of the rejected photos from that night. If you look closely, Erik just let loose the punch line of a joke I can only tell you in private.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFnhhkZ6qLFG06MslJJK3tCvZGbl73gJmn4YQEUgpb_Q2XVZIuG-ZDIllEhcgc27y3Ck4VG1vTQCkT-a6z0v5hU2Yr6SfGh_0Zd__0YDPxJxJAyPQu48FweiApfU9h-yLZygUzsQZdjKs/s1600/IMG_3551.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFnhhkZ6qLFG06MslJJK3tCvZGbl73gJmn4YQEUgpb_Q2XVZIuG-ZDIllEhcgc27y3Ck4VG1vTQCkT-a6z0v5hU2Yr6SfGh_0Zd__0YDPxJxJAyPQu48FweiApfU9h-yLZygUzsQZdjKs/s320/IMG_3551.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">September brought us to Hastings for a wedding and to St. Paul for the second annual Oysterfest at Meritage. Erik gave the crowd a begging story. “I can tell you that the sousaphone player has been able to make it through some hard times with oysters.” Sure enough, trays of oysters began appearing. Later, after I worked myself into a lather on “St. Phillip Street Breakdown,” Erik told the crowd, “The clarinetist keeps his strength up with oyster stout!” Within a few minutes, I looked down to see three cups of the briny brew at my feet. Later, when Erik announce that we were flown in from Minneapolis, the stogie-smoking mayor of St. Paul, Chris Coleman, and his cohorts booed us! He definitely has pride of city. He turned it into cheers when Erik attempted to mollify him by announcing that Dave hailed from Osceola Avenue in St. Paul. This event is tops on my Aces calendar, and Erik will also testify to his overwhelming approval. Anyone reading this ought to plan on seeing us down on St. Peter Street this year!</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">In October, we played a Foodie Night at the Dakota. Andrew “Diz” Gillespie subbed for Dave. Diz had just completed the Twin Cities Marathon the day before, and said he was sore, but ready to play. “As long as I don’t have to climb stairs,” he informed me. I pointed backstage, “You have to climb two of them to get up there.” Adopting an expression as though seriously assessing the situation, he said, “I better call in a sub.” </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The Eagles was the site of our celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of Preservation Hall with all of that music that came out of there. Erik’s first announcement of the night was, “Robert would like everyone to know that the banana is one of the world’s first Super Foods.” This caused me to look over my shoulder at the back line. And there it was, a half-peeled banana resting on Robert’s amp. The raffle included French Market Coffee and Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning, and actual record albums of Preservation Hall I had dug up at Hymie’s Records on Lake Street. </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPOaZJO_dL65TCv3L9hHALiVjpd8ZCn0WKoEQpAOFgr7Dp3CzWSDv_HJTQZodpB_s4JxYSv7kpXgvNdiqhU0Y7lCoukDTckM6ffEeUBhEduKCksKHtsIIGgTRcK4Twcb0Uqj1pL7-ntc8/s1600/DownloadedFile-3.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPOaZJO_dL65TCv3L9hHALiVjpd8ZCn0WKoEQpAOFgr7Dp3CzWSDv_HJTQZodpB_s4JxYSv7kpXgvNdiqhU0Y7lCoukDTckM6ffEeUBhEduKCksKHtsIIGgTRcK4Twcb0Uqj1pL7-ntc8/s1600/DownloadedFile-3.jpeg" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Special guests two months in a row! Charlie DeVore appeared at the Eagles with us in November so that we might purvey the wares of King Oliver. Possessive tunes like “Buddy’s Habits,” and “Mabel’s Dream.” Wheelhouse tunes like “Canal Street Blues” and “Dippermouth Blues.” We had an actual meat raffle that night. Chicago hot dogs with sweet and hot peppers, in order that the winner could, as Erik said, “make your own Maxwell Street dogs and invite me over!” We may or may not have procured a rye on the rocks from Royal at the bar, and raffled that off as well! The raffle for the hug from the sousaphone player included Erik’s ever more refined declaimers: “I promise to keep my eyes open,” he said. “Now if you’re uncomfortable with the hug, we can make arrangements. Or you can just not raise your hand if your number is called.” Charlie’s grandson Noah won. He tore up the ticket and threw it in the air like confetti, and raised his arms in the air in victory as he and Erik walk toward one another on the dance floor. A huge hug commenced, and Erik told the crowd, “I’d suggest getting a hug from Noah if you need it. He’s a good hugger.” </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">So the last time the Aces met in 2012 was December 13<sup>th</sup> when we released Santaphone, our first Christmas album. </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc2FUsdUWAjuEAkAhD3VEtgRMAQEOfulTS_xElgNIMkRoJohIrKlSn9E4Vy9V1wqgaiFOPQPZ_FbZzcp9SuteNm1Er1VTmCFIUYKMCYg5xHee0frgg_A3uNacJZFzDoqM486Dn1MDw-5I/s1600/Santaphoneparty+poster+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc2FUsdUWAjuEAkAhD3VEtgRMAQEOfulTS_xElgNIMkRoJohIrKlSn9E4Vy9V1wqgaiFOPQPZ_FbZzcp9SuteNm1Er1VTmCFIUYKMCYg5xHee0frgg_A3uNacJZFzDoqM486Dn1MDw-5I/s320/Santaphoneparty+poster+copy.jpg" width="207" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">If we see our way to a 20<sup>th</sup> Anniversary, we’ll probably release our second one by then. The Beaujolais Sisters, Nadine Dubois, Maud Hixson, Rick Rexroth, Charlie DeVore made for a ton of special guests. I had even hired Mike Mello to play sousaphone for the title tune. Bob, the raffle ticket dispenser for the Eagles, approached Henry’s table before the show and said, “Hang on to your tickets now, because you ladies can win a spanking from me.” This caused the expected discomfort from the women to whom he was speaking, and no end of amusement out of Henry. </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">When Dave launched the drum introduction to “Happy Feet Blues,” Erik’s toddler son shot out on the floor as if from a pitching machine that catapults two and a half year olds! He couldn’t help himself. He was dancing, throwing his arms up, laughing—Dave’s drumming was an electric wire to his heart. I saw him and I never felt so joyous playing that song. Charlie’s present to the assembled was a sixteen bar chicken cluck vocal during “Winter Wonderland,” and our present was a loaded raffle. A candy cane of Hershey’s Kisses, a set of actual candy canes, the Lifesavers Memory Storybook, Christmas Jello molds, eggnog, and four signed CD release posters with the Aces in their Union Suits. Christmas booty!</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div style="font-family: Times; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The album was called <i>Santaphone</i> after the tune Erik and I wrote about Christmas procrastination miracles. I know it isn’t Christmas, but you can feel how we felt putting it all together in the summertime if you give it a listen right now! Plus, Claudia made a cool video.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="font-family: Times; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="color: blue; font-family: Times; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lfbZX-vPKI" target="_blank">Listen! Watch!</a></span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="color: blue; font-family: Times; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
</div>
</div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
The Secret Weaponhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01458356297570792777noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8616325033629220892.post-45954892756199479362013-08-07T12:09:00.000-07:002013-08-14T09:57:15.205-07:00A Decade Of Aces: Part Seven '11<br />
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:UseMarginsForDrawingGridOrigin/>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 24pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 18.0pt;"><b>This is the Seventh in a series
of historical retrospectives on the Southside Aces, in celebration of their tenth anniversary.</b></span><span style="font-family: Times-Roman; font-size: 18.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 24pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 18.0pt;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf1UCDWCc6mXE08XMLDR57XtsEeaCoZj-X6avvGzswm53NHO7fSAYqpGusI-WqQCWlBAvNdkgzZ4aRrjG9c4K9aGsnqocQKtUFGG4ujlfrLqNaVgIkEedkqFgVHIRB19-78UtIpwEhuB4/s1600/562275_10151759176020693_2071884374_n+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf1UCDWCc6mXE08XMLDR57XtsEeaCoZj-X6avvGzswm53NHO7fSAYqpGusI-WqQCWlBAvNdkgzZ4aRrjG9c4K9aGsnqocQKtUFGG4ujlfrLqNaVgIkEedkqFgVHIRB19-78UtIpwEhuB4/s320/562275_10151759176020693_2071884374_n+copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24pt; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<br />
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The Southside Aces Big Four represented the band at the Eagles to start 2011. It was a meager winter crowd, but at least they didn’t outnumber the band. During the second set, we had to pause to let Erik disassemble his sousaphone to actually remove snow. I wonder if insurance covers ice dams in your sousaphone? We also played a 1923 A.J. Piron tune, “Bouncin’ Around,” which Erik introduced as, “the second oldest song ever composed.” </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The Best of Midwest Burlesk again happened at the end of January. I had arranged ACDC’s “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” for the band to open each show. The crowd seemed to love the hard rock put through the New Orleans filter. This year had more than seventy different performers over four shows in two nights. As one of Andy’s coworkers mentioned later, “I kept expecting them to run out of ways to take their clothes off, and they never did!” </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWfXkdCZd2ArwatQcdsUzr6nbva8l7yUYEwsHyKp3oOcbkHKQ1B2DkJlB-Zq-lOBHONlqzYxCyHg5LahFOPAlVcle3sN_jXuF83JbajYk8e26f5qVA19Bu-w2s-ZegTAV7eUi-sUaRNZo/s1600/Burlesk+poster-thumb-400x596.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWfXkdCZd2ArwatQcdsUzr6nbva8l7yUYEwsHyKp3oOcbkHKQ1B2DkJlB-Zq-lOBHONlqzYxCyHg5LahFOPAlVcle3sN_jXuF83JbajYk8e26f5qVA19Bu-w2s-ZegTAV7eUi-sUaRNZo/s320/Burlesk+poster-thumb-400x596.jpg" width="214" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">January 31<sup>st</sup> is my birthday, and I spent it at Famous Dave’s on the Aces job. The Butlers made me do a birthday dance, which meant I was given the opportunity to break Claudia’s, Shannon’s, Lisa’s, Heidi’s and, yes, Bill’s toes. The band was determined to never stop, so I ran away from the dance floor in terror of the liability I was facing causing injury to any others foolish enough to join the brawl. </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">We played in February at the Eagles, for the first time with six guys. Mark Kreitzer was on guitar again, and Darrin Sterud played his hot trombone. Erik showed up early so he could get the $7 steak dinner. Mark sang seven verses of “Mack The Knife” in the original German. Oppressive! We also spent </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">St. Patty’s Day at the Eagles. All six Aces assembled to play the dance, and to have band photos taken for our upcoming new album. We did one of those old-fashioned band pictures, like some Midwest territory band swinging through Minneapolis in 1934, pausing long enough for a photo to be taken and sent ahead to Rapid City for advance publicity.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbCatOL3f2L4pIt1-jMeMlxMg-FepUAjS0YuIl2_Ft522_LlVuSfNNglER8SBXEZgqcNVZ8Yq-k1JLEkmvyhXPIzXoJ-IU2AIqWgTUk15_BBkFjrLmOMF3R1kt-NWyVwMTdBpryhyphenhyphenYFBo/s1600/IMG_7311.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbCatOL3f2L4pIt1-jMeMlxMg-FepUAjS0YuIl2_Ft522_LlVuSfNNglER8SBXEZgqcNVZ8Yq-k1JLEkmvyhXPIzXoJ-IU2AIqWgTUk15_BBkFjrLmOMF3R1kt-NWyVwMTdBpryhyphenhyphenYFBo/s320/IMG_7311.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Erik came back from the bar after procuring whiskey, and told me about a 96-year-old WWII veteran named Ernie, survivor of Pearl Harbor among other things. Ernie was a harmonica player and had asked if he could sit in. The band got started, and for some reason during the set played “I Found A New Baby,” “Bill Bailey” (which Robert sang as “Bill O’Bailey” in honor of the holiday), and “I’ll See You In My Dreams” all in a row. An old guy, sitting upright in his uniform, shouted, “They’re all in F!” I think a good jazz band makes an effort to separate songs in the same key, but that was the first time in my experience someone actually noticed! Erik whispered, “Tony! That’s the guy who’s going to sit in!” After a few seconds of all of us looking at him, Erik said, “Doesn’t he look like the white Uncle Lionel?” </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Ernie Mattson played “Jambalaya On The Bayou” and “Saints” with us, combining that mournful prison tone with a rhythm like a square dance. Rick Rexroth sang “Danny Boy,” and the Beaujolais Sisters gave us “Everybody Loves My Baby,” ala the Boswells, with Randi singing for two! What a night!