 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: MarlboroughMan
Date: 2016-11-23 22:40
To all Pete Fountain fans:
My band, Eric Seddon's Hot Club, has been asked to return to one of DownBeat magazine's top rated Jazz Clubs, BLU Jazz in Akron, Ohio, this Mardi Gras.
2017 will mark the first Mardi Gras in many decades that Pete Fountain won't be with us, though, and we thought it would be particularly appropriate to pay homage to him on that night.
I already have ideas of what we're going to do for set lists---other than a few originals of mine, we'll be playing only tunes recorded and performed by Pete.
Many of you BBoard contributors, though, are also Pete Fountain fans--some of you even knew him personally. If you have any favorites--any tunes you feel a tribute to Pete wouldn't be complete without, please feel free post them here--I want to know which of his tunes are most meaningful to all of you. I figure this expands the whole show to include even more enthusiasts, and it gives everyone here a chance to influence the set list of a Pete Fountain tribute at a great jazz club this Mardi Gras.
Thanks and keep swinging.
For updates, check my blog or click "like" on our Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/ericseddonhotclub/
Eric
******************************
The Jazz Clarinet
http://thejazzclarinet.blogspot.com/
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Tony F
Date: 2016-11-24 03:44
I've never met Pete Fountain, in fact I'm not sure that I've ever been on the same continent at the same time. That apart, I've always been a great fan and love to listen to him play. I am physically quite like Pete Fountain in his later years, and while this has sometimes been commented on, never so well as a few years ago. I'd been playing at a garden party jazz gig with a local band, and I'd spent the afternoon blowing my heart out and having a great time. As we packed up one of the party guests came up to me and said "Did you know that you look just like Pete Fountain? Pity you can't play the clarinet."
Tony F.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: seabreeze
Date: 2016-11-24 04:12
I grew up listenng to Pete live in New Orleans all the way from his early days with trumpeter George Girard and the Basin St. Six, through his time with Al Hirt and for many years after he left Welk and returned to New Orleans.
To world audiences he is most famous for "Do You Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans," and "Just a Closer Walk With Thee," so those would be on the must play list. But back home before these hits he was best known for his showpeice improvisations on "Tin Roof Blues," which he recorded at least four times, including performances with the Dukes of Dixieland, Al Hirt, and Tony Almerico. Some of his classiest work was always on "Rampart St. Parade," and "Tiger Rag," and "How We Danced at the Mardi Gras," which he never seemed to tire of playing. Blues and New Orleans march music with basic harmonies and danceable or walkable rhythms most inspired him. He loved to play "Sweethearts on Parade," "Jazz Me Blues," "Five Point Blues," "Washington and Lee Swing," and the old Irving Fazola tune "My Inspiration." Some others I remember going way back were "Way Down Yonder in New Orleans," "Shine," "My Blue Heaven," "Up a Lazy River," "Mahogany Stomp, "If I Had You," and "Someday Sweetheart." Every now and then, he would surprise you with something like "Unforgetable" (the Nat King Cole Classic), which he seemed to really like.
He was never on a nostalga trip for Goodman and Shaw and only occassionally ventured into songs associated with them. His gift was to pull the New Orleans jazz style songs into the present and make them still local yet universally appealing. Quite a trick!
Post Edited (2017-03-18 20:29)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Fuzzy
Date: 2016-11-24 10:53
Tony, thanks for sharing! Ain't that the way it goes?!
Robert....Wow! What a neat experience to hear the Basin Street Six live! What a great era for Pete. Love George Girard...so sad.
Once I was berated in a forum for stating that Pete was one of my favorite "trad" players. Of course, the detractors pointed out that Pete played all sorts of 60s pop tunes, etc., as well as more "rehearsed" tunes as he got older, and that he definitely was NOT a trad player. To me, that would be like saying Louis Armstrong wasn't a trad player because he played "Hello Dolly" and "What a Wonderful World." ;^)>>>
Great players transcend their origins without ever losing them.
I finally made my first trip to hear Pete play after Katrina had devastated his home. He was ill and wasn't able to perform. I returned a year later, and finally heard him in person. I was able to meet him and found him to be everything I ever thought he was. Great guy!
I was fortunate to hear him many more times before he retired, and I"m so happy for that...but I am a bit envious of folks who heard him throughout his earlier career!
(Sorry, Eric...didn't intend to tangent off your thread, but couldn't resist the chance to thank Tony and Robert for their posts)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: AndyW
Date: 2016-11-24 16:25
hey Eric thanks for posting,
If there are maybe two tunes that I associate with Pete Fountain, its two I've transcribed different versions of when searching for an insight into how Pete was thinking while improvising - they'd be his up tempo versions of "Shine" and his slow swinging versions of "Basin Street Blues" . I'll never see Pete live, i came to him late and I'm in a different continent, but he's still one of my big clarinet inspirations.
I enjoy your blog too - Good luck with the gigs
-Andy-
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: MarlboroughMan
Date: 2016-11-24 19:04
@fuzzy: No worries, man! This thread is all about Pete--I'm loving all the comments.
@Tony F: Hahaha! We must look alike then! At most gigs, especially if they're nightclub jobs that have a new audience, and not regular locals, I inevitably have someone come up to me and say I look like Pete. When I was younger we looked nothing alike...but once my reddish blonde wavy hair disappeared (for some reason only known to itself), I did start to resemble the older Pete Fountain. My playing style is different than Pete's...I'm also deeply indebted to the more earthy sounding NOLA masters, Artie Shaw, and have a bit more 'modern' vocabulary when I want it (inherited from my lifelong admiration for the style of Wynton Marsalis). But Pete remains a strong influence, and I've definitely embraced the legacy.
@Bob (aka seabreeze): Thank you for your list. About half of it is already on my planned set list, and the others are absolutely worth considering. I hadn't thought of 'Jazz Me Blues' for instance, but it's a great number, and VERY Pete.
@AndyW: 'Basin St Blues'! Yeah, I'll probably add this one. Very good idea.
I've probably written this elsewhere, but I met Pete when I was 18 years old and gigging in the French Quarter. He treated me like a king at his club--way beyond what I ever would have expected-- and was very encouraging. We talked about reeds, instruments, other clarinetists he admired, and was just about the most down to earth guy I've met. Over the past couple of years, I've done tribute concerts to Jimmie Noone, Acker Bilk, and Sidney Bechet, but this Mardi Gras will be special in a personal way.
Keep the stories and tunes coming, everyone! Whatever you want to share about Pete...it's all cool!
Eric
******************************
The Jazz Clarinet
http://thejazzclarinet.blogspot.com/
Post Edited (2016-11-24 19:06)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
