La Cucaracha

A contemporary corrido song sheet of
La Cucaracha
issued during the Mexican Revolution.
(source: wikipedia)

La Cucaracha, is one of Mexico's best-known folk songs, a corrido that became popular in Mexico during the Mexican Revolution (1910-20). The song consists of verse-and-refrain (strophe-antistrophe) pairs, with each half of each pair consisting of four lines featuring an ABCB rhyme sceme. The lyrics of the song have many different versions, a printed version from the time of the Mexican Revolution exists (here)
The refrain reads:
La cucaracha, la cucaracha 
Ya no puede caminar 
Porque no tiene, porque le falta 
Marijuana que fumar.

(The cockroach, the cockroach
Now he can't go traveling
Because he doesn't have, because he lacks
Marijuana to smoke.)

And the verse continues:
Ya la murio la cucaracha 
Ya la lleven a enterrar 
Entre cuatro zopilotes 
Y un raton de sacristan.

(The cockroach just died 

And they carried him off to bury him 

Among four buzzards 

And the sexton's mouse.)

The origins of the song are obscure, some versions refer to the Moorish wars in Spain, which concluded with the conquest of the Moorish kingdom of Granada by Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492. Probably the song itself doesn't go back that far, but in an 1818 book, according to one source, the Mexican writer Jose Joaquin Fernandez de Lizardi claimed the song was brought to Mexico from Spain by a captain of marines. Some lyrics of the song are commemorating 19th-century conflicts in both Spain and Mexico, but verse production didn't really increase until the Mexican revolution of 1910-1920. So many stanzas were added by partisans on all sides during this period that today, despite its Spanish origin, the song is associated mostly with Mexico. Some say the mentioning of marijuana was directed at the dictatorial Mexican president Victoriano Huerta (ruled 1913-1914), ridiculed by his many enemies as a drunk and dope fiend who lived only for his daily weed. Other claim that la cucaracha refers solely to Pancho Villa, a famous bandido/revolutionary general. Whatever the origins and meaning of the song, La Cucaracha is the Spanish equivalent of Yankee Doodle — a traditional satirical tune periodically fitted out with new lyrics to meet the needs of the moment. (excerpted from this source)

The song's verses fit a traditional melody separate from that of the refrain but sharing the refrain's meter (either 5/4 or 6/4). The melody and the refrain are instantly ear catching and the song has been performed successfully in various settings. Here's a traditional Mexican performance of La Cucaracha by a mariachi trio

Original film poster (1934)

In 1934, an American short musical film titled La Cucaracha directed by Lloyd Corrigan was released to show the new full-color Technicolor Process No. 4 ("three-strip" Technicolor) at its best. Process No. 4 had been used since 1932, mainly in Walt Disney cartoons. A synopsis of the screen play is available at the AllMovie web, here  and you have the opportunity to watch the film in HD at YouTube, here. The song is a major part of the intrigue. - In 1935, a MGM movie, La Fiesta de Santa Barbera, has Judy Garland and her sisters performing the song, the sequence has been uploaded at YouTube and is available here.

Maybe the exposing of the song on screen helped La Cucaracha to gain popularity with an American public. Fact is that many American popular bands and performers included the song in their repertoire from about the same time as the mentioned films were released. One of the first performers to include La Cucaracha and record the tune with lyrics in English (- different from the Mexican versions) was Louis Armstrong, who recorded the song for Decca in October 1935 (De 580)

Other popular performers also included La Cucaracha in the repertoire, among them was Benny Goodman, who performed the song with his orchestra in a "Camel Caravan" broadcast August 31, 1937. Also Glenn Miller and his orchestra performed the song in two CBS "Chesterfield Show" broadcasts, January 22 and March 25, 1941. Woody Herman and his orchestra recorded a mambo version of the tune for Capitol in 1954 (CAP EAP2-560), and on January 23, 1952 Charlie Parker and his quintet  used La Cucaracha as a vehicle for a stunning bop improvisation, recorded by Mercury (Mercury/Clef 11093)

In Europe, La Cucaracha also became popular during the 1930s. An early example is the recording by Lud Gluskin and his Continental Orchestra for French Columbia (Co 2952-D) (1934)

There was also made recordings of the song by accordionists in France with lyrics in French, an example of a musette inspired version was recorded by accordionist Adolphe Deprince mid-30s, available at YouTube, here - However, my favorite version of La Cucaracha recorded in France is by Mexican female vocalist and actress Lina D'Acosta featuring Oscar Alemán for the Pathé label, Paris March 5, 1935.