</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Everybody Loves Randi’s Baby!</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5iHnmuN8k2mKwq8ygVeWKwkzGIT8-J-ghihedhzeiAfdU40WPBNlQQg7YEHje4r9Z5RoTceVIIHyEfAxXQa85OVGeThu3PbCiTMg1_scodrNnOSpk8Yk6L7fCmhE3hG0yNBbnqFq01fI/s1600/IMG_7420.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5iHnmuN8k2mKwq8ygVeWKwkzGIT8-J-ghihedhzeiAfdU40WPBNlQQg7YEHje4r9Z5RoTceVIIHyEfAxXQa85OVGeThu3PbCiTMg1_scodrNnOSpk8Yk6L7fCmhE3hG0yNBbnqFq01fI/s320/IMG_7420.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">On April 1<sup>st</sup>, a quartet of Aces was asked to provide music at Temple Israel for a memorial. Since most New Orleans memorial and funeral music comes out of the Baptist hymnal, I had a conversation about not wanting to bring offence into Temple with that repertoire. It was solved when I learned that the deceased had loved Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald. The man’s son didn’t want to conduct the transaction on the day of the memorial, so we met the day before and he handed me, a perfect stranger, an envelope with cash payment. A very rare case of a 21<sup>st</sup> Century handshake deal. It felt good to work on trust. We ended up playing “Mahogany Hall Stomp” in place of “Saints” for the postlude. </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The Eagles was shaping up to be a special place for us by this point. It has a culture all of its own, and it always seems easy to settle in and be comfortable there. The barkeep’s name is Royal, so over the past few months I had grown fond of walking up to him and placing my order, “Royal. Crown Royal.” When I found out, however, that Jim Beam was $1.25 cheaper, I decided to forego my whiskey-ordering haiku from then on. Erik had his hyperbolic burners on in April, so he introduced Andy this way: “Andy Hakala. He’s a blues man! The Roughrider! He eats three steak specials before he plays a note!” Ernie Mattson sat in with us again. When I went to collect him the second time at his table to help him to the stage, he handed his wife his cane and said, “Hang on to this. I don’t need it. I’m all exercised up!”</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8xTikRxikLO_p5pgegPdqf9dGLjqVV9f6TQF_vebs2FiZlHAn1YFAm_t6mO4A8COYSpT8kJ7fD9dFanTwfaPDqAL2NvPpd2mQl2mP0kwSwyx-23BLjsDffn74wj_32-jvBswqwh9e7bY/s1600/IMG_7340.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8xTikRxikLO_p5pgegPdqf9dGLjqVV9f6TQF_vebs2FiZlHAn1YFAm_t6mO4A8COYSpT8kJ7fD9dFanTwfaPDqAL2NvPpd2mQl2mP0kwSwyx-23BLjsDffn74wj_32-jvBswqwh9e7bY/s320/IMG_7340.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Ernie!</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The following week, a Big Four outfit made it down to New Ulm’s Grand Café again. Joe, the now former mayor, who had led choruses of “Ein Prosit” during earlier visits, shook my hand at the break and said, “You guys create the flow out there! The harmonious juices of society!” If I had a dollar for every time someone said <i>that</i> to me!</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">On May 12<sup>th</sup>, four Aces were hired by the Minnesota Historical Society to play the first annual Retrorama. This event celebrates the vintage, targeting Mid-century. That year featured a Munsingwear exhibit which showed examples of undergarments from the 19<sup>th</sup> century all the way through the 1980s. A vintage boutique, vintage cocktail and cooking demonstrations, and the opportunity for patrons to decorate their own pair of boxers, including the optional Munsingwear penguin logo! This led to the line of the night, uttered by Robert. We were playing near the tables full of boxers. “Look at those people…drinking and making underwear!”</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihVwzYXNMHyAb2IJ_z-UPPYOpoG_gTXZoau5dn0v4Gw70Loru_JrivSVBjr_y9TvI2-9OvdCNhjr0JjW_Sc8O9GBHySQnHrRVwOqqTTr1XwhrZMofJrnxJCdEeECEIl_kS3TOCp-Lutgw/s1600/174856_178250185560119_7414782_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihVwzYXNMHyAb2IJ_z-UPPYOpoG_gTXZoau5dn0v4Gw70Loru_JrivSVBjr_y9TvI2-9OvdCNhjr0JjW_Sc8O9GBHySQnHrRVwOqqTTr1XwhrZMofJrnxJCdEeECEIl_kS3TOCp-Lutgw/s1600/174856_178250185560119_7414782_n.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Zack subbed for Andy at Famous Dave’s that month, Steve Pikal for Erik. After wandering a bit on the bridge to “Coquette,” Zack apologized to me, “Sorry about that bridge. I was pretty close to the melody, wasn’t I?” I adopted a sage expression and replied, “That’s actually our job. To get pretty close to the melody.” As was mentioned previously, I’ve been accused of possessing the vocal stylings of Vincent Price. Our chart of “My Very Good Friend, The Milkman” is keyed low enough that if I had any good sense I wouldn’t sing it. I like the words, though, so I did. When I was finished I looked back at the stunned expressions of my bandmates and called out, “One of you save me!” Steve Pikal’s smile never wavered when he called back, “One?!”</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The last day of May had Robert and I in KBEM’s studios with Mary Ann Sullivan on her show, Corner Jazz. We were building up steam for the next week’s release of our third album, an eighteen-month journey from conception to finish. We had experienced delays in the shipment of the CD. I was in Andy’s backyard drinking margaritas on June 8<sup>th</sup>, the day before the CD release, wondering why I hadn’t heard from Erik yet about a FedX delivery. I said, “I’ll bet in the next conversation I have with him he says something like, ‘Well, Tonya’s sister’s friend’s uncle owns a fleet of ice cream trucks, and he was at a Blue Bunny convention in Milwaukee, and so I got him to swing down and pick up the CDs. He should be in town tomorrow about 7:30.” But there was no more drama after all. They made it!</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEtkyHAj7Jl0DndDwyIVM8Ntgmm79pGanxAnSccSEkQz4TnA-1pBh5Qv0HHPT7oZ4ZdOnNlhbvl7k8GG-eltpu1qm5qRoqzAOiOB8MSuQMy9jzWyGqs2ida83JnWuS8Uk0IUq69y9nWgY/s1600/Poster+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEtkyHAj7Jl0DndDwyIVM8Ntgmm79pGanxAnSccSEkQz4TnA-1pBh5Qv0HHPT7oZ4ZdOnNlhbvl7k8GG-eltpu1qm5qRoqzAOiOB8MSuQMy9jzWyGqs2ida83JnWuS8Uk0IUq69y9nWgY/s320/Poster+copy.jpg" width="207" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">A Big Fine Thing was released to the world at the Eagles. We had a great crowd of dancers and listeners. From the title tune to some of my favorites like “Perdido Street Blues” and “Back To Black,” we were loose and having a blast all night. We packed up and as Andy left he said, “I’m going to go home and check our online sales. I bet I find out we’ve gone viral and we’re going to be on the next episode of Veronica Mars!” Back at my house I fed Erik snacks and a cheese sandwich. This was like one of those moments when you have to let go of the dog treat quickly or get your fingers snapped up. Erik vowed, “The next time at the Eagles I’m going to order two steak dinner specials, one for before the show, and one for after!”</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">What you see there is about a ninety-year age range of fans!</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV58sWgd460zIelCK6OsV8H-LCb9NZo1aTUwQiGmAwDkVHOt_2uoOVpwfXFPzw9EBm6GbeNUL0dd8ug-KTAKVZh5WcAHbuSl-HIhsd5xqHfwEdr2fUDz7b-jcfaHAusKsLSi76GuFjS1s/s1600/IMG_8123.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV58sWgd460zIelCK6OsV8H-LCb9NZo1aTUwQiGmAwDkVHOt_2uoOVpwfXFPzw9EBm6GbeNUL0dd8ug-KTAKVZh5WcAHbuSl-HIhsd5xqHfwEdr2fUDz7b-jcfaHAusKsLSi76GuFjS1s/s320/IMG_8123.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Erik working up another appetite.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitAbLE7QXO4IM02flxCsa6FFtd-vQqiuTHOyMcJiQ63jDSPUtmxgI26oCkh00Y3TgMTIZVZ7r2jf6Kc51Gl-mX7FKB4F_tvB2DvtsiUxGmMErzuDhLQbOjmghG-v1Xai-_Pu_LuprgYWg/s1600/IMG_8155.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitAbLE7QXO4IM02flxCsa6FFtd-vQqiuTHOyMcJiQ63jDSPUtmxgI26oCkh00Y3TgMTIZVZ7r2jf6Kc51Gl-mX7FKB4F_tvB2DvtsiUxGmMErzuDhLQbOjmghG-v1Xai-_Pu_LuprgYWg/s320/IMG_8155.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">On June 13<sup>th</sup>, we helped a family memorialize their dad in the morning, helped Steve’s daughter, Rose, celebrate her 21<sup>st</sup> birthday at Famous Dave’s that night (even playing “The Rose Of The Rio Grande”), and, Dave and I anyway, ended up at the tavern called Cuzzy’s over on 5<sup>th</sup> and Washington much later. I was wearing my “Bix Lives!” tee shirt, a memento of the Bix Beiderbecke Jazz Festival in Davenport, Iowa. Danny, the young barkeep, said, “Cool shirt. I love Bix’s music.” This dropped Dave and I on the floor in shock. The chances of someone in his thirties working a downtown bar in the 21<sup>st</sup> Century who knows Bix is probably in the .000something percentile. He explained, “My mom grew up in the Quad City area and I grew up listening to that stuff.” I told him the story of Bix and his “pivot tooth,” which I got out of Eddie Condon’s book. Bix and those guys were traveling one winter, and Bix’s false tooth flew out of the car. They apparently spent an hour looking for it in the snow, before someone miraculously found it. This led to the creation of a shot called the “Pivot Tooth.” Rail gin—Bix drank too much of the bathtub variety—with a garnish of a white Good-N-Plenty. It was awful, but we felt we appropriately honored that Davenportian. </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Cuzzy’s—Open ‘til closed</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS8q4qGrGvXMrHhyphenhyphen05m4H-WSSZ1hNwZC-G6pzpYfGfQc-MbxA5xG5swBn44sDDJjVawwPbaxmEj7hcMizCl4-rcQy9jA1ybBKAW0O8-tdQPIOXXbXyEqw0qo-FxbwlCsP8e6ILK_M8jZE/s1600/logo_dntn.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS8q4qGrGvXMrHhyphenhyphen05m4H-WSSZ1hNwZC-G6pzpYfGfQc-MbxA5xG5swBn44sDDJjVawwPbaxmEj7hcMizCl4-rcQy9jA1ybBKAW0O8-tdQPIOXXbXyEqw0qo-FxbwlCsP8e6ILK_M8jZE/s1600/logo_dntn.png" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">I was hired to put together a brass band for Westminster Church’s Town Hall Forum. A few Aces and a lot of brass band guys were otherwise occupied that day, so we had to do a big time shuffle. Steve moved to sousaphone, Erik strapped on a bass drum, Chuck DeVore played snare, Wittacee trombone, and I still had Robert come in with a banjo. We were a brass band without a trumpet and sporting a banjo. When we all assembled in the green room, I asked out loud, “Is this what people mean when they say, ‘perpetrating a hoax’?” Erik gave me a quick, affirmative nod. But Wittacee could fill the sanctuary of Westminster by himself, and we only had to play six songs, so we ended up doing great. Although it took us three choruses to find each other on our parading exit song, “Mardi Gras In New Orleans.” Back in the green room, I remarked how good it felt to finally gel on “Mardi Gras.” Erik said, “Like getting a rock out of your shoe.” Robert riffed, “The Rock In Your Shoe Brass Band!” Erik exclaimed, “We should hire out all the time!” I commented, “As long as the job’s only thirty minutes.” Erik—“The Thirty Minute Brass Band!”</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-OYRb4iQgwUhqHmTdob3gE-SgK-kliD4JZI8JneJw0g5ti8YlF9owdmwPkmR3U5KDaFZrwG9OUoxOcYRBKTHfNA02SioKIOYrLYfkHedzlr0HnSjVzTXxFW1ruZ2FtVcrfqJR8zYgDQE/s1600/5890278518_fb95b74382_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-OYRb4iQgwUhqHmTdob3gE-SgK-kliD4JZI8JneJw0g5ti8YlF9owdmwPkmR3U5KDaFZrwG9OUoxOcYRBKTHfNA02SioKIOYrLYfkHedzlr0HnSjVzTXxFW1ruZ2FtVcrfqJR8zYgDQE/s320/5890278518_fb95b74382_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Do those looks say, "We got away with it!" or what?</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">During rehearsal in July, we pulled out our calendars to talk about upcoming shows. Erik had a worried look on his face as he looked over Steve’s shoulder. “Steve! That’s a 1983 calendar!” Sure enough, it was. Steve shrugged, “I lost this year’s calendar, so when I looked around the house, I found this one. It turns out the dates matched.” You’ll have to ask Steve why he still had a 1983 calendar sitting around the house.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">We played on the grassy knoll at Abbott under beautiful skies both for lunchtime and for dinnertime. We started the afternoon slot for some reason in a perversion where we decided to play only songs in Ab. “Bourbon Street Parade,” “Tiger Rag,” “Postman’s Lament,” and “San” happened before Erik finally gave in. “We gotta get off the Ab! That much Ab in a row, I feel like I’ve been eating butter brickle for an hour!” During the evening show, Andrew “Diz” Gillespie subbed for Dave. He showed up with what used to be a white dress shirt in his hand. “This is Erik’s.” It was stained yellow by sweat and beer. When Erik arrived, he and Diz discussed the shirt’s history. “This was from Seattle?” Erik asked. “That was years ago. I thought I lost this shirt.” The shirt had traveled from Minneapolis to Seattle for a Mama Digdown’s show, then on to New York where Diz currently lives. It hung around there until it was perfectly ripened. Erik began using words like “vinegar” and “bleach” and “sun,” boasting, “I bet I can bring it back!” I said doubtfully, “To what, ecru?” He unrolled the shirt he wore that day to show a six-inch tear in the sleeve. “Maybe I can swap out the sleeves.” Robert chimed in, “Then you can sell the rest of the shirt on craigslist for parts.”