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December 2011 Volume 36, Number 10
RAY SKJELBRED BEEFS UP HIS “FIRST THURSDAY BAND”
~ BY TWO ~ FOR OUR PRE-CHRISTMAS CONCERT - ON DECEMBER 18th
By Rod Belcher
Super-pianist Ray Skjelbred’s quartet, which he calls his “First Thursday Band,” has had a steady once-a-month gig at Pioneer Square’s New Orleans Restaurant for some time now......thus the group’s name.
But when Ray’s excellent foursome comes to play as the featured band for our December 18th concert it will be augmented to become a sextet.....even more lucky for us!
At the New Orleans, his sidemen are Steve Wright (cornet and reeds); Mike Daugherty (drums, vocals); and Dave Brown (string bass). The two he adds for our pleasure are Chris Tyle, the Portlander who plays several instruments but will concentrate on his trumpet, and guitar-banjo virtuoso Jake Powel of Seattle.
Skjelbred started crafting his piano mastery several decades back, under the tutelage of the legendary Johnny Wittwer. He became so proficient that when he moved to the SF Bay area, he fit in with all the top-drawer players who starred in what became known as the New Orleans Revival -- Lu Watters, Turk Murphy, Bob Scobey and their compatriots. He’s been a favorite for many years at festivals across the
Notes from the Prez Some of the musical characteristics brought to New Orleans
by its African population included rich rhythmic content, an emphasis on spontaneity and improvisation, and the use of musical instruments to imitate the human voice. In the development of jazz, the European tradition of composition was transformed by these traits, while at the same time some of its elements were incorporated. Ragtime and blues were important precursors to the new style of music.
Jazz today is a global phenomenon, welcoming influences from divergent sources. It is performed in small clubs, concert halls, and on festival stages around the world.”
So you see, we’re working hard and having fun keeping jazz alive. So, enjoy the ride.
Look for news of changes for PSTJS in the January issue of “Soundings.” Happy Holidays to each and every one of you and your families. Cheers - Judy
nation, and has recorded often with the best of the best, both as a sideman and a leader.
Since he returned to Seattle a few years back, he’s quietly resumed his much-appreciated stature as an icon of piano jazz. As for the others in his sextet, each has been lauded in his own right for musicianship, knowledge of the classic jazz idiom, and the ability to meld smoothly into the ensemble output of the band, be it trad, swing, blues or familiar mainstream pop tunes. The entire crew are old hands at every variation of jazz. In short, Ray’s First Thursday combo is highly recommended, without reservation.-------------------------WHERE: Ballard Elks, 6411 Seaview Ave. NW (Seattle)WHEN: Sunday, December 18 - 12:30 - 4:30 p.m.MORE INFO: 425-776-5072 or website: www.pstjs.orgADMISSION: pstjs members: $10; guests: $13. (Pay only at the door)Free parking, great view. Snacks, coffee, other beverages available.
December is election month. At this time we have two vacancies on the Board and are looking for members who would be interested in becoming active members. The commitment is basically four (4) meetings each year, the location to be chosen soon. If you or someone you know is interested in running for the open board position please contact me at 425-890-6605. We need to place the names on the December ballot.
Have you seen the JAZZ stamp issued by the USPS? It’s been out a few months and today I was reading the info on the back of the stamp sheet. I thought you might enjoy reading the following:
“Jazz, America’s musical gift to the world, developed originally as an innovative combination of European, American and African influences. It first flowered near the dawn of the 20th century in New Orleans, Louisiana, where Africans from various places mixed with native-born Americans of diverse ancestry as well as Europeans and people from the islands of the Caribbean.