La Cucaracha_ Pathé (PA 531)

I have not found much info on Lina D'Acosta. She was apparently in Europe promoting Agustín Lara`s songs in France and starring of the films: Maria de la nuit (Willy Rozier - France 1936) and Il grande appello (Mario Camerini - Italy 1936).

Lina D'Acosta

She recorded six sides for Pathé 1935-36 as a singer and is accompanied by Oscar Alemán (g) and César Ríos (p). My favorite of her recordings is as mentioned La Cucaracha featuring great accompaniement and solo by Alemán, one of his best non-jazz recordings from the Paris stay, I think.

Cockroach cartoon

La Cucaracha has had several interpretations in contemporary music, nursery rhymes have been added, cartoons have been released and even Lady Gaga performed a version of the tune. To end this small presentation of the song, I'll insert another notable performance of the tune. Have fun!

---

Jo

keepitswinging.domain@gmail.com

Retrospect Keep Swinging (old) Oscar Aleman Choro Music Flexible Records Hit of the Week-Durium Friends of the Keep Swinging blog Keep Swinging Contributions

Newport '58: The Blokker concert

A 1958 Tower of Babel's Band European one-nighter.....
Dutch concert in Blokker scheduled in auction hall
Hans Koert

The 1958 International Youth Band, better known as The Tower of Babel's band, featured young talented European musicians, all selected by George Wein and director Marshall Brown to perform at the 1958 Newport festival. After the Newport concerts, the band left for Europe and were schelduled at some one-nighters, like in Blokker (The Netherlands), where bass player Ruud Jacobs, selected for Holland, had his home game at the Blokker auction hall.  

All Newport '58 International Youth Band contributions, as remembered by Dutch bass player Ruud Jacobs at my link site.

 Ruud Jacobs ( photo courtesy: Ruud Jacobs)

After the Newport concerts, the complete band moved to Europe, without guitarist Gabor Szabo, original a Hungarian,  who had left his country in 1956 due to the political situation in his homeland. He was a political refugee.
In The Netherlands the International Youth Band played at the Blokker  Veilinghal, an auction hall, on Sunday the 27th of July, 1958. For Ruud this was a thrilling experience. Originally it seems that the band should have been scheduled at the Kurhaus in Schevingen for the 27th of July.

 Blokker is a small village north of Amsterdam at a market-gardening district and during the 1950s some fanatics, like Ben Essing, son of Blokker's mayor, organized jazz- and dance band concert in the auction halls of the village.  Famous is the May 1958 Benny Goodman concert,  organized a few weeks before this Tower of Babel Band concert, which would be followed by concerts of Louis Armstrong and his All-Stars ( 10th of May, 1959 and in May 1965) and ..... even a young British pop band, entitled The Beatles (1964) were invited!.  When the Toren van Babel Band (Dutch for Tower of Babel's band) was scheduled, the Benny Goodman concert was still fresh in mind ..... The warm welcome of the Benny Goodman band, who entered the auction halls in antique cars, was repeated .... 

The line up (source: Rhythme 107 Aug. 1958)

Ze arrriveerden na een rondrit door Hoorn, Zwaag en Blokker in acht glanzend opgepoetste Chevroletjes, Fordjes en Renaults van ver voor 1930 bij de veiling. (= They arrived in eight shiny well polished antique Chevy's, Fords and Renaults at the auction hall, after a round trip along the cities of Hoorn, Zwaag and Blokker.) Onder het geluid van de amechtige toetertjes reden de wagentjes de hal binnen tot voor't podium, waar Willis Conover, disc-jockey van de "Voice of America" de orkestleden stuk voor stuk aan het publiek voorstelde. ( = The old cars blowed its horns while entering the hall, where Willis Connover, disc-jockey of the "Voice of America" introduced all members of the band).  Of course Ruud Jacobs, the Dutch representative, was welcomed with a standing ovation ....  Ben Essing, organisator, had even organized some extra trains from Amsterdam to Hoorn, but, this seems to have been a financial blow for the Nederlandse Spoorwegen, the Dutch railway organization, as only 152 people ( in stead of the 1800 expected) used this service, to reach the concert. (source:  Leeuwarder Courant, 28th of May, 1958)

