Frisco Cricket - San Francisco Traditional Jazz Foundation

Frisco Cricket
Published by the San Francisco Traditional Jazz Foundation
Winter 2015
Professionalism
and Creativity
by William Carter
of it is going to the unique Louis Armstrong archive
Once in the late 1950s, when our friend,
in Queens, New York, and another will be donated
the bassist “Squire” Girsback, was on the road as
to Stanford University,
a member the Louis Armwhose Archive of Recordstrong All Stars, Squire ined Sound holds important
vited us to his home on the
jazz collections. These
San Francisco Peninsula to
include those of your San
enjoy red beans and rice
Francisco Traditional Jazz
and meet the great man.
Foundation, the original
Louis was sitMonterey Jazz Festival
ting on the floor in a back
tapes, and the over 400
bedroom with his pants
Jim Cullum radio shows
legs rolled up and a big
which Stanford has been
plate of the beloved New
streaming free worldwide,
Orleans dish in his lap. He
24 hours a day.
was glad to meet Squire’s
Squire, in semifriends but looked slightly
retirement, sometimes
sheepish at first because
regaled us with stories
he was hiding from a road
of those two years with
manager one of whose jobs
Louis -- the highlight of
was to prevent Louis, who
the bassman’s life. Conwas afflicted with stomstantly playing one night
ach problems, from eating
concerts in huge auditorithe wrong foods, includums on the road, the All
ing such good ole spicy
Stars used a set routine,
n’owlins fare.
like most successful tour
I was not yet a
ing shows. Squire told
photographer, but would
us the players mostly
soon become one, and
Louis Armstrong at Cornell University 1962
played the same notes,
would meet Armstrong
photograph © William Carter
in the same places, with
one more time – in 1962, at
the same crowd pleasing
Rutgers University – and
antics, every night. With some exceptions – espephotograph him there. The picture on this page
cially Satch. Now and then, Louis would seemingly
was never printed until 2014, 52 years later. A print
Contents
Professionalism & Creativity by William Carter 1
Celebrating Charlie by Michael Steinman
4
Preview of Upcoming CD and Cricket Article
7
Special 4-CD Offer
8
Membership Application and Product List
1
9
The Frisco Cricket Winter 2015
receive some message from outer space and blow – or sing -a flurry of notes Squire never heard before or since. The band
just kept the same routine going, but Squire would answer
these flourishes with a special flurry of his own, which caused
“Pops” – who heard everything happening in his band at all
times – to turn and give his bass man a big wink. Squire carried those winks in his heart until the day he died.
Professionalism in any field means producing, or
reproducing, a reliable product. Careful preparation, good
chops and perfect execution. Big bucks in the top echelon of
the entertainment industry is no different in this respect from
bands remaining stable, and staple enough to get invited back
every year to established festivals.
But is this middlebrow predictability not fundamentally in conflict with a premise of jazz, namely spontaneity?
Many musicians will tell you that some of the great moments
in jazz happen out of the limelight, in dim bars or backroom
Squire Girsback, outdoor gig on San Francisco Peninsula with
Robbie Schlosser’s Magnolia Jazz Band, circa 1970’s
photograph © by William Carter
Advertise in the Cricket!
The Frisco
Cricket
Issue No. 66 - Winter 2015
In an effort to help defray the costs of maintaining all the varied programs that SFTJF supports,
including The Frisco Cricket itself, we’re going to
begin providing limited advertising space here. We
want to be fair to everyone, so there are a few rules
we’d like to follow:
• The advertiser should be in a music related
(preferably Traditional Jazz related) business (band,
club, cruise, radio station, etc.).
• No more than a total of 2 full pages will be
used in any single issue of the Cricket, so ads will
be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.
• We need to be able to maintain the right to
accept or reject advertisements at our discretion.
