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STUFF SMITH ON FILM AND VIDEO


CORRECTIONS AND ADDITIONS TO
STUFF SMITH AND THE ALPHONSO TRENT ORCHESTRA



STUFF SMITH

This section continues DS / UD corrections and additions in the printed FB:VIS/iii/10–iv/11–13, which should also be consulted.

NOTE that CD compilations not violin specific that include occasional previously released titles are no longer generally noted.

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CONTENT OF AB FABLE CDs RELEASED DECEMBER 2002

CD AB Fable [EN] [2] ABCD2-004/5 Stuff Smith and Robert Crum, The Complete 1944 Rosenkrantz Apartment Transcription Duets, The Jazz Violinist and The Classical Pianist – 21 October 1944 (a-i); 16 December 1944 (a); 18 December 1944 (a) – corrections to liner: Robert Crum recorded his 78 album for Gold Seal, not Gold Star; Eddie South also recorded an album for Gold Seal.

CD AB Fable [EN] [2] ABCD2-007/8 Stuff Smith, 1944–1946, Studio, Broadcast, Concert and Apartment Performances – June 1944 (a,b); 1 September 1944 (a,b); 8 September 1944 (a-j); 11 September 1944 (a,b); 16 October 1944 [1st] (a); 16 October 1944 [2nd] (a); 3 November 1944 (b); 24 November 1944 (b); 20 December 1944 [trio] (a-d); 20 December 1944 [duo] (a-b); 20 December 1944 (b, g); 1 February 1945 (a,b[retitled My Rhythm]); 2 February 1945 (b); 9 June 1945 (a-c); 1 October 1945 (d,h); December 1946 [see UD/62–63; FB:VIS personnel and date corrections] (a,b) – for corrections to liner visit http://www.abar.net/cdd.htm

Of the four Mildred Bailey shows on which Stuff Smith was a guest, two complete dress rehearsals are known to be extant: 1 September 1944; 24 November 1944. Had we known in time, the 24 November 1944 dress rehearsal for “Humoresque” could have been included, alongside the 1 September 1944 dress rehearsal “Bugle Call Rag” which is included.

Also missing from the CD is a now located part of a lost 26 August 1944 Rosenkrantz apartment session with Robert Crum – see DS/114 fol.

CONTENT OF AB FABLE CDs RELEASED MAY 2006

CD AB Fable [EN] ABCD1-015 Stuff Smith, 1937–1942, The Complete Tenor Sax Septets, That Naughty Waltz – March 1937; 29 June 1939; September 1939; March 1940; 16 April 1940; 27 February 1941; August 1942 (all titles from these dates except four alternate takes from March 1940 first released on CD AB Fable [EN] ABCD2-19/20)

CD AB Fable [EN] ABCD1-016 Rex Stewart and Stuff Smith, The 1963 St-Onge LA Duets and Narration, Summertime – ?1961; 1963; ?1964 (one complete session and selections from three others)

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new session
IS SWING THE THING? – but see FB:VIS/iv/11/88
STUFF SMITH ONYX CLUB BOYS

New York – Is Swing the Thing? – NBC – RCA Studios – Rockefeller Center – Station WJZ and NBC Blue Network – Produced by Austen Ginger Croom-Johnson of the BBC – 20.00–21.00, 29 March 1936

Smith plays “I’s a-Muggin’” as the seventh item, described as Stuff Smith Jam Session, fade out with voice over announcer and NBC chimes. Previous posting that Smith did not appear with his own orchestra but with Adrian Rollini’s is in error. (Rollini recorded for Decca, March 17, 1936, including the tune “Stuff, Etc”.) – research assistance courtesy Vincent Pelote, Dan Morgenstern, Phil Sillman, Rollini’s cousin, via Ate van Delden. Smith is also almost certainly the single black voice in the opening comedy skit.

Other participants include Benny Goodman wire from Congress Hotel, Chicago; Meredith Willson Orchestra wire from LA; Frank Froeba; Red Norvo and Mildred Bailey; Kay Thompson Rhythm Singers; Ray Noble; Dick McDonough and Carl Kress; Casper Reardon; Adrian Rollini.

new session

STUFF SMITH ONYX CLUB BOYS

New York – Saturday Night Swing Session, no. 39 – WABC CBS Studio 1 – 3 April 1937

a Limehouse Blues – though hardly recognizable as such

b Here Comes the Man with the Jive

c Upstairs – as Stompin’ at the Onyx Club in Inman, Swing Era Scrapbook

unlabelled aluminium 12inch disc (a–c) – includes snatches of performances by others

new session – but see UD/94 fol.
STUFF SMITH ORCHESTRA

New York – Randall’s Island Stadium – Carnival of Swing – WNEW broadcast – 29 May 1938
Jonah Jones (tp), Ben Webster (ts), Stuff Smith (vn), Clyde Hart (pn), Bobby Bennett (gt), Mack Walker (sb), Cozy Cole (dm)
a Crescendo in Drums (Smith, Hart, Cole)
William Savory ET (a) – housed at the National Jazz Museum in Harlem

new session – noted in FB:VIS/iv/11 – now known to be extant – auditioned
STUFF SMITH SEXTET FEATURING DOLI ARMENRA

New York – NBC Blue Network broadcast – Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street – 19 November 1941
Doli Armenra [aka Doli Armena aka Dolli aka original name Dolly Jones aka married name Dolly Hutchinson] (tp), Stuff Smith (vn), Freddy Jefferson (pn), Herbie ? (elgt), Frank Clarke (sb), George Jones (dm)
a My Blue Heaven
b Bugle Call Rag
ET (a,b) – extant
NOTE Advance press publicity reports Armenra “a Mohawk Indian girl trumpet player” and that the group has just finished a tour through the middle west. ¶mc introduces Armenra as half Mohawk. ¶The titles “Walk It, Frank”, presumably a Smith original, and “I Can’t Get Started with You” announced in the advance press publicity are not played.

new sessions – unlikely to be extant
[STUFF SMITH WBKB CHANNEL 7 TV, CHICAGO, APRIL–JULY 1950]

Extract of 1980s interview by Charles Walton with tenor saxophonist Dave Young: “Bronzeville Conversation with Dave Young” posted on website of Jazz Institute of Chicago:

Walton: Were you acquainted with Al Benson, the DJ?

Dave Young: I worked with him for a long time. One night he and Stuff Smith, violinist, got into a common fistfight on TV, Channel 7. We were on a TV program, appearing every night. Al drank a lot during those years. We were rehearsing before the TV show while Al set up the entire program for the evening, giving us the order as to when we were to perform. When the TV show began, Al announced that Stuff Smith’s group was to perform, but in the wrong order. Stuff’s group was not ready to go on earlier. Stuff and Al got into a fistfight right there. The cameramen took the cameras off of them. But they were fighting in the studio. I quit that night. I had been working in Calumet City part-time and when I quit, I went to work full-time in Calumet City. Al was something, man. He cussed out the president of Pepsi Cola. When I came back out of the service, Al was the biggest thing in Chicago. He worked for Greenberg, who was the head of Canadian Ace Beer. You know who owned Canadian Ace? The syndicate. Out and out. Al blew that. He was something. Al had a store front church and the way he got into radio was by getting solicitations from many businesses. He said, “Give me a donation and I’ll say something about you on the radio.” People started talking about the Reverend Leaner. After a while he changed his name to Al Benson.

Extract of 2004 interview by Charles Walton valve-trombonist Cy Touff, “Bronzeville Conversation with Cy Touff”, posted on website of Jazz Institute of Chicago:

“In 1950 or ’51, I was a member of Deejay Al Benson’s TV show band. Stuff Smith was one of the performers, and Lurlean Hunter was a vocalist. That work at WBKB in the State Lake Building only lasted a few months.”

Musicians in a photo: Claude Jones, piano, ?–Johnny Pate, bassist, Kenny Mann, tenor sax, Hotsy Katz, trumpet, Goon Gardner, alto sax, Cy Touff, valve trombone, Sleepy Nelson, drums, and Sax Mallard, sax and leader.

Extract of posting by Robert Campbell about Sax Mallard on website of Red Saunders Research Foundation:

In late April 1950, disc jockey Al Benson, who had already done some freelance recording, sponsored dances and jam sessions, and even fronted for a short-lived record label . . ., got an opportunity to host a weekly TV show on WBKB in Chicago. For the show, which aired on Saturday nights, he put together a band with some of the best young jazz musicians in town, both black and white. Hotsy Katz, Cy Touff, and Kenny Mann were members of the Jay Burkhardt band, a bop big band, much admired by the scribes in Down Beat, that unfortunately never recorded. Cornell Wiley was a member of the Dozier Boys. Sleepy Nelson was Sax Mallard’s regular drummer, and Goon Gardner was working regularly during this period, sometimes as a leader. / Sax Mallard was the leader (however, the initial contract for the show was in Cornell Wiley’s name; with a term of 4 weeks, it was accepted and filed by Local 208 on May 4, 1950). Cy Touff, who played valve trombone in the band, recalled that “Stuff Smith was one of the performers, and Lurlean Hunter was a vocalist. That work at WBKB in the State Lake Building only lasted a few months.” The show was still running in early July; on July 6 and 20, 1950, the Board of Musicians Union Local 208 briefly discussed a complaint by bassist Johnny Pate that stemmed from a guest appearance on the show by the Henry “Red” Allen Orchestra on April 29. Also at the July 6 Board meeting, Claude Jones brought a complaint against Stuff Smith, who had fired Jones from a gig at the Blue Note after Jones informed Smith that he was scheduled to appear on Benson’s TV show on Saturday night. (This was presumably after Stuff got into a fistfight with Al Benson on the air, abruptly ending his string of guest appearances on the show.)

new session
JIMMY BRYANT, HAROLD HENSLEY, BUDDY RAY, STUFF SMITH
Los Angeles – ?–Studio City – Home of Harold Hensley – one or two dates c.late 1950s – musicians talk – Pianist and accordionist Billy Liebert Intro is named on tape box but does not seem to be present in any musical capacity; it is possible that part of the session has been erased by unassociated over-recording – this is the previously unlocated tape described by Buddy Ray in his interview with Kevin Coffey in Up Jumped the Devil

Harold Hensley (?–as on (e) only, vn), Buddy Ray, Stuff Smith (vn), Roy Lanham (electric gt), Red Wooten (sb)
a Skip It (Smith) – seemingly end part only – ?–earlier part erased by unassociated over-recording
b Is! Is! (incl. Skip It quote) (Smith)
c The Blues that I Know, take 1 (Smith) – Hensley, Ray out
d The Blues that I Know, take 2 (Smith) – Hensley, Ray out
e Impro incl. I’m Walking by the River (Carlisle, [Smith, Steinbeck]) – ?Ray in towards end – ?Hensley (as) in towards end – Smith, another (vc) at start