Jazz Soundings December 2011 Page 2
Puget Sound Traditional Jazz Society
19031 Ocean AvenueEdmonds, WA 98020-2344
425-776-5072 www.pstjs.org
EVENTSElks Lodge, Ballard, 6411 Seaview Ave N.W., Seattle
UPCOMING EVENTS
December 18 Ray Skjelbred’s First Thursday Band
LEADERSHIP PRESIDENT: Judy Levy [email protected] 425-890-6605VICE PRESIDENT: George Swinford [email protected] 425-869-2780SECRETARY: Cilla Trush [email protected] 206-363-9174TREASURER: Gloria Kristovich [email protected] 425-776-7816 BOARD OF DIRECTORS Dave Brown: [email protected] 253-752-6525Joanne Hargrave [email protected] 206-550-4664Leroy Johnson: [email protected] 206-772-4378Jan Lemmon [email protected] 425-776-9763Edmund Lewin: 360-297-6633Ian McKenna: [email protected] 425-771-5479 George Oelrich: [email protected] 360-793-0836 Carol Rippey: [email protected] 425-776-5072
MEMBERSHIP COORDINATOR Carol Rippey: [email protected] 425-776-5072
EDITORAnita LaFranchi: [email protected] 206-522-7691
Gigs for Local BandsBELLINGHAM TRADITIONAL JAZZ SOCIETY 2 - 5 pm VFW Hall 625 N. State StDec. 3, Company B
OLYMPIA JAZZ SOCIETY 3rd Sunday at the Elks, write to [email protected] for dates and band playing.
CASEY MacGILL’s BLUE 4 TRIOSundays, 5:30 - 8:30 Tutta Bella Pizzeria 4411 Stoneway N 206-633-3800Wednesdays, 8-11. Pink Door Restaurant & Lounge 1919 Post Alley (Pike Market) 206-443-3241
FIRST THURSDAY BAND1st Thurs of each month, 7 - 10 p.m., New Orleans Restaurant, 114 1st Ave S., Seattle, WA
GLENN CRYTZER’s SYNCOPATORS1st Sunday of the Month 9:30-12:30 Century Ballroom 915 East Pine (2nd Floor) 206-324-7263Third Wednesday of the Month (same as above)
GRAND DOMINION JAZZ BANDNew website: www.dizswift.btinternet.co.uk/gdjb/calendar_page.htm
holotradband Tuesdays, 7 - 10 p.m., New Orleans Restaurant, 114 1st Ave S., Seattle, WA
THE MARKET STREET DIXIELAND JASS BAND Dec. 21st, 8:30 pm Conor Byrne Pub 5140 Ballard Ave NW SeattleJan 14th, 8 pm Salmon Bay Eagles in Ballard 8 PM.
NEW ORLEANS JAZZ QUINTETMondays 6:30 - 9:30 p.m. New Orleans Restaurant, 114 1st Ave S., Seattle, WA
PEARL DJANGODec. 3, 7pm Under the Red Umbrella Call first - this may sell out! 1502 Rucker Avenue, Everett, WA 98201, 425.252.9193Dec. 10, 8pm Blackbird Bakery Cafe 10007 270th NW Main Street, Stanwood, WA 98292; 360-939-BAKE (2253)Dec. 31, 6:30 pm First Night, Tacoma Theatre district.
UPTOWN LOWDOWN JBDec. 20, 6:45 & 8:45 pm Lights of Christmas Warm Beach, Stanwood, WA “Uptown Lite” - Jingle JazzDec. 21, 6:45 & 8:45 pm Lights of Christmas Warm Beach, Stanwood, WA 6:45 & 8:45 pm “Uptown Lite” - Jingle JazzDec. 23, 7-9:30pm Crossroads Bellevue Uptown “Lite” - Jingle Jazz Dec. 27, 6:45 & 8:45 Lights of Christmas Warm Beach, Stanwood, WA 6:45 & 8:45 pm “Uptown Lite” - Jingle Jazz
On Your Dial........Saturday7 - 12 p.m. Swing Years and beyond KUOW 94.9 FMSunday3 -6 p.m. Art of Jazz, Ken Wiley, KPLU 88.5 FM
JAZZ SOUNDINGSPublished monthly except July and August by the Puget Sound Tradi-tional Jazz Society.Anita LaFranchi, Editor, [email protected] must be submitted in a jpeg or PDF format Payment in advance to: Gloria Kristovich, P.O. Box 373, Edmonds, WA 98020-0373
Advertising Rates:Full page $100. 7 1/2” wide by 9 1/2 “ tallHalf Page $60. 7 1/2” wide by 4 1/4 “ tall Quarter Page $40. 3 5/8 Wide by 4 1/4 “ tall Deadline is the 10th of the month for the next months issue
Jazz Soundings December 2011 Page 3
Don’t miss the
Puget Sound Traditional Jazz Society Election
To vote you will need to attend the December 18th Pre-Christmas Concert!!!
