The record changer (Jan 1955-Dec 1957)

" i thot i heard buddy bolden ' // rd Morton was fond of talking about >ld times in New Orleans. He knew the very well — downtown where he was and where his family lived, and upwhere his godmother's home was ed in the garden district. As he grew he spent more and more time uptown, ibly because his godmother permitted derably more freedom than he enjoyed Mne. The garden district was a very neighborhood, but in the back of town 'his there were scattered about here there barrooms and honkytonks. In old Orleans even the poorest and humblest music, and these barrooms were usuequipped with dilapidated pianos, at 1 an entertainer might play to pick up I dimes, but generally the playing was die and done by the musically inclined ns. Jelly Roll liked to recall the early and honky tonk tunes he heard and ed thereabouts in his youth, ose were the days when Buddy Bolden lis legendary trumpet were flourishing, instrument was probably a cornet, but is of little importance, — when he put ing power behind a tune, it could be a great distance. Bunk Johnson and Roll were largely responsible for the ation that has been acquired by ;" Bolden these past few years; while ed Bolden was known on both sides of Mississippi River, but today his fame panned oceans. Buddy himself would less be amazed if he could know that m's almost plaintive, "I Thot I Heard r Bolden Say. . . /' has been heard genuine pleasure to the antipodes and / ROY CAREW Thot I heard Buddy Bolden say "You're nasty, you're dirty, take it away. "You're terrible, you're awful, take it away", I thot I heard him say. Thot I heard Buddy Bolden shout "Open up that window, and let that bad air out, "Open up that window, and let the foul air out", I thot I heard Buddy Bolden say. (Printed by permission of TempoMusic Publishing Company, copyright owners) Jelly Roll's story of how far he could hear Bolden's playing has caused many a smile of unbelief, and at least one well known writer was moved to get into print with a vehement denial of .the possibility of the sound carrying so far. Morton used to say that, when Buddy was playing at Lincoln Park and turned his trumpet towards the city on a quiet evening, he could be heard around Jackson Avenue and South Robertson Street, "a distance of ten or twelve miles." This corner is located in the back portion of the garden district, probably not far from where his godmother lived. Actually, there is no doubt that Buddy's horn could be heard in the area mentioned when he was playing in Lincoln Park and atmospheric conditions were favorable, for it is but a scant two miles. Was Morton excus*able/for saying "ten or twelve" miles? Only Ferdinand Morton could answer that, but y believe there is an explanation. Lincoln Park was located on Carrollton Avenue, and was conveniently reached in those days by the St. Charles and Tulane Belt street cars. This belt line furnished a very popular ride during the early 1900's; one could board the car at the starting point on Canal Street and ride all the way around the belt and. back to the starting point for a nickel, a ride of ten or twelve miles. Except for the old elevated lines in New York, the St. Charles — Tulane Belt was as long a ride as I ever got for a 5$ piece in my young days. So it wouldn't be hard for Morton and his pals, idling about South Robertson Street on a quiet evening, to say they could hear Buddy Bolden's trumpet "all the way 'round the St. Charles Belt, and that's ten or twelve miles!", ignoring, for the sake of musical history, that a straight line is the shortest distance, etc. As I sit in my easy chair in a reminiscent mood, thinking somewhat aimlessly of the hundreds of thousands of records that have been made in this country and abroad; of the many, many magazines devoted to jazz and to swing; of the airways jammed with broadcasts of jazz, hot and tepid; of the motion pictures plentifully sprinkled with refreshing music; of the books published, completed and being written; and of the multitudinous correlated activities and industries: I find myself irresistibly forced to the conclusion that Ferd Morton made an understatement. It is not too much to say: By the rude levee that held the flood, As past New Orleans the river swirled, Here once the famous Bolden stood, And blew the blast heard 'round the world. Record Changer is published monthly and copyrighted 1955 by William Grauer, Jr., 418 West 49th St., New York 19, N. Y. For subscription ind collectors' advertising rates see the information blanks in another section in the book. Write or telephone for our commercial advertising