Yerba Buena Jazz Band
Lu Watters & the Yerba Buena Jazz Band is the name of the Traditional Jazz revival band founded by Lu Watters.[1] Notable members include singer and banjoist Clancy Hayes (from 1938 to 1940); clarinetist Bob Helm; trumpeter Bob Scobey; trombonist Turk Murphy; tubist/bassist Dick Lammi; and Watters himself.[2] The band broke up in 1950.
In the late 1930s, cornetist Lu Watters was playing commercial dance gigs in the San Francisco area. Not satisfied with this music, he assembled a group of musicians to play traditional jazz music. His rehearsal spot was the Big Bear Lodge on Redwood Road in the Oakland hills.[2] Rehearsing with him were trombonist Turk Murphy, trumpeter Bob Scobey, clarinetist Bob Helm, and pianist Wally Rose. His break came when the group landed a job playing at the Dawn Club on Annie Street in San Francisco. When San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen wrote a slightly disparaging piece about the band, supporters sent in many letters, creating publicity that boosted the band's popularity.
Discography
The band made several recordings for Jazz Man Records, which were issued in the UK on Melodisc Records, some which are:
- Melodisc 1123 Original Jelly Roll Blues (Jelly Roll Morton)/ At a Georgia Camp Meeting (Mills)
- Melodisc 1124 Daddy Do (Fred Longshaw) /Millenberg Joys
- Melodisc 1125 Muskrat Ramble (Kid Ory)/ Smokey Mokes (Holzman)
- Melodisc 1126 Tiger Rag/Come Back Sweet Papa (Russell / Barbarin)
- Melodisc 1148 Creole Belles (Bodewalt)/ Chattanooga Stomp (King Oliver)
- Melodisc 1149 Working Man Blues (King Oliver) / Big Bear Stomp (Lu Watters)
- Melodisc 1150 Copenhagen (davis)/ Jazzin' Babies Blues (Jones)
- Melodisc 1158 1919 Rag (arr. by Lu Watters) / Ostrich Walk (Nick La Rocca)
- Melodisc 1170 South (Moten/Hayes)/ Richard M. Jones Blues
- Melodisc 1180 Friendless Blues / I'm Goin' Huntin' (Blythe/Bertrand)
References
- ↑ Hall, Fred (1996-01-01). It's about Time: The Dave Brubeck Story. University of Arkansas Press. p. 51. ISBN 9781610752107. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
- 1 2 Levin, Floyd (2002). Classic Jazz: A Personal View of the Music and the Musicians. University of California Press. p. 246. ISBN 9780520928985. Retrieved 18 November 2013.