I Remember Jazz: Six Decades Among the Great Jazzmen

Paul Barbarin

218 • / Remember Jazz tivals and a record session or two. Once at the Cotton Carnival in Memphis, I came into the coffee shop of the headquarters hotel and found George having brunch with other musicians and fans. I heard him say, "Watch your language. Here comes Al Rose." Still, there were things I approved of about George besides his musical artistry. I approved of the fact that he was color blind on racial matters. He always said, "We learned everythingwe knew about jazz from black musicians." I doubt that that was true, but he believed it. I certainly am aware of the fact that he was deeply influenced by Roy Palmer, an early black trombonist. But, as I have written before, that music is a product not of a race but of a place and all the people in it. George demonstrated, however, that bigotry doesn't necessarily run in families. In matters like building fires under the chairs of his fellow musicians while they were performing, however, or stuffing limburger cheese into the horns of unsuspecting tuba players or switching banjo strings on people and otherwise comporting himself in sophomoric ways in public, he was intolerable. In combination with a Wild Bill Davison or a Wingy Mannone, he could be a catastrophe. Muggsy Spanier could control him pretty well, but Muggsy could deviate from genteel behavior on occasion himself. I saw the taciturn bassist Steve Brown slug George in the stomach in an elevator one time—hard enough to bring him to his knees. I had no idea what the controversy had been about, but I would have been ready to bet it was something George had initiated. Paul Barbarin Paul Barbarin was one of the finest gentlemen in jazz—and a good friend besides. He rarely appeared to react to the stupidity and crassness of others. But when ugliness became so blatant that even he felt compelled to respond, he could bewithering. In 1958 the morning TV show "Wide Wide World" decided to cover the tenth anniversarycelebration of the New Orleans Jazz Club aboard the steamer President. The vessel was alive with jazz stars, including Pauls band, Sharkeys band, Wiggss band with Edmond Souchon, Lizzie Miles, Joe Robichaux, and Fats Pichon playing the calliope on the top deck. Dave Garroway, the shows host with whom I'd worked on concerts in earlier days, called me a few days before- I Remember Jazz • 219 hand and asked if I'd do him the favor of keeping an eye on things. I'm not sure he knew what he wanted me to keep an eye on, but Iwas there. The production people knew absolutely nothing about the music, and they kept asking for retake after retake until Lizzies voice was about gone and the musicians were getting irked. Barbarin wasplaying the "Basin Street Blues." It was a great band and the rendition was superb, even though they'd done it a dozen times that day. A young assistant director approached him and said, "Paul, can't you play that a little dirtier?'' Paul asked, "Where you from, young fella?" "Iowa," the kid said. "An' how old are you?" Paul pursued. "Twenty-two," wasthe answer. Paul fixed him with a glare worthy of one of Macbeth s witches. Then this jazz pioneer who had played behind King Oliver, Freddie Keppard, Louis Armstrong, and Kid Ory said, "Young fella, you're from Iowa, you're twenty-two years old, and you are tellin' me how to play the blues?" Maybe ten years before that I was sitting in Childss Paramount Restaurant in New York, watching Paul's band as he was completing an engagement there. When the set was over, Paul and the renowned clarinetist Willie Humphrey joined me at the table. We talked a few minutes and Paul said, "I got a tune we're gonna play for you. You're a big man with words, would you try to write me some words to this? I was thinkin' of somethin' about Bourbon Street. Like Bourbon Street Parade—you know, like South Rampart Street Parade." I promised I would if I could think of something. So the band played a couple of choruses and I wrote down on the menu, "Let's drive down or fly down to Bourbon Street. . . etc." Paul had already had at least one successful number; it was "Come Back Sweet Papa." Louis recorded it a couple of times. Paul said, "I'll try this out and...