WRITE ON THE HEAD!

I received a fascinating letter some days ago from John Cox, a musician from Melbourne, Australia, who has played with Len and Bob Barnard and many other traditional / New Orleans / swing bands.

John told me that he has a signed banjo head from the Twenties with members of the King Oliver band, that he would like to sell and have go to a good home. Several New Orleans authorities including Greg Lambousy have said they thought it was genuine.  John says he has a Gretsch tenor banjo which the head came from. He’s looking to sell both for a starting bid of $1800 (he has had offers from interested people and institutions) and you can email him at johnpaulacox@optusnet.com.au.

From what I can see, the Louis signature is genuine. And it appears that the original owner of this holy relic offered it to musicians in 1923, 1926, and 1928 for their signatures.  I see Freddie Keppard, Sippie Wallace, Baby Dodds, Johnny Dodds, Honore Dutrey, Manuel Perez, Bud Scott, and one other (top left) that I don’t quite recognize. (News flash!  Kris Bauwens, who knows a great deal about these things, has suggested that it is Bunk Johnson.  Indeed!)

I asked John about the provenance of this object, to learn more about it, and to sense its authenticity, and he told me that he bought the head from a man named Sampson, living in Queensland.  Sampson told John that the banjo had belonged to his father.  When Sampson’s father was about 15, Sampson’s grandfather would take him to the United States from England by ship to New Orleans, up the Mississippi River to Chicago.  They would stay in a hotel and get contraband to take back to England. In the hotels were jazz bands, and he befriended Bud Scott, who looked after him and gave him the banjo, which he had musicians sign over the years.  The banjo would have been fairly cheap at the time.  The boy was nicknamed “Mississippi Sam,” which was shortened to “Sippi Sam.” John believes the story to be true as Sampson’s father had died but Sampson said he could always remember the banjo at the family home.  Sampson had come out to Australia as a child and was about sixty when John met him.

I don’t ordinarily turn JAZZ LIVES into a hot market, but this object is so enthralling on its own that I felt drawn to do so. Please do get in touch with John if your budget can tolerate the purchase of such a beautiful artifact.

May your happiness increase!

SVETLANA SWINGS WITH WYCLIFFE (June 7, 2014)

The singer Svetlana Shmulyian is a very engaging improviser in the great tradition of lilting melodies over a swinging background. Happily, she has a new New York City show coming up on June 7. Here’s what I wrote about her first CD release, and — so you can see and hear for yourself — I offer a few videos from 2012 and from 2013.

Her band is called Svetlana and the Delancey Five in honor of its Lower East Side residency, but this gig is at B. B. King’s (with more information on Facebook here) as part of the Blue Note Jazz Festival.  Svetlana likes to sing with the best musicians and this gig will feature the remarkable Wycliffe Gordon doing what he does so well.  She tells me that the Lucille Room also has a great hardwood dance floor, so you can sit and listen or dance the hours away. Shows are at 7 and 9:30 PM.  (Doors open one hour before for each show.)

I would be there if I could.  The other musicians will include Adrian Cunningham (reeds), Charlie Caranicas (trumpet), Dalton Ridenhour (piano), and Rob Garcia (drums): melodic swingers for sure.

May your happiness increase!