GREETING "THE JAPANESE GEORGE LEWIS" - 1966

I just ran across a picture that brought back memories of the first time I met Japanese clarinetist Ryoichi Kawai. Ryoichi came to town in 1966 with his Osaka-based New Orleans Rascals and impressed local jazz aficionados with his phenomenal ability to copy his idol George Lewis. George had toured Japan in 1963, playing to packed houses of adoring fans, and making friends with Ryoichi and his band. When Ryoichi and the Rascals arrived at New Orleans airport, George was there to greet them with an impromptu brass band. I was at George's side, playing my Albert system clarinet as he had taught me to do it. The Rascals were thrilled by the jazz serenade and broke out their instruments as soon as the exited the plane. This photo shows me (at about age 17), George, and a partially obscured Ryoichi. The Rascals played concerts at Tulane's Dixon Hall, at Preservation Hall and other venues and charmed everyone not only with their music but with their polite reverence for the  jazz tradition that they were spreading on the other side of the world. I met up with Ryoichi and the Rascals years later at the Ascona Jazz Festival in Switzerland. In 2010, Ryoichi and I crossed paths again at the Rapperswil Festival, also in Switzerand, and teamed up on a couple of numbers that have since found their way onto youtube. Check them out if you're curious to hear what two George Lewis-inspired clarinets from opposite ends of the earth sound like when they get together. I think George would be pleased by the tribute.

Burgundy Street Blues:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgCkhJJKu14

St. Philip Street Breakdown

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSRGV__3hiM

CLOSING THE CIRCLE WITH SAMMY RIMINGTON

June 1962: Jim Robinson, George Lewis, Sammy Rimington
Photo by Tom Sancton (Sr.)

In the summer of 1962, a young English clarinet player appeared in Preservation Hall, instrument in hand, and sat in with the George Lewis band. He had learned to play by copying George's records and he did it so well that all the veteran jazzmen at the Hall were amazed by his playing. So was I. I was in the audience that night, all of 12 years old, recently introduced to this music by my father, and enthralled with the whole scene. Sammy was about 20, but looked younger. My father befriended him and showed him around town. When Sammy returned to London, he sent me one of his old clarinets. I hadn't thought of playing an instrument before that, but Sammy's gift put me on the road to becoming a jazz musician myself.

May 2014: Me and Sammy at Economy Hall tent. Photo by Turk Enustun

Sammy and I have met up many times over the intervening years, but our latest encounter, at Jazzfest 2014, was special. Sammy told me he was having trouble with the clarinet mouthpiece he has had for some 20 years. He suspected it had warped and it had a small chip on the edge. Over dinner at our apartment last week, I gave him one of my extra mouthpieces, a Vandoren 5JB model that many jazz players use. Sammy tried it and liked it. When I heard him play at the last day of Jazzfest, I was thrilled by his tone and volume. I was especially pleased by the idea that Sammy had given me my first clarinet and I was able to reciprocate more than half a century later, closing the circle.

Sammy's set at Jazzfest, May 4, 2014: (l to r) Chuck Beatty, Seva Venet, Sammy, Ronell Johnson

TOMMY SANCTON GIGLIST, MAY-JUNE 2014

Thursday, May 1:  Palm Court, 1206 Decatur St., with Clive Wilson's New Orleans Serenaders. 8 - 11 pm.

Friday, May 2: Jazzfest, Economy Hall Tent, with Clive Wilson's New Orleans Serenaders. 12:20 - 1:20 pm.

Sunday, May 4: Preservation Hall, 726 St. Peter St., with the New Orleans Legacy Band, featuring Ronell Johnson. 8 - 11 pm.

Wednesday, May 7: Palm Court, 1206 Decatur St., with Lars Edegran's Palm Court All Stars, featuring vocalist Topsy Chapman. 8 - 11 pm.

Friday, May 9: Brasserie Marigny, Frenchmen Street, with MArla Dixon's Shotgun Jazz Band. 8 - 11 pm.

Saturday, May 10: Palm Court, 1206 Decatur St, with Lionel Ferbos Band, 8 - 11 pm.

Wednesday, May 14: Palm Court, 1206 Decatur St., with Lars Edegran's Palm Court All Stars, featuring vocalist Topsy Chapman. 8 - 11 pm.

Wednesday, May 21: Palm Court, 1206 Decatur St., with Lars Edegran's Palm Court All Stars, featuring vocalist Topsy Chapman. 8 - 11 pm.

Friday, May 23: Brasserie Marigny, Frenchmen Street, with MArla Dixon's Shotgun Jazz Band. 8 - 11 pm.

Sunday, May 25: Preservation Hall, 726 St. Peter St., with Lars Edegran's St. Peter Street All Stars. 8 - 11 pm.

Wednesday, May 28: Palm Court, 1206 Decatur St., with Lars Edegran's Palm Court All Stars, featuring vocalist Topsy Chapman. 8 - 11 pm.

Tuesday, June 3: Columns Hotel, St. Charles Avenue, with John Rankin (guitar) and Charlie Halloran (trombone). 8 - 11 pm.

Wednesday, June 4: Palm Court, 1206 Decatur St., with Lars Edegran's Palm Court All Stars, featuring vocalist Topsy Chapman. 8 - 11 pm.

Wednesday, June 11: Palm Court, 1206 Decatur St., with Lars Edegran's Palm Court All Stars, featuring vocalist Topsy Chapman. 8 - 11 pm.

June 15: Off to Europe. Have a great summer, y'all!