The New Orleans Seven (source: Rhythme104 ( May 1958))

 

 The musicians were entered into the auction hall in old cars of the P.A.C. ( =   Pionier-Automobielen Club ) as mentioned, where the audience was warmed up by Ben Hendriks’ Dixieland Seven and Hans Roty’s New Orleans Seven, featuring leader Hans Roty and trombonist Frits Hotz; a traditional jazz band which was awarded a few weeks earlier at the Concours of the Nederlandse Jazz Federatie in Scheveningen.
 

The International Youth Band at Blokker (source: Rhythme 107 Aug. 1958)

Frank Visser who wrote a review of the concert, wondered if The Tower of Babel was a real band or a collection of top-soloists …..   Frank Visser was not very impressed by its leader Marshall Brown, whose artistic leadership was not very clear …  He should have led a swing dance band instead of a jazz big band, was Frank’s scathing opinion ….  De uitstekende scores gingen ver boven zijn macht en hij moest het zoeken in swing-varieté in plaats van een jazz Big Band.

 "The Tower of Babel"-orkest in veilinghal van Blokker ( Leeuwarder Courant 28 juli 1958)

Although the sound quality was very bad – the saxes were lost in the noise of the brass – De saxen verdronken in het kopertumult, the solos were great. In Frank’s opinion Bengt Rosenberg and Hans Salomon were great in Lover Man; trombonist Albert Mangelsdorff, Dusko Gojkovic (á la Miles Davis), Ronnie Ross, Christian Kellen (in Imagination) and …. our Ruud Jacobs impressed. Andy Marsala, the young promising US alto saxophone player, 16 years young, impressed: knap, swingy, goede toon ….. Its final tune was Swinging The Blues and the audience gave the band a standing ovation.

 

 

Toren van Babel: jazz en jazz-fans in Blokker ( De Tijd 28 juli 1958) 

 

 De Tijd reads in an article entitled Toren van Babel: jazz an jazz-fans in Blokker  that the band members, although the languages were different, sounded well together .... The leader of the band, the newspaper reads, stirred up the members of the band, as if he was affraid that no one in the enthusiastic but rather noisy audience, would hear its music .....  hetgeen gezien het volume dat werd opgebracht toch werkelijk niet het geval was ...... (  although its sound volume was so extreme that no-one could have missed it!). One of the tunes played, De Tijd says, was Pennies From Heaven.   

 

A Blokker food voucher

 After the concert the band left for a six days gig at the World Fair in Brussels, the so-called  Expo .... (to be continued)

All Newport '58 International Youth Band contributions, as remembered by Dutch bass player Ruud Jacobs at my link site.

Hans Koert
keepswinging@live.nl
Follow the Keep (it) Swinging blog at Facebook or ask its free newsletter.

The Tower of Babel's Band, an International Youth Band, had been scheduled at the 1958 Newport Festival, directed by Marshall Brown. It featured young talented European jazz musicians. After the performances at Newport the band returned to Europe and played at some one-nighters, like at the Dutch Blokker auctionhall, a home game for Dutch bass player Ruud Jacobs.

 Retrospect
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Newport '58: The International Youth Band at the festival

 Ruud Jacobs with the Babel's Band  at Newport (1958).  Dutch debut at Newport
Hans Koert

George Wein invited Marshall Brown, bandleader, who impressed at the 1957 Newport Festival with his Farmingdale High School Band, to select young  talented European jazz musicians for an International Youth Band  to perform at the Newport Festival editon 1958.   One of the musicians selected was Ruud Jacobs, Dutch bass player, who remembered this event in a series of blogs .... Today the supreme moment - the concerts at the Newport Festival.

