"Satchmo" and Condon at Newport

New Zealand Listener, Volume 37, Issue 932, 21 June 1957, Page 15

"Satchmo" and Condon at Newport

ERSONNEL of Louis Armstrong Group: Armstrong (trumpet), Young (trombone), Hall (clarinet), Kyle (piano), Jones (bass) and ‘Deems (drums), Items: "Indiana," "Whispering," "Bugle Blues," and "Ole Miss." Personnel of Eddie Condon Group: Condon (master of ceremonies), Davison (cornet), McGarity (trombone), Hucko (clarinet), Freeman (tenor sax), Schroeder (piano), Lesberg (bass) and Leeman (drums). Items: "Dippermouth Blues," "Bye and Bye," "Squeeze Me," "Struttin’ With Some Barbecue," "Big Butter and Egg Man." This forty-minute programme covers part of the proceedings of the first two nights of. the Newport Jazz Festival, 1956. Thursday, July 5, was really wet at Newport, so wet, in fact, that when Condon and his boys trooped on stage, the piano lid could not be raised, It immediately provided a resting place for raincoats and Eddie’s guitar, which remained in its case throughout the set. Condon restricted his activities to having a fall with the fans down front (as can be heard quite plainly on this recording), and conducting a swinging Dixieland set. Wild Bill Davison blows wonderfully, driving the front line along magnificently, Lou McGarity blows easily with a big full tone, and Bud Freeman plays like a musician inspired, The highlights for me in this Condon set are Schroeder and Davison on"Squeeze Me" (with its attractive uptempo coda), Davison’s lead horn in the opening chorus of "Barbecue," and

Lesberg’s quote from "Humoresque" in his solo on "Egg Man." Is it possible that the tape machines which recorded the proceedings at this Festival were affected by the damp atmosphere, or has someone blundered when processing this LP? Listen carefully to the opening chorus of "Dippermouth Blues." Condon beats the musicians in at a fast clip and before many bars have elapsed the tempo falls away badly. I am under the impression, rightly or wrongly, that this "blue" is on the engineering side and has nothing to do with the musicians.

It has been said many times that Condon cannot play a guitar to save himself. Maybe he is no soloist, but on this date the band does miss his steady beat in the rhythm section. Compare this set with any of the recent studio LPs that Condon has been making and you'll hear what I mean. I have been an Eddie Condon fan for many years now and have come to expect the very best in Dixieland from him. Jazz owes him a great deal for it was he and his asso_ciates who kept jazz alive during the lean years. Somehow, therefore, this set is rather a

disappointment, and for those of you who think I am being too critical, compare this programme with Condon’s "Bixieland" or "Treasury of Jazz" albums which have been aired lately. I think that you'll agree that Condon does play better jazz than he did that night at Newport. The second night at Newport saw more than an hour of the Louis Armstrong All Stars Group. Why Louis did not drop this line-up when he lost Earl Hines, Jack Teagarden and Cozy Cole I don’t know. No other personnel could ever hope to achieve what those jazz "greats" did, and what was even more important, Hines and Teagarden acted as a continual inspiration to Louis. Every once in a while Louis gets away from this soul-destroying so-called "Alt Star’ group of his and makes a

Tecording or a_ personal appearance which rates as great, but then back with his All Stars he becomes commonplace, trotting out the same old routine, the same old numbers, the same old "Satch." Joe Public can get tired of such treatment, and I am no exception. If anyone hears anything different, or new, or really worthwhile in Louis’s part of this session, write to me about it, As it was, George Avakian, who was responsible for the production of this record, had to do a considerable amount of splicing to make what we hear here at all acceptable.

A debatable afterthought: Wild Bill Davison drives the Condon front line with more fire and energy than does Louis in his group. First Playing: Station 2YD, July 4, 9.0 p.m. : Jazz for Compéred by well-known jazz critic ‘Arthur Pearce, this is a one-hour programme prepared from a recent jazz concert presented in the Concert Chamber of the Wellington Town Hall. I have not been able to hear this edited version of the show, and I heard only the second half of the programme the. night it was presented, but as stated this was jazz for listening, and I am pleased to say was not attended by the usual inane mob who seem to haunt and ruin jazz concerts. Without doubt, the highlight of the show was the forty-minute set provided. by the Barry Brinson Quartet, Brinson (piano), Laurie Lewis (alto), Slim Dorward (bass) and Johnny McDonald (drums). Theirs was the finest live jazz I have ever heard, The group influence was obviously Brubeck, but there was plenty of originality within the combo apart from that. All four musicians excelled themselves playing some really exciting jazz. Listen to McDonald for intelligent, musical drumming; never has Lewis been heard to' such advantage and I doubt whether he has ever been so inspired before; Brinson’s, pianistics were brilliant, and Lewis seemed to inspire him to greater efforts just as he inspired Lewis; Dorward proves that he is the most under-rated bass player on the local scene-he is superb. Make a point of listening to this session if only to hear this group, It’s a must. _ First Playing: Station 2¥YD, June 27,

9.0 p.m.

Ray

Harris