</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">I hired Chuck DeVore to play snare for the Autumn Brew Review. There would be two sessions this year, so we would be on the brewery grounds from noon to seven. I told Chuck to get there early because of the paucity of parking. I said, “We should at least start the day as professionals,” predicting that, what with a jazz band being around that much beer for seven hours, something might happen to diminish that image. Chuck was confident, “We’ll still be professionals! We’ll just be drunk!” Andy and I visited a brewer who brought root beer, cream soda, and raspberry ginger ale. Andy said, “This is great, but bringing root beer to a beer festival is like bringing a knife to a gunfight.”</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp5j7QQb0VWnHC3vm1Xc5cVgeLwbws1o8fxTnS7CVU2YqT8Ux1lIJD8GVXHthzQ8ATXRJkOgGckpd2YjB7eeOjNlYxLowNIx4GKisdFcyfSLg3SOOXnrbLAy4K6CbE02jVw86tjVqAWVA/s1600/images.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp5j7QQb0VWnHC3vm1Xc5cVgeLwbws1o8fxTnS7CVU2YqT8Ux1lIJD8GVXHthzQ8ATXRJkOgGckpd2YjB7eeOjNlYxLowNIx4GKisdFcyfSLg3SOOXnrbLAy4K6CbE02jVw86tjVqAWVA/s1600/images.jpeg" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Jazz band and beer connoisseurs </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">We were hired for the first annual Oysterfest, put on by Meritage restaurant in St. Paul. Chef Russell Klein and his wife, Desta Maree, have themselves quite the joint, and we loved them for our inclusion in this fantastic party! They blocked off St. Peter Street and flew in oysters from all over. There was even a special Oyster Stout from Lift Bridge Brewery. Did you hear me? Oysters, beer and jazz! Chef friends from other restaurants were part of an oyster-shucking contest. It was unseasonably warm for October 9<sup>th</sup>, so people were in shorts and sundresses, looking summer beautiful. Robert ran late, biking up wearing one of those fit biking outfits. He had his whole suit stuffed in his banjo case. Erik managed to stuff three-dozen oysters into his craw throughout the day. Never let that man near your mollusks! But we were a great fit, especially when we second-lined through the street and into the restaurant. </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA6jydYO4Gy5huCQjLM6QSyLQrftOAvGoVOXRYdXrnnkKMO2LuaIshSac_2glIy4kkxbbJcWCpZlhGu2bhERw9dVjJ9-iTKxtsyVHFzNrlkFzXkpGlKi2erHXkJACqDiTqSXuRrujvESo/s1600/images-1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA6jydYO4Gy5huCQjLM6QSyLQrftOAvGoVOXRYdXrnnkKMO2LuaIshSac_2glIy4kkxbbJcWCpZlhGu2bhERw9dVjJ9-iTKxtsyVHFzNrlkFzXkpGlKi2erHXkJACqDiTqSXuRrujvESo/s1600/images-1.jpeg" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">On October 13<sup>th</sup>, we went into the Eagles Aerie #34 with a mission. It was the first time that we were to feature a specific artist or composer from jazz history. This was the night we featured the music of George Lewis. This also started our tradition of conducting a raffle for our fans to win fantastic prizes. Sometimes “fantastic” might be a bit of a strong word to describe our prizes, but you still get to feel like a winner! Our second raffle winner of the night complained, however. “We thought we were going to win one of you guys!” Steve told her, “I’ll meet you in the parking lot later.” </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">In November, we featured Jelly Roll Morton. Our “Winin’ Boy Blues” kept clear of the Library of Congress filthiness that Jelly recorded. How often do you get to read the phrase “Library of Congress filthiness?” I scandalized Dre, Heidi and Mrs. Butler with a private reading of those lyrics later. One of my favorite tunes of the night was “New Orleans Bump,” a sinister, minor key song with a manly swagger. </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4jjH9IxDJ4" target="_blank">“New Orleans Bump”</a> Wynton Marsalis-style </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Butch Thompson was also on hand that evening to capture the band for his four-part radio series <a href="http://www.prx.org/series/32240-classic-jazz-mn" target="_blank">“Classic Jazz MN,”</a> and later in the night turned in a great, quiet solo on the very same “Winin’ Boy Blues” I said was so dirty. If you don’t sing the thing, it’s a gorgeous bit of music!</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">November saw us in an unbelievable 1902 Stillwater lumber baron’s ballroom for a wedding, and down in Richfield at the American Legion for the Third Annual All Airborne Ball. We had Zack in the lineup, and were graced by Rick Carlson on piano. Charlie DeVore sat in. In his customary singing exuberance, he accidentally kicked a mic stand off the stage, which took out a whole row of decorative paratroopers. He’s so punk rock! He apologized to Bill Butler during break. Bill said, “That’s all right Charlie. I’m just glad you didn’t go over with the mic, or next year we’d have to call it the Charlie DeVore Memorial All Airborne Ball.” </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Our December Eagles featured Christmas music; including the first time we performed Donny Hathaway’s “This Christmas.” It was a fun night. One of our raffle prizes was a carton of eggnog. Despite it being advertised as a Christmas show, a ballroom dancer appeared in the middle of the feature set and yelled, “No more Christmas songs!” Erik, with full approval of the Southside Aces board, of which I am a trustee, replied on mic, “This is our Christmas feature. We get one set a year, and we’re going to play it. If you don’t like it, you can go sit down until we’re done!” It was one of my favorite Erik speeches ever. We love to please our fans, but sometimes you have to hold your ground. Plus, isn't your sweet caramel chocolate that much better with a little salt?</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
The Secret Weaponhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01458356297570792777noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8616325033629220892.post-86045369458790880462013-08-04T19:10:00.000-07:002013-08-14T09:57:28.098-07:00A Decade Of Aces: Part Six '10<br />
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
</div>
<div style="font-size: medium; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; line-height: 24pt; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 18pt;"><b>This is the Sixth in a series of historical retrospectives on the Southside Aces, in celebration of their tenth anniversary.</b></span><span style="font-family: Times-Roman; font-size: 18pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; line-height: 24pt; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 18pt;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi1cZjekd_mrgbsN6vOeDx_Tw3bKZcfBIMItOdjugyDPvhx1JmRNXe_yyCZnew24gSnRL2dMeg8cItS9oYIIVeSEtnYeb_rB4A4ZxOgxJMg-jf9ptqllbomoozR_gOfMqhPgPcL6BYD-Y/s1600/562275_10151759176020693_2071884374_n+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi1cZjekd_mrgbsN6vOeDx_Tw3bKZcfBIMItOdjugyDPvhx1JmRNXe_yyCZnew24gSnRL2dMeg8cItS9oYIIVeSEtnYeb_rB4A4ZxOgxJMg-jf9ptqllbomoozR_gOfMqhPgPcL6BYD-Y/s320/562275_10151759176020693_2071884374_n+copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
<br />
<div style="font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Georgia; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
</div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Georgia; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Whether you believe in psychic abilities or not, jazz is full of phenomena of that sort. Certainly there are high moments of unspoken communication. For example, on the 4<span style="font: normal normal normal 11px/normal Georgia;"><sup>th</sup></span> of January, 2010, we were in our chairs at Famous Dave’s. During a delay in picking out the next tune, “Diga Diga Doo” popped into my head. Before I could say anything, Erik announced, “Now we’re going to play this old tune, ‘Diga Diga Doo.’” You have to understand, we have over 300 songs in our book, and so it is kind of amazing. I turned in my chair to say, “Whoa!” in that you’re-blowing-my-mind sort of way. Later that night, Erik said, “We need an old drinking song.” For some reason, “Some Of These Days” popped in my head. That song certainly fulfills the old requirement, being composed in 1910, but is not a drinking song. Robert calls out, “How about ‘Some Of These Days’?” I pointed to my head then to his head and said, “Psychic!” Robert shot back, “It must all be coming from you. You think it, Stretch and Stump [referring to Erik and himself respectively] say it.”</span></div>
<br /></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">For the Nomad a few days later, I called Chuck DeVore to help out in Dave’s absence. When I told him the job was only for beer, food and about $1.70 in tips, he said, “Playing jazz for beer and food is a hell of lot better than helping a friend move for beer and food.”</span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicjswuroPncPMYQ45M6Vw81ToNrl9LjDEjcT72dodErnniBv5F8rKY552Aki7H5xmDxzKp2uvtUskfvuOJVm_amtyMTfRljHr7J3f6L9Ksuf-C9Z2gYRKeQTbcc3PxHEj3jVUoECSYodk/s1600/IMG_0620.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicjswuroPncPMYQ45M6Vw81ToNrl9LjDEjcT72dodErnniBv5F8rKY552Aki7H5xmDxzKp2uvtUskfvuOJVm_amtyMTfRljHr7J3f6L9Ksuf-C9Z2gYRKeQTbcc3PxHEj3jVUoECSYodk/s320/IMG_0620.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Chuck’s head floating above the bell of Steve’s trombone.</span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">That year, the Best Of Midwest Burlesk fell on the same weekend as my birthday. What could be better than that? I’ll tell you. I traveled with Erik down to New Orleans to experience my first Krewe du Vieux parade. So the Aces hired Witacee for Erik’s chair, and Gus Sandberg for mine. One of the best things to happen out of that weekend was Gus earning the nickname “Tomato,” or, alternately, “Tomato Can.” This on account of the violent blushing he would experience whenever a dancer came within three yards of him. The dancers, of course, picked up on this early on and began using poor Gus’ crimson attacks in their acts. Wait a minute? Poor Gus? Genius Gus!</span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">I know it seems contradictory to say this, but I was back from New Orleans in time for one of my favorite Mardi Gras ever. A great night! The Aces put together a show at the Nomad with seven bands. Count ‘em! We provided jambalaya and a King Cake, and bartender and native New Orleanian Rashad put together $3 Hurricanes from his own hometown recipe. A pick-up band began and ended the night. Up first was Erik, me, Gus Sandberg on tenor, Wittacee, trombone, and Mark Kreitzer, guitar. On the spur of the moment, Erik called us the “Ragtag Tuesday Jazz Band.” </span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Wittacee, Tomato Can, Kid Jelly, The Secret Weapon and Big Delicious!</span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY-MRF4pO2b9d76Ymni9chjo-BN3UjhBJfzcypXs925w_AkhyphenhyphenOF5IDeBC2czvPfDLLDWeq2QODFzEom8QlD-vqEHWVyqEUOoQP0yXImYpfjn03cBEiH1rjuFfD5FPoL-1f6LkutMqMZsw/s1600/IMG_1+copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY-MRF4pO2b9d76Ymni9chjo-BN3UjhBJfzcypXs925w_AkhyphenhyphenOF5IDeBC2czvPfDLLDWeq2QODFzEom8QlD-vqEHWVyqEUOoQP0yXImYpfjn03cBEiH1rjuFfD5FPoL-1f6LkutMqMZsw/s320/IMG_1+copy.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Next was <a href="http://pattyandthebuttons.com/" target="_blank">Patty and the Buttons</a>. Wittacee moved over to the sousaphone while Mark and I stayed in our respective chairs. Patrick Harrison showed up in black makeup which melted under the lights. </span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirA6KK1jVPazT_ovYVHumJSBrPC5ZU3GSpp4Cy1mb2G5nX2HMXenEJtxbLAoV0NZ4jBWSsZPcNYYofApD-6_Z2UFRb9GWnco6Q2FyMpESffKI3f66B7jRkQdY5EPFbG7qTT5pWaVvAjDQ/s1600/IMG_2+copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirA6KK1jVPazT_ovYVHumJSBrPC5ZU3GSpp4Cy1mb2G5nX2HMXenEJtxbLAoV0NZ4jBWSsZPcNYYofApD-6_Z2UFRb9GWnco6Q2FyMpESffKI3f66B7jRkQdY5EPFbG7qTT5pWaVvAjDQ/s320/IMG_2+copy.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The Accordion Bandit!</span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Those marvelous purveyors of world brass band music, the Brass Messengers, gave us two sets that day.</span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Why is that clarinetist in every single band?!</span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiReY88MH66Yi2We5w49hSzIYsptu7EZ4aVnIXnBOW8794w2I9DdODHN97k6q09yzbEhqyC2E1rmh73cI-Z9lBvFa3v3iG1ww8Wa55ADGYY-DyUIA2CZUHEQi5ANG5uSGNvhVxcPZBFEOk/s1600/IMG_3+copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiReY88MH66Yi2We5w49hSzIYsptu7EZ4aVnIXnBOW8794w2I9DdODHN97k6q09yzbEhqyC2E1rmh73cI-Z9lBvFa3v3iG1ww8Wa55ADGYY-DyUIA2CZUHEQi5ANG5uSGNvhVxcPZBFEOk/s320/IMG_3+copy.