All Newport '58 International Youth Band contributions, as remembered by Dutch bass player Ruud Jacobs at my link site.

The International Youth Band in concert at the 1958 Newport Festival ( source: Lp: The Newport Jazz Festival 1958 - The International Youth Band (Philips 840 046))

Newport ‘58 – One of the major jazz festivals in the US in the 1950s and 1960s. It had started in 1954  and developed into one of the most important jazz festivals from that period. The 1958 edition, recorded in the great documentary

Jazz On A Summer's Day learns, that all major jazz musicians were present .......

• Bert Stern, a noted photographer, made a great 80 minutes documentary on film, entitled Jazz On A Summer’s Day – one of the most important document in jazz history: Louis Armstrong, Anita O’Day, Thelonious Monk, Chico Hamilton, Sonny Stitt, Sal Salvador, Dinah Wasington, Mahalia Jackson, Jimmy Giuffre, Gerry Mulligan and George Shearing: They all are part on this film. Others are not, but were playing at the festival too: Marian McPartland, Lee Konitz, Horace Silver, Miles Davis and ………….. the International Youth Band.

Enjoy part of a short trailer of the Bert Stern Documentary Jazz On A Summer's Day.



The International Youth Band was scheduled at Newport Jazz Festival at the Freebody Park in Newton (Ri)  for two concerts - one Friday afternoon and a second one at the Sunday evening program, the 6th of July 1958 ..... This concert was recorded and released on lp, although Michael Fitzgerald gives in his discography the 4th of July as the recording date.


Seven tunes were recorded: Don’t Wait For Henry - Don’t Blame Me - Jazz Concerto for Alto Sax – Too Marvelous For words – Swinging The Blues – Imagination and The Newport Suite, Opus 24, which contained two parts: Blues and A Dance.  The tunes were arranged by Marshall Brown, John LaPorta, Arif Mardin and Bill Russo. 

The International Youth Band: Christian Kellens on trombone - Marshall Brown director. ( source: Lp: The Newport Jazz Festival 1958 - The International Youth Band (Philips 840 046)) 

 

 Ruud remembers that he wasn't satisfied with the arrangements. In Twee Maal Amerika (Rhythme Sep/Okt. 1958) he says: De arrangementen vielen me wat tegen, maar 't orkest klonk na enkele keren erg goed. ( = At first I wasn't satisfied with the arrangements, but after a few rehearsals the band sounded pretty good). Andy Marsala, who joined the band in two tracks (Don’t Blame Me and Jazz Concerto For Alto Sax, a John LaPorta composition),  was the only not-European in the band.  He was born in New York (June 1942) and studied, as a kid, clarinet and alto saxophone.

Andy Marsala
 (source: music-room.net)

His teachers were ….. Marshall Brown and John LaPorta. He became a member of the Farmingdale High School Band and was the major sensation at the 1957 Newport Jazz Festival where Marshall Brown’s Farmingdale High School Band was invited. It was this event that made George Wein decide to invite Marshall Brown to select his European musicians for the International Youth Band to join the 1958 festival.  This makes clear why Andy Marsala, labeled as the sensation of the year before and seen as an up-and-coming young jazz talent, joined that band as Marshall’s apple of his eye. Enjoy a film fragment by the International Youth Band, performing two years later (1960, 30th of June), recorded as a radio broadcast, where Julian Cannonball Adderley joins the final tune Party Line  played bij the 1960 Internatinal Youth Band at Newport. Although the quality of the tape is rather worse, it gives a unique impression of the band directed by Marshall Brown  with Cannonball and Andy Marsala in the spotlights.



At the final concert, Louis Armstrong, who would continue with his band after the concert by the International Youth Band, entitled On The Sunny Side Of The Street. 

