Papa Jack Laine
"Papa Jack" Laine , also simply Papa Jack, (actually George Vitell Laine , born September 21, 1873 - June 1, 1966 ) was an American brass band leader and drummer of early jazz (then mostly called ragtime ) until the First World War .
Live and act
Papa Jack Laine is sometimes referred to as "the first white jazz musician". He directed his first band, The Reliance , in 1891; he organized bands for parades, advertising and dance events in New Orleans , whereby his bands mostly had the surname "Reliance". In doing so, he often overrode the racial segregation laws (“Jim Crow Laws”) that had been reintroduced since the “Reconstruction” period (from around 1876) by simply referring to Afro-American musicians employed by him as Mexicans or Cubans. Numerous jazz musicians who later carried New Orleans Jazz north, like all members of the Original Dixieland Jass Band , but also George Brunis and his brothers, Sharkey Bonano and Tom Brown , were employed at times with him. Lawrence Vega (cornet), Achille Baquet (cl), Dave Perkins (trb), Morton Abraham (git) and Willy Guitar (double bass) played in his piano-less Jack Laine's Ragtime Band . Ramsey, Smith wrote in 1939 about the irony against the representatives of a “white origin” of Dixieland that there were two colored people in this granddaddy of all Dixieland combinations .
In 1917 he retired from the music business. He became a blacksmith and later ran a garage and auto repair shop. There are no recordings of his bands, but he has given some interviews.
In 1951 he made recordings with Johnny Wiggs , Harry Shields and Tom Brown, which had been organized by the New Orleans jazz fan Edmond Souchon, who also played guitar and banjo. There are also recordings from 1959, also with Johnny Wiggs and Souchon (Tulane University, for American Music).
literature
- Rex Harris, Brian Rust : Recorded Jazz: A Critical Guide . Penguin Books, London 1958.
- Frederic Ramsey, Charles Edward Smith : Jazzmen . 1939.
Web links
- Papa Jack Lane at Redhotjazz
- To the Reliance Band at Hurricane Brass Band
Individual evidence
- ↑ Information in Ramsey, Smith: Jazzmen , p. 41, thereafter the information goes back to Laine himself. The line-up varied over time.
- ↑ light skinned, blue eyed Negroes . Ramsey, Smith, p. 42 (Smith White New Orleans chapter ). Baquet and Perkins are meant. The Daddy was the representative of this thesis, the Original Dixieland Jazz Band
- ^ Brian Rust, Rex Harris: Recorded Jazz
- ↑ Tom Lord : Jazz Discography
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Laine, Papa Jack |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Laine, George Vitell (real name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American jazz big band leader and early jazz drummer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 21, 1873 |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 1, 1966 |