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The Roe Family Singers, a great band playing old-timey music, slid in between. If you want to hear a little of what that means, check out this video of them at their regular spot, the 331 Club. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7VlkubvGrE" target="_blank">"Crow Black Chicken"</a></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqAdp493XJEqApokTGlEMqvLicBk1SjXDzX_x5_RmleOAOVRk_1ncG4jnazyBgzxY3T94qLJPdp7yalbBugwZghcON8aaMhHbl3I9Wdd3osuTQPMvhbBxuWoycquFB7aF8MGsZB4CSjco/s1600/IMG_4+copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqAdp493XJEqApokTGlEMqvLicBk1SjXDzX_x5_RmleOAOVRk_1ncG4jnazyBgzxY3T94qLJPdp7yalbBugwZghcON8aaMhHbl3I9Wdd3osuTQPMvhbBxuWoycquFB7aF8MGsZB4CSjco/s320/IMG_4+copy.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Kim Roe singing and washboarding</span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">At some point, Erik realized there were five sousaphones in the joint, so he pulled them all together to form a conglomeration he liked to call The Sousaphonic Five. They ripped up “Mardi Gras In New Orleans” and “Saints.” I still can’t believe it. I know you're not. </span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgusCXnclXVkXWC-sj1O7onrrTLMcsrzp8v-bzSkngAlvW9qlzAyPfk4pdWnu11EjdJr9lLbJfU6USoCgxXU346rGVoflDr60u8etgKsY_WyKftRrgw4BuX9aYzs6-O8EOyGfJK2wtvugM/s1600/IMG_5+copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgusCXnclXVkXWC-sj1O7onrrTLMcsrzp8v-bzSkngAlvW9qlzAyPfk4pdWnu11EjdJr9lLbJfU6USoCgxXU346rGVoflDr60u8etgKsY_WyKftRrgw4BuX9aYzs6-O8EOyGfJK2wtvugM/s320/IMG_5+copy.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Brass Bass Spectacular! A Sonority of Sousaphones!</span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.brassmessengers.com/" target="_blank">The Brass Messengers</a> resumed their high-energy zaniness, followed by we Aces men. The last band of the night Erik called The All City Brass Band, another pick-up outfit. All told that night, 26(!) musicians helped see people into Ash Wednesday. There was an English man named Paul who got the winning King Cake piece. It turned out he earned it. Various accounts from his friends described between four and six pieces of cake being wolfed down by Paul until he almost choked on the king. That’s how you do it!</span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">March saw us head south to New Ulm to grace the tiny stage of the Grand Café. Steve had forgotten he booked himself a California Hot Springs spa weekend, so at the last minute another trombonist named Steve filled in. Steve Rogness ended up driving all the way from Duluth to make it. Yeoman’s work. That night, the mayor of New Ulm led a table full of people singing “Ein Prosit” to the band. Gemutlicheit! He also requested “Saints.” I suggested it was more of a command performance than a request. We also played the WWII tune called “Don’t Give Up The Ship” for a veteran who told Dave he got to see Buddy Rich when he was in the service. On the way home, we spent some time coming up with new nicknames for a few bandmembers. Here’s what came out of that brainstorming session: Robert “Butters” Bell on account of his creamy vocals, Dave “Gripes” Michael, on account of how he gripes, and a progression of mustache-wearing Sconnie names for Andy—“Furtrapper” became “The Furrier” became our favorite, “Pelts” Hakala. And let’s not forget “Hot Springs” Sandberg.</span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbm1wSS3YheFwnsiNPxa5Y-hSImX-YcUBXdg5OM8giZ8ab4CGS-zfFsMhzJCGa-NFlzaL7znCTlOSCgWhQF9tSDB4vTibDBgvFPXJVDN46WBGg438e6qojXOWDr2WY4DsWf8Pt4qipvZo/s1600/893_9371+copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbm1wSS3YheFwnsiNPxa5Y-hSImX-YcUBXdg5OM8giZ8ab4CGS-zfFsMhzJCGa-NFlzaL7znCTlOSCgWhQF9tSDB4vTibDBgvFPXJVDN46WBGg438e6qojXOWDr2WY4DsWf8Pt4qipvZo/s320/893_9371+copy.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">“Hot Springs” says “Come on in; it feels great!” </span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The next weekend was a big one in our history. On Friday night, the band climbed in three vehicles with recording engineer Dave, instruments, recording equipment and too many groceries. We drove up to the Hakala family cabin on Potato Lake in Wisconsin. We got there through a thick fog. It was so foggy we decided to repair to the Backwoods Grill for dinner. Pizza was the main course, but Erik and I became fascinated by all the pickling going on around there. A plateful of turkey gizzards, sausages and eggs ensued. A bunch of briny pickled scariness that was. I'm pretty sure my digestive system still hasn't forgiven me. I played “Beer Barrel Polka” on the jukebox, and overheard a women at the bar say, “I hate this song. You can’t make love to it.” Back at the Hakala Shack, we continued cultivating band chemistry through the agent of brown liquor. We learned something important that night. If Erik makes his way through a bourbon or three, don’t let him make his own peanut butter and jelly sandwiches! We awoke the next morning with jelly all over the cabin. How’d he get it all over the place?! When we peered into the refrigerator, there was an actual stalactite of peanut butter jutting from the Smuckers. Dave decided a moniker was born. For a day or two he called Erik “Jelly Jar” Jacobson. You can’t hang around a jazz band for more than twelve hours without getting a nickname.</span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">We had our troubles for the first half of the day. We just couldn’t shake recording anxiety or something. I was taking it a little too hard, maybe. But then Erik reminded me how we were at least getting to be jazzmen hanging out in a cabin eating good food and drink. I relaxed some. The whole band seemed to fare better in the night session. We didn’t get enough good takes to make the whole album that weekend, but there were some good times. When it was time to leave, we still had too many groceries, so Erik created draft lots of the goods. He would say things like, “You can choose beer, but you can’t have all the beer.” Or, “You can take all the French bread, OR two loaves and a pack of cheese.” We laughed at his focus. He simply said, “I’m the Parcel Master!”</span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">"Jelly Jar" listening for the ocean</span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi123l_RhkKK3yGZ_x2KpIkpWdyY1jx7_kXTRLtvHKU4ghXVdjo1H0FeFVFdkWYf7QpaBL0N9sAI4CWX3762ETCLlLDhwE_BEqhnMqJ6KeqsKGBzQn-OVeLUusPjIXh1nwTO6OPrUHbFh4/s1600/895_9511+copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi123l_RhkKK3yGZ_x2KpIkpWdyY1jx7_kXTRLtvHKU4ghXVdjo1H0FeFVFdkWYf7QpaBL0N9sAI4CWX3762ETCLlLDhwE_BEqhnMqJ6KeqsKGBzQn-OVeLUusPjIXh1nwTO6OPrUHbFh4/s320/895_9511+copy.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Bob of the PBR Brothers at the Nomad passes away, and we were on hand for his memorial at the end of March. Bob’s barstool was painted gold, as was a can of PBR and a coaster. At the April Famous Dave’s, Zack subbed for Andy. There is a habit bandleaders have developed of introducing Zack by pronouncing Lozier, his last name, as “Looshwah.” I want to say it’s an Erik thing; at least that's from whom I heard it first. That night at Famous Dave’s Erik kept saying, “And Zack Looshwah from French Minneapolis!” </span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Erik had just become a new papa, and Andy put himself on a sort of paternity leave from the band to become a new papa himself. We had Henry Blackburn in Andy’s chair for the May Famous Dave’s, and Kid Ben Bell Bern came up from Chicago to join us for The Big Teasy. This was another huge Lili’s Burlesque Revue joint up at the Ritz. As in the December previous, the band would play ALL the music. This required a lot of back and forth between me and the dancers about how they wanted things done. I had professional conversations where I was given instructions like this:</span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Dancer, said sincerely without salaciousness—“So there are three points in my act where I take things off—my gloves, my dress, and my bra—could you guys make sure during those times to make the song more…um…dirty?” My favorite memory was our performance of “Mardi Gras In New Orleans” with Sweetpea and her hula hoops. </span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Henry saved us again at Famous Dave’s in June, and that was also the month we decided to play our last show at the Nomad. While it might have been very noble of us to host this jam session for three years, a sense of nobility wears thin when a couple beers is your only payment. I consider it, however, a great part of our history. </span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">June brought us into the St. Paul heavy metal bastion, Station 4, for part of the Hot Summer Jazz Fest. They were recruited for the jazz festival on account of their propinquity to Mears Park. The soundman was used to high volume extremes, but did a great job learning on the fly to capture our acoustic outfit. From Station 4’s mosh pit to the Oak Ridge Country Club for a 90<sup>th</sup> birthday party. During the first hour, we were like a split squad in spring training. They had the brass guys out in the parking lot greeting guests, while Dave, Robert and I played cocktail music inside. We were all together for the dance. This time, we got the Butlers hired for the job, demonstrating some dance moves to about eleven women and one reluctant man. Our rendering of “Smoke Rings” was the hit of the night.</span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">July found Andy back in his chair at Famous Dave’s and Erik introducing him all night as “Coo Coo Chocula.” It occurs to me as I’m writing that, that if we had a Southside Aces Most Nicknames contest, Andy would probably win. I haven’t even told you how his mustache caused me to call him “General Beauregard” for a few weeks.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqWkEOolUKlFluWw4SekCZRSCaCcAts0lUCXaQIkfVxjxpvtTscdIne5_T6eU1a7u4AvQEVpAmj9_lNdIa0mwSNgkb3euAkkQNdu2aox6_1GHVyZZAakTGQxY68Tg-6uw1luiBMG-f-mw/s1600/DownloadedFile+20-17-27.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqWkEOolUKlFluWw4SekCZRSCaCcAts0lUCXaQIkfVxjxpvtTscdIne5_T6eU1a7u4AvQEVpAmj9_lNdIa0mwSNgkb3euAkkQNdu2aox6_1GHVyZZAakTGQxY68Tg-6uw1luiBMG-f-mw/s1600/DownloadedFile+20-17-27.jpeg" /></a></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">We were in New Ulm again that month and for the first time we appeared at the Fraternal Order of Eagles, Aerie #34, over in Seward neighborhood. We began our association with them as a Big Four unit, just rhythm section and me. </span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">It was so dang hot on August 8<sup>th</sup>! The Bloomington Jazz Fest out at the Normandale Lake Bandshell went on as scheduled despite triple digits on the thermometer. My favorite moment was when Erik told the crowd this: “So last night I’m going to my twentieth high school reunion, and I told my wife I wanted to make up a tall tale about what I do for a living. I asked her, ‘Should I say I’m a spy? I’m in the Secret Service?’ She said, ‘Why don’t you tell them you play sousaphone in a traditional jazz band?’”</span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">August was busy. We played in Chaska in the town square, and in Outing on a barge on a lake. On Labor Day weekend, Sam and his bride Becky had five of us play the dance. “Smoke Rings” again provided a warm fuzzy of a memory. Sam is a humorist, so he may appreciate some of the other goings on. While waiting to go into the ballroom, Mark Kreitzer and I are sitting with Wittacee, who has his sousaphone resting on the floor. A mom and her daughter, probably about seven, came through the room. The mom created a pop quiz in the moment by pointing at the sousaphone and asking her, “Honey, how does he play that?” Mark jumped in before the daughter formulated an anwser. “Poorly,” he said.</span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">I think the people were enjoying the dance with us, even though I had to turn down several requests for not being in our book. “Poinciana” and “Charlie Brown!” was as close as anyone got to a jazz song. We also were asked to play some Neil Diamond. Wittacee gave them about six sousaphone bars of “America,” as well as the first six notes of the theme to Sesame Street when that was requested. Steve Rogness, playing trombone that night, asked Dave, “Does Tony know what he’s getting into telling people they can make requests?” Dave replied, “Yeah. I think he likes saying no to people.” I love trying to field requests, of course, but sometimes you strike out a lot. Another wedding guest asked for “Sweet Home Alabama.” Dave was the only one to hear her. He had his smartass turned all the way up, so he said to me, “We just got a request for ‘Stars Fell On Alabama.’” He fooled me into a false happiness that we could finally honor one. The Skynyrd was not done justice that night. </span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Cowtown Jamborama 2010! </span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF_s5avKx8AFUja6a7SoWMa0o8ovK_gcaQF2lFznnf041ATOFn6HqhWO29PL_wHIbof4YURXw1uf_B5z2keHjTGfRpCE651lhKJ0OnMjaMSDn4M49oAJNCLypL6PMh3SBMvd_a3njTZLE/s1600/Jamborama2010Small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF_s5avKx8AFUja6a7SoWMa0o8ovK_gcaQF2lFznnf041ATOFn6HqhWO29PL_wHIbof4YURXw1uf_B5z2keHjTGfRpCE651lhKJ0OnMjaMSDn4M49oAJNCLypL6PMh3SBMvd_a3njTZLE/s320/Jamborama2010Small.jpg" width="247" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">That year featured an all-sub rhythm section. Matt Peterson, bass; Dean Harrington, guitar; and Nik Bortolussi, drums. Nik turned 21 that night, so I had prepared myself for the coming-of-age chaos. Down at the Eagles #38, $5 rum and cokes the size of movie theater sodas found their way into his hands. By the time we started the late night sets at Studio 906, he sort of sort of looked like a picture hanging on a post-earthquake wall. His father is a jazz drummer, however, so nature and nurture combined to keep him relatively upright. What a way to turn 21!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYsrvrHJR7SOfZZ5AfjnA1ZqKbOuO0rUCcxy8AjSlNqvoQ2xgCxN2BZSlpjHg_AW_LaKfTcJcQccecLVyPtTCsVysmL1HtbwiLKWhRbKUNQgt5RQZBKiF1diwjznJl4aK7agaMN7pU92o/s1600/DownloadedFile-1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYsrvrHJR7SOfZZ5AfjnA1ZqKbOuO0rUCcxy8AjSlNqvoQ2xgCxN2BZSlpjHg_AW_LaKfTcJcQccecLVyPtTCsVysmL1HtbwiLKWhRbKUNQgt5RQZBKiF1diwjznJl4aK7agaMN7pU92o/s1600/DownloadedFile-1.jpeg" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Nik appears to be listing starboard</span></div>