Zomer T(h)rillers - Toren van Babel (source: Dagblad van het Noorden (aug 2nd. 1958) 

Bix jr., a pseudonym I guess, journalist of the Dutch Dagblad van het Noorden wrote in het Rhythmisch Klankboek that the concerts in Newport were a great success …… Ondanks een voorbereidingsperiode van slechts drie weken, presteerden de heren het, veruit de beste prestatie te leveren. ( = Although the period to prepare was rather short, they did a very good job …. They were almost the best).   (Dagblad van het Noorden – 2nd of Aug. 1958) 

 Max Roach and Ruud Jacobs at Newport (photo: Ruud Jacobs archive)

Anton Kop jr. wrote in the article Newport 1958 that the US critics for the International Band, (... met onze eigen Ruud Jacobs ( = ... with our own Ruud Jacobs)) were not all that good – The soloists were not that good, but the sound and the swing of the ensemble were great. Best soloist was Roger Guérin from France. ( Rhytme  Newport 1958 nº 108 15th of September 1958 p. 8).  Ruud remembered that he had the opportunity to meet dozens of US jazz musicians - He pampers a photo with Max Roach, who played at Newport with his Max Roach + 4 group (featuring Booker Little, George Coleman, Ray Draper (whow on tuba) and Art Davis) and also accompanied Dinah Washington and was part of the Terry Gibbs sextet with special guest Gerry Mulligan.  Due to the fact that Ruud has the Dutch flag on his jacket, seems to be the proof that this photo was taken at the festival.   

Bernt Rosengrens and Christian Keller with Oscar Pettiford at the 1958 Newport Festival (source: OJ april 1959) 

 During the four weeks US trips Ruud remembers to have joined some great concerts by musicians like Teddy Wilson, Sarah Vaughan and Benny Goodman  - When we came into a club, we were invite to play along and Gerry Mulligan even wanted to take over the complete orchestra, as told in the previous blog. Ik heb veel met Gerry Mulligan in zijn nieuwe kwartet gespeeld, waar ook Art Farmer in zit ( met verder Bill Crow op bas en Dave Bailey slagwerk). (= I played a lot with the new Gerry Mulligan Quartet, which featured Art Farmer ( and Bill Crow on bass and Dave Bailey on drums). Ruud told me that he met the great Oscar Pettiford, who was one of his heroes on the bass in those days and that he heard Miles Davis in concert at many occasions.

 He also joined a Louis Armstrong concert and was invited at Satchmo's apartment - Ruud still pampers a photo Satchmo gave him where Satch, sitting in the restroom, recommending Swiss Kriss, an herbal laxative......Leave It All Behind You! Louis, in those days, was a roving ambassador for Rexall drugstores, hustlin, in particular, two items that had brought him down from 268 pounds a year earlier to his 173 of the moment. One item was this Swiss Kriss, an herbal laxative. Satchmo advised to boys of the band to us this medicine if they wanted to become an old jazz musician.( source: PlanetBarberella.blogspot.com). 
Ruud was surprised to learn that even those famous US musicians he met, had to take each gig to earn a living .... After the Newport concerts, the complete band moved to Europe, without guitarist Gabor Szabo, original a Hungarian,  who had left his country in 1956 due to the political situation in his homeland. In Europe the band had some one-nighters before it was broken. ( to be continued) 

All Newport '58 International Youth Band contributions, as remembered by Dutch bass player Ruud Jacobs at my link site.

Hans Koert
keepswinging@live.nl
Follow the Keep (it) Swinging blog at Facebook or ask its free newsletter.


George Wein invited Marshall Brown, bandleader, who impressed at the 1957 Newport Festival with his Farmingdale High School Band, to select young talented European jazz musicians for an International Youth Band  to perform at the Newport Festival editon 1958.   One of the musicians selected was Ruud Jacobs, Dutch bass player. who remembered this event in a series of blogs .... Today the supreme moment - the concerts at the Newport Festival.