By Doug Parker
Trumpeter, Lu Watters was born in Santa Cruz, California, on December 19, 1911, and began playing the trumpet/cornet at a very early age. In fact, this writer recalls reading that young Lucius was regarded as the most promising bugler at the military academy he attended.
At a very early age, Lu began playing professionally; in fact, he made his first recording in 1929, the year he turned 18, in San Francisco with Jack Danford’s “Ben Franklin Hotel Orchestra.” Later, he played with the band of Carroll Lofner, which included a drummer named Phil Harris. In 1938, Lu formed his own big band which played for a couple of years at Sweets’ Ballroom in Oakland, and included several musicians who later were to be colleagues of his in the famous Yerba Buena Jazz Band: Bob Scobey on the second trumpet; Bob Helm-clarinet and tenor sax; Squire Girsback-string bass; Russ Bennett or Clancy Hayes-guitar (Clancy also sometimes played banjo, an instrument which was NOT in favor at that time!;) and Gordon “Gramps” Edwards-drums. The sound of this twelve-piece band was not unlike that of the Bob Crosby band, according to the CD insert we have of this ensemble; they mixed in such jazz standards as “Panama” and “Tiger Rag” with such popular tunes as “Stardust” and “Talk Of the Town”.
In 1940, Lu, tiring of the big band sound, got together with some like-minded colleagues, such as Helm, trombonist Melvin “Turk” Murphy, pianist Paul Lingle, and banjoist Pat Patton, to jam on the rooftop of the Mark Twain Hotel in San Francisco.
This lasted a short time, then Lu decided to put together a band which would feature the power and drive of two cornets, and so the Yerba Buena (the original name of San Francisco) Jazz Band was born. The original line-up of the band was as follows: Watters and Byron Berry-cornets; Murphy-trombone; Helm-clarinet; Forrest Browne-piano; Benny Johnson-banjo; Dick Lammi-tuba; and Gordon Edwards-drums. Between early 1940 and late 1941 there were a number of personnel changes; for example, Murphy left the band for a while, then came back, and Lammi was in and out. As Clancy Hayes, who replaced Benny Johnson, was not always available, due to being in demand for radio work, Lu hired Russ Bennett for what might be called “banjo insurance”.
By December 1941, the band was playing at the Dawn Club, located on Annie Street, an alley back of the well-known Palace Hotel. Dave Stuart, head of the newly-formed Jazz Man Record Company, hired the band to cut eight sides for his label, which
LU WATTERS CENTENNIAL (And the Anniversary of a Historic Recording Session)
they did on December 19, on Lu’s 30th birthday. The personnel of the band by this time was: Watters and Scobey-cornets; Murphy-trombone; Ellis Horne-clarinet; Wally Rose-piano; Hayes and Bennett-banjos; Lammi-tuba; and Bill Dart-drums.
At first, Stuart wanted all eight sides to be by the full band, but Lu talked him into including a piano solo by Rose with rhythm accompaniment of George Botsford’s “Black and White Rag.” That piece alone, paid for the recording session! (This may have been the most historic recording session since the ones by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band in January and February, 1917)
The band was called back to record 14 more sides for Jazz Man in March 1942, this time with Squire Girsback replacing Lammi on tuba. By then, our nation was at war, and the band members expected to go into military service. Lu wanted the band to go into the Navy as a unit, but when they went to enlist, only he and Turk were taken at the time, though nearly all band members wound up in uniform. Wartime units of the “YBJB” existed briefly, but it wasn’t until 1946, when World War II was over, that the band was re-assembled and played at the Dawn Club. The famous “brass triad” of Watters, Scobey and Murphy, remained intact, with Rose, Lammi, and Dart back; Helm, the original clarinetist, returned to the band, with Harry Mordecai taking over the banjo chair. The Yerba Buena band recorded 36 sides for the “West Coast” record label, which Lu may have set up, of which eight selections were ragtime piano solos by Wally Rose, with rhythm accompaniment, and some new material was introduced, specifically five compositions by Watters (written while he was aboard the ship “Antigua”,) and two by Murphy.