Harold Hensely, Roy Lanham, Stuff Smith, others (voice), Harold Hensley, Stuff Smith (vn)
f Wate-On [sic] – hilarious spoken party piece featuring Smith done as if a Cincinnati Station WLW “The Nation Station” broadcast – introduced by Hensley, Lanham in the persona of Pa McCormick – Hensley (vn) at start only – Smith (vn) at end only [beginning of, as announced, Waitin’ on You – ?–remainder erased by unassociated over-recording] – ‘Although he lapses at one point and says “Pat McCormick”, Roy Lanham is actually aping an old WLW performer named “Pa” McCormick (a real person who died in 1945) and refers to himself as “Pa” early in the fake broadcast segment. At any rate, it appears to be Roy Lanham doing “Pa/Pat/Uncle Roy”. McCormick was a mainstay on the station and appeared with some excellent "Hot" country fiddlers, including Carl Cotner & Charlie Linville’ – Kevin Coffey

Jimmy Bryant (vn, ?–acoustic gt on (g) only), Harold Hensley, Stuff Smith (vn)
g Pennies from Heaven – ?Hensley, Smith (vn), ?Bryant (gt) – or Bryant (vn) and Hensley or unidentified [prob. not Lanham] (gt)
h Unidentified title (incl. opening riff known from a previously documented tape composed by Hensley, Ray, Smith, Wright) – Bryant, Hensley, Smith (vn) – (gt) out

TAPE
Hensley 10 1/2” (a-h) – tape courtesy Phyllis Hensley Williams via Kevin Coffey includes unassociated material
NOTE
“Three players I was influenced by were Django, Tony Motolla, and Stuff Smith. [. . .] I love jazz. I was very fortunate to know and have as a good friend, and a buddy, Stuff Smith. We got along so well together. I would go where he was playing to visit with him and his friends, and he would come and visit with me and my country friends. If you ever heard Stuff Smith play a country tune (laughs), well you know, you don't really hear the melody too much, here and there some, but you have a good time playing it." – Jimmy Bryant 1970s broadcast interview quote posted on the web by Bryant’s son John Bryant.

new sessions
ref. DS/32, 175–179; UD/17, 70; FB:VIS/iii/10/121; iv/13/7; early–mid 1960s; Smith–St Onge Tapes; Smith–Hester Tapes

THE ROGER ST ONGE STUFF SMITH SESSIONS

Roger St Onge was a close friend of Stuff Smith, Rex Stewart, and many other Los Angeles musicians. He frequently recorded informal sessions at his own homes of changing addresses, at musicians’ homes, and occasionally on location in clubs. In May 2001 Steven Lasker visited Roger St Onge in Santa Rosalia, Baja California, Mexico, where he had retired, and purchased the tapes with Stuff Smith, Rex Stewart, and some others, including a club date with Johnny Creach. Lasker was accompanied by Claire Gordon, a close friend of St Onge and many musicians, who helped to organize the trip. AB Fable Archive was loaned, courtesy Steven Lasker, some thirteen tapes, including all the tapes with Stuff Smith, for transfer and analysis. The condition of the tapes, most of which are stereo, is variable. Some are next to perfect, such as the tape with the Stuff Smith and Rex Stewart duets. Others are problematic, such as the band tape with Smith and Stewart, with electrical distortion, part print-through, drop outs, part erasure, etc. For the outline details of the Smith tapes given here, an effort to rationalize the content has been made, so that the entries do not in every case reflect the actual content of any one particular tape. The alternative, simply to list the content of each tape, with their sometimes radically changing personnels, different sessions, and associated or unassociated odds and ends, would be unnecessarily confusing or need extensive annotation.

Some tapes bear labels with personnels; others do not. Roger St Onge has tried to identify the musicians. Some identified musicians, particularly (ts), (pn), may be previously unidentified musicians on previously documented Smith–Hester tapes. Few of the tapes are properly or reliably dated. In general, they range from the late 1950s to 1964, a few months before Smith left for Europe early in 1965, never to return to USA. The entries here should be regarded as drafts until such time as a more detailed analysis can be undertaken.

Three or four master tapes with Stuff Smith and Big Pete Peterson are probably lost for good. They were borrowed by Peterson’s widow and not returned. Their current whereabouts is unknown. However, a few tapes include dubs from other tapes and, because a few dub titles are not found on any other known tape, it seems likely that they may be dubbed from one or more of the lost tapes.

Bobby Charles has told us of another taped jam session, which appears to be lost, recorded at Smith’s home. It included Dodge Bolton (pn), Charles singing “What’s New”, and another vocalist Mike Bedney. It is assumed not to have been a St Onge recording. Charles also tells us of seeing Smith at engagements and record dates. He saw Smith and Jimmy Bryant play together in the San Fernando Valley in 1955. Charles sang with violinist Buddy Ray in the 1950s–1960s and played bass with Jimmy Bryant in 1964.

STUFF SMITH SOLO

Stuff Smith (solo vn)

Onge old home, Worrell Street, Manhattan Beach – aeroplane flies overhead at one point – 25 December 1961

a Christmas music – hymns, carols, etc

––

Stuff Smith (solo vn)

a Sunday, 1963 or 1964 – possibly just before Smith went to Europe early 1965

a Claire du Lune

––

Stuff Smith (solo vn)

a The [?]Picayune Indian [or [?]Pewaukee]
b Autumn Leaves
c Rosetta
d Träumerei (Schumann)
e Roger’s Tune

––

Stuff Smith (solo vn)

a Plays to records incl. by Erroll Garner; Jonah Jones; Lester Young

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STUFF SMITH DUETS WITH GUITARISTS

Stuff Smith (vn), Little Richard [Dick ?, an unidentified friend of Smith, a New Yorker of Italian descent] (gt)

Onge home at Rolling Hills – a Sunday afternoon, c.autumn 1964 [3 or 4 months before Stuff went to Europe early in 1965]

a Stairway to the Stars
b Yesterdays
c What Is There to Say?
d Perdido
e Once in a While
f Tenderly
g Dream
h Unidentified familiar title
i Caravan
j One O’Clock Jump – intro riff is Play [aka Timme’s Blues from 1965]
k Penthouse Serenade (When We’re Alone)
l Someone to Watch Over Me
m Unidentified familiar jump riff
n Impro fragments – gt only
o The Man I Love
p Every Day – Smith vc fragment
q Impro fragments – gt only
r Every Day – Smith vc – others noise

––

Onge home at Manhattan Beach – unknown date

Stuff Smith (vn), ? (gt)

a Roger’s Tune

––

Stuff Smith (vn), ? (gt)

a Play to LP by Jonah Jones: Fragment / Whatever Lola Wants / Till There Was You – incomplete

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STUFF SMITH AND REX STEWART

Rex Stewart (cn), ? (tb), Big Pete Peterson, Unidentified other (ts), Stuff Smith (vn), ? (vb), ? (pn), ? (sb), ? (dm)

?Home, LA – ?–1961 or 1963

a All of Me
b Take the ‘A’ Train – electrical interference
c Sweet Georgia Brown – ?–vn, vb out
d I Would Do Anything for You – 2 ts – cn, tb, vn out – vol. decrease & print through midway
e Fragment – vn only – print thru continues
f Someone to Watch Over Me – cn, vn out – print thru continues & vol. increases when over
g Rosetta – cn, vn out – cut

––

Rex Stewart (cn, vc), Stuff Smith (vn, vc)

Others present and conversing: Roger St Onge, Arlene Smith, Claire Gordon, Jody or Jodie
Manhattan Beach, LA – Sunday afternoon, c.summer 1963

a Summertime
b Royal Garden Blues – intro only
c Royal Garden Blues
d Incidental fragment [Wang Wang Blues] – Smith only followed by several vc
e Incidental fragment – Smith only
f Incidental fragment – Smith only
g Incidental fragment – Smith only
h Incidental fragment – Smith only
i Incidental fragment – Smith only
j Incidental fragment – Smith only – unidentified percussion
k Take a Walk (Smith) – Smith vc
l Incidental fragment [Holiday for Strings] – Smith, Stewart vc only
m On the Sunnyside of the Street – unidentified percussion – Stewart vc
n Incidental fragment – Smith vc only

NOTE
Tape includes long fascinating conversation about jazz mostly in the 1920s, with reference to Waller, Willie the Lion Smith, Morton, Tatum, Hines, Peck Kelley. Stewart recounts Smith’s encounter with New York violinist Allie Ross – Smith incidental vn during conversation – unidentified female sings “Summertime” during conversation between (b) and (c), i.e., not during Smith–Stewart performance

––––––

STUFF SMITH DUETS WITH VAL CHALK [excruciatingly irritating pianist and vocalist]

Stuff Smith (vn), Val Chalk (pn, vc)

a If I Had You – vn
b A Closer Walk with Thee – pn, vc
c Black and Blue – pn, vc
d Up tempo medley incl. Swanee River / Alexander’s Ragtime Band – vn, pn
e Say It Isn’t So – vn, pn – few seconds break midway
f Always – vn, pn – recording volume increases midway
g I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm – vn, pn
h Isn’t This a Lovely Day to Be Caught in the Rain – vn, pn

––

Stuff Smith (vn), Val Chalk (pn)

a Mood Indigo
b Unidentified familiar [?–woman’s name title]

––

Stuff Smith (vn, vc), Val Chalk (pn, vc)

a Woo Wee Baby, You Sure Look Good to Me – Smith, Chalk vc
b Hello Dolly – Smith, Chalk vc
c Night Life – Chalk vc
d Things Ain’t What They Used to Be – no vc

––––––

SESSIONS WITH HORN PLAYER(S) OTHER THAN REX STEWART

?–Bob Dotson (tb), Big Pete Peterson (ts), Stuff Smith (vn), Dodge Bolton (pn, vc), George Mason (sb), ? (dm)

a single note – Smith only
b ’Deed I Do – Bolton vc
c Medley: Body and Soul / What’s New? – Bolton vc / Body and Soul

NOTE Rex Stewart plays apparently on the same session but not on tracks with Smith.