</div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Hospitals have overhead public address codes. These tell the staff if there’s a fire or other things going on. “Code Green” at Abbott Northwestern means someone is causing a ruckus, and the ruckus needs quelling. On September 23<sup>rd</sup>, the Aces went into Abbott to play for the employees. Charlie DeVore was on hand for Andy, and Liz Draper for Erik. As I was setting up the bandstand, I heard the hospital call a code green, and I thought, “Oh, Dave, what did you do now?” But everyone made it to the bandstand without incident. I told them the code green story, and expressed gratitude that none of them were involved. Later in our second set, Charlie performed “Tiger Rag.” If you haven’t witnessed this miracle before, I need you take a few minutes to make sure that it doesn’t become one of your life regrets. The below video was from a Famous Dave’s night. If you want to get right to it, check it out starting at 3:42. Make sure you’re sitting:</span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: blue; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LEnFZJ0z5Q"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LEnFZJ0z5Q</span></a></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">So back at Abbott during that day’s version of “Tiger Rag,” I’m trying to prevent Charlie from getting up in his chair, even though the thought occurred to me that at least we had an emergency room close at hand. During my attempted restraint of the wild man Liz started shouting, “Code green! Code green!” When I told Erik about Liz later, he lamented, “Man! Think of all the people I’ll never get to meet. Abraham Lincoln, and all my subs!”</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">People Erik won't get to meet. The one on the top is Liz.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCBxcshUIfq45UPf6ayMP9QgaLt0rkktkUY2N2ubvco7MIATPiRIcvqHRf56jfnjpbBn09EiqQwOxHOR4PWpkHH3DA44JzLV3MUGPawq0BL7b-vvlzlBk3vPOtNz-hJBLspAH_6_5wDk8/s1600/300x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCBxcshUIfq45UPf6ayMP9QgaLt0rkktkUY2N2ubvco7MIATPiRIcvqHRf56jfnjpbBn09EiqQwOxHOR4PWpkHH3DA44JzLV3MUGPawq0BL7b-vvlzlBk3vPOtNz-hJBLspAH_6_5wDk8/s1600/300x300.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIyG1-hl8S65izcvdySNkzPaIVqFyU9_1HG8G5VRJ19HJiBK-qghz5JMgoWpcLNGmBw8SMDcXcVrPNMHAWPYJ4yyNgs1qf9wM2f7ociUXIw0yfyNkdG8UtT6BEPqPCipAvs-igezyzlZE/s1600/DownloadedFile-2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIyG1-hl8S65izcvdySNkzPaIVqFyU9_1HG8G5VRJ19HJiBK-qghz5JMgoWpcLNGmBw8SMDcXcVrPNMHAWPYJ4yyNgs1qf9wM2f7ociUXIw0yfyNkdG8UtT6BEPqPCipAvs-igezyzlZE/s1600/DownloadedFile-2.jpeg" /></a></div>
</div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">A couple of days later, Robert marries his sweetheart, Katie. A fine function in which the Aces were proud to take part. Included was a“By And By/Bourbon Street Parade” second line out to Central Avenue in Nordeast Minneapolis. </span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw3x7H4jeRWYfsa5dX_SWuNMnrBPIZ0Kwm4p5Y2SZj0eTPu6VyBAouvmzMKv4BpTrp3UwyRL_V5orAFgmL8Nv3qPxYnZ-Y4pw7ErzPK5wq5ELLT9cR4nvrg41Fyx43GFq7UmyMLzwQwNI/s1600/IMG_6140.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw3x7H4jeRWYfsa5dX_SWuNMnrBPIZ0Kwm4p5Y2SZj0eTPu6VyBAouvmzMKv4BpTrp3UwyRL_V5orAFgmL8Nv3qPxYnZ-Y4pw7ErzPK5wq5ELLT9cR4nvrg41Fyx43GFq7UmyMLzwQwNI/s320/IMG_6140.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Look who Robert caught!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">In October, we provided strolling music for the Autumn Brew Review. This is held in the back yard of the old Grain Belt Brewery building on 13<sup>th</sup> Avenue Northeast. Dozens of brewers providing samples of their wares under tents on a crisp fall day. I met a couple that told me about their son wanting to play clarinet. They were expressing doubts about this as a career choice. I gave them a what-are-you-talking-about look and said, “Look. If you become a professional clarinet player,” I gestured around the grounds, “you get free beer at beer fests!” The mother laughed, “I’ll go right home and tell my ten-year-old son.”</span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">On November 3<sup>rd</sup> the Southside Aces Big Four went back into the Eagles Aerie #34. We were approached immediately by one of the dancers, “We are ballroom dancers, so please play rumbas, waltzes and foxtrots.” Mark, in Robert’s chair that night, whispered to Dave, “What the hell’s a foxtrot?” This became the genesis for new band language. “We announced “Mama Inez” as our “New Orleans rumba.” Sidney Bechet’s “Petite Fleur” was our “New Orleans tango,” and so on. By using the words “New Orleans” in front of the names of the dances, I believe it legally releases us from any responsibility to authenticity. That was also the night one of the barflies asked me, “You play the clarinet? I like that.” I thanked him and he continued, “Are you from Vienna?” Maybe his brain was set up thusly: Clarinet + Grey Tweed Fedora = Vienna. I don’t know. “Close,” I said with a straight face, jerking my thumb in the direction of my neighborhood, “Phillips.”</span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Bill Butler got us another job, this one the 2<sup>nd</sup> Annual All Airborne Ball at the American Legion down on 65<sup>th</sup> and Portland. This dance was to benefit the Airborne Circle monument at Fort Snelling, and also featured a vintage uniform contest. It was a Veteran’s Day affair, so we swung out on Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America.” </span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">On the 10<sup>th</sup> and 11<sup>th</sup> of November, we went into Humans Win! studio in Northeast Minneapolis </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">to record the rest of our album. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZfilgR6gYuWIL7nlfgUPmaspnTm0r9aao5SK-GKsnKdx3Hc7VBBbv0Cg1X7iVO03PZsFI-AJ5E4zdVIPEsRtw5xgWqDaGbVszOsMUJNgOrgptN6fhx2CWeeLI9mP6yzh_Q4GxdB0jWTg/s1600/DownloadedFile.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZfilgR6gYuWIL7nlfgUPmaspnTm0r9aao5SK-GKsnKdx3Hc7VBBbv0Cg1X7iVO03PZsFI-AJ5E4zdVIPEsRtw5xgWqDaGbVszOsMUJNgOrgptN6fhx2CWeeLI9mP6yzh_Q4GxdB0jWTg/s1600/DownloadedFile.jpeg" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Owner and recording engineer Lance Conrad made things go smoothly, and we really had a great time. We spontaneously decided to record a tune that had recently come up on our radar, “Tootie Ma Is A Big Fine Thing.” This would end up being our title tune. Rick Rexroth came in to lay down his vocal on “His Eye Is On The Sparrow” the second day. I had asked him to sing it “somewhere between the St. Olaf Choir and a New Orleans front porch.” He floored us! </span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">And in December our appearance at the Eagles included a vocalist who goes by the name of Jimmy sitting in on “St. Louis Blues.” He was of the Italian crooner sort, and even had a little stage maneuver I liked to call his “jazz moonwalk.” And in one of the most important historical events in Southside Aces history, Erik began introducing himself as, “Erik on the Santaphone.” Eventually this became “Santa on the Santaphone.” As Fats Waller once said, “Don’t give your right name. No, no, no.” </span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
The Secret Weaponhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01458356297570792777noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8616325033629220892.post-37126298758568983182013-08-01T15:09:00.000-07:002013-08-14T09:57:39.547-07:00A Decade Of Aces: Part Five '09<br />
<div style="font: normal normal normal 18px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This is the Fifth in a series of historical retrospectives on the Southside Aces, in celebration of their tenth anniversary.</span></b></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 18px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif-g-IZTXbpoqXVOlJiiOTGhyphenhyphenxiK5Gn30bWE8hvRe45vqRrfNu65qYUCmb5AI2Zp09gEZzeAoG7Fym_WiVGgfpf0vkH88de7HOwii9HLHkXVNZmSYOyh-_fQ3BxmX0ZRb0T4ShCdR2yS0/s1600/562275_10151759176020693_2071884374_n+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif-g-IZTXbpoqXVOlJiiOTGhyphenhyphenxiK5Gn30bWE8hvRe45vqRrfNu65qYUCmb5AI2Zp09gEZzeAoG7Fym_WiVGgfpf0vkH88de7HOwii9HLHkXVNZmSYOyh-_fQ3BxmX0ZRb0T4ShCdR2yS0/s320/562275_10151759176020693_2071884374_n+copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 18.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 23.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The first time the Aces reconvened in 2009 was at the Nomad. A customer walked up to tip us, but claimed not to have any cash, “Could I write a check?” he inquired. We didn’t see why not. Peter wrote it for $25, and on top of that, the bank took it! An auspicious beginning.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">But not so much for the Times Bar and Café. Though we didn’t know it until later, January 17<sup>th</sup> would be our last appearance there. Within a month the venerable jazz club would be closed for good. That still lay in the future, however, so I’m glad in the meantime we could have a good night. We had a crowd full of dancers and listeners. Our night included a bachelorette beer bottle solo, Karen Vieno Paurus singing “Minnie the Moocher,” and dancers Lisa and Stan showing up with baby Zander. I think it might have been the first time I saw their little potato. Claudia said, “Maybe he wants to be here because he was here while he was in the womb.” “Washboard Wiggles” was requested—Mrs. Butler always has liked that one—featuring Dave. I introduced him with the same sobriquet Walter Winchell used in 1929 to describe Duke Ellington’s drummer Sonny Greer. “Here’s our Ace of the symbol dusters, Dave Michael!” We gave the crowd “The Sheik of Araby” for an encore. Maybe a band should always be careful choosing their last song of the night, just in case it ends up being the last one you ever play in a joint! The band experienced great glee in derailing Andy’s vocal. Instead of the usual “With no pants on!” as a response to every line sung</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">, we began singing, “With a mustache.” We broke him up. Imagine this: Andy—“Into your tent I’ll creep.” Band—“With a mustache!” </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Bill and Shannon. I can’t hear the song, but it looks like “Washboard Wiggles.” </span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEime-_dYZTojPkjC1nSB_gKYRCvrriqKXrl2wFB_L9w6J0i_uwghHNzyxaGv9mp_yB1UjJ2Trn0gWVVtiPoi61roNovkQ4vlCaLbrjnZC5OU42FjDklxZByOlLHvjQ2Ue7I00uR6ayF0gU/s1600/Picture+449.