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54 • I Remember Jazz out-of-town artist may only appear in the one place he's booked for. After some frantic telephoning, I actually got through to the czar himself , James Caesar Petrillo. "Its just the damn Star Spangled Banner!" I complained. "Who the hell listens to the Star Spangled Banner? The publicity will do Prima as much good as it does us." Petrillo offered a compromise. "You got a decent reputation," he complimented me. "I know you never promote any nonunion jobs. I got a suggestion. He can walk out on the field. He can carry his horn. He can sing the Star Spangled Banner. The union has no jurisdiction over singing. That way the people get to see him and hear him. He can give away the car or the golf clubs or whatever. Okay?" It was a tolerable compromise, and that's how the baseball fans got their first look at Louis Prima. I had arranged with sportscaster Byrum Saam to avoid radio commercials while our thing was going on. Between games I got out to the pitchers mound and blew a police whistle to call the players into an infield conclave. They surrounded Louis and Schoolboy Rowe while the news photographers clicked away. A plane passed overhead trailing a streamer that announced, "Tonight . . . Louis Prima . . . The Click." That night, 38,000 people triggered the electric eye counter at the entrance to the saloon, 3,000 more than the attendance at the ball park. Louis said, "When you were a kid I never thought you'd have the guts to pull off something like this." "When you were a kid," I replied, "I didn't think you'd ever be able to memorize the Star Spangled Banner." When Louis was very young, perhaps 17 (he was four years older than I), he was already a featured soloist in a theater pit orchestra. I can't remember whether it was Loews State or the Strand. He was already the boy wonder of New Orleans jazz. I remember sitting in the theater and watching the single spot pick Louis up as he blew his hot chorus of "The Sheik of Araby." Later I asked him, "Have you ever thought of having a band of your own?" He answered, "I already had that." Adrian Rollini All jazz collectors know the name of Adrian Rollini, who was not only an expert bass-saxophonist and xylophone virtuoso but also had the knack of getting jobs for himself and whatever group he happened to / Remember Jazz • 55 be performing with. For a time he was the proprietor of Adrians Tap Room, a thirties jazz spot in New York. Some spectacular records that included Wingy Mannone were issued under the name of Adrian and His Tap Room Gang. He made countless records with Red Nichols, Bix Beiderbecke, and the California Ramblers. Toward the end of his musical career he was featured leading his own cocktail trio in New York at the Roosevelt Hotel. (Guy Lombardo was in the main room.) On more than one occasion he told me he wasgoing to "quit the music business and go fishin'." Since Yd heard that story from scores of musicians who never seemed to actually do it, I paid him no attention . However, Adrian did leave New York, and I never heard any more about him, musically. In 1960, I bought a house in Key Largo, Florida, on Buttonwood Sound. I could catch snapper, grouper, tarpon, and lobsters from my dock. I was living alone at the time, which has alwaysbeen easy for me to do as long as I had something to write on. I'd been in the place for maybe a week when I found it necessary to drive to Tavernier, about twelve miles down the road, to a tackle shop. On the edge of town I was startled to see a fairly large sign that advertised Adrian Rollini's Fishing Camp. On my way back from the store, I pulled off the highway and took the indicated road to his place. He must have been out fishing. The premises were deserted and there was a padlock on the door. There was also a note that just said "7 PM." I left a note, too, telling him Fd been there and would stop by one day soon. My phone hadn't been installed yet, so I couldn't leave a number. Several times I stopped by, taking a chance on catching him, and...

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