––

Big Pete Peterson (ts), Stuff Smith (sb), Val Chalk (pn), ?–George Mason (?sb), ? (gt), unidentified female (vc)

a Easter Parade
b How Deep Is the Ocean? – female vc
c ?–Take a Walk (if so: Smith)
d The Story Is Ended (But the Melody Lingers On) – cut

––

Big Pete Peterson (ts), Stuff Smith (vn), Dodge Bolton (pn), ?-Frankie Parker (dm)

a Summertime
b Body and Soul – tape jump near end
c Play [aka Timme’s Blues – from 1965] (Smith)
d It’s All Right with Me
e Unidentified familiar ballad
f Lullaby in Rhythm
g Walking My Baby Back Home – incomplete

––

old label reads 1959 – recent label reads c.1964, shortly before Smith left for Europe early in 1965

Big Pete Peterson (ts), Stuff Smith (vn), Dodge Bolton (pn), ?–George Mason (sb), ?–Frankie Parker (dm)

a The Way You Look Tonight – c.40 seconds cut out during Stuff’s solo
b Perdido
c Stardust
d A Foggy Day
e Take the ‘A’ Train – cut
f Medley: Body and Soul / ?–Don’t You Know I Care / Laura
g Play [aka Timme’s Blues from 1965]
h Unidentified Horace Silver type tune
i Robbins Nest
j Because of You [?]
k Unidentified fragment – cut

––

Smith’s home, Claudina Avenue, LA

?–Bob Dotson (tb on (m) only), Big Pete Peterson (ts), Stuff Smith (vn), Dodge Bolton (pn), ?–George Mason (sb), Red Mack (dm, pn, vc), Johnny King (vc)

a The Way You Look Tonight – ts out – vn out
b I Only Have Eyes for You – ts out – King vc
c Where or When – ts out – King vc
d Woo Wee Baby, You Sure Look Good to Me – King vc
e Where Is My Man – vn out – Mack pn, vc
f Red Top – vn out – Mack pn, vc
g piano solo doodling – ?-Mack then/or Bolton
h When I Fall in Love – ts out – dm out – ?Mack pn – King vc
i Autumn Leaves – ts out – dm out – ?Mack pn
j All the Things You Are – ts out – dm out – ?Bolton pn – Mack vc – incomplete
k Unidentified – Bolton back on pn – Mack back on dm
l Tenderly – ts out
m Woo Wee Baby, You Sure Look Good to Me – ?Dotson tb – Mack vc
n piano solo doodling
o ’Swonderful [plus ? mixed in]
p These Foolish Things
q Classical piece – vn, pn duet plus dm
r Play [aka Timme’s Blues from 1965] – ts out

––

Bob Dotson (tb), Big Pete Peterson (ts), Stuff Smith (vn), ?–Dodge Bolton (pn), ?–George Mason (sb), Val Chalk, unidentified young girl (vc),

a Woo Wee Baby, You Sure Look Good to Me – Chalk vc
b The Lady Is a Tramp – unidentified young girl vc
c Sophisticated Lady – tape repair drop outs at beginning of tb solo
d Mood Indigo – Chalk vc – ?recording drop out during vc – drop outs end tb, beginning ts
e ’Swonderful – incomplete

––

Bob Dotson (tb), Big Pete Peterson (ts) Stuff Smith (vn), Dodge Bolton (pn), George Mason (sb),? (dm), ? (vc [?-the drummer])

a A Foggy Day
b Play [aka Timme’s Blues from 1965]
c Strike Up the Band
d Body and Soul
e My Old Flame – tb out – ts out
f Brief solo piano [then Smith talk]
g Unidentified familiar
h Kansas City – vc [?–the drummer]
i Body and Soul – fragment only

––

Bob Dotson (tb), Big Pete Peterson (ts), Stuff Smith (vn), Dodge Bolton (pn), ? (sb), ? [white] (dm)

a Caravan

Bob Dotson (tb), Big Pete Peterson (ts) Stuff Smith (vn) Milton Rainey [?spelling] (pn), ? (sb), Mike (vc)

b Teach Me Tonight – Mike vc

Bob Dotson (tb), Stuff Smith (vn) Val Chalk (pn, vc), ? (sb)

c You’ll Never Walk Alone – Chalk vc

Bob Dotson (tb), Big Pete Peterson (ts) Stuff Smith (vn), ?-Milton Rainey [?spelling] (pn), ? (sb), ? [white] (dm), Mike (vc)

d Every Day I Have the Blues – Mike vc
e Familiar jungle style tune – tb out – ts out – jungle percussion & whistles
f Crazy Rhythm – incomplete

––

Big Pete Peterson (ts), Stuff Smith (vn), Dodge Bolton (pn)

a The Man I Love
b Blues riff – brief moment of recording interference
c Oh, Lady, Be Good!

Big Pete Peterson (ts), Stuff Smith (vn), Dodge Bolton (pn)

b Roger’s Tune
c The Girl from Ipanema – drop out
d The Man I Love – in bossa nova rhythm – incomplete

––––––

STUFF SMITH AND NINA RUSSELL

Nina Russell retirement party at her home west end of south central LA – 6 September 1964

Stuff Smith (vn), Nina Russell (og, vc), ? (pn)

a Body and Soul
b Unidentified – Smith out
c Unidentified – end only
d Take the ‘A’ Train – Smith out
e After Hours [?] – incomplete – Smith out
f Unidentified – pn out
g I Thought About You – Russell vc – Smith out
h Unidentified fragment – Rusell vc – Smith out

––––––
End of Roger St Onge tapes
––––––

new session
STUFF SMITH QUARTET
Stuff Smith (vn, vc), Claude Guilhot (vb, ?–plus (pn) on (j) only), Alex Daniel (sb), Dante Agostini (dm)

Paris – Les Trois Mailletz – 29 June 1965
a Perdido
b Oh, Lady, Be Good! – Smith (vc incl. bebop scat)
c Take the ‘A’ Train – absolutely wild tempo close to defeating rhythm section
d Dark Eyes – only identified recording by Smith of this composition – in part à la Ginger Smock
TAPE
(a-d) low-fi – recorded by guitarist Alain Antonietto

Paris – Les Trois Mailletz – 3 July 1965
a Bugle Blues
b How High the Moon
c Timme’s Blues (Smith)
d Perdido
e Oh, Lady, Be Good! – Smith (vc incl. bebop scat)
f Take the ‘A’ Train – more restrained tempo – see prev.
g ‘C’-Jam Blues – Smith (vc)
h ?–Old Stinkin’ Blues [?–Stand By Blues] (Smith) – Smith (vc)
i Undecided
j Body and Soul – Guilhot (vb, ?pn)
k Medley: Yesterdays / Summertime / It Ain’t Necessarily So / Summertime
TAPE
(a-k) low-fi – recorded by guitarist Alain Antonietto
NOTE
Guilhot and an unidentified (not Daniel or Agostini) is depicted in the UD/35 Trois Mailletz photo with Smith, Ponty, Mae Mercer.

––––––

DS/10; caption to p.92 repro of 24 May 1936 Imperial Theatre Swing Concert program cover
At last we have a photocopy of the complete 34 unnumbered page program. Among the essays is Jack Egan, “Oasis of Swing” from which we quote: “So Riley and Farley left and the collegians, Park Avenue and office clerks decided to forget about the Onyx for a few days. And in those few days Joe [Helbock] boarded a rattler, shuffled off to Buffalo and came back with one of the strangest outfits the town ever saw—four rhythm, a trumpet and violin! / With no blaring of horns or such, Joe introduced to New York the six-piece colored band under the leadership of “Stuff” Smith. Before handpicked audience it made it’s debut on February 3rd, this year. To make sure the public wouldn’t take the opening into their own hands, Joe reserved every table in the room for musicians and ruled admission by invitation only. Somewhat scared by the celebrities they faced, “Stuff” and his cats bravely made their bow. / Those who were in the audience that night really had a clambake. Those who weren’t missed one of the greatest receptions ever given any band on its New York debut. America’s ace bandsmen and bandleaders screamed with delight at the antics of “Stuff” and Jonah. They banged their feet and stood up and cheered for Smith’s fiddle playing and Jonah’s trumpet blasting to say nothing of the uncanny work of the four rhythm beaters. “Stuff” was amazed no end at it all. But the amazement of the audience had it all over Smithie’s feelings. / His own composition, a simple number called, “I’se a Muggin’” was bought for publication three days after he introduced it at the opening. Ray Smith, his pianist, wrote “Close to You” and found publishers eager to buy it.” ¶Advertisements include Select Music Publications for Smith’s “I’se a Muggin’”: “1-2-3-4-5-6-Uh-8-9-Woof”; and Riley & Farley’s “The Music Goes ‘Round and Around”; and Leeds suits: “31-32-33-34-35-36 . . . AND We’re Not Muggin’ / We’re Simply Trying to Tell You How Many Styles We have in Suits and Sports Suits! / “Stuff” Smith isn’t the only one that’s got the stuff . . . [. . .]”

DS/11; caption to p.97 photo; DS/82; rev. FB:VIS/iv/13/2; 1938; Sammy Price
The photo purporting to show pianist Sammy Price, as originally captioned in Dance, World of Swing, p.27, does indeed show Price. Postings suggesting that the pianist might be Clyde Hart have been removed. Location is probably Hi-Lo Club or possibly Merry-Go-Round, New Jersey, c.autumn 1938

DS/22–24; Bibliography

Jean Elliott, “It’s a European Stuff Smith”: Jean Elliott is nom-de-plume for Mike Hennessey who recalls that the interview took place in 1966, though it was not published in Crescendo till October 1967, the month following Smith’s death. Jean Elliott was the name of Hennessey’s then partner.

new entries

Sven Asmussen w/ Ellen Bick Meier, June Nights: Svend Asmussens liv in musik (Gyldendal, Copenhagen, 2005), autobiography in Danish incl. photos, CD insert – various refs to Smith

Patrick Burke, Come In and Hear the Truth: Jazz and Race on 52nd Street (Chicago, Un. Chicago Press, 2008), incl. chapter “Here Comes the Man with the Jive: Stuff Smith”, incl. new insights

John Chilton, Hot Jazz, Warm Feet (London, Northway, 2007), autobiography incl. important new info from Jonah Jones

Kevin Coffey, “Gone Fishin’: Buddy Ray Talks about Stuff Smith”, Taking Off: Musical Journeys in the Southwest and Beyond, no. 1 (Carthage, TX, Spring 2005), 52–57, reprint in slightly different form of interview first published in 1998 in Up Jumped the Devil supplement to Desert Sands

Sarah Fitzjarrald, “Alphonso Trent, One of the Best”, The Journal of the Fort Smith Historical Society, vol. viii, no.1 (Fort Smith, AR, April 1984), 3–6, incl. photos – account based in part on conversations with Mrs Trent – reports Smith first found by Trent in Cleveland but first used in band in Lexington – untraced unreleased Brunswick recordings during 1928 engagement made at Ritz Ballroom, Oklahoma City

Dixon Gayer, “Hot Jazz”, Disc: The Record Magazine, vol. 1, no. 4 (NY, November 1946), profile of Smith incl. his opinion on dixieland, jazz, swing, bebop; names the part-time twelve-piece orchestra led by Smith’s father Cornelius Thomas Smith in Massillon, Ohio, as the Calumet Entertainers; describes Smith’s sister Helen Rebecca Smith as a boogie-woogie pianist in Chicago

John Hammond, “Music on Records”, Brooklyn Eagle (NY, 12 April 1936), circumstances of two Vocalion sessions – see quote fol.

