Brooks Tegler Sextet: Sad Sack

I had the opportunity to meet jazz drummer and bandleader, Brooks Tegler, recently. Tegler told me that he is writing a book about jazz musicians in the military during World War II. He's been working on the book for several years and expects it to take some years more to complete. His involvement in WWII history is so extensive that, according to Marc Myers' JazzWax, Tegler's face appears in the bas relief by Raymond Kaskey on the National WWII memorial.


Tegler is a scholar of the music and musicians of the WWII era, leading a big band, as sell as small ensembles, playing the music in a historically accurate yet original way. As I understand it, none of the bands of the time would have copied each others charts. Tegler's bands play their own arrangements and interpretations of the music, just as the bands of the era did.

This video, from the Spanish Ballroom at Glen Echo Park near Bethesda Maryland, is of a small group led by Brooks Tegler, which includes Joe Midiri on clarinet, Paul Midiri on vibes, Don Lerman on tenor sax, Robert Redd on piano and Tommy Cecil on bass. The song is Sad Sack and was originally recorded by Artie Shaw and his Gramercy Five. The title does not refer to George Baker's comic strip. Both are derived from a slang phrase in common use in the WWII military, which refers to a person of bumbling incompetence.

I hope you enjoy this Memorial Day tribute to the greatest generation.


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keywords: jazz, small group jazz, Artie Shaw, Brooks Tegler

Lena Horne: Stormy Weather

The song Stormy Weather was written in 1933 by Harold Arlen and Ted Kohler and first performed by Ethel Waters at New York's Cotton Club. Ten years later the song was used in a musical loosely based on the life of Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, in which Horne played the part of Robinson's love interest, Selena Rogers. Stormy Weather became the title of the film, one of only two 1943 films with all African American casts. Bill Robinson played Bill Williamson, a character based upon himself. Lena Horne also starred in that other 1943 film Cabin In The Sky.

Here is Lena Horne in the film Stormy Weather, singing the title song, with is a very stylized dance sequence featuring Katherine Dunham and her dance troop.


Imagine my surprise after posting this yesterday, when turning on my radio this morning, to hear Lena Horne singing Stormy Weather and then an announcement of her death last night at the age of 92. Rest in peace Lena.

The Stanley Brothers: How Mountain Gals Can Love

In his memoir Man of Constant Sorrow, Ralph Stanley says that his mother offered to buy him either a pig or a banjo, both of which were for sale at the same price, and it was a hard choice for him, because Ralph thought that pigs were pretty and he thought he might like being a hog farmer. He chose the banjo because he and his older brother, Carter had made a plan to form a band become professional musicians.

When the brothers got out of the service in the 1940s they did form a band. Carter came home in 1945 just as Ralph was drafted and sent off to occupied Germany. Carter went to work for Bill Monroe as a singer and guitarist. Ralph joined Monroe's band on banjo when he returned in 1946. Just a few weeks later Ralph convinced Carter to quit Monroe and form the Clinch Mountain Boys. They struggled to make a living, playing live on the radio in Bristol Virginia and playing for a percentage of the door at bars, schools, court houses and anywhere else they could find an audience, often barely making gas money for the trip. Carter Stanley died in 1966 from internal hemorrhaging caused by heavy alcohol consumption. Ralph continues, at 82 years old, to lead the Clinch Mountain Boys. He reached a level of commercial success eventually, particularly after his appearance in the Cohen brothers' movie, Oh Brother, Where Art Thou.

I believe that this clip is from an appearance the Stanley Brothers made in 1962 on a television show hosted by Don Reno and Red Smiley. Carter is playing the Martin D-45 with the huge ugly pick guard. The other guitar player, I think, is George Shuffler. Chick Stripling is playing bass. I have not been able to identify the fiddler in this clip.

Tax Man

Happy tax day from George Harrison and Eric Clapton.