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEime-_dYZTojPkjC1nSB_gKYRCvrriqKXrl2wFB_L9w6J0i_uwghHNzyxaGv9mp_yB1UjJ2Trn0gWVVtiPoi61roNovkQ4vlCaLbrjnZC5OU42FjDklxZByOlLHvjQ2Ue7I00uR6ayF0gU/s320/Picture+449.jpg" width="230" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Near the end of the month we were the house band for the second annual Best of Midwest Burlesk. Local rapper/singer/songwriter Omaur Bliss appeared with us that weekend in his capacity as a singer. He’s a handsome fella who keeps track of his physique (I’m more of a man who keeps track of the donuts). But Robert could relate to his exercising ways. During rehearsal Robert and Omaur were showing each other different types of pushups. My favorite acts from the weekend included the Ladyslippers—Gina Louise, Ophelia Flame and Fanny Tastic. I just report the names; I don’t make them up. Who hasn’t experienced the dilemma of getting too hot shoveling snow? Their solution was to go from Parkas to Pasties…like you do. </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">In February, we and a few of the ladies from Lili’s played at the W Hotel at the bottom of the Foshay Tower for VitaMN’s Hotness Party. I’d like to be able to accuse Lili’s of stalking us, but who’s the more likely follower in this scenario? Anyhow, it’s intriguing when we the people take it upon ourselves to determine who is the hottest man and woman in town. Before playing, Erik and I were leaning on a railing overlooking the bar. Lili’s Nadine Dubois and Christian, the man who hired us, approached. Nadine joked, “I guess we just get two musicians tonight.” I said, “Yep. Sousaphone and clarinet duets. Now that’s Hotness!” Christian excitedly said, “That IS hotness!”</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">February 24<sup>th</sup> saw a hodgepodge band with a quorum of Aces back in the same house in which we had to try so hard to avoid electrocution the previous year. They had repaired and made beautiful, and wanted to celebrate. Robert, Erik, Steve and I were there. Nik Bortolussi gave us the drumming, and the role of Ben Webster was played by tenor man Paul. Charmine Michelle laid us low when she sang “Solitude,” in honor of Duke Ellington, whom it was announced would adorn the Washington D.C. quarter. It was the first time an African American’s image was on American currency. As we liked to say that night, “Duke’s on the money!”</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The PBR Brothers. That was my affectionate nickname for Bob and Carl, twin brothers who helped out around the Nomad. I loved those guys. They would always be willing to lend a hand, and never failed to compliment us. I never saw either of them without a Pabst Blue Ribbon tallboy within arm’s reach. I had just recently taken pains to learn how to tell them apart. I bumped into Carl after the show that day. “Great music today,” he said. “Thanks, Carl,” I smiled, “It is Carl, right?” He nodded. I said, “It took me two years, but I finally have it right.” Carl forgave me, “That’s all right. It took me thirty.”</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCo3IJenEu4tJi-L4a6M6JvBZ7MZ3_zBM-QLr1PjfgjImBBbbtejiR5igM8C6KCWrpcCAjP8ZOy1D8vI3gFhsuksxIxUMHuLrHt3SMCLfrTmQjWoG3oBvLjOYefswp9bh1XiTttrX3kCQ/s1600/nomadbrothers+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCo3IJenEu4tJi-L4a6M6JvBZ7MZ3_zBM-QLr1PjfgjImBBbbtejiR5igM8C6KCWrpcCAjP8ZOy1D8vI3gFhsuksxIxUMHuLrHt3SMCLfrTmQjWoG3oBvLjOYefswp9bh1XiTttrX3kCQ/s320/nomadbrothers+copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
</div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Bob and Carl on the patio</span></div>
</div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">March 25<sup>th</sup> was a sad day on account of it being the memorial of Erik’s grandfather, Jack. In case you didn’t know this, Erik plays his grandfather’s sousaphone. I want to say that horn turned 80 this year. Claudia and I were standing with him beforehand, and he asked, “How many times through do you think I should play ‘Just A Closer Walk With Thee’?” He was going to do it as a solo, and was worried about how many times people would want to hear the sousaphone render the melody. We thought maybe two times, but that he should feel it out. When he asked Tonya a few minutes later, however, she was definite. “Two times. The sousaphone is just kind of a unique instrument for soloing.” We laughed, and Tonya worried she gave offence. Erik assured her that we had just come to a similar conclusion. Then he teased, “It’s like if you told someone, ‘I really think it’s neat that you color outside the lines.’” As it turned out, two times was all he could make it through. Later in the service, I had the honor of joining him on “His Eye Is On The Sparrow.” Just the two of us played it twice down. He ended on his low Bb, and I on my lowest D. The held chord reverberated throughout the small, otherwise silent chapel. Tonya said afterwards, “I just wanted you guys to put that last note in a box so I could take it out later.”</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The April Nomad landed on Easter. We provided ham sandwiches, Jelly Beans and Peeps. Eric Johnson subbed for Erik on sousaphone. I began introducing him as Eric “With A C” Johnson. Eri<span style="text-decoration: underline;">c</span> and Eri<span style="text-decoration: underline;">k</span>. Get it? Erik was away that weekend in France lending a brass bass hand to the Youngblood Brass Band. He returned by the 20<sup>th</sup> to join us in a foggy, jet-lagged way at Famous Dave’s. About the only thing he could say, and say often, was, “Oui, oui! I’m Erik Jacobson on the sousa-moi-phone!”</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPFlWHsYq_D9kcBWh-UERMchgkOJZFc5wL2cVbQsHz8Q5PF1Bxg8HC7iZ_w5DOmtYvMM4VwUOPSHl5NxwRZWqD-M0M9rt7ihsNctHhRkZRB66Cw01a8NIQPwIrCU181DzTvxJEs27mhc4/s1600/IMG_0560.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPFlWHsYq_D9kcBWh-UERMchgkOJZFc5wL2cVbQsHz8Q5PF1Bxg8HC7iZ_w5DOmtYvMM4VwUOPSHl5NxwRZWqD-M0M9rt7ihsNctHhRkZRB66Cw01a8NIQPwIrCU181DzTvxJEs27mhc4/s320/IMG_0560.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
</div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Le Jazz Hot</span></div>
</div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">In May we played Mother’s Day at the Nomad. Erik and I decided casseroles would be the appropriate food for the occasion. Claudia made a cheesy potato thing that was actually called “Mormon Funeral Potatoes.” Erik called his mom, listed the ingredients he had in his larder, and was able to fashion a beef noodle dish of some sort. He decided to call his “Lutheran Funeral Noodles.” That day, David West blew us away for the first of many times with how he could make with the Al Jolson on “5’2” Eyes Of Blue.” </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">In June we played over on Raspberry Island in St. Paul. Erik changed into his suit at the job, but forgot to bring socks. We called him “The Huck Finn of Jazz.” Over at the Nomad, Eric Johnson subbed for Erik again. It was on that day that Andy refined my “With-A-C” to “Wittacee.” Doesn’t it sort of sound like a nickname you’d pick up down south?</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Out at Friendship Village Senior Living, I warned Steve before we started that if anybody came up to him to bring him to his room, he should say, “No. I don’t live here.” During break, I traded my steak for Wittacee’s potatoes. The crowd kept requesting “It Had To Be You,” which we didn’t have in the book at the time. “We have another request for ‘It Had To Be You.’ So we're very happy to play ‘Bill Bailey.’” I asked Wittacee afterwards if he could wait to receive one check for two jobs; he’d be on another one with us in a couple days. “Are you going to starve,” I asked compassionately. He answered, “Nah. This was a two-steak job. If it was only one steak, I’d need my check.”</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Wittacee!</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1ERUNP_ulbGR6O_1Sfr5mRU7qLSCaZFdlPpdXFNYVWe56Q4zLVyTCGTELy4IJRqHpGW3K51LlQZmfrMdWRsDKUEr4tHkwL54n_sDG02yQKAdVCH7uH29MiY4J3gNcW9emKzsUbIGIa4I/s1600/389355_10150670140717311_645947222_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1ERUNP_ulbGR6O_1Sfr5mRU7qLSCaZFdlPpdXFNYVWe56Q4zLVyTCGTELy4IJRqHpGW3K51LlQZmfrMdWRsDKUEr4tHkwL54n_sDG02yQKAdVCH7uH29MiY4J3gNcW9emKzsUbIGIa4I/s320/389355_10150670140717311_645947222_n.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
</div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">June was busy. Folks in Mears Park got to hear us on the Bix version of “Old Man River” and Armstrong's “Skokiaan” for the Twin Cities Jazz Festival. My mom was there, so I told the crowd they’d have to answer to her if they didn’t buy a CD. This being our third year trying, we finally got great weather for a Harriet Bandshell appearance. Charlie DeVore was subbing for Andy. Parking was at a premium. Charlie walked up and said, “I had to buy a parked car over there, just so I could be close enough to make it.” </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">July brought four of us to a Summitt Avenue mansion to play for friends Chef Zander and Emmy. Zander’s brother roast/toasted him by saying he couldn’t believe Zander could land someone like Emmy. So I called “I Can’t Believe She’s In Love With Me,” and “She’s Funny That Way” before I became paranoid that an alert member of the wedding party might think we were making comments with our song selections. During break, Erik and I discovered that that wonderful chef had made sure there were blueberry, peach and strawberry rhubarb pies weighing down a table in the dining room. He and I literally had seven pieces between us before the night was through! Jazz in a Fitzgeraldian setting, good friends in love and lots of pie. What more could you ask for?</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">In August, Robert, Andy and I drove out to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum for some shenanigans. It was 11:00 in the morning. We’re standing there when Robert asked, “Have you guys been drinking?” We hadn’t been, and aren’t known to be morning imbibers, so the question struck us strange. We shot quizzical looks at him. “Maybe it’s mouthwash,” he tried to explain. I maintained my puzzlement and asked, “Does Makers Mark count as mouthwash?”</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">At the Nomad we celebrated the band’s sixth anniversary. Inside, the Fringe Festival staged a mini-rock opera, the actors in cat and dog costumes belting it out. That wasn't for us, though. Outside, three trumpets, two clarinets, two tenors, an alto, flute, rhythm section and four trombones chewed up “St. Louis Blues.” I conducted a music and meat raffle, while Erik borrowed a razor from Andy so he could shave a missed spot on his chin. Raffles and shaving on the bandstand!</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdbPZroWXl-s8he-tu2wRSY-YmqV_zd_BOlx57ZBbY-3sMmE3c4oY7E_EfTs_mfjJgxRF86OBc4bGDmV2MtOZwneW9LeJyV45rVcwbMl4jxcFUNB1N659QH8tMI_ViOn67SbDDiKUUgxc/s1600/nomad+wall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdbPZroWXl-s8he-tu2wRSY-YmqV_zd_BOlx57ZBbY-3sMmE3c4oY7E_EfTs_mfjJgxRF86OBc4bGDmV2MtOZwneW9LeJyV45rVcwbMl4jxcFUNB1N659QH8tMI_ViOn67SbDDiKUUgxc/s320/nomad+wall.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Whenever I look at the Nomad patio wall, it reminds me I need a shave.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Two of my favorite Aces stories happened in August. On the 14<sup>th</sup>, Robert, Dave, Zack, Matt Peterson, Patrick Harrison and I flew out to Denver for Lindy On The Rocks. Dancers can be frugal. I’m not going to go too far into that, but it will give you some answers if you were wondering about the above lineup. Friday night the Robert Bell Hot Swing Combo would drive the dancers into a frenzy. On Saturday, the EXACT SAME BAND would perform as the Southside Aces. We kept joking on mic how much the two bands hated one another, how we had huge humbugs going on for years. I know for a fact some of the dancers were worried.