The record changer (Mar-Dec 1947)

I played with dance bands, but I played ^symphony as well and was one of the first • to introduce the guitar in symphony; I al' , ternated between guitar and violin, til I was first taken to guitar when four years Ipf age. I had a cousin who had a guitar, A-ho roomed at our house. When he was through with it at night, he put it under his 3ed. At an early age my people took me to the French Opera House. I was very fond of Dpera and learned excerpts from it by ear it a very early age. gj. As for my beginning with guitar, my mother went to to the store one day and I .vas left alone in the house. This happened when I was four years of age. I had the idea — :o go under that bed and get that guitar. I picked it up, fooled with it a little bit and started with Home Sweet Home, a melody I n three chords. I had forgotten about my nother and everybody else; all of a sudden she came home and I made a dive to put r:he guitar under the bed. She told me this Vas all right, asked me to play again and I ^lled in one or two of the neighbors next loor — they marvelled at it. My father came lome and I played for him. He liked it so well that without changing his work clothes, le went out to Rampart Street and bought ne an old guitar for a dollar and fifty cents. [ was up early the next morning at 5 .00 SEPTEMBER, 1947 A.M. and that was my start. I still didn't know anything about music at that time, just what I heard. During that time, serenading was quite the thing and all during the night you could hear serenading on violins, mandolins, and guitars. The old people would get up and the young people would stay up all night long. The morals were very high and their intellect was very good. We would get up and dance and I would listen to the guitars — there were some very fine guitarists . . . beautiful tones, chords and nice rhythm. They didn't play any jazz ; they were waltzes and marches. There was one guitarist downtown they called Frankie who was probably one of the greatest guitarists of that type that I have ever listened to. This was way back in 1903. I joined John Robichaux in 1904. He was the first one who started this type of playing. There were seven men in the band (no piano) : guitar, violin, Jim Williams on trumpet (he used to use a mute), cornet, Batiste Delisle on trombone, D. Chandler on drums and the greatest bass player I ever heard in my life — Henry Kimball. They played for the elite and had the town sewed up. In about 1908, Robichaux had a contest with Bolden in Lincoln Park and Robichaux won. For the contest, Robichaux added Manuel Perez. Bolden got hot headed that night as Robichaux really had his gang out. On other occasions when Robichaux was playing in Lincoln Park and Bolden in Johnson Park, about a block away, Bolden would strip Lincoln Park of all the people by slipping his horn through the knot-hole in the fence and calling the children home. Each Sunday Bolden went to church and that's where he got his idea of jazz music. They would keep perfect rhythm there by clapping their hands. I think I am the first one who started four beat for guitar and that's where I heard it (all down strokes — four straight down). Bolden was still a great man for the blues — no two questions about that. The closest thing to it was Oliver and he was better than Oliver. He was a great man for what we call "dirt music." Let me tell you, he was plenty powerful. Even with all that power, the trumpet players of that day would have their notes covered, and they would not hurt the ear the way rebop does now. You could hear every instrument in these bands — every instrument. The drummer had his drums tuned — he would tune those drums like they were a piano. The greatest jazz bands in New Orleans were in the period 1890 to 1910 and the greatest band of them all was Freddie Keppard's Band. I played with him for a couple (Continued on Page 6) • 5