• Please send your ad to:
Published by the
SAN FRANCISCO TRADITIONAL
JAZZ FOUNDATION
3130 Alpine Road, #288 PMB 187
Portola Valley, CA 94028
Website: www.sftradjazz.org
E-mail: [email protected]
Publisher: William Carter
Editor, Layout, Webmaster: Scott Anthony
Curator of the Archive : Clint Baker
Special Projects Consultant: Hal Smith
Office Manager: Scott Anthony
Treasurer: Bunch Schlosser
Directors
John R. Browne, III
William Carter
Jim Cullum
Donna Huggins
Cricket Editor
San Francisco Traditional Jazz Foundation
3130 Alpine Road, #288 PMB 187
Portola Valley, CA 94028
• Or (preferably) by email to:
[email protected] or
[email protected]
John Matthews
Terry O’Reilly
Margaret Pick
William Tooley
Honorary Directors
Leon Oakley
Board of Advisors
Philip Hudner, Michael Keller, Paul Mehling,
Margaret Pick, Gregg Keeling
Advertising Rates
per issue
Unless otherwise noted, all contents copyright © 2015
San Francisco Traditional Jazz Foundation
1/8 Page $35, 1/4 Page $50, 1/2 Page $75
2
The Frisco Cricket Winter 2015
settings allowing for creative chemistry -- happy accidents. Which means leaving open the possibility for bands
and players to depart from expected routines, even at the
cost of the occasional wrong chord or creative “mistake.”
Dimly lit Bay Area joints like Pier 23 and Café Borrone and
Nick’s and Berkeley’s old Monkey Inn are and were the
seedbed for such creativity. As were, in the whole history
of jazz, a precious few record labels, and leaders whose
DNA understands not only reliability but freshness.
Louis’ crowd-pleasing was the opposite of a circus
routine. It flowed directly from his heart in communication with other hearts – from an understanding, in his
personal DNA, which was inseparable from the DNA of
New Orleans jazz, that this music is about a kind of inner
and outer openness in which spontaneity is key.
Email Responses to Bill
Carter’s Blog - Professionalism
& Creativity
From Don Bull:
There was a night, when I was playing for Rex Allen. It was a Country Club Christmas dance. Rex
was playing vibes and trombone. Noel Weidkamp
was on trumpet, and there was a reed man from the
Peninsula- great- I can’t think of his name. Everyone was taking a favorite tune chorus, and we were
moving keys around per instrument. The reed man
started playing, “Have You Met Miss Jones” in F.
For some reason I usually play it in G. The
bridge is tough with nice changes. The reed man
started the bridge, and I hit one chord too high, as if
I was in G to the reed players F, and Squire gave me
the damnedest look! I recovered immediately and everybody in the band laughed, myself included. After
we finished, Squire said to me, “Where the hell were
you- nobody plays it in G.” Then he said, “how did
you recover so fast!?” Those days of playing with
those people were so much fun. Dixieland was still
popular and playing with Nabor and Carson and
Leon was such a gas, along with Mike Starr! Eberle
would try to play his C melody sax given to him
by my wife’s father. I told Charley he was always a
quart low! He couldn’t get it in tune!
Your article just brought back years of
memories. I never had as much fun than playing
with those guys. When are we going to play again?
I’m always ready!
Donald
From Dick Shooshan:
That is really a great picture of Louis. Perfect!
I remember Squire was in the El Dorado band the
first few times you brought them up to the house.
That band changed my life as far as jazz was concerned.
I’ll never forget watching Pete Fay and his
unique style..it certainly had an impact on me.
I’ll also remember the day you walked back to our
littleshack in the back with several Oliver, Morton,
and Louis LPs. You warned me that although they
were a bit scratchy that I should listen to the music,
not the sound of the old recordings. I can still see it..
and hear it!
Congrats on all you’ve done in the world of
jazz and photography! You have really made a fine
contribution.
Best, Shoosh
Louis Armstrong at Cornell University 1962 - #2
photograph © William Carter

3
The Frisco Cricket Winter 2015
Celebrating
Charlie
by Michael Steinman (JAZZLIVES)
The very endearing Charles “Duff” Campbell
was officially an art dealer. But we knew him as the
best Jazz Enabler imaginable. Born on January 9, 1915,
he died on October 3, 2014, peacefully, at his San Francisco home.
I only met him twice, so others have longer histories. But I think my Charlie-sightings are true to the
man. Once, when enjoying an afternoon at the Savoy
Tivoli in North Beach, listening to Mal Sharpe and the
Big Money in Jazz, I became aware of an older man,
neatly dressed, a slightly squashed soft hat on, seated as
close to the bandstand as one could be without sitting
Photo of Charlie Campbell with Yerba Buena Stompers in the
background on the guest sign-in table.
Photo by Scott Anthony
on it. Standing up would have been difficult, but he
was entirely in motion, every note played getting a
sympathetic bob and weave from this spectator. I
introduced myself (we had a mutual friend in the art
world as well) and got a deeply welcoming response.
As soon as the music resumed, he was engrossed and
pleased.