Robert K. Landers, An Honest Writer: The Life and Times of James T. Farrell (San Francisco, Encounter, 2004), incl. discussion of the relationship between Dorothy Farrell and Stuff Smith

John Levy w/ Devra Hall, Men, Women, and Girl Singers, My Life as a Musician Turned Talent Manger (Silver Spring, MD, 2000), 35–40, et al, invaluable autobiography incl. numerous refs. to working with Smith – a few errors, e.g., Les Brown for Paul Baron

Bill Milkowski, Swing It!, An Annotated History of Jive (New York, Billboard, 2001) 68–72, et al, incl. “Stuff Smith” in chap. “The Golden Era of Jive”, excitable hiptory [oops: history] marred by inexcusably error-ridden biographical sketches and refs; in the case of Smith drawn from pre-Desert Sands/Up Jumped the Devil secondary sources despite the inclusion of Pure at Heart in the bibliography; e.g., although originally contracted Smith did not in the event appear in the film 52nd Street; nor did he take over Fats Waller’s band after Waller’s death but led various versions of the band the previous year while Waller toured as a solo, etc

Jas Obrecht, “Acoustic Roots, Can’t Get Enough of that Stuff!”, Frets Magazine (?, April 1989), 61, brief career summary, incl. photo

Lara Pellegrinelli, “Around the Horn with Shirley”, Jazz Times, vol. 31, no. 4 (Silver Spring, MD, May 2001), 58–64,249–251, profile and interview with Shirley Horn incl. paragraph ref. Smith knowing her father in St Louis and her feelings about the erroneous attribution of her first recording, with Smith in 1959, to John Eaton, now corrected on CD Mosaic

Oscar Peterson w/ Richard Palmer, A Jazz Odyssey, The Life of Oscar Peterson (London & NY, 2002) 185–186, chap. 41, “Stuff Smith”, insightful appreciation comparing Smith’s musical personality with Django Reinhardt’s and anecdote about Smith and his amplifier during 1957 JATP European tour

Marc Rice, “Frompin’ in the Great Plains: Listening and Dancing to the Jazz Orchestras of Alphonso Trent 1925–44”, Great Plains Quarterly, xvi/2/107–115 (Lincoln, Center for Great Plains Studies, Un. of Nebraska, spring 1996), incl. 1994 interview with Essie Mae Trent

Henry Q. Rinne, “A Short History of the Alphonso Trent Orchestra”, Arkansas Historical Quarterly vol. 45, no. 3 (Arkansas, autumn 1986), 228–249, incl. interviews with Essie Mae Trent and Trent’s cousin Robert Stephens

George Simon, “Stuff Smith”, The Metronome, lii (NY, 4 May 1936), 19, enthusiastic review of Smith’s first personnel at the Onyx, despite publication several months after (pn) (dm) changes; identifies Raymond Smith (pn) as Lee Smith, identifies Bobby Bennett as “the Red Cap, Sir” and Lee Smith as “the No Cap, Sir” (vc) on “Ise a Muggin’”

Jesper Thilo w/ Erik Moseholm, Man sk’ ku’ se Komikken (København, 2000), 267–269, section, “Violinisten Stuff Smith”, humorous reminiscences of meeting Smith

Ken Vail, compl., Swing Era Scrapbook: The Teenage Diaries and Radio Logs of Bob Inman, 1936–1938 (Lanham, Maryland, 2005), includes details of tunes played by Smith on numerous broadcasts of the period, incl. many Onyx Club remotes and Lucidin programs – see UD/48–50 update fol.

DS/29, 57; Marion Armeta Smith [née Harris]
Smith and his second wife were married in 1928, not 1927. They were divorced in 1940, following which she married Rafield Hill who died in 1988. She was born 19 May 1910 and died 7 September 2005. Her obituary appeared in the Buffalo News (14 Sep 2005) – research assistance courtesy Roberta DiRamio

DS/59–61; and updates incl. FB:VIS/iv/11/87–88
According to Chilton, Who’s Who, Alvin Burroughs worked with Trent in 1930, not at some point in 1928–1929. He is not believed to have recorded with Trent as suggested by CD Jazz Oracle and New Grove garbling of Chilton.

A curiosity: two discs by Lou Gold and His Orchestra were released on the Australian budget label Angelus, sold in Woolworths, under the false name Alphonso Trent and His Orchestra: 78 Angelus 3117 “Walkin’ with Susie” / ”That’s You Baby”; 78 Angelus 3118 “Big City Blues” / “Breakaway”. The labels are based on Gennett label designs. Angelus did no recording themselves. They licensed from various labels incl. Gennett. It has not been established why Lou Gold was hidden under Trent’s name but the like was not unknown in USA, Canada, UK.

DS/59; 5 December 1928; Alphonso Trent
CD Gennett ? (a) Gennett Records Greatest Hits, Vol. 3

DS/60; 1929; New Alphonso Trent Itinerary
Jackson, TN – 1929 – “Stuff Smith, who is now burning everything up with his hot fiddle and band at the Off Beat Club in Chicago, was with the Trent band, jumping and dancing in front and taking hots on his fiddle.” – Dave Clark, “That Trent Band a Decade Ago Really Jumped” (DB 15 Nov 39), 21

DS/61–62; 5 March 1930; Alphonso Trent
LP MCA Jazz Heritage MCA1371 (a) Jazz Gems from Gennett–Champion
CD ABM [EN] ABMMCD1161 (a) Southern Jazz, 30s and 40s – this ABM label is unrelated to AB Fable

DS/68; Onyx Club
Jonah Jones on the background to opening at the Onyx in John Chilton, Hot Jazz, Warm Feet (London, Northway, 2007): “ ‘All of us except Stuff were sceptical about going to New York but he was very eager and knowing we were doubtful he went ahead and started fixing a new line-up consisting of New York-based musicians, but word of this reached the New York bookers and they came down hard and said, “We want the regular band from Buffalo.” Next thing I know a tough-looking little guy calls on me. I’d never seen him before and I’ve never seen him since. He looked straight at me and said, “It would be very good for you to go and play in New York, and very, very bad for you to stay here in Buffalo.” It was a threat but I wasn’t worried, I thought I’ll go down to the musicians union and they’ll sort all this out. So in all innocence I went to the Union in Buffalo and said, “Some guy is pressurising me into going to New York.” the union guy looks at me and gives a sickly sort of smile and says, “I think you better do what the man says.” It was like a bad movie. It was all sewn up that I was going to New York, so I did.’ ” This throws rather a different light on Smith’s efforts to recruit new musicians.

DS/68–71; 11 February 1936; 13 March 1936; Onyx Club Boys
“The difference between a good and bad set-up in a recording studio is nowhere better exemplified than by comparison between the new Stuff Smith records (“I Don’t Want to Make History,” “T’aint No Use,” “After You’ve Gone,” “You’se a Viper”—Vocalions 3200 and 3201) and those made at the first session. “After You’ve Gone” and its other side both exhibit a fully integrated swing which can only come from a complete feeling of relaxation on the part of the artists in the studio. / Perhaps a brief history of the events attending the two sessions might be educational. At the first, so I have been reliably informed, both the studio and the control room were infested with managers, assistant salesmen, presidents, vice presidents and the usual quota of stooges, all giving the nervous and embarassed leader points on how to play the violin and how to make the band feel at ease. Someone conceived the bright idea of putting the drums directly in front of the microphone (“what we need in our records is more bottom”), thus successfully blotting out the excellent string bass and making the band sound muddy and disintegrated. The finished records successfully reflected this chaotic state of affairs. / Three weeks ago, however, Brunswick acquired a new musical director: someone who is a competent musician, sympathetic to artists and keenly aware of the necessity of eliminating tension if any semblance of swing is to be attained. Mr. Hanighen saw to it that the hordes who were in attendance at the first date were kept outside, proceeded to change the band around to its normal state, practically elininating the non-swinging piano and caused the boys to produce records which represent them at their very best. If anyone, after visits to the Onyx Club on W. 53rd St. [sic], is still unconvinced as to the special worth of Stuff Smith and his trumpet-blowing cohort, Elliot Jones, let him listen to any of these four sides for actual proof.” – John Hammond, “Music on Records”, Brooklyn Eagle (NY, 12 April 1936). Hammond also mentioned Smith in the record reviews he wrote for New Masses, at first under the nom-de-plume Henry Johnson, later under his own name.

DS/68–69 etc; 11 February 1936; 13 March 1936; 12 May 1936; 1 July 1936; 21 August 1936; 4 May 1937 Onyx Club Boys Vocalion & Decca (all titles/takes); 29 June 1939 Selmer (sole title); March 1940 Varsity (all titles – 1939 Varsity not included); 17 November 1943 World (one take each title); 30 May 1944 Selmer (all titles); 8 September 1944 Asch (all titles excl. alternates & outtakes); 9 June 1945 Town Hall (all titles); 1 October 1945 Musicraft (Vaughan title only)
CD Proper [EN] [2] PVCD118 Stuff Smith, Time and Again – latest improper rehash of earlier CD transfers and dubs perpetuating and introducing new errors – extensive liner content incl. original photos, illustrations lifted in garbled form virtually entirely from Desert Sands and Pure at Heart without our prior knowledge – compensation agreed

DS/68–69; 11 February 1936; Onyx Club Boys
“I’se a Muggin’ [Part 2] Musical Numbers Game” take -1 was released in US. An alternate take, assumed to be -2, although it is just possible it could for example be -3, was released in UK and Germany. The existence of two different takes has gone unrecognized for seventy years, partly because assumed take -2 actually shows take -1 in error: the original US Vocalion true take -1 was pressed by Columbia; on the European pressings, in the UK pressed by UK Decca, the usual Columbia-style matrix script is not present and is replaced by Brunswick-style matrix script also showing, though now in error, take -1. When the metal parts were pepared for processing, the alternate take, assumed to be -2, must have mistakenly been designated -1. True take -1 was quickly withdrawn in US and the alternate, false take -1, then also released there.
CD Avid [EN] ? (c) With Vocal Refrain . . . Hallelujah!

