A Night At Red Arrow - Franz Jackson

St. James Infirmary

A Night At Red Arrow

Franz Jackson and The Original Jass All-Starts

Pinnacle Recordings PLP 203M

1961

From the back cover: This is Franz Jackson's second album, and my second set of liner notes for the group. Since the first album was done for a small label that is now out of business and unavailable, I'd like to quote a line or so from my first literary effort for the Original Jass All-Stars:

"I'm afraid this album will be labeled Dixieland, as if seems all things must bear labels landfill into categories these days. But Franz Jackson and the Original Jazz All-Stars transcend Dixieland, or New Orleans or Chicago, or Kansas city, or New York, or the Swing Era. it's a summation of all this. A total of 265 years playing experience in most of the great jazz organizations in history, a pocket edition of a jazz encyclopedia. And it's an exciting thing to hear talent and experience put to as effective sue as it is here."

The lonely thing that I'd change in the above paragraph after 4 years would be the total years of playing experience. But I'd like to stress even more the term Dixieland and its inadequacy when applied to this group. Dixieland covers a multitude of sins, being the term applied to almost everything done by a small group that predates the Bop Era. But to many of us, there's a distinction between Dixieland and Traditional Jass. A difference between men playing the music they grew up with, know, love and understand, and the straw hat and blazer crowd who go through the motions (and the accent is on motion) for a quick buck. To me, they're the Professional Dixielanders, the kids who found the Money Tree.

Dixieland is probably the easiest form of jazz to understand. It's must you feel. The happy, free-wheeling excitement not only offers the listeners a release but communicates its intensity directly to the audience, gigs them al most a feeling of participation. It's a starting point from which the listener should begin to look for something more... the great heritage of Traditional Jazz, and there complex harmonies of modern jazz.

The ideal would be to do away with the Modern Jazz fans, or Mainstream Jazz fans, or Traditional Jazz fans, and have just plan Jazz Fans... period!

But Jazz offers something for everyone certainly no in relationship to knowledge of the subject so that a person can become a convert to a particular school of jazz one week, and an expert on the entire field the next. The very best we can say about this is that it gives employment to all types of musicians. From Bunk to Monk... from Pontchartrain to Coltrane... every type of Jazz, every Era has its staunch defenders so willing to enlighten you with their humble opinion which they value highly. Records are made to appeal to these various tastes, which immediately limits the sale of the album, and which brings up the question, "How broad are your tastes?" Are you adding this album to a collection of Dixieland, or helping to round out a collection of all phase of Jazz?

Since linder notes are usually promotion pieces, the most direct approach here is... DON'T READ ABOUT IT, BUT IT!! But since myth constant complaint concerns liner notes that are promotional instead of informative, let's get down tho the heart of the matter.

From the first days of jazz recording, the sound-proofed walls and the electronic monster have been a problem for individuals who ordinarily earn their living performing for a live audience. The jazz histories make numerous mention of liquor in the recording studio, and this is not a piece on the evils or merits of John Barleycorn... but certain individuals have always felt the need to relax in front of a mike and alcohol seemed to be one of the answers. Some performed better because of it... others only thought they were.

The advances in recording technique made it possible to bring the equipment to the musician, and one of the major problems was solved. Of course, no musician or group can be judged by records alone, nor can his abilities be determined by a chance listening in person. But through this LP oil will get the feel of Franz Jackson's Original Jazz All-Stars as they appear at their home for the past few years, the Red Arrow. Franz said, "The LP was recorded on location in an attempt to capture the attitude that a musician has when playing to an audience. Being a performer myself, I certainly dislike looking at a control booth! IT's like someone looking over y9our shoulder when you're reading. Technically, it many be the ideal situation for recording, but no for playing! The  audience is there and their enthusiasm is recorded."

A couple of other posts to clarify before getting into the music. First a word about the Red Arrow. The Club is a landmark in the history of Jazz, and also in the pages of Chicago history. It was one of the real roarers of the Roaring Twenties, but over the years it has mellowed to an informal, hospitable club where Jazz is still king. Franz and the All-Stars have been there since 1956. It is the largest club in the Chicago area featuring Traditional Jazz.

Now about the name of the band, "The Original Jass All-Stars." Question are asked Nobu the spelling of the word "Jazz," and the world "Original.") No one ever question "All-Stars"!) Franz Jackson's explanation is, "As to the word 'Original,' the concept meant here is that a musician would take any tune that he felt or was asked to play and would add his feeling and idea of how he might like to add to that particular melody. This was the original concept of 'Jass' and therefore the reason I use the word 'Original." Not saying we were the first jazz musicians. 'Jass' was one of the early spellings of the word Jazz, and since we are attempting to go back to the traditional, I chose the tile of 'Jass'."

Franz is the youngster of the band at 48. He has worked with the bands of Carroll Dickerson, Jimmie No-one, Fletcher Henderson, Roy Eldridge and Earl Hines among others. Bob Shoffner is 60, and has worked with King Oliver, Erskine Tate, and Hines. John Thomas has been playing professionally since 1923 with numerous theatre bands, Louis Armstrong, McKinney's Cotton Pickers and Nat King Cole. Bill Oldham has played for pay for 34 years including the Savoy Ballroom and Regal Theatre bands, Louis Fletcher Henderson, and Eddie South. Rozelle Clayton has been playing piano all his life, doing it professionally since the days of Jimmie Lunceford's Chickasaw Syncopators, holds a Masters of Music Degree, and his credits include W. C. Handy, Walter Eldridge and Lucky Millinder. Richard Curry is 60 and recalls his days with James P. Johnson, Ethel Waters and Carroll Dickerson. Lawrence Dixon aught himself to play banjo on a farm in Chillicothe, Ohio, more than 50 years ago and has worked hotel orchestras in the Midwest, theatre bands in Chicago and with Earl Nines at the Grand Terrace.

To quote the Down beat review of their first album: "This is no Tigertown Five!... this is what they mean by 'authentic jazz." – Dick Buckley, WNIB and WAAF, Chicago

From Billboard - January 9, 1961: Recorded on location at this old Chicago club noted for featuring traditional jazz, the musicians involved are all veterans who have been playing this style of music since the '20's. Led by Franz Jackson, the Original Jazz All-Stars offer style and authenticity, heard too rarely these days. Despite kcal of big names, dealers who demonstrate this disk to their jazz clientele will be rewarded by a healthy quota of sales.

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