 Retrospect
Keep Swinging (old) Oscar Aleman Choro Music Flexible Records Hit of the Week-Durium Friends of the Keep Swinging blog Keep Swinging Contributions

Joe Muranyi

ÉÉN VAN LOUIS ARMSTRONG's LAATSTE ALL STARS  OVERLEDEN
Mijn bezoek aan Mr. Joe MaRainey, zoals Louis Joe Muranyi placht aan te kondigen
Martin van der Waals

 Op 20 april 2012 overleed Joe Muranyi, geboren als Joseph Paul Muranyi in Martins Ferry, Ohio, 14 januari 1928. Hij was een Amerikaanse jazz-klarinettist van Hongaarse komaf, actief in de dixieland en mainstream jazz. Tevens speelde hij de saxofoon en was hij af en toe zanger. Een paar jaar voor zijn dood bezocht ik hem in zijn appartement in New York. Graag wil ik verslag doen van deze bijzondere ontmoeting.

 Louis Armstrong All Stars (1968) (v.l.n.r.) Tyree Glenn, Louis Armstrong, Joe Muranyi en Danny Barcelona (foto: Peter Vacher Collection)

Hij was een van de langst levende leden van de Louis Armstrong All Stars. Zijn eerste opnamen maakte hij met de Stuyvesant Stompers, the Washboard Stompers en de Century Stompers, drie namen voor één en dezelfde dixielandband, rond Dick Wellstood in april 1947.

 Louis Armstrong en Joe Muranyi (ca. 1970)

Nadat hij in zijn diensttijd in de band van de Amerikaanse luchtmacht had gespeeld, ging Muranyi begin jaren vijftig naar New York City. Hier studeerde hij aan de Manhattan School of Music en de Columbia University. In de jaren erna was hij vooral vaak als freelancer actief. Hij speelde van 1952 tot 1954 met de Red Onion Jazz Band. In dat decennium werkte hij ook met Max Kaminsky, Yank Lawson, Jimmy McPartland, Danny Barker (1958) en Wingy Manone. Gelijktijdig werkte hij als platenproducent en als auteur van hoesteksten bij Atlantic Records, Bethlehem Records en RCA Records.

 Roy Eldridge en Joe Muranyi (bron: Magyar Jazzmuzsikusok Külföldön)

In 1967 trad hij toe tot de All-Stars van Louis Armstrong, waarmee hij een zeer goede band had. Na Armstrongs dood speelde hij met Roy Eldridge en in 1975 werd hij lid van de World's Greatest Jazz Band. In 1983 begon hij een kwartet met onder meer Dick Sudhalter en Marty Grosz. Later speelde hij in het Louisiana Repertory Jazz Ensemble en trad hij op als gastsolist. Hij speelde mee op veel plaatopnames (bijvoorbeeld van Lionel Hampton, Leon Redbone, Dick Sudhalter, Barbara Lea en Connie Jones).

Joe Maranyi en de Bohèm Ragtime Jazz Band (1993) (bron: bohemragtime.com)
  
Louis Armstrong, in wiens All-Stars Joe vanaf 1967 als klarinettist werkte,  kondigde hem altijd aan als “Joe MaRainey”. In 2009 kwam ik in contact met Joe, eerst via email, en later ook nog schriftelijk. In september 2010 ging ik, met zoon en schoondochter, naar New York en op 11 september  (9-11, of all dates!) zochten we Joe in zijn appartement in East 9th street op. Ik voel me, ook als liefhebber van de muziek van Armstrong, nog altijd vereerd deze man ontmoet te hebben.
Voor wie wil horen hoe Joe op het eind van zijn leven nog genoot van zijn publiek en zijn muziek, vindt hier een kort fragment van een optreden tijdens het Provincetown Jazz Festival (2008) met Joe Muranyi (klarinet en zang), Steve Ahern (trompet), John Harrison III (piano), Chris Rathbun (bas) en Bart Weisman (slagwerk) in het nummer Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans.



Het was een prettig verblijf daar. Joe vertelde over zijn tijd met Pops, zoals hij hem steevast noemde. Hij heeft me gevraagd de dingen die hij vertelde voor mezelf te houden, omdat hij bezig was aan een boek over deze periode. Ik respecteer dat, ook nu hij er niet meer is. Eén ding wil ik prijsgeven. In 1970 is er op het Newport Jazz Festival een Salute to Satchmo-avond gehouden, waar Armstrong zelf ook optrad. Je vindt hier een fragment van dat optreden, zoals het onlangs op DVD verscheen.