DS/70; 13 March 1936; Onyx Club Boys
CD Indigo [EN] IGOCD2097 (c) Swing Fever

DS/71; 23 April 1936; Rudy Vallee Fleischman’s Yeast Hour
Brief silent, out of focus, not well framed, home movie by Rudy Vallee is extant of Smith’s band rehearsing for the radio show. Members of the band are seen jiving and playing. Duration is one minute twenty-eight seconds. Research assistance courtesy Mark Cantor, Michael Friend, Steven Lasker.

DS/72; 1 July 1936; Old Joe’s Hittin’ the Jug
Old Joe’s Jittin’ the Jug is a 4 minute, 16mm, black and white animated film made in 2000 by Luke Jaeger: “Music by 1930s hot jazz fiddler Stuff Smith accompanies a mix of live action, stop-motion and puppetry, including a 15-foot-high plywood marionette suspended from a highway overpass. Shot entirely outdoors in various weed-choked, industrial-looking locations in Northampton, Massachusetts, the film draws a parallel between these neglected, formerly useful sites which have gone to seed, and the musical treasures which the ever-changing machineries of cultural production have left in obscurity.” Stills and location shots can be viewed at Jaeger’s website http://www.trickfilm.org

DS/73; 21 July 1936; It Ain’t Right No No is an awful remix of Smith’s recording of It Ain’t Right by the Belgian remixer Buscemi on 45 Resense [Austria] 029 released April 2012. Buscemi coupling unassociated.

DS/73; 21 August 1936; Knock, Knock, Who’s There?
Transcription of Smith’s solo on “Knock, Knock, Who’s There?” is included in Martin Norgaard, Jazz Fiddle Wizard, A Practical Guide to Jazz Improvising for Strings (Pacific, MO, 2000), 7

DS/77–78; 4 May 1937; Onyx Club Boys
78 Polydor [JP] A243 (b,c)
78 Brunswick 02477 = 78 Decca [EN for Scandinavian export] BM02477 = 78 Decca [EN for general export] M30370 (c,d) – 5/04
CD Columbia River Jazz 120111 (a) Jazz Cats, Coffee Break Jazz
CD Columbia River Jazz ? [2 - disc 1] (a) Jazz, On the Road
LP Deutscher Grammophon [DR] 004617 (d) Info-Platte, Jazz Program 14 September 1964 - not for sale or broadcast promo compilation

DS/78; DS/79; DS/83; May 1937; July 1937; May 1938; Bankruptcy
Down Beat (June 1938), 1, reported Smith bankrupt as a result of Walter Wanger’s withdrawal of contract for scheduled appearance in the film 52nd Street. All members of the band declared bankrupt citing attorney Herbert K. Rosenberg as chief creditor. Smith himself was not legally entitled to bankrupt status because of a previous declaration within four years. ¶Tempo (August 1937) reported Smith arriving back in Hollywood to rejoin his band at Famous Door on 20 July 1937 “In spite of difficulties that involved everything from a three-way contract dispute to union troubles [. . .]”.

DS/82; May 1938; Ben Webster
Ben Webster joins Smith (DB Jun 38, 11).

DS/83; UD/61; August 1938; April 1939; November 1947; National Dobro Vio-Lectric; Stuff Smith; Loma Cooper; Evelyn Kaye Klein
An earlier Smith endorsement for National Dobro VioLectric [sic] has come to light in Down Beat (August 1938), 9. The “Electrify Your Audience” ad for the “new” instrument includes photos of Smith, Loma Cooper, Evelyn Kay [sic]. ¶Loma Cooper was a light concert violinist. In the National catalogue Cooper and Smith also endorsed the Vio-Lectric—or Vio-Electric as it is written in Smith’s 1939 Down Beat endorsement. Cooper ran an instrument repair shop in Chicago, home of National Dobro, and kept guard dogs which she named Fritz Kreisler and Stuff Smith. Cooper is almost certainly the female representative for National whom Smith recounts as having introduced him to the instrument at the Onyx in New York. ¶Evelyn Kaye Klein “Evelyn and Her Magic Violin” was featured violinist in Phil Spitalny’s all-girl orchestra on Hour of Charm broadcasts, 1934–1948. They married in 1946. ¶The newly discovered ad dates Smith’s first use of National’s amplified violin almost a year earlier than previously cited. The 1938 Down Beat endorsement also includes the well-known photo of Smith with National amplifier outside the Onyc Club, thus helping to date that photo – see also UD/9 fol. It should not, however, be surmised that he always used the National instrument; for example, Evelyn’s “magic violin” was a 1756 Bergonzi – see “The Hour of Charm” in Dunning, On the Air, The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio (NY, 1998), 331–332.

DS/83; autumn 1938; New Jersey
Jonah Jones in John Chilton, Hot Jazz, Cool Feet (London, Northway, 2007) recounts the circumstances under which Ben Webster left Smith’s band under a cloud at a club in New Jersey, probably the Hi-Ho, possibly the Merry-Go-Round, while under the influence, during an after-hours game of cards: “Stuff came over and broke up the game by saying, ‘Quit now, because I want a rehearsal tomorrow at one o’clock in the afternoon.’ Webster attacked Smith with a bar stool. When Webster arrived the following day to apologize, with the support of Benny Carter, one of the club owners said: ‘You’re real lucky, mister. If I had been here when you attacked a smaller man with a bar stool I would have shot you dead there and then.” Webster left. This explains the difference between two New Jersey photos taken at the same location, one depicting Webster and pianist Sammy Price, reproduced in DS/97, the other depicting Webster’s replacement George Clarke and pianist Sam Allen, accompanying Hugues Panassie’s glowing report of the orchestra in Jazz Hot, 30 (Paris, February–March 1939)

DS/83; 21 February 1939; New Itinerary
Chicago – Stadium – “Chicago Federation of Musicians Announces Biggest Dance Ever Given in Chicago” – Stuff Smith – Paul Whiteman; Kay Keyser; Fred Waring of Waring's Pennsylvanians; Wayne King; Bob Crosby; Tom Dorsey; Abe Lyman; Horace Heidt; Orrin Tucker; Anson Weeks; Dick Jurgens; Bill Carlsen; Mark Fisher; Ina Ray Hutton; Art Kassel; Henry Busse; Don Pedro; Fletcher Henderson; National Broadcasting Co. Orchestra; Columbia Broadcasting System Orchestra; Mutual Broadcasting Orchestra; Chicago Symphony Orchestra of 100 Men – 20.00, Tuesday, 21 February 1939

DS/83; 1939; La Salle Hotel
Publicity for Stuff Smith at “Smart meeting spot” La Salle Hotel in Chicago Stagebill reveals that Mystic Vibra, Palmist and Mystic, was resident in The Blue Fountain Room.

DS/84; 29 June 1939; Big Wig in the Wigwam
We strongly suspect that Carl O. Seaman is an IM error for Carl Hogan, who recorded with Louis Jordan, but he is anyway unlikely to be the guitarist here.

DS/85–86; September or October 1939; Stuff Smith Orchestra

Varsity recording location and date: Muzak/Associated Transcription Studios, second week of September 1939 (Variety, 6 Sep 39).
Further analysis is pending of confusing 78 dub matrices of identical takes on Varsity tests, releases, Commodore, Montgomery Ward, LP releases of this session.

78 Montgomery Ward M10027 (b,c); 78 Montgomery Ward M10028 (a,d)

78 Commodore Starmaker Series 7547 (b,c) as well as 78 Commodore 600

DS/86; December 1939–1 January 1940; Three Deuces
Myra Taylor (vc), Lil Armstrong, Lonnie Johnson, Baby Dodds; Myra Taylor (vc) w/ Stuff Smith Orchestra (Taylor telephone interview w/ Chuck Haddix, Kansas City Jazz: From Ragtime to Bebop—A History, New York, 2005) for two weeks (Taylor telephone interview w/ AB, 27 September 2006).

DS/88; 1940; Film: Broken Strings
One of the two on-screen orchestra violinists is Atwell Rose who recorded with Curtis Mosby in 1927, and possibly 1928. Marshal Royal described Rose as the best LA violinist; the West Coast’s Eddie South. For the moment it is assumed that Rose is the featured off-screen violinist for both the Clarence Muse character and his son in both classics and jazz.

DS/87; NY, 18–22 March 1940; FB:VIS/iv/11/82; LA, late February or early March 1940; Stuff Smith Orchestra
Previously unknown 78 Varsity tests of unreleased take 2s of all four titles have been located and are now in the AB Fable Archive awaiting a suitable opportunity for release.
Serious consideration must be given to whether Smith’s second Varsity session may not have been recorded at the new Varsity studios in New York, the shabby old ARC Studios at 1775–6 Broadway, but may have been acquired by Varsity and therefore represent what was reported in Down Beat (15 Mar 40) as Smith’s Los Angeles session privately recorded by Bill Richards ostensibly for release by Columbia. The reasonably good quality of this Varsity release suggests that it may not have been recorded by Varsity at their studios noted for sub-standard facilities and poor recording. In which case, 18–22 March 1940 represents a processing date and the session’s true date would be “a couple of weeks” before 15 March 1940. This could also account for the lack of an exact recording date. Can Stella Brooks (vc) be shown to have been in LA at the right time?

DS/88; itinerary
Smith’s engagement at Old Vienna Restaurant included August 1940. Remote broadcasts took place over WLW at least on 10 August and 16 August 1940. Thus some surrounding IM entries should probably be redated.

DS/88,136,265; UD/86; FB:VIS/iii/10/122; Una Mae Carlisle
“Una Mae Carlisle tells intimates she’ll sue Stuff Smith over the tune Walkin’ By the River. Says he’s taking bows for writing it. She wrote it while working with Stuff in N. Y.” – The Thin Man, “Inside Stuff ”, Music and Rhythm (Aug 41), 32. The New York Age reported Smith will sue Carlisle for theft of his song – see FB:VIS/iii/10/122.

DS/89; April–June 1941; Kelly’s Stable
Kelly’s Stable announcement postcard reveals that Smith opened Thursday, 24 April 1941. ¶All refs read Kelly’s Stable, not Stables.

DS/109; April 1943; Buvette Club
“Stuff Smith, famed, and acclaimed talented violinist, who recently suffered a mental sickness while playing at the Club Buvette in Rock Island, Ill., has overcome this handicap and has formed a four piece band [the group with Raymond Walters (pn) before the trio] and is working club dates in Chicago. / Raymond Tunia, pianoman, formerly with Doc Wheeler and Chris Columbus, was playing with Smith at that time and has since established himself with the dynamic Lucky Millinder Orchestra . . .” – Jimmy Butts “Harlem Speaks”, The Jazz Record, no. 6 (1 May 1943), 5.

