Big Band Jazz in Black West Virginia, 1930-1943

CHAPTER TWO: Validating Herbert Hall’s Contention: Paul Barnes’s Gig Book

48 CHAPTER TWO Validating Herbert Hall’s Contention: Paul Barnes’s Gig Book Herbert Hall’s recollection that “all the bands were goin’ through West Virginia in the 1930s because [emphasis added] the mines were in operation . . . and everyone was employed” is supported by evidence found in a rarely encountered document: a record kept by the saxophonist/clarinetist Paul D. Barnes (1901–1981) documenting various details of his performances . The term used by certain jazz musicians for such a volume is “gig book.” A native of New Orleans and known there by his nickname “Polo,” Barnes’s musical career was largely played out in the Crescent City and elsewhere in Louisiana, first as co-leader of the Original Diamond Band with Lawrence Marrero beginning in 1919, later as sideman in bands led respectively by Henry “Kid” Rena, Oscar “Papa” Celestin, and Ferdinand “Jelly Roll” Morton. During three separate periods—1927, 1931, and 1934– 35—he played for Joe Oliver. In 1932, in between the latter stints with Oliver, he led his own band, the Paul D. Barnes Orchestra. After he left Oliver in 1935, he returned to New Orleans for the next fifteen years or so. After that he divided his time between California and his home town, ultimately playing at Preservation Hall. He retired in 1977. In sum, “Polo” Barnes was one of the legion of highly capable sidemen to come out of New Orleans—“full of elegance and impeccable taste,” was how Marcel Joly characterized his playing in The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz—but an individual whose career does not loom large in jazz history. Perhaps more so than for the legacy of his recordings, Barnes merits attention for what his gig book tells us about daily life in one black band in the mid1930s (Joly 1988, 73). Validating Herbert Hall: Paul Barnes’s Gig Book 49 Barnes’s diary would ultimately fill most of two ledger books covering the period from 1933 to 1952. Each was twelve inches high and seven and a half inches wide, a size that meant each could have traveled in one of his instrument cases. The first covers the period from 1933 to early October 1935. The second embraces a much longer time span, though in less detail: from October 10, 1935, to August 2, 1952.1 What motivated Barnes to maintain such a document may in part be inferred from the fact that the initial entries were made during the period when he led his own band. Having kept records of his own operation during 1933 and 1934, he simply maintained the habit when he joined Oliver. While entries varied in length, almost without exception all provided the following information: the name of the town in which the band played, the race of the audience (either “colored” or white), as well as the amount of money paid to each member of the band. Accompanying many entries were annotations describing various incidents that occurred during the band’s tour, from quarrels among musicians to breakdowns of the band’s bus. What follows is a transcription of entries for December 25 to 28, 1934, reproduced in Figure 2.1: Dec 25th Orchestra leaves Huntington and Play dance at Ashland, Ky colored @ 5.00 William Purnell joins Orchestra—Orch returns to Huntington W.Va. Wed. Dec 26th Orchestra Plays Welch West Va white world war Veterans’ Hall—@ 4.00 reside overnight. Thursday Dec 27th Orchestra plays Williamson W. Va. (Col) @4.00 on this trip (to Williamson) from Welch The left front wheel of the buss [sic] was coming off. Eldridge who was riding on the outside saw it in time to prevent an injury—Orch hires truck and taxi to town about 8 miles. Friday Dec 28th Orchestra hires taxie [sic] to Kermit W. Va.—White—@ 4.71—tips included—Lionel Bob goes on train—Buck brings the Buss afterward and get it stalled near dance Place. Bob gets truck to Push Buss [sic] which got it started. Economic Foundation of Big Band Dance Music 50 One piece of information that Barnes provided, though not consistently , was the gross amount paid to the band’s manager, Ross McConnell, by the organizers of the dances for which the band performed. McConnell had joined the band as booking agent in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, on April 2, 1934, perhaps not coincidentally the first date on which Barnes recorded his affiliation with Oliver. McConnell...