Struttin' At McGoons
“No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality.” ― Shirley Jackson
As my friend Tom Shannon and I texted recently, Dixieland Music is not a style that is very much practiced anymore. Born from the original Jazz movement in New Orleans, it generally featured one instrument playing a melody…a blues yarn or an old song from far off lands…with the others improvising around it: banjos, clarinets, trombones, upright bass, tubas all weaving different melodies in and out of the main one as one perfect organism. To me, Dixieland represented the beginnings of the free jazz movement with any giving performance devolving into a chaotic jam that always held itself together with a rhythm hidden amongst the styling of the rest of the band.
Dixieland has been rejected by some because of its ole tymey sound, others because of its name, referencing the rebel South. And while yes, the name comes with major issues, the style was practiced by both black and white musicians. Kid Ory, who is considered to be the first African-Americans to record a Jazz song, helped spur on the revival of Dixieland in the late-1940s through the 1950s, introduced both old and new musicians to new audiences. Dixieland became such a strong movement at that time, that the major labels took notice, signing up dixieland artists and having great success with their releases.
One of the centers of the Dixieland revival was San Francisco, and one of the kings of SF Dixieland was Turk Murphy. Born on this day in 1915, Murphy started recording during a Navy stint in World War II playing with an original Nola Jazzster Bunk Johnson. Landing in San Francisco after, The Turk Murphy Jazz Band became a fixture of the Northbeach scene, with Turk gaining such acclaim that he was signed to Columbia Records, performed on The Ed Sullivan show, sang on Sesame Street shorts and played Carnegie Hall. His club of residence, Earthquake McGoons, became a nationally celebrated home of his style of Dixieland Jazz (where my parents used to go), celebrating the sounds of another time, played with a fresh ferocity.
When I was growing up in the 1970s, Turk would always play in the courtyard of Fort Point on July 4th. He would greet you with a smile, a smile while blowing a song from his mighty trombone. He had befriended my parents’ friends, and they would occasionally call us to let us know where to show up to see the band play. His musicians were always top-notch, and his sets were always a good time.
With Turk’s death in 1985, the style of music he helped resurrect was once again pretty much extinct. Except for Mal Sharpe’s Big Money In Jazz band that popped up playing regularly in the outside patio of Northbeach’s Savoy Tivoli in the early 21st century, the Dixieland sound that thrilled the city in the 50s was once again more of a memory (Barb and I walked down the aisle with The Big Money In Jazz band following right behind us). And with Mal’s passing, to my knowledge there really are no current practitioners.
Happy Birthday to the big man, Turk Murphy.
How Louis Armstrong Shaped the Sound of Ghana
The Winds of Change podcast talks about how Armstrong was asked by the government to go to other countries as an ambassador, spreading the beauty of America through his trumpet and song (note: he was not enthusiastic about promoting a country that treated African-Americans so badly). This article discusses the influence of Armstrong’s sound on the people he came in contact with…a fascinating read….
Astrophotographer Captures Full Sequence of Longest Partial Eclipse in Over 500 Years
“Astrophotographer Andrew McCarthy’s photograph was taken during the longest partial lunar eclipse of the century. As usual, he went the extra mile and stayed up until 4 a.m. in order to shoot thousands of images, which he then transformed into a stunning composite photo. The final result is a rich, detailed look at the entire sequence of the lunar eclipse.”
Andrew Sandoval is a big reason the Monkees had such a successful late career. His insights on the last days of Nesmith are wonderful. Micky Dolenz also paid tribute in a Rolling Stone article yesterday as well…
One of my favorite short stories of all-time is The Lottery. Jackson was a master at making her reader feel uncomfortable, and the peak discomfort is found here….getting worse until the final few sentences. It would have been her 105th birthday today and wherever she walks now, she walks alone.
Rare watercolour by Victorian artist born without arms or legs
“Sarah Biffin…was celebrated during her lifetime—the English author Charles Dickens even referred to Biffin in his novels Nicholas Nickleby, Martin Chuzzlewit and Little Dorrit, though he often mocked her appearance—the artist fell into relative obscurity after her death in 1850.”