In 2014, through the good offices of Leon and
Brenda Oakley, I took my video camera to Charlie’s
house, where Leon and I conducted an impromptu
interview. Had I been there twenty years earlier, I
would have captured more stories, but Charlie spoke
of Nat Cole and Jelly Roll Morton, of Mary Lou Williams, Art Tatum, Burt Bales, and Turk Murphy. But
the real Charlie emerged when the camera went back
in its case. Seated at the head of his long kitchen
table, eating half a sandwich and drinking red wine
(toasting us all with every small refill) he was a passionate man, holding court, laughing, reminiscing,
listening to “Blues Over Bodega.”
Charlie was too joyously animated to pass
up a party. In his final year, plans were made for
a centenary celebration, with his favorite band, the
Yerba Buena Stompers, to provide the appropriate
sounds. (The YBS is John Gill, Leon Oakley, Duke
Heitger, Tom Bartlett, Orange Kellin, Conal Fowkes,
Bimbo’s 365 Club, January 11, 2015.
Photo by Scott Anthony
4
The Frisco Cricket Winter 2015
Photo of Charlie Campbell dancing at a previous Yerba Buena Event at Bimbos 365 Club.
Photo by Scott Anthony
Clint Baker, Kevin Dorn, and their new singer, Miss
Ida Blue.)
Although he was no longer able to dance in
his chair on January 11, 2015, his spirit certainly was
at Bimbo’s 365, evident to us all. Just days before,
there had been an attack on the Parisian satirical
weekly CHARLIE HEBDO, and people in solidarity
had been posting JE SUIS CHARLIE everywhere.
The marquee at Bimbo’s read “CELEBRATING
CHARLIE. “ I am sure he was amused by the global
enthusiasm in his name.
Inside Bimbo’s, old friends and new gathered – among them SF notables Vince Saunders and
Robbie Rhodes, friends who told of meeting Charlie,
being amused and inspired by him, being the recipient of his generosities. While the band played (and
how they played!) people only slightly younger than
Charlie danced, and children wobbled and gyrated to
the beat. When I went to the bar to order something
mildly restorative, I asked the barman what I owed.
“Oh, the drinks are on Charlie,” he said. Typical.
In Charlie’s honor, the YBS played venerable
pop songs (“Darktown Strutters’ Ball,” “You’ve Got
To See Your Mama Every Night”), King Oliver classics (“Dippermouth,” “Just Gone,” “Mabel’s Dream,”
“Riverside Blues”), beloved music from the pioneers
of San Francisco jazz (“Sage Hen Strut,” “Emperor
Norton’s Hunch,” “Brother Lowdown,” “Antigua
Blues”).
Charlie’s grand-nephew
Jerry McCann spoke with feeling
and wit about the time he was
privileged to spend with Charlie,
and told everyone that they could
email stories of Charlie to him at
[email protected].
Early in the program, John
Gill spoke of Charlie’s memory of
the first jazz record he had ever
heard – “Take Me To The Land Of
Jazz – and the YBS did it beautifully.
Where Charlie was, that
was the Land of Jazz.
[The last video-interview of Charlie can be seen https://jazzlives.
wordpress.com/2014/10/10/avivid-man-charles-duff-campbell-1915-2014/] 
One of four portraits of Charlie Campbell hanging at
Bimbo’s on January 11, 2015. Photo by Scott Anthony
5
The Frisco Cricket Winter 2015
Obituary:
Gallery owner Charles
Campbell dies at age 99
opened the Charles Campbell Gallery in North Beach
in 1972.
Mr. Campbell partnered in business with
Paul Thiebaud (1960-2010) in 1990. The establishment
changed its name to the Campbell-Thiebaud Gallery,
October 8, 2014
and began to show a fresh roster of artists, including
with permission from the San Francisco Chronicle,
Wayne Thiebaud and Richard Diebenkorn (1922-93).
by Kenneth Baker, Art Critic for the San Francisco Chronicle
The partnership ended on friendly terms in
2001, with the business becoming the Paul Thiebaud
Charles Campbell, a San Francisco gallery
Gallery.
owner who represented major Bay Area contemporary
Mr. Campbell later entered into a less happy
artists for more than 60 years, died of natural causes
collaboration with a former gallery
Friday at his San Francisco home.
assistant, Steven Lopez, resulting
He was 99.
in a legal dispute finally resolved
Mr. Campbell became
by their friend in common and
famous locally for showing what
former San Francisco supervisor
he liked, irrespective of fashion
and mayoral and presidential
or potential profit. He happened
candidate, Matt Gonzalez.
to admire and exhibit many
Mr. Campbell’s absence from
artists later identified with the
his gallery would often mean that
region’s signature art movehe was off traveling the world.
ment, Bay Area Figuration. They
In 1988, he married longtime artincluded Nathan Oliviera (1928ist friend Glenna Putt in Nepal,
2010), Paul Wonner (1920-2008),
some time after both had lost
Charlie “Duff” Campbell at Bimbo’s 2006.
