Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Armand John “A.J.” Piron was born on August 16, 1888 in New Orleans, Louisiana to Octave Louis Piron and Marie Jeanne Zeringue. At home he spoke English and French patois, and grew up steps from Claiborne Avenue, which at that time was a bustling, tree-lined center of commerce and community life. His father, a shoemaker, was also a musician and music teacher and played in the Philharmonic Orchestra. He taught his sons Milford, Albert, and Armand how to play.
At the age of seven Piron had an accident that damaged one of his legs. For the next five years while he recovered, he devoted himself to practicing the violin. This could be the reason he didn’t join the numerous New Orleans marching bands popular at that time. Instead became a dance and concert band musician and at age twelve he made his musical debut by joining a band his father led that included some of his students and his brothers.
In 1903 A.J. began playing in the Bloom Philharmonic. In 1908 he played for the Peerless Orchestra. Then in 1913 he played in the large, legendary orchestra organized by John P. Robichaux for the Carnival ball of the Elves of Oberon. That same year he played at the Rose Bud Theater on Dryades Street, sometimes with Papa Celestin’s Tuxedo band. He also played in the Olympia Band with Sydney Bechet, Kid Ory, Louis Keppard, and Clarence Williams, among others.
After touring briefly with W.C. Handy in 1917, Piron started an orchestra which included Lorenzo Tio, Steve Lewis, John Lindsay, and Peter Bocage. The theme song of the orchestra was The Purple Rose of Cairo, written by Piron and Steve Lewis. In 1923, Piron took his band to New York City.
Violinist A.J. Piron, who led dance bands during the 1910s through the 1930s, died on February 17, 1943 in New Orleans.
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The Jazz Voyager
Hanging out in the Big Apple is one of my favorite summertime things to do because it’s one of the best places to walk. The sights and sounds are amazing from the Vilage to Park Avenue, Rockefeller Plaza to Central Park Carousel and Zoo. Uptown to Harlem is the last destination, a quick fashion update, a good meal and then to where this jazz voyager will be in the Minton’s Playhouse audience this evening.
Established in 1938 by saxophonist Henry Minton, the venue stands as a pivotal shrine in the history of jazz, renowned as the birthplace of Bebop. Over the ensuing decades, it served as the epicenter for a revolutionary shift in jazz, laying the foundations for modern jazz.
Vocalist Vanisha Gould is being hosted at this venerable establishment for one night only. Anticipation is what this voyager is eagerly awaiting in hopes that she will be grooving to the sounds of the next generation of jazz musicians, as well as transporting us back to the golden age of jazz.
The venue is located at 206 West 118th Street, New York City, NY 10026. For more information visit https://www.mintonsnyc.com.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Monk Hazel was born Arthur Frank Hazel to a drummer father on August 15, 1903 in Harvey, Louisiana. Early on he played drums with Emmett Hardy, who gave him his first cornet, and then with Stalebread Lacombe. In the 1920s he worked with many bands including the Halfway House Orchestra led by Abbie Brunies, Tony Parenti with whom he recorded in 1928, and Johnny Wiggs.
From the late 1920s to the early 1930s, Hazel led his own Bienville Roof Orchestra which played atop the Bienville Hotel at Lee Circle, and made recordings in 1928 and then spent time in New York playing with Johnny Wiggs, Jack Pettis and with his own group from 1929 to 1931.
Hazel relocated to Hollywood in Los Angeles, California for a period working with Gene Austin but eventually returned to New Orleans, Louisiana performing with Joe Caprano in 1937 and the Lloyd Danton Quintet. He spent 1942-43 in the Army and then worked for a time outside of music.
During his final twenty years, Hazel was once again active in New Orleans, recording with his own band in 1945 and performing with Sharkey Bonano from 1949 to 1952, George Girard, Mike Lala, Santo Pecora and virtually every other important name in New Orleans jazz.
As a leader, Monk recorded four titles in 1928 for Brunswick Records and a full album for Southland Records in 1954; Pete Fountain and Al Hirt were among his sidemen on the latter recording.
Drummer and cornetist Monk Hazel, who occasionally took cornet and mellophone solos, died on March 5, 1968 in New Orleans.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Francis Henry “Jumbo Jack” Gardner was born in Joliet, Illinois on August 14, 1903. In the early-1920s he played locally in Denver, Colorado with Doc Becker’s Blue Devils, Boyd Senter’s band and others.
Moving to Chicago, Illinois in 1923, he led his own band in addition to playing with musicians like Wingy Manone, Jean Goldkette, and Gene Austin. He remained in the city through 1937, playing with Jimmy McPartland in 1936.
When he rellcated to New York City he began associations with Sandy Williams’s orchestra and Harry James, but returned to Chicago early in the 1940s, where he led his own group. In 1944, he recorded with Baby Dodds.
He spent much of his later life playing in Dallas, Texas, where he died in 1957. Gardner’s compositions include the song Bye, Bye, Pretty Baby, co-written with George Hamilton.
Pianist Jack Gardner died on November 26, 1957 in Dallas, Texas at the age of 54.
Jazz Poems
suddenly in the midst of a game of lotto with his sisters
Armstrong let a roar out of him that he had the raw meat
Red wet flesh for Louis
and he up and sliced him two rumplings
since when his trumpet bubbles
their fust buss
poppies burn on the black earth
he weds the flood he lulls her
some of these days muffled in ooze
down down down down
pang of white in my hair
after you’re gone
Narcissus lean and slippered
you’re driving me crazy and the trumpet
In Ole Bull it chassés aghast
out of the throes of morning
down the giddy catgut
and confessing and my woe slavers
the black music it can’t be easy
it threshes the old heart into a spin
into a blaze
Louis lil’ ole fader Mississippi
his voice gushes into the lake
the rain spouts back into heaven
his arrows from afar they fizz through the wild horses
they fang you and me
then they fly home
flurry of lightning in the earth
sockets for his rootbound song
nights of Harlem scored with his nails
snow black slush when his heart rises
his she-notes they have more tentacles than the sea
they woo me they close my eyes
they suck me out of the world
ERNST MOERMAN Translated by Samuel Beckett
from Jazz Poems ~ Selected and Edited by Kevin Young
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