In 1947, the members of the Yerba Buena Jazz Band left the Dawn Club and started their own place, Hambone Kelly’s, across the bay in the city of Albany. Several band members lived in rooms behind the bandstand, and many contributed their non-musical talents: Lu was the chef, Helm the bartender, Turk served as electrician, plumber, and general handy man, and Lammi was the projectionist, who showed movies during breaks.
By 1949, Murphy and Scobey went out on their own, and while Turk stayed with the style of ragtime-oriented jazz with its New Orleans roots, which has become known as the “West Coast” or “San Francisco” style, Scobey went off in a different direction. Mordecai left the band for health reasons, but the Yerba Buena band carried on, now consisting of Watters, Helm, Rose, Lammi, Dart, Hayes back in on banjo and vocals, sometimes joined by Pat Patton on the other banjo, and trombonist Don Noakes (who
Continued on page 5
Jazz Soundings December 2011 Page 4
SEASIDE JAZZ FESTIVAL
(formerly known as Oregon Dixieland Jubilee) Presented by Lighthouse Jazz Society February 24 thru 26, 2012
SEASIDE, OREGON
Five Venues: Three at the Convention Center and one each at the
Best Western Oceanview & Seaside Elks.
DANCE FLOORS! FREE SHUTTLE!
More information at www.jazzseaside.com or 1-866-345-6257; M-F; 9 – 5 PM only.
BLACK SWAN BLUE STREET BRIDGETOWN SEXTET CHOPPED LIVER JAZZ BAND HIGH SIERRA IVORY&GOLD NEW EL DORADO JAZZ BAND TITAN HOT SEVEN TOM RIGNEY & FLAMBEAU UPTOWN LOWDOWN WALLY’S WAREHOUSE WAIFS BOB DRAGA, Guest Artist
Dues for 12 months: Single $25 Couple $40 Lifetime single $200 Lifetime Couple $350Patron $500 (One or two lifetime membership)Please enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope.
The Puget Sound Traditional Jazz Society is a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization dedicated to the performance and preservation of traditional jazz. Your membership and contributions are tax-deductible. Thank you.
Puget Sound Traditional Jazz Society19031 Ocean Ave., Edmonds, WA 98020-2344
Please (enroll) (renew) (me) (us) as a member or members
NameAddress City, StateZip Code E-Mail Phone Check when renewing if your address label is correct
Jazz Soundings December 2011 Page 5
SUBSCRIBE TODAYNews You Can Use About Traditional Jazz and Ragtime
U.S. One Year: $26 -:- Canadian $39 U.S. Funds*U.S. Two Years: $48 -:- Canadian $74 U.S. Funds*
(*) Includes Airmail DeliveryMake check payable to: The American Rag
20137 Skyline Ranch Dr., Apple Valley, CA 92308-5035Phone/Fax: 760-247-5145
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Puget Sound Traditional Jazz Society
was replaced by Warren Smith of the Bob Crosby and Pete Daily bands, but ONLY for their Mercury recordings, so Helm once told this writer.) Lu was out of action trumpet-wise for a while, so played the washboard in a quintet with Helm playing the only wind instrument, Rose at the piano, Lammi switching to string bass, and Hayes on banjo and vocals. By the end of 1950, the “YBJB” was a five-man band consisting of Watters (back on trumpet), Helm, Jerry Stanton at the piano, replacing Wally Rose, Lammi, and Dart, though occasionally, when his relatively-newly-formed band wasn’t getting much work, Turk would sit in with this now trombone-less band, occasionally joined by his trumpeter, Don Kinch.
Lu retired at the end of 1950, sold his trumpet, and worked as a chef, also pursuing his interest in geology, which manifested itself in a hobby of making jewelry from the stones that he found on the nearby beach.