DS/109–110; 17 November 1943; Stuff Smith Trio
CD Soundies [2] SCD4127 – disc 2 (a,d,g,j–m,o,p) Masters of Classic Jazz, Swing Greats – all but one originally released ET World titles

DS/109–110;265; rev. incorrectly UD/86; 17 November 1943; The Red Jumps [aka Red Jump]
Smith is confirmed as the sole composer, not Henry Red Allen as given in UD/86 revision in error. The credit to Allen on his later 78 Brunswick is in error. Research assistance courtesy Sylvie Fefer from information provided by Morris Young of Denton & Haskins, copyright controller of some Smith compositions incl. “The Red Jumps”. Young’s brother Barney Young, who has occasionally been credited as co-composer on some Smith compositions in error, managed Smith during the 1940s.

DS/110; DS/112; January–July 1944; ?June 1944; Stuff Smith Trio
A previously unknown inscribed location photo of the trio has come to light. Its original printed cover reads Down Beat Room, Garrick Lounge, 58 W. Randolph St, Chicago, not Downbeat Room, Garrick Stage Bar. The photo and cover is on CD AB Fable ABCD2-007/8 – see CD catalogue.

DS/111; 5April 1944; Red Norvo and Stuff Smith Steiner–Davis session
Red Norvo later recorded two compositions from this session under different titles at three sextet sessions with two different personnels. The theme of unreleased untitled aka “Blue[’s] Hugh’s Hue” appears as “Red Dust”: recorded by Norvo ?–5 May 1944 [or, most unlikely, 23 June 1944] for World Transcription later released on 78 Brunswick; and 17 May 1944 for unreleased V-Disc later released on LP/CD. The composition “[. . .] credited to Fletcher Henderson, served as a riff background for members of the Norvo band some years ago.” – Metronome (Nov 49), 48, reviewing the Brunswick release. “Red[’s] Stuff” is the same composition as “Blues à la Red” two takes of which are extant recorded by Norvo with Teddy Wilson and Slam Stewart 27 July 1944 for Keynote (credited to Norvo on Keynote; and erroneously, it must be assumed, as Traditional on Mercury reissue and to Collins on another reissue.) Research by Konrad Nowakowski suggests that the Steiner–Davis session was released several years after recording.

DS/112; 30 May 1944; Mary Osborne with Stuff Smith Trio

NOLA matrices should read QB- [not OB-]. These are in fact RCA Victor custom matrices. The double-sided NOLA tests, source of French and Scandinavian releases, are merely dubs of the pressed single-sided RCA Victor tests, all four of which are now in the AB Fable Archive as at September 2022.

DS/114; 5 or 26 August 1944; Stuff Smith and Robert Crum [not Jimmy Jones] Duo
A dub lacquer of two titles from this lost Rosenkrantz apartment session of six or seven titles has been located. It was given by Rosenkrantz to Gray Weingarten who presented it, along with a few dubs of parts of other known Rosenkrantz sessions, to the Institute of Jazz Studies. The dub lacquer is labelled 5/8 [?–5 August] and reads correctly Robert Crum. The 26 August date is found in the Rosenkrantz log which reads Jimmy Jones. The tenuous assumption is that there is only one session. The located titles are Smith’s compositions “Desert Sands” and “Minuet in Swing”. Although “Holiday in Strings” is mentioned on this lacquer it is not played. Other titles remain lost, including a vocal by Inez Cavanaugh and a vocal by Ella Logan. It is of course possible that Jimmy Jones played on other titles. The two titles are included on AB Fable XABCD1-X013 Bownus 2005

DS/115; DS/124; 1 September 1944; 20 December 1944; Bugle Call Rag
TAPE TR 265-A track 5 is “Bugle Call Rag” (b) Mildred Bailey Show 1 September 1944, not “Bugle Call Rag” Times Hall Concert 20 December 1944

DS/115; DS/122–123; DS/128–129; 1 September 1944; 3 November 1944; 24 November 1944; 2 February 1945; Mildred Bailey Shows
Of the four Mildred Bailey shows on which Stuff Smith was a guest, two complete dress rehearsals are known to be extant: 1 September 1944; 24 November 1944. Had we known in time, the 24 November 1944 dress rehearsal for “Humoresque” could have been included on AB Fable ABCD2-004/5, alongside the 1 September 1944 dress rehearsal “Bugle Call Rag” which is included. Dress rehearsals for 2 November 1944; 2 February 1945 have not come to light.

DS/116; 8 September 1944; Stuff Smith Trio; Desert Sands
ET Office of War Information, Oversees Branch, 17–2812 (j) Outpost Concert Series, no. 27, Music of the Jazz Bands, no. 24, Hot Jazz - [coupled with 17-2813[?] Music of the Jazz Bands, no. 53, Popular Hits of 1945]

DS/119–120; DS/132 rev. FB:VIS/iv/11/91–93; Is! Is!
Is! Is! was published, bearing ASCAP logo, as piano sheet music by Leeds (NY, 1946). “Recorded by Stuff Smith and His Trio (Musicraft)”, 1945, further confirmation that the 1944 78 Savoy recording was never released until the LP era despite allocation of a 78 catalogue no. The sheet music confirms the correct form of the title: Is! Is! Whether or not Smith actually sings “It Is!” as has been suggested—aural evidence is unclear—the sheet music refrain prints “IS! IS!”. The printed lyrics contain small but interesting variations from the different versions as sung by Smith and a verse intro that Smith does not sing on either recording: “When I was a little child I knew things, / Things I knew, they are not new today, / Life is dog-gone funny, makes such blue things, / Now this is all I really have to say:”.

DS/119–120; 26 September 1944; Savoy
LP Savoy [JP] 22RS-22 (c) Roots of Rhythm and Blues, vol. 2, Cool Jivers and Hot Noisemakers

DS/120; 16 October 1944; Jubilee Transcriptions
John Levy – see bibl. prec., confirms from his ticket stub that the two half hour Jubilee transcription programs were recorded, commencing 18.00, 16 October 1944, the same day they were mastered, at CBS Radio Theatre No. 4, 45th Street, NY.
Jubilee H-11-102 Part 1, the side incl. Smith, carries stamper ND4-MM-6965-2, not 1 as given in DS, while Part 2 carries stamper ND4-MM-6966-1. This also throws into question the correct stamper for the side of H-11-101 incl. Smith, not as yet viewed.

DS/122–123; 24 November 1944; Mildred Bailey Show
CD Crabapple Sound RMU3010 (a ) The Mildred Bailey Show, Nos. 8, 11

DS/126; 26 December 1944

The vocalist is not Inez Cavanaugh. It may be Rubberlegs Williams – research assistance Tom Buhmann

DS/129; 1945; Gloom Dodgers
A photo of Smith with Gloom Dodgers producer Bob Masson appeared in The New Baton: A Movie Songs Publication, i/5
(New York, February–March 1945), 12: “Baton's Photo Album, Photographs by Barney Young and Phil Gottheil.”

DS/130; UD/59; 9 June 1945, Stuff Smith Trio
ET AFRS Basic Music Library 3136 confirmed as Town Hall Concert
LP Ace of Hearts [EN] AHG186 is believed not to have been released

DS/131; 20 August 1945; All Star Band; new title
CD Proper Box [EN] [4] 16 - Disc 1 (b) Dexter Gordon, Settin’ the Pace
CD ? [?EN] (b) Dexter Gordon, Blowin’ the Blues Away
There does not appear to be any (pn) on “Honeysuckle Rose” thus this title is not part of the Ellington discography.
A lacquer has been located with further titles, one with Stuff Smith, dated 20 August 1945, confirming that date as correct. “Tea for Two” with Dexter Gordon (ts), Herbie Fields (cl), ?–Erroll Garner (pn), ?–Al Lucas (sb), ?–Eddie Nicholson (dm). “Lullaby in Rhythm” add Stuff Smith (vn), unidentified (pn). A fragment “Bon Voyage” includes others and (gt) and is the end of released “The Romp” incl. Buster Bailey (cl), Duke Ellington (pn). No publicity for a Lincoln Square Jam Session on this date has been located though a likely one for 8 September has; it is possibly a club venue, though probably not Onyx as some sources suggest. An edited version of “Lullaby in Rhythm” is included on limited edition advance subscription bonus CD AB Fable XABCD1-X013 Bownus 2005 Almost Like Being in Bop. Research assistance courtesy Geoffrey Wheeler; Jack Towers

DS/132; 23 September 1945; Best in American Jazz
Smith’s trio played “Caravan” and a new composition “Atomic Fiddle”

DS/135; December 1946; Forest Park Hotel
Two further released titles have come to light on 78 Town and Country 503 “Take a Walk” matrix 511 / “Won’t You Take a Lesson in Love?” matrix 509. Only one example of the disc is currently known. Rerelease scheduled 2008. ¶An ad for “The World Famous Stuff Smith Trio” [sic: Quartet] in the The Saint Louis Symphony Society December 1946 program reveals that the venue at Forest Park Hotel was Circus Snack Bar. This is the group that recorded that month for 78 Town & Country – see UD/62-63 with incorrect personnel and date; rev. FB:VIS/iv/11/98–99; iv/13/7 with correct personnel and date.

DS/137; Stuff Smith and Sun Ra
The correct date for “Deep Purple” is established as 29 July 1948 according to 2011 release CD Transparency 0316 Sun Ra, The Eternal Myth Revealed, Vol. 1. This release has better sound and is more complete than previous releases and includes other titles without Smith from the same session.

new itinerary; late 1940s
Detroit – Frolic Show Bar – Stuff Smith – late 1940s – the Frolic opened 1946 and continued through to 1960s – a souvenir brochure is known listing Smith among other past appearances incl. Art Tatum; Nat King Cole Trio; Ella Fitzgerald; Lena Horne; Teddy Buckner Orchestra.

DS/138; 25 October 1951; Dizzy Gillespie
This session was recorded at Universal Studios, Chicago, not in New York as previous discographies and most LP/CD rereleases give in error – research assistance courtesy Dave Usher, telephone conversation with AB, 10 March 2003.