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">I remember the first night at the hotel when Zack asked Patrick and me, “Do you smell cake?” We did, and at first we couldn’t figure it out. Was there a bakery in the next room? I think it was Patrick who figured out. He had just been ironing out the travel creases from his recently heavily starched white shirt. Mmm…shirt cake! I think we did a great job that weekend. Late night Saturday at the after hours dance spot, Bauer’s, all six men of the band stood outside in our black suits with ties loosened, holding fine bourbons and scotches, four of us smoking cigars. It cut quite the scene. A job well done. At the Denver airport on the way home, Patrick told me he noticed me in the mornings doing yoga out on the balcony of our hotel. He described briefly wondering what was going on, “I thought you were praying to Mecca.” I replied, “I was facing south, not east.” After a pause, “Praying to New Orleans, I guess.” Patrick suggested that if that was the case, I should pour out a little Abita beer before each prayer. “And whiskey on the major holidays!” I added. We decided the major holidays would be Mardi Gras, Louis Armstrong’s birthday, and Halloween. </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">On the 21<sup>st</sup>, we had a high-pressure set to perform for the International Association of Jazz Record Collectors. It was high-pressure, because all of the people at this convention knew all the recordings ever made by anybody. We were scouted two years previously by Chuck Sweningsen. He’s a small man, but has more jazz inside of him than any three other people. It wasn’t a “Bourbon Street” and “Bill Bailey” day, for sure. I worked up a bunch of history on the tunes I selected. Not too much, for fear of running into a pack of sixteen sharp-fanged historians out in the hall of the conference room. But enough that at first Erik called me “History Hank,” and later, “Freddy Fact.” We were introduced by the wonderful Leigh Kamman. He has the type of poetic, extemporaneous introductions that even if you think they might be too long, you never want them to stop! Then we launched my list: </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The Mooche</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Back Room Romp</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Kansas City Stomps</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">I’m Walkin’ This Town</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Blues In The Air</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Mushmouth Shuffle</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Ol’ Man River</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Perdido Street Blues</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Red Man Blues</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Have A Little Dream On Me</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Snag It </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">E. St. Louis Toodle-oo</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The band actually witnessed folks in this crowd lip-syncing to my <i>history</i>! Leigh and Chuck praised us. I was pretty proud, but then I got my head back out of the clouds. Andy and I met a married couple who belonged to the Toronto Ellington Society. I bravely asked her how we did. She said, “We love it whenever we hear Ellington, no matter how it’s played.” Andy and I began to grin. The husband added, “Not whenever! Some bands murder him!” I smiled more broadly. “Hopefully,” I said, “we just put him in the hospital.” </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuYCNK2EzTyb0IJxo0s7u1GoAyiOpzhOqd61CKgRH4TKiJXinlaT7NNaSDiM4AWMhurmR591B-e7H3vPKolmWt30HMXnUGnAgEoHMJy8jmm5eiBIGnQnM8gI5By8Oc4gM5-xRh-SfOGrc/s1600/chuck.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuYCNK2EzTyb0IJxo0s7u1GoAyiOpzhOqd61CKgRH4TKiJXinlaT7NNaSDiM4AWMhurmR591B-e7H3vPKolmWt30HMXnUGnAgEoHMJy8jmm5eiBIGnQnM8gI5By8Oc4gM5-xRh-SfOGrc/s320/chuck.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
</div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Here’s Chuck scouting the band at the Nomad, dressed as always in his Jazz Scout uniform.</span></div>
</div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">September brought us out to Omaha for another Cowtown Jamborama, this time with Wittacee in tow. This is the one when Robert broke his toe rushing to retrieve the band van after our Po’boy dinners at a restaurant called Jazz. He played the first set while his body settled into shock. He wasn’t going to make it if we didn’t do something. Fortunately, one of the dancers was a Dr. Joan “I Trained In A Bronx E.R." Bonesetter. Backstage, I threw Robert’s leg over my shoulder and pinned his foot down. Joan walked up without hesitating and reset his toe, snap! just like that. He stated he was at least 72% better immediately. He did great after that, even if he only could wear one shoe. </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">We played the after hours dance at the 6<sup>th</sup> and Cuming art gallery from the previous year. The MC there asked us if we wanted to be called something else for the night. Not a bad idea if you want to avoid litigation. The band huddled and came up with “Count Hakula and His Mustache Troubadours.” We left at 4 a.m., some of us thinking food, some of us thinking bed. Before we had to step out of the van and settle the argument like men, Dave spotted an open sign under the freeway. I put the van on two wheels making the turn into Pettit’s Donuts and Rolls. It was 4:10, and they had been open all of ten minutes. Six jazzmen in six suits and eleven shoes ate the freshest donuts ever!</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">On a gorgeous October evening, good friends Julie and Claire got themselves all hitched up in a ceremony on the Andiamo riverboat out of Stillwater. The girls had a bubble machine and the Southside Aces out on deck to greet passengers as they boarded. We played for the dance as well. Julie had asked us to surprise Claire with Taj Mahal’s “Queen Bee.” Outside of the New Orleans book, right? Well, since New Orleans is famous for folding in as much of the world as possible, we held up that part of the tradition. Steve sang marvelously. He said later, “I looked out on the floor, and Julie and Claire were so happy I really got into singing it for them.” Those two lovebirds inspired us on our other surprise, a cover of Harry Connick’s “Come By Me.” Erik said, “I noticed it took them about twelve bars before they recognized it. But when they did they were so happy, jumping for joy—I almost starting crying!” Indeed, a joyful boat ride.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3wipLMDqkPI5TyGX7iuTeulRmJfJ86psMhVqx9bcBw0X6e84NEkstUbiU7YPHzarJ55WfQWpEteZhNvnzDnX3iwaOIn7qP3uqqhN678HyWrmAAs3CdHm9bR9sNHKaRAZZfDDU9zZWCLI/s1600/IMG_0143.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3wipLMDqkPI5TyGX7iuTeulRmJfJ86psMhVqx9bcBw0X6e84NEkstUbiU7YPHzarJ55WfQWpEteZhNvnzDnX3iwaOIn7qP3uqqhN678HyWrmAAs3CdHm9bR9sNHKaRAZZfDDU9zZWCLI/s320/IMG_0143.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdMPjzjGbyqZy4HrpinxiN0DjiSVr7hZAKNXNuiSuwztXtggJfRHGcT4JqGA_X7Rmvhoioo880ALGDHYIMupI-BQ4FGaTosIJADLgnv4tDCcQXe5xp13JYqwUrgfaJomO_KuHghgEX4VI/s1600/106508810007_110387538007_1000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdMPjzjGbyqZy4HrpinxiN0DjiSVr7hZAKNXNuiSuwztXtggJfRHGcT4JqGA_X7Rmvhoioo880ALGDHYIMupI-BQ4FGaTosIJADLgnv4tDCcQXe5xp13JYqwUrgfaJomO_KuHghgEX4VI/s320/106508810007_110387538007_1000.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
</div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">We were at the Dakota in November with Lili’s. playing all the music, not just the interludes. It was exhausting, but great fun. Our December was quiet but for a couple. Famous Dave’s and the Nomad. The only other one was when the Southside Aces Big Four went into Honey Lounge on December 12<sup>th</sup>. This was the new incarnation of Jitters, below Ginger Hop, the new incarnation of the Times. There was no longer music upstairs, but Honey was trying this and that. Robert, Dave, Liz Draper and I...and life goes on.</span></div>
<div>
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
The Secret Weaponhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01458356297570792777noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8616325033629220892.post-86432477514247708172013-07-30T10:11:00.000-07:002013-08-14T09:57:51.818-07:00A Decade Of Aces: Part Four '08<br />
<div style="font: 14.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This is the Fourth in a series of historical retrospectives on the Southside Aces, in celebration of their tenth anniversary.</span></b></div>
</div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpHnFYl3dkdgy6khcopbF4n2b84WxEKR9bz6GgZmM0tXpr5n5CwmXzxJkAviGIxVeocZDkE58dD0xhTp1UJ5dfmYufhJZRS2OEz_WEfB3I2lO13xmCTqhyphenhyphenFmK2XDzL77OtTyDHSJRvmI4/s1600/562275_10151759176020693_2071884374_n+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpHnFYl3dkdgy6khcopbF4n2b84WxEKR9bz6GgZmM0tXpr5n5CwmXzxJkAviGIxVeocZDkE58dD0xhTp1UJ5dfmYufhJZRS2OEz_WEfB3I2lO13xmCTqhyphenhyphenFmK2XDzL77OtTyDHSJRvmI4/s320/562275_10151759176020693_2071884374_n+copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Early in January of 2008, we went into the Ritz Theater up near 13<sup>th</sup> and University for the first annual Best of Midwest Burlesk, or “B.O.M.B.,” as it is affectionately called. Our friends at Lili’s Burlesque Revue produced this show, bringing in performers from all around the region. This would be the first of a five-year run for the festival, all five of which we served as house band. We always had the best seats in the house, set up as we were on stage left. That first year, we strode out and started the whole shebang playing “Back To Black” by Amy Winehouse. It set the tone for a great night. This was a show that was very much vaudevillian in it’s variety. This first year brought to the stage a juggler, a tap dancer, another doing bullwhip stunts, and yet another named Ned The Magnificent who performed acrobatics on a two-wheel dolly. The Meteor Boys were a pair of singers who accompanied themselves on ukuleles. Karen Vieno Paurus was Lili’s official chanteuse, bringing her vocal talents into the fray. All of us brought together by the hostess and M.C. nonpareil, Nadine Dubois. Then, of course, there were the dancers.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Best Seats In The House (the rest of the band is tucked around the curtain)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFP6Hv8PAUaIUzUdEObr0GcfF8MLUa3HlGUyxWecjWSdC89QWAweHB5EYzrQz6l9F3KktbRlW9eOLvJioDI3-BIa9gvgvwbxOY25V2XnpmRnpRSL7SgGk0dS-J90Ox6rkiyOx5JNzZZqo/s1600/Midwest+Burlesk+1+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFP6Hv8PAUaIUzUdEObr0GcfF8MLUa3HlGUyxWecjWSdC89QWAweHB5EYzrQz6l9F3KktbRlW9eOLvJioDI3-BIa9gvgvwbxOY25V2XnpmRnpRSL7SgGk0dS-J90Ox6rkiyOx5JNzZZqo/s320/Midwest+Burlesk+1+copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">I love burlesque. Before you start accusing me of being the hound dog that I am, let me explain. It’s not merely disrobing that makes for good burlesque. Anyone can take off his or her clothes. I do nearly every time I take a shower. The best in my view combine deep senses of humor and a real cleverness on the Path to Pasties. They tell a story. And some, I believe, can achieve high art. I actually believe that with a straight face. I don’t have the space here to give the play by play on all the performers from that year, so I will confine myself to the headliner, Chicago’s own “Michelle L’amour.”</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">After her introduction, an orchestral version of Debussy’s “Clair de Lune” began. She appeared adorned in a huge pair of white-feathered wings. The Debussy combined with her ballet gracefulness and gorgeous form made for a truly beautiful moment. We were astounded, and our jaws dropped. Afterwards backstage, her manager/assistant/boyfriend smiled at me and commented, “It looked as though the band really enjoyed her performance.” I said, “Yes. If she had come any closer with those wings, we would have all had feathers in our mouths.”</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Click on this link to see ninety seconds of the best clips of that year. Remember, this will be slightly naughty, just so you know! </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://vimeo.com/844706" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Best Of Midwest Burlesk</a></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">In January we continued our appearances at the Nomad World Pub, Chateau Lamothe, and Ferdinand’s Jazz Palace. February brought us out to St. Croix Casino to perform at a Mardi Gras party for the slot-zombies. We had a good show at the Times on the 16<sup>th</sup> on the night after being fired from Chateau Lamothe. No story there, we just couldn’t make a go of it south of the river, so Doris and we said goodbye. We flew out to Denver on Leap Year to play the Rocky Mountain Balboa Blowout. We’re a territory band! That’s the one when Steve threatened to get a tramp stamp tattoo that read “Balboa Blowout ’08.” For some reason, it’s the fact that he would put the year in the tattoo that made me laugh the hardest. On April Fools Day, we played a house party in a kitchen with all the walls torn out for remodeling after a three-story flooding. We were warned to not go too close to the wiring. I missed the April Nomad, being down in New Orleans and all, but got back home in time to make it to the Times on April 18<sup>th</sup>. Some goings on from that night:</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Steve had lost his plunger mute, so he was working with a mixed nuts can instead. Between songs, I butted in on the mic, commenting to the crowd about how good music could be made from roasted nuts. Erik continued, “Speaking of roasted nuts, we’re going to have Robert sing this next one. It’s a sweet, sweet song.” Robert’s rendering of “Sweet Sue” is a fine thing. Erik went on, “His voice is like cream mixed with vanilla mixed with butterscotch. It’s like having your Lucky Charms on top of your Trix!” </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">A week later we played with the Edina High School Jazz Ensemble I for a Twin Cities Jazz Society concert. The next day we played a benefit for a Montessori school. The woman who hired us hailed from Dallas, and was very familiar with Louisiana music. It’s nice when the people who hire you understand what you do. Lisa Ann, who introduced herself and said, “Two names, just like everyone from Texas,” was proud of her ability to throw a party. She told us about the meeting she had to decide upon music. “I suggested zydeco, but the rest of them didn’t even know what that meant. So I said, ‘How ‘bout Dixieland?’ and they at least recognized that word.”</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">In June another appearance at the Times; we sure did like playing there! In July a trio of Aces were hired for a backyard party. Sort of an odd trio. The people wanted clarinet and brass, but only wanted three. Erik couldn’t make it, so Steve moved over to the sousaphone chair, and I hired Scott Moriarity to play trombone. Scott is a fantastic trombonist with a career as a lawyer. During the party that night, I heard one of the most mysterious sentences I’ve ever heard. To this day, I’ve not received an explanation. While on break, Steve set his sousaphone down. We stood around it drinking our beers and a woman walked up to take our pictures. The photographer paused for a few seconds, looking down at the coils of brass contrasting with the green grass, and said, “A lot of lesbians like sousaphones.” </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Huh? </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Later, Scott said to me, “I don’t know why, but I wanted to call it a euphonium for some reason.” Sticking to the non sequitur theme of the evening, I said, “It’s because you’re a lawyer.”</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">After working on it for a month or so, Andy finally produced what became a pretty glorious handlebar mustache. It was out at the Twin Cities Balboa Fest held at the Mermaid that we finally began tossing around nicknames for him. My two favorites were Claudia’s contribution, “The Roughrider,” after Teddy Roosevelt, and the baseball connection, “Rollie Fingers,” after the famous Oakland A’s and Milwaukee Brewers pitcher. Hakala is a Finnish name, so I once introduced him off the stage at the Nomad as, “Rollie Fingers on trumpet, from the Finnish side of the Fingers family.” Fingers Hakala!</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Look at this great picture of Andy in the Aces by photographer <a href="http://benhejkal.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ben Hejkal</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"> then one of a Rollie Fingers card. Heh? See what I mean?</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikL1yKq2rNnkdgqDZjxZGZQTq8x3r3qI8h8SdVZtb8m2Ku_OY7vsCmte9njd2fD5M4zvFq2YM2Pyp_ZF_RGZ9B44kM9sQiv2ZKzdxHBludWHDiQV7NH2Lb8CPHSHiHXAQIH5hFVoB66YI/s1600/Front+line+M.W.+Lindy+09+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikL1yKq2rNnkdgqDZjxZGZQTq8x3r3qI8h8SdVZtb8m2Ku_OY7vsCmte9njd2fD5M4zvFq2YM2Pyp_ZF_RGZ9B44kM9sQiv2ZKzdxHBludWHDiQV7NH2Lb8CPHSHiHXAQIH5hFVoB66YI/s320/Front+line+M.W.+Lindy+09+copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI70QIBQZDSVnCchcY_EdU5rmfqAYf6Ou9bcEwQM1b0YbxJR4bclPbV15c-_czl-7F1LcP8IR6ia5kC5EYRGFaUHmWW3JxfC70HGtgtX0D470ENVOC6AWcGMozBe11UK25W5IHvHAmRVI/s320/1985topps-rolliefingers.jpg" width="221" /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
</div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">This brings up the subject of band nicknames. Early on, Erik began introducing me as “the secret weapon of the band, Tony Balluff.” Eventually it was shortened to, “and the Secret Weapon on clarinet.” The origin of such a dramatic-sounding nickname, and the name of this blog, may disappoint in terms of dramatic content. It just kept happening that someone would suggest we put such and such song in the repertoire, and I would respond, “Oh. I have sheet music for that.” Or, “I have that recording.” Or I would know some jazz history fact when someone had a jazz history question. It so happens I’m a fairly decent jazz nerd, with potential for growth. Anyway, this occurred enough times in a row that Erik said in a rehearsal once, “You’re like our secret weapon!” So there. Mystery revealed. The only drama that happened around the name was during one of our earliest appearances at the Times. This was when the stage was still facing the river instead of Hennepin Avenue. It was last song of the night, and up to that point I may have imbibed one or three whiskeys. Erik had the effrontery to merely introduce me as, “Tony Balluff on clarinet.” I whirled on him and shouted, “I’s Secret Weapon!!” Fermented beverages sure can wreak havoc on a fella’s grammar. </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">For reasons we won’t get into, Zack was briefly called “The Reprobate.” I guess because every band has to have at least one. Erik often introduces Steve as, “Psycho Stevie, the Prince Of East Lake Street.” Steve is neither psycho nor a prince, but he does live on East Lake. Dave has always been called “The Moral Compass.” I guess because every band has to have at least one. We like to say Robert is “Mr. Class,” because if you took all the gigs we’ve been on together over the past decade, he probably has all of us beat by twenty or thirty percentage points in how often he wore a suit to the job. Erik has been called “Big Man” on account of his height, and “Big Delicious,” from the previously mentioned Tom Surowicz paragraph on the band. He also once gained the moniker, “The Swedish Mink” due to a mix of his heritage and an incident with a family heirloom. A couple of years ago he impressed a New Orleanian stranger with his dancing at the Maple Leaf, and the guy said something like, “Nice moves, Sweet Shoes.” </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">And you wondered why we called him “The Reprobate.”</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAL_GadMqlaB3kNV5oZxI6t5Z07nRcYjlyLndzjQAGK0zRGXFpwZRCwBPjzsoXp7Y2bRBdCyPCnFBXQLLjbOwFnxn0xC1HFayH06Be1AkzSInUet5CIFccOGHFrOGfxGxaeVsG3P2hlcs/s1600/894_9414+copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAL_GadMqlaB3kNV5oZxI6t5Z07nRcYjlyLndzjQAGK0zRGXFpwZRCwBPjzsoXp7Y2bRBdCyPCnFBXQLLjbOwFnxn0xC1HFayH06Be1AkzSInUet5CIFccOGHFrOGfxGxaeVsG3P2hlcs/s320/894_9414+copy.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Erik brought farmers market corn on the cob to the August Nomad. At one point he walked around the patio calling out, “Toothpicks! One dollar! The corn is free, but Southside Aces toothpicks are a dollar!” An African man who spoke with a Zimbabwe accent sat at a table by himself that day repeating the phrase, “Drink like a fish!” Even when I shook his hand and introduced myself, all he would say is, “Drink like a fish!” Whether it was advice, a mantra or commentary, I never was able to find out. </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">On September 20<sup>th</sup>, we went back to Omaha for our first Cowtown Jamborama. I love going to Omaha (see my story about the Naughty Lounge from A Decade Of Aces: Part Three). Nate Woodhams is a swell host. The Jamborama is a weekend that includes a man in a cow costume and a corn-eating contest. Bill Butler got himself involved with both one year. It led to a trip to the E.R., but I'll let him tell you whether it was the costume or the corn. A great time was had, both in the Eagles, Aerie #18 and the after hours joint, Studio 906, where we played until around four in the morning! That’s a lot of numbers in one sentence! This art gallery used to be an auto garage of some sort, and there were a lot of art cars in the driveway. My favorite car out there, however, was the ’49 Packard hearse that had a built-in 78 player in the glove box, complete with a record of “Old Rugged Cross.” One last memory from that night was when, during the last set, I leaned forward in the middle of a song to hand a solo off to Steve, but he was asleep in his chair! I don’t know why he had such low energy after six hours of travel and six hours of playing.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1UsmVK8KLaGoOz3uuqixviif0TroQ8L1UjBf4qakZGlhUZ3PoG-RUmDxrsxtpIzcUOgLJPFj6Nx0w6HohrwhBq1PK3a1-FiTZQLt9yhhUkexFGY10XsNNpB_GrzqTuMf7cO1Iqx6BCNE/s1600/67f4e3a221e95557131d1ee2f36ad245.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1UsmVK8KLaGoOz3uuqixviif0TroQ8L1UjBf4qakZGlhUZ3PoG-RUmDxrsxtpIzcUOgLJPFj6Nx0w6HohrwhBq1PK3a1-FiTZQLt9yhhUkexFGY10XsNNpB_GrzqTuMf7cO1Iqx6BCNE/s320/67f4e3a221e95557131d1ee2f36ad245.jpg" width="206" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The October Nomad was one of those rare times when it exceeded the ideal of what it was supposed to be. Preservation Hall was in town, and Henry Blackburn managed to convince a couple of them to come over and play with us after their show at Orchestra Hall. Erik introduced our show by saying, “Please help yourself to what Claudia calls ‘The Pasta.’ Now, we’re going to play what we call ‘The Jazz.’” Ben Jaffe played some sousaphone, and Mark Braud some trumpet. I remember Mark killing us with his version of “Bogalusa Strut.” When they were done, our locals stepped up. Among others, a tenor man, Sam Brooks, stepped up on stage with us after saying, “Don’t you guys laugh at me; I only play rock and funk.” But he wailed away on our brass band stuff. Local crooner Randall Throckmorton sweetened the hot on “Stardust.” Mike Mello also played some sousaphone that day, and a drummer named Batumé lent a nice shuffle beat to a few tunes. Good pasta, good jam.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Our November Nomad was significant not for Erik bringing brats without buns (he left during set break to forage for some), but for two pairs of reasons. A couple of newer barkeeps at the Nomad really loved what we were doing. Bill’s father played trombone, and Rashad actually hailed from New Orleans. He said we made him homesick. Now that’s a compliment! Speaking of Bills, Bill Butler and his dad, Dan, both had birthdays to celebrate. We forced beer bottle solos on the two of them. Well, not on Bill. He’ll do anything. But his dad took some convincing. Birthdays and homesickness. The Aces do our best.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Who’s that happy band against the Nomad patio wall?</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlFJCBYwd1MJYES00v-SAvoQeEjpk3v4bj7fZMmoCzC9JzIi9UE_8MmCfTw_gcv43dRe0Asf2X1sfRMvM2DSMnDnehzGuW05Ldik325qzaby8lp_ytnk_w404DMzlk2-EUGKJn7shR_ho/s1600/NWP+wall+2+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlFJCBYwd1MJYES00v-SAvoQeEjpk3v4bj7fZMmoCzC9JzIi9UE_8MmCfTw_gcv43dRe0Asf2X1sfRMvM2DSMnDnehzGuW05Ldik325qzaby8lp_ytnk_w404DMzlk2-EUGKJn7shR_ho/s320/NWP+wall+2+copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Church basements are used for a wide spectrum of functions. At least that's the excuse Zack offered! In December we played for a funeral, with Zack subbing back in for Andy. In the program we were listed as “Southside Acres.” That sounds like a band that would play for funerals. The son of the deceased apologized afterwards as we stood downstairs in the middle of the luncheon. We waved it off, of course, and Erik said, “I’m sorry for your loss.” Zack watched the son walk away until he was out of earshot, shook his head and said, “I’m such an idiot! I was this close,” gesturing with the traditional thumb and index finger an inch apart, “to saying ‘Congratulations!’”</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The Nomad is truly the source of some of the best quotes in our history. Something about the West Bank can bring it out in people. While there in December, two great friends of the band provided us with this little bit of history. After we played “White Christmas,” Mary told me later, “That was the best version I’ve ever heard! It was sweet and melancholy. It had some pain in it. It belonged in a place like this. It was like you were playing it for a cross between Holiday Inn and They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?” Wow. I also was able to collect this nugget. Chuck emerged from the men’s room and exclaimed, “I love this place! You get to pee on bar ice!” At the Nomad, the men’s room is equipped with a porcelain trough about four feet long that’s usually filled with ice. “I want one of those at home!” he finished. I advised, for the sake of his marriage, against any hasty remodeling.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Before the end of the year, the Aces managed to squeeze in one more first. On December 22<sup>nd</sup>, we played at Famous Dave’s in Uptown for the Monday Dance. We play there to this day, although we took a break through most of 2012. This is once again a job we got on referral from Bill and Shannon Butler. I guess we’re going to have to put them on retainer one of these decades. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<br /></div>
The Secret Weaponhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01458356297570792777noreply@blogger.com0