In 1963, he briefly came out of retirement to join in the (ultimately successful) protest against PG & E’s plan to build a nuclear reactor on the San Andreas Fault near Bodega Bay, and not only sat in with Turk’s band at Earthquake McGoon’s, but recorded an LP with a band consisting of himself, Bob Mielke on trombone (Turk had come down with a cold and couldn’t play), Bob Helm, Wally Rose, banjoist Monte Ballou, tuba-ist Bob Short, and drummer Thad Vandon, with vocals by Barbara Dane.
Your writer and some other diehard trad-jazz fans had the pleasure of visiting with Lu Watters at his home in Cotati, north of San Francisco, where he spent his last years. Lu Watters died in 1989, at the age of 77, after a battle with cancer.
He deserves much credit for reviving an art form considered dead, but bringing his own touch to it. The same may be said of his colleagues, most notably Turk Murphy, Bob Helm, Bob Scobey, Clancy Hayes, and Wally Rose. The first recordings by the Yerba Buena Jazz Band are responsible for the return to active playing of such New Orleans jazz greats as Willie “Bunk” Johnson, Edward “Kid” Ory, and Thomas “Papa Mutt” Carey.
In a future article, we hope to discuss the impact and influence the Lu Watters Yerba Buena Jazz Band has had on “OKOM.”
AIN’T NO HEAVEN SEVEN Leader: Terry [email protected] 206-465-6601CASEY MacGILL’s BLUE 4 TRIOContact: Mike Daugherty [email protected] 206-832-5372 www.blue4trio.comCOAL CREEK JAZZ BAND Leader: Judy Logen, 425-641-1692 Bookings: [email protected] COMBO DE LUXE Bookings: Candace Brownwww.combodeluxe.net [email protected] CONCERT BAND Leader: Allan Rustadwww.comband.org 425-744-4575DUKES OF DABOB Bookings: Mark Holman, 360-779-6357, [email protected]. DUWAMISH JAZZ BAND Bookings: Carol [email protected] 206-932-7632FIRST THURSDAY BAND Leader: Ray Skjelbred,[email protected] 206-420-8535FOGGY BOTTOM JAZZ BAND Leader: Bruce Cosacchiwww.foggybottomjazz.com 360-638-2074GRAND DOMINION JAZZ BAND Bookings: Bob [email protected] 360-387-2500 holotradband Leader: Dave Holowww.holotradband.com 253-875-6932 HOT CLUB SANDWICH Contact: James Schneiderwww.hotclubsandwich.com 206-561-1137
HUME STREET PRESERVATION JAZZ BANDBookings: Karla West 406-862-3814JAZZ UNLIMITED BAND Leader: Duane [email protected] 866-337-2111JAZZ STRINGS Bookings: Candace [email protected] 253-752-6525LOUISIANA JOYMAKERS! Leader: Leigh [email protected] 604-294-9464THE MARKET STREET DIXIELAND JASS BANDAnsgar Duemchen: 425-286-5703 Tim Sherman 206-547-1772www.marketstreetdixielandjass.com MIGHTY APHRODITE Co-leaders: Bria Skonberg, Claire McKenna [email protected] 405-613-0568NEW ORLEANS QUINTET Leader: Dave Holowww.neworleansquintet.com 253-875-6932NO INHIBITIONS JAZZ BAND [email protected] 360-981-7412 www.noinhibitionsjazz.comRAINIER JAZZ BAND Manager: Randy [email protected] 206-437-1568RAY [email protected] 206-420-8535RONNIE PIERCE JAZZ [email protected], 206-467-9365UPTOWN LOWDOWN JAZZ BAND Leader: Bert [email protected] 425-898-4288WILD CARDS JAZZ Leader: Randy [email protected] 206-437-1568
BANDS, CONTACTS
Puget SoundTraditional Jazz Society19031 Ocean Ave.Edmonds, WA 98020-2344
Address service requested
Non-profit OrgU..S. Postage
PaidSeattle, WAPermit 1375
Your invitation
You and your friends are cordially invited to hear sizzling-hot jazz
as a guest of Elks Club Jazz Society member Colin Dearing.
Admission is payable at the door.