Gordon Cook (1927-85), Theophitheir spouses.
Photo by Richard Ressman
lus “Bill” Brown (1919-2012),
James Weeks (1922-98) and Joan
Raised in Shanghai
Brown (1938-90).
Mr. Campbell was born in Santa Cruz into a
The back room at Mr. Campbell’s gallery was
family of second-generation gold miners on Jan. 10,
long known to locals as a treasure trove of artistic
1915. His parents hitched their fate to that of a mine in
miscellany. There visitors might pore over an everSiberia and Mr. Campbell spent his early years there
changing array of works on paper and small paintings
until the mine was expropriated during the Bolshevik
by American and European artists both famous and
Revolution. Mr. Campbell lived the rest of his childobscure, interspersed with Indian miniatures and the
hood with his family in Shanghai.
odd pre-Columbian or African artifact.
After high school in Shanghai, Mr. Campbell
Nothing comparable exists, or perhaps could
moved to Los Angeles, drawn there by its jazz scene.
exist, in the supercharged and economically polarized
He became deeply involved in it, working briefly
art market of today.
as a driver for blind pianist Art Tatum and, with
Mr. Campbell began his art world career in San
stenographic skills honed during service in the Coast
Francisco when he opened a frame shop in 1947 not far
Guard, recorded extensive conversations with New
from the San Francisco Art Institute (then known as the
Orleans jazz eminence Jelly Roll Morton.
California School of Fine Arts).
Mr. Campbell’s involvement with jazz culmi
The school staff had several members, includnated in San Francisco when he became manager of
ing its president, who were capable jazz musicians. Mr.
the great trombone player Turk Murphy. They briefly
Campbell’s love of jazz led to friendships with them,
ran a club together, The Italian Villa, where Murphy’s
including David Park (1911-60), Elmer Bischoff (1916was the house band.
91) and Wally Hedrick (1928-2003).
Mr. Campbell is survived by his wife; stepson
Peter Putt of Santa Cruz; nephew Mike McCann of SeModest collection
attle; grandnephew Jerry McCann of Nairobi, Kenya;
Mr. Campbell soon began to hang their work
and grandniece Toni Burton of Aptos.
and that of other artists in his shop and began col
Gifts or donations in his memory can be made
lecting modestly by purchase and trade, although he
to the San Francisco Art Institute. 
lacked the space to show their work properly until he
6
The Frisco Cricket Winter 2015
Preview of Upcoming CD and Cricket Article
by Dave Radlauer
New CD Coming Soon...
During the Depression the Sicilian had once
been a contender for the welterweight title, but quit
boxing. His story that he re-settled in his hometown of
Omaha, but “was hit by a bullet in an accident that left
him paralyzed” doesn’t quite add up. “Baby, there’s a
bad page in everyone’s life, and that was mine.” Fleeing to Frisco he’d managed to put Burp Hollow together.
Frisco Jazz from Burp Hollow, San Francisco, 1958-62
Dick Oxtot’s Stompers and Original Superior Jass Band
Battle of the Bands: Two-beat vs. Four-beat
Exciting music from a legendary and colorful Frisco gig
with Bill Erickson and Ted Butterman (trumpets), Bunky
Colman and Bill Napier (clarinets) Bob Mielke (trombone).
Click here for the Burp Hollow Page and
here for the Frisco Jazz Archival Rarities
on Dave Radlauer’s jazzhotbigstep.com
Legend has it his shooting was mafia-related and
that under the blanket he kept on his lap a firearm was
handy. And he explained the manikin: sure, it was a
draw for single male convention-goers, but he used it
as a conversation starter to make friends. When the
reporter referred to his tending bar in a wheelchair,
he commented, “That’s right, baby, and I can move
pretty fast. That place is my life, and people are beautiful.” 