CD Savoy [3] 17109 (all released titles – disc 2) Dizzy Gillespie, The Odyssey, 1945–1952
CD Savoy B000F4RHAC (e+partg – see fol.) Re-Bop, The Savoy Originals
CD Savoy B000F4RHA2 (e+partg – see fol. – remixed by DJ Smash) Re-Bop, The Savoy Remixes
[CD Savoy/BMG0157 Dizzy Gillespie, School Days gives Smith (vb[sic],vn) but titles from session with Smith not on this release]
Many other additional CD releases are not shown here

All outtakes are extant and the following revised title detail is based on information provided courtesy Chris Sheridan whose definitive Gillespie discography is nearing completion. Of particular interest is the discovery that the original 78 release of “Caravan” is an amalgam of two takes, the main one of which precedes the later LP released “alternate” take:
a 2300-1a Caravan – false start
b 2300-1b Caravan – unreleased
c 2300-2 Caravan – false start
d 2300-3 Caravan – breakdown
e 2300-4 Caravan – breakdown half way through tag ending – 78 released with tag ending from take 6 grafted on – take 1 tag ending not used because, unlike take 6, tempo does not match take 4
f 2300-5 Caravan – false start
g 2300-6 Caravan – late LP released complete – tag ending grafted on to take 4 for 78 release
. [2301 Nobody Knows – three takes: break down / false start / 78 released – Smith out]
. [2302 The Bluest Blues – two takes of which the second 78 released – Smith out]
h 2303-1 On the Sunny Side of the Street – unreleased
i 2303-2 On the Sunny Side of the Street – 78 released
j 2304-1a Stardust – breakdown
k 2304-1b Stardust – breakdown
l 2304-1c Stardust – 78 released
m 2305-1 Time on My Hands – breakdown
n 2305-2 Time on My Hands – early EP/LP released – no 78 release

DS/140; c.February 1953; Valentino

Add:

P 48777-1A St. James Infirmary Blues or The Gambler’s Blues – sung in an AA-style voice

P 48778-1A Promise Me (Parker, Young)

DS/140–141; 3 April 1953; Stuff Smith Quartet
EP Brunswick [3] EB97101 Jazztime USA, Vol. 2

DS/151–152; 4 September 1956; Ella Fitzgerald
CD Giants of Jazz [IT] CD53255 (all titles) Ella Fitzgerald with Ben Webster, Stuff Smith . . .

DS/152–153; 24 September 1956; Nat King Cole

On “Two Loves Have I” Alvino Rey plays steel guitar. John Collins and Lee Young probably out

CD Blue Note [2 - disc 2] 95881 (b) Visions of Jazz, A Musical Journey
CD Bear Family [DR] [11 - disc 4] BCD16342-KL (all titles) Nat King Cole, Stardust, Complete Capitol Recordings [there are many other reissues]

DS/153–154,157–158; 25 October 1956; 19 November 1956; 7 March 1957;12 March 1957; Verve LPs
LP Verve MGV8206 carries unreleased LP MGV2041 catalogue no. on disc cancelled by scratching out and replaced with correct 8026.

DS/154; new entry; c.1956 or 1957; Stuff Smith and Joe Venuti
“[Guitarist] Roy then joined the CBS show The Red Rowe Get Together, in Los Angeles. Roy recalls an amusing incident that took place. One afternoon outside the studio, he was approached by a fellow who introduced himself as Stuff Smith and asked directions to the Bob Crosby rehearsal. Roy informed him he was at the wrong location and after a short conversation, Stuff, an outstanding exponent of the electrified fiddle, was pleased to learn Joe Venuti was guest starring on the Red Rowe show that day. Since Joe and Stuff were old friends, he said he would drop in and say hello to Venuti. The get together produced an impromtu jam session and Stuff completely forgot his Bob Crosby appointment.” – Ken Griffis, “The Roy Lanham Story”, JEMF Quarterly, x/36 (?CA, winter 1974), 165–167, apparently extracted from Ken Griffis, Hear My Song: The Story of the Sons of the Pioneers (JEMF [John Edwards Memorial Foundation] Special Series, 5)

DS/154–155; 14 January 1957; Stuff Smith on Nat King Cole TV Show
CD Joyce Records JRCDRG-1007 Nat King Cole with Nelson Riddle and His Orchestra

DS/155–156; 21 January 1957; 5 February 1957; Stuff Smith Quartet
CD Universal Verve [JP] UCCU9003 (all LP-released titles, i.e. except “Crazy Rhythm” available only on CD Mosaic) Stuff Smith, Have Violin, Will Swing
CD Universal [EN] 5603892 (a) Humph’s Choice 12/03

DS/156; 5 February 1957
CD Poll Winners Records PWR27222 (c,d) Stuff Smith Oscar Peterson [sic]

DS/156–157; 28 February 1957, Nelson Riddle
CD EMI-Capitol 724352746620 CCM1452 (a,+.) Two Classic Albums from Nelson Riddle

DS/156–157; 7 March 1957; 12 March 1957
CD Poll Winners Records PWR27222 (all titles) Stuff Smith Oscar Peterson

DS/157–158; rev. FB:VIS/iv/13/7; February 1957; Stuff Smith Verve stereo tapes
In addition to its inclusion on TAPE Verve VST10005/6 Stuff Smith, Vols 1/2, “Desert Sands” is included on Verve VST10015 Verve Stereo Showcase – others are: Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, Billy Daniels, Buddy Bregman, Ernie Hecksher, Josephine Premice

DS/158–159; 7 March 1957; 12 March 1957; LA club sessions w/ Peterson, Edwards, etc
New research indicates that we have almost certainly been on the receiving end of a mischievous tall story and that these sessions never took place.

DS/159; 17 April 1957; Dizzy Gillespie and Stuff Smith
Take designations are cumulative; i.e. there were five takes of “Rio Pakistan”, one take of “It’s Only a Paper Moon” and two takes each of the last three titles. Unreleased takes are not believed to be extant. Research assistance courtesy Chris Sheridan.
Read: LP World Record Club [EN] LP384 (a–e) Dizzy Gillespie with Stuff Smith, not . . . and Stuff Smith = TAPE TT384
CD Avid [EN] AMSC980 [2 – disc 2] (a-c) Dizzy Gillespie All Star Sessions Three Classic Albums Plus

DS/161–162; before 2 May 1957; Stuff Smith with Oscar Peterson
CD Laserlight [DR] 36134 [2 – disc 1] (a) Oscar Peterson Trio – this release continues to give 8 May 1957, believed to be impossible

DS/163; 4 May 1957; Stéphane Grappelli and Stuff Smith
CD Warner [FR] 9548387192 (g) Violin

DS/164; updated UD/67; and FB:VIS; 5 May 1957; Ella Fitzgerald incl. Stuff Smith, JATP, Netherlands
This concert took place in Amsterdam. ¶The complete performance of ‘It Don’t Mean a Thing” was telecast 8 April 2004 on Nederland 3 NPS Jazzkelder, Pt 2, a program of archival footage. Ella Fitzgerald’s complete set including this finale title was also [?re]telecast by AVRO as a tribute to Fitzgerald after her death. ¶Audio of Smith’s “Desert Sands” also survives from a contemporary telecast of selections from the concert but it is low-fi, recorded via microphone in front of a TV. ¶The Belgian concert two days later at Paleis voor Schone Kunsten / Palais des Beaux Arts, which survives as audio, includes Norman Granz’s introduction explaining Smith’s absence because of illness.

DS/166–168; 1957 or 1958; new itinerary
Las Vegas – Smith played a white electric National violin at a club with dancers on the West Side (black district) in 1957 or 1958 where country violinist Bus Boyk heard him and spoke with him. This appears to be the instrument Smith plays on extant video of Stars of Jazz, 26 March 1958. This may be the period during which Smith’s favorite violin Big Red was stolen, not to be recovered for many months – see DS interview with Arlene Smith.

DS/171; rev. UD/69; 1958; 20th Fox; Stuff Smith Quartet and Quintet
Scheduled CD Verve [DR] 00440654402 (all titles) Stuff Smith, Sweet Swingin’ Stuff has been indefinitely postponed, if not cancelled, because the master tape has not been located

DS/173–174; Washington, D.C., 7 August 1959; LA 22 October 1959
CD Verve 602498614822 (only the titles on original LP) Cat on a Hot Fiddle – (pn) identification in error on one track: it is John Eaton on “Strike Up the Band” – Shirley Horn properly credited (from Mosaic notes) on other 7 August 1959 titles – all tracks given as Washington, 7 August 1959 in error – Horn probably played with Buck Hill at the 7th and T Lounge during this period

DS/173–174; ?1959; new itinerary
Washington, D.C. – Club Bengasi

DS/174; 22 October 1959; Watcha Gonna Do . . .
Smith registered the composition, originally unissued, now released on CD Mosaic, at LC in 1961 under the title “Whatcha Gonna Do When You Dance Past Forty-Two, Dad?”

DS/175; mid 1950s–early 1960s; local LA telecasts
One of the programs Smith may have appeared on, referred to by Arlene Smith, is Larry Finley’s Strictly Informal. Ginger Smock appeared on the program as a member of Hal [?Hack] Jackson’s Tornados c.January 1956.

DS/176; early 1960s
In a tribute to Cajun fiddler Rufus Thibodeaux (1934–2005) in Fiddler Magazine, xii/4 (North Sydney, N.S.,Winter 2005/2006), 57, Michael Doucet writes: “He jammed with Stuff Smith in California during the early 1960s and so kindly and precisely showed me some of his harmony voicings.”

DS/179–180; 22 September 1961; Monterey
The tape, ref. 61-0922, remains unlocated but revised session details follow in which, apparently, there is no title that includes Gillespie, Nance, Smith all together.

MODERN MAINSTREAMERS

Dizzy Gillespie (tp), Stuff Smith (vn), Ralph Sutton (pn), Aaron Bell (sb), Sam Woodyard (dm)
a Russian Lullaby
b Unidentified slow blues

Dizzy Gillespie (tp), Stuff Smith (vn), ?–Ray Nance (?vn [or tp]), Ralph Sutton (pn), Aaron Bell (sb), Sam Woodyard (dm)
c Unidentified

Ray Nance, Stuff Smith (vn), Ralph Sutton (pn), Aaron Bell (sb), Sam Woodyard (dm)
?d ?–Unidentified
e Embraceable You
f It Had to Be You – “Stuff Smith stole the show here, after coming out of virtual retirement to thrill a crowd again with his amplified violin. His duet with violinist Ray Nance on ‘It Had To Be You’ couldn’t be beaten.” Fresno Bee Republican (23 September 1961, Fresno, CA) – it may be considered that there could be confusion in different reports between ‘Embraceable You’ and ‘It Had to Be You’.