Armstrong was genoodzaakt daar voor te repeteren, omdat hij niet zijn eigen band bij zich had. (op Tyree Glenn na). Vond de organisatie dat te duur? Joe Muranyi: There was Pops, rehearsing "Hello Dolly".  Ridiculous!! He needed his regular band I think!

 Joe's apartement: East 9th Street (september 2010) (foto: Martin van der Waals)

   Nadat we weer terug waren in Nederland is het mailcontact gebleven, eigenlijk bijna tot het einde. Ook hier is uiteraard Joe’s tijd bij Satchmo nog wel regelmatig aan bod gekomen. Joe werd ziek en hierdoor werd het contact wat beperkter. Hij verbleef regelmatig in het ziekenhuis. Toch bleef hij optimistisch over zijn herstel en bleef hij aardige anekdotes schrijven, waarvan ik er hier nog een laat volgen.

 Martin van der Waals en Joe Muranyi (september 2010) (foto: Rolf van der Waals)

 Op 9 januari 2011 schreef Joe me dat hij weer eens een gig had. Dit was een opsteker voor hem, omdat hij, zoals hij daaraan voorafgaand diverse keren schreef, nogal down was vanwege zijn gezondheidstoestand. Het betrof een optreden met het Lincoln Center Orchestra. Een jeugdconcert met de nadruk op Louis Armstrong. Ik schreef hem dat ik dat orkest (met Wynton Marsalis) ook wel eens gehoord had op een cd, waarbij ik toevoegde dat ik het wel “pretty good” vond klinken. En ook schreef ik hem dat Marsalis pas nog gespeeld had met dit orkest bij een “silent film” over Louis Armstrong.

Joe Muranyi’s reactie:  The concert I’m part of isn’t led by Marsalis. I won’t do much (two songs) The band leader is a black trumpeter I never heard of . They told me that he’d been a member of the Lincoln Center Orchestra. So, it’s all politics. I don’t know what this trumpeter has to do with Armstrong. It’s a concert for young people dealing with Louis. And not very important I’d guess. I got your “pretty good” quote from a Pops record (en Armstrong-liefhebbers zullen weten wat hier bedoeld wordt). Wynton is a modern/bebopish player and his music has little to do with Armstrong’s. But Louis is very popular these days. People attend concerts if Pops’ name is used. (Wynton capitalizes on this. )



I saw some of that silent film (on tv) Neither the costumes, or the situations had much to do with the real Louis. It was very poor! The music was as bad! It annoyed me tremendously. What a waste of money! Wynton can play the trumpet,but he can’t do traditional jazz. Amen. Ding, Ding. Eindigend met de kerkklokken geeft “the reverend” Joe hier een duidelijke mening. Oordeel zelf aan de hand van de trailer van de film.

 Louis Armstrong and Joe Muranyi - promotiefoto, getekend voor Martin ( Martin van der Waals verzameling)

Over de gig in Lincoln Center valt verder nog te vertellen dat deze vanwege ziekenhuisopname uiteindelijk toch niet is doorgegaan. Ik zal in ieder geval het bezoek aan Joe zeker in herinnering houden. Hij was, muzikaal en als mens letterlijk “a big man”.



Op 29 mei 2012 is in Manhattan NY, in St. Peter’s church, Lexington Avenue, een herdenking gehouden met als motto: Celebrating the life and times of Joe Muranyi met o.a. muziek van Vince Giordano en een afvaardiging van zijn Nighthawks en het trio van Chuck Folds.

Josephus, rest in peace!

Martin van der Waals (Oss)
keepswinging@live.nl
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Joe Muranyi, mr. Joe NaRainey, zoals Louis Armstrong hem graag noemde, was één van de laatste overlevenden uit de All Star Bands van Louis Armstrong. Hij speelde bij Satchmo tussen 1967 tot aan diens dood - daarna was hij te horen met Roy Eldridge en speelde hij in de World's Greatest Jazz Band. Martin van der Waals zocht hem een paar jaar voor zijn overlijden op en vertelt over deze bijzondere ontmoeting.

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