For a decade beginning in 1956, jazz hounds and
tourists alike were drawn to Burp Hollow by the lively
sounds of Frisco jazz. Hearing its name, musicians cringe,
recalling the bad pay, rank booze and unsavory wheel
chair-bound former Mafioso owner, Millio Militti.
The storied club is remembered ruefully by its
former denizens for weak drinks, a ridiculous 4’ x 6’ dance
floor, and confusing “Bob Mielke Bearcats Dixie Jazz”
sign on the wall regardless of who was playing. Management required musicians to wear matching vests or blazers,
which they hated.
During the Burp Hollow years, 1956-66, a second
wave of jazz revival musicians in and around San Francisco was intensively engaged in reviving, performing and
reinventing America’s most original art form. Bands,
players and audiences flourished in an ecosystem supplied
by joints like The Burp.
Thanks to a handful of surviving audiotapes we
can revisit a pure slice of old North Beach. Hosted by a
shady operator, the best of Frisco Jazz was served up with a
dubious cocktail at a crowded little gingham-topped table,
presided over by a comely manikin at the infamous Burp
Hollow.
Milio Miletti, Baby
In June of 1965 an interview of Miletti appeared under the byline of Monique Benoit in a San
Francisco newspaper. Between his “hi baby,” “darling” and “say honey,” uttered in his “husky, hoarse
voice,” very few facts emerged.
7
The Frisco Cricket Winter 2015
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About Your New
San Francisco Traditional Jazz Foundation
Created as a non-profit in 1981, the San Francisco Traditional Jazz Foundation stated, as its primary mission, the archival preservation of thousands of items related to the West Coast Jazz Revival that began in San Francisco about 1939.
In 2009 SFTJF completed the transfer of the main body of those materials to the Stanford University’s Music Library.
Thereupon, your Foundation’s Archive was closed; possible donors of jazz materials should now contact Stanford or
other public repositories.
SFTJF’s wider, ongoing aim is to help foster high-quality traditional jazz, regionally and worldwide. That mission
is now carried out primarily via electronic media. The Foundation’s main window on the world is our website -www.sftradjazz.org -- where visitors are invited to become members with a tax-deductible $25 per year contribution.
Thank you for your generous support over the years. Contributions in categories beyond the basic membership
level are also tax deductible, and the names of those contributors are published annually (unless a contributor specifies
anonymity).
Donations welcomed
The San Francisco Traditional Jazz Foundation accepts gifts and grants in many forms, including his­tori­cal items
which shed further light on the history of traditional jazz on the West Coast, such as recordings, music, newspaper
clip­pings, pho­tographs and corre­spon­dence. Contributions of materials or funds are tax-deductible under IRS ruling
status 501(c)(3).
SF Jazz on the Web
The San Francisco Traditional Jazz Foundation has an ever-expanding web site. The site includes audio files and
photos of many San Francisco (and other) jazz figures from the 1930s to the present. Please visit us at
www.sftradjazz.org. Join (or rejoin) the San Francisco Traditional Jazz Founda­tion today to show your support of
Traditional Jazz. All memberships are fully tax-deductible. If you are already a member, give the gift of Founda­tion
membership to a friend! Use the form at right.
8
The Frisco Cricket Winter 2015
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INVENTORY CLEARANCE SALE PRICES - All CDs $6.00
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El Dorado Jazz Band Live At Mr. Fatfingers
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The Sunset Music Company —Live in Dusseldorf, 1979
BSR-009
Firehouse 5 Plus 2 Live at Earthquake McGoon’s 1970
BCD-450
Clancy Hayes—Satchel of Song (only a few left!)
SFCD-108
Turk Murphy Jazz Band—Wild Man Blues
SFCD-107
Lu Watters Yerba Buena Jazz Band, Vol 2, 1946–1947
SFCD-106
Lu Watters Yerba Buena Jazz Band, Vol 1, 1937–1943
SFCD-105
Turk Murphy Jazz Band—Euphonic Sounds
SFCD-104
Turk Murphy Jazz Band—Weary Blues
SFCD-103
Turk Murphy Jazz Band—In Hollywood
SFCD-102
Turk Murphy Jazz Band—Live at Carson Hot Springs
Turk Murphy Jazz Band—At The Italian Village, with Claire Austin
SFCD-101
SFCD-11
Lu Watters Yerba Buena Jazz Band—At Hambone Kelly’s, 1949­–1950
SFCD-10
Bob Helm with the El Dorado Jazz Band—1955 ($10 - 2 CDS)
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The Frisco Cricket
Spring 2012