Dizzy Gillespie (tp), Lawrence Brown (tb), Johnny Hodges (as), Ben Webster (ts), Harry Carney (br), Stuff Smith (vn), Ralph Sutton (pn), Aaron Bell (sb), Sam Woodyard (dm)
g Medley incl. Tenderly

DS/180; August 1962; new itinerary
Los Angeles – Joani Presents – Stuff Smith (vn), Dick Cary (pn), Ira Westley (sb) (DB, 19 Jul; 2 Aug 62) – weekly Wednesday–Sunday, at least incl. July–August 1962

DS/181; 1963; Steve Allen Show
Smith’s extant appearance playing “Skip It” is confirmed recorded 31 October 1963, not c.January, telecast 12 November 1963, syndicated The New Steve Allen Show. Identity of the horns: ?–Jimmy Zito (tp), Frank Rosolino (tb), Bob Enevoldsen (ts), ?–Gus Bivona (br)

DS/182; February or March 1964; Joe Bushkin Quartet
Joe Bushkin’s son-in-law has kindly made available the one tape he has of the Embers engagement featuring Stuff Smith. On this particular night, and possibly others, Whitey Mitchell (Red Mitchell’s brother) was subbing for Milt Hinton

JOE BUSHKIN QUARTET FEATURING STUFF SMITH

Joe Bushkin (tp, pn), Stuff Smith (vn), Whitey Mitchell (sb), Jo Jones (dm)
New York – Embers – 161 East 54th Street – Bushkin mc – ?March [or February] 1964
8 Medley
[Manhattan] – trio – Smith out
Chicago
9 California Here I Come – Smith brief obbligato – Jones featured solo
Manhattan – Bushkin tp – Smith obbligato
10 Medley
My Blue Heaven – trio – Bushkin out
Play [aka Timme’s Blues] – trio – Bushkin out
Pennies from Heaven – Bushkin (tp)
12 Undecided

TAPE
ex-Bushkin courtesy his son-in-law Bob Merrill. ¶The numbers refer to the track numbering on Merrill’s CD-R transfer of the tape. ¶Smith does not play on other titles. ¶Mitchell was subbing for Milt Hinton. ¶The complete session incl. tracks without Smith is now released on CD AB Fable ABCD1-022 Joe Bushkin Featuring Stuff Smith

DS/182; March 1964; Tonight Show
Carson Productions confirm that no video of the show with Bushkin and Smith survives with them. Many programs from the period were lost or destroyed during a move from New York to Burbank.

DS/195; 4 March 1965; Stuff Smith Quartet
CD Storyville [DK, mfd. DR] 1018397 (a,e,f) Stuff Smith Quartet, Swingin’ Stuff – with 23 March 1965 session

DS/195; first week March 1965; Smith, Olsen Broadcast – see DS/199; 3 April 1965 fol.
CD [DK, mfd. DR] 1018506 (a,b,d) Masters of Jazz, Stuff Smith

DS/196; 16 March 1965; Troldmanen fra Onyx
Correct order of titles: (a) My Blue Heaven; (b) Oh, Lady be Good!; (c) The Girl from Ipanema; (d) Bugle Blues, not as previously given. ¶Danmarks Radio TV International Sales translation of the title is The Wizard from Onyx.

DS/196; 18 March 1965; Stuff Smith Quartet
CD [DK, mfd. DR] 1018396 (a-i) Stuff Smith Quartet, Hot Stuff, Featuring Svend Asmussen – with 30 or 31 January 1966 session
CD [DK, mfd. DR] 1018506 (a,c,g) Masters of Jazz, Stuff Smith

DS/197; 23 March 1965; Stuff Smith Quartet
TAPE TR 277-A / 278-A DJC refs are 03.085.00259 / 03.085.00260
CD Storyville [DK, mfd. DR] 1018397 (a-j) Stuff Smith Quartet, Swingin’ Stuff – with 4 March 1965 session
CD [DK, mfd. DR] 1018506 (a,d) Masters of Jazz, Stuff Smith

DS/199; 3 April 1965; Smith–Olsen Broadcast; Saba Session
It now seems most unlikely that the Smith–Olsen broadcast session was recorded 3 April 1965. That date on a DR tape may refer to one of the editing dates and/or a part broadcast. Producer Per Møller Hansen believes recording took place the first week of March 1965, we surmize after 4 March. ¶The 3 April 1965 is now seemingly established as the date of the Saba session previously believed to be 1967 – see DS/245 fol.

CD Musica Jazz [IT] 10/2002 (d) Storyville Story – sample disc acc. periodical Musica Jazz

DS/200; 4 April 1965; Jubilæumskoncert
The tape has been located in the TR archive: part of 03.085.00784. Herb Geller plays three titles with Det Ny Radiodanseorkester directed by Ib Glindemann, followed by two titles by the Stuff Smith Trio, followed by a fourth title by Geller. Smith plays excellent versions of “How High the Moon” and “Timme’s Blues” in which the drums are not missed. Smith introduces “Timme’s Blues” as composed by Timme Rosenkrantz, which is not, of course, true. Poul Clemmensen, not Clemensen, is the mc.

DS/202; 8 May 1965; ORFT broadcast
Another, unreleased, broadcast title is extant: “Perdido”, which precedes “One O’Clock Jump”. A TR tape wth these titles also includes announcements.

DS/204; 11 May 1965; Cannes
It is confirmed that Smith played the Cannes Jazz Festival on this date and was a sensation. It is not known whether the concert was taped. Personnel is not established.

DS/205; 218; 13 May 1965; 18–19 December 1965
GJ17 = LP Jazz Spectrum [FR] GJ17

DS/205–206; FB:VIS/iv/13/7; 29 May 1965; Stuff Smith with Henri Chaix
CD Storyville [DK] 1018328 (all titles except medley by Chaix alone) Stuff Smith with The Henri Chaix Trio, Late Woman Blues – “Blues in B flat” retitled “Late Woman Blues” – one or two titles also scheduled on CD Sackville [CN] Henri Chaix
CD [DK, mfd. DR] 1018506 (c,g,h) Masters of Jazz, Stuff Smith

DS/206: 4 June 1965; Stuff Smith with Jazz Live Trio
CD Elite Special [HV] 9544002 (b) Jazz in Switzerland
CD Musica Helvetica [HV] MH1092 (b) Jazz in Switzerland

DS/207; 23 June 1965; FB:VIS update; Stuff Smith and Stéphane Grappelli
CD Trova/Everest [AR] MT30011 (all titles) Stuff Smith, Artista Invitado Stéphane Grappelly
CD Gitanes/Universal/EmArcy [FR] 0165102 (all titles) Jazz in Paris, Vol. 82, Stéphane Grappelli and Stuff Smith, Stuff and Steff – program order changed
CD Grammercy ? (all titles) The Art of Jazz Violin – another bootleg released together with a Grappelli–Ponty session – stereo channels probably reversed

DS/208–209; rev. UD/75–76; ?–1 or 2 July 1965; Ruhr Festival Jazz Workshop
Two titles, including one with Smith, “Take the ‘A’ Train”, were telecast on NDR Jazz Night 20–21 April 2002 in Highlights from the NDR Jazz Archive. They do not appear to have been videoed at the concert itself, despite cameras visible in extant photos, but at one of the studio rehearsal sessions. It has not been established whether other videoed rehearsal titles are extant.

DS/209; 8 July 1965; Blue Note, Brussels; Stuff Smith Quartet
The complete BRT master tape, an unidentified part of which was broadcast, believed lost has surfaced among tapes in the possession of an ex-BRT employee.
Corrected personnel is: Stuff Smith (vn, vc), Jean Fanis (pn), Paul Dubois (sb), Rudy Frankel (dm)
a How High the Moon
b Bugle Blues (Smith)
c Confessin’ – Smith vc
d Oh, Lady, Be Good! – Smith vc
e Just You, Just Me
f Baby, Baby, Baby (Blues) (Smith) – Smith vc
g One O’Clock Jump
h Summertime
i Cherokee
j Crazy Rhythm
k Body and Soul
l Take the ‘A’ Train
m I Can’t Get Started
n Indiana
o Blues (?Smith)
p Things Ain’t What They Used to Be
q My Blue Heaven
r Misty
s Just One of Those Things

DS/211; September 1965; Jazz till midnatt
Recording date is apparently the same as broadcast date 3 September 1965, not ?1 or ?2 September 1965 as previously suggested.

DS/212; Svendborg, 10 October 1965
There is something wrong with the dating of the 9th and 10th. The Svendborg engagement took place on the 10th. It was the 10th anniversary of Svendbord Jazzklub at Vindeby Kro. Smith played first with Erik Moseholm’s Trio with Ray Pitts and Alex Riel, then with Den fynske Jazzgruppe comprising Carsten Lund (gt), Jens Petersen (pn), Lars Kjær (sb), Claus Petersen (dm). There were other participants.

DS/214–215; UD/77; 29 October 1965
e read: Blues for J. F. U., not ?–Stomping at the Savoy

DS/214–215; UD/77; 30 October 1965; 30 October 1965
b read: ?–I’m Going to Go Fishing, not Unidentified Blues

DS/216; 3 November 1965
Video has been located of an edited extract of (c): the end of Smith’s solo joined to the end of the tune with Hines and the ensemble. Edited out is all before Smith and several solos after Smith. Only ref. to the released audio makes this edit join clear. The extract appeared in an unidentified French telecast with the spurious date 1957 on screen. The possibility that video, of the whole tune or the whole concert, is extant must be considered.

DS/217; 19 November 1965; Ib Glindemann
Vibraphone is heard on (a). We would like to think it might be violinist Finn Ziegler who doubled on the instrument. A larger and somewhat different personnel for the Big Band is known in March 1966.

DS/217; 28 November 1965
Smith played a return engagement at Vindeby Kro, Svendborg with Den fynske Jazzgruppe comprising Carsten Lund (gt), Jens Petersen (pn), Lars Kjær (sb), Claus Petersen (dm).

DS/218–219; 18–19 December; Ponty, Smith
LP Curcio also released as part of boxed set of 10 LPs: LP Curcio [IT] [10] The Jazz Collection

DS/219–220; rev. UD/78; ?1965; Stuff Smith and Ben Webster
Title (a) played by Smith (pn), given as unidentified, is his composition “Don’t the Moon Look Pretty (on a Country Road)” published as sheet music incl. lyrics by BMI (New York, 1940) – see FB:VIS/iv/13/7.

DS/220; January 1966; Odense
The Odense engagement was with Helmer Berg Trio at Riverside Jazzclub, 23 January 1966 [not 25, 26 or 27].

DS/230; 19 April 1966; Nance, Smith, Christensen The TR tape is in fact a copy of an aircheck tape recorded by Tom Buhmann and placed in the TR archive by Arnvid Meyer. The tracks with