THE WEST COAST JAZZ TRADITION

THE WEST COAST JAZZ TRADITION

Left to Right: Lu Watters, Bill Dart, Bob Scobey, Bob Helm, Wally Rose and Dick Lammi.

Photo by Melgar Studios of San Francisco.

AUTHOR: by Doug Parker

Originally posted Jan 2012

In our previous article, we mentioned the contributions of Lu Watters’ Yerba Buena Jazz Band, in reviving the New Orleans style of jazz, but with a few touches of their own, as last month (December 19, 2011) not only marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of Lu Watters, but the 70th anniversary of that first recording session by his band, for Jazz Man Records in San Francisco. These recordings were important in not only reviving that great art form, but in bringing some of its practitioners out of retirement, such as trumpeters Bunk Johnson (who recorded with the available members of the Yerba Buena Band in 1943 and ‘44) and Mutt Carey, and trombonist Edward “Kid” Ory, and in bringing to prominence such players as clarinetist George Lewis.

When Lu retired in 1950, his two main disciples, trumpeter Bob Scobey and trombonist Turk Murphy, had formed their own bands; while Scobey’s “Frisco Band” used a four-beat rhythm, featuring a string bass, Turk stuck closer to the ragtime-oriented style of the Yerba Buena band, with his band’s instrumentation usually consisting of trombone, clarinet, trumpet, piano, banjo, and tuba, with drums rarely used. He carried on with his band up until his death in 1987.

The use of a two-beat rhythm, and of tuba and banjo in the rhythm section, was a characteristic of the many bands that followed in the style of Watters and Murphy, such as the Castle Jazz Band of Portland, the “Dixieland Rhythm Kings” from Dayton, Ohio, the Salty Dogs of Purdue University, the popular Firehouse Five Plus Two, composed of Disney Studios artists, and such bands of today as the High Sierra Jazz Band, the Titanic Jazz Band, and of course, “our (Seattle’s) own “ Uptown Lowdown Jazz Band, who, as you know, add a unique touch by use of a two-man reed section. (Love those bass saxes!)

And there have been several West Coast style bands formed since the disbanding of the Yerba Buena Jazz Band which feature a front line headed by two trumpets or cornets. First, in San Francisco in the mid-50s, came the Bay City Jazz Band, then the augmented version of the Firehouse Five Plus Two, then, from the early 60s on, in both Los Angeles and the Bay Area, banjoist Ted Shafer’s “Jelly Roll Jazz Band”, in the ‘;70s, drummer Ray Smith’s “Yankee Rhythm Kings” and later banjoist Vince Saunders’ “South Frisco Jazz Band”, many of whose members currently play with cornetist Dan Comins’ Titanic band, the Devil Mountain Jazz Band from the San Francisco Bay area, led by GREAT banjoist Ken Keeler plus some editions of the Uptown Lowdown, and more recently the popular and exciting Yerba Buena Jazz Band, led by multi-talented John Gill, who for several years played banjo and drums in the Turk Murphy Jazz Band, and locally, the fine Hume Street Jazz Band.

One tradition which started with the Lu Watters Yerba Buena Jazz Band, and which continues to this day, is the featuring of ragtime piano solos, usually accompanied by the rhythm section. First there was the late Pete Clute with Turk’s band (he and Turk were co-owners of “Earthquake McGoon’s,” in San Francisco), then Robbie Rhodes, with first the South Frisco, and more recently, the Titanic Jazz Bands, and currently, Rose Marie Barr with the Uptown Lowdown, and let’s not forget Karla West with the Hume Street Jazz Band and Virginia Tichenor with the Devil Mountain. The Yerba Buena Stompers have had fine pianists who were and are accomplished ragtimers, starting with Pete Clute, then Marty Eggers, who, as most of you know is married to Virginia Tichenor, and currently Conal Fowkes, who was recently in the Seattle area with Woody Allen’s New Orleans Jazz Band.

Lu Watters, Turk Murphy, and their colleagues are no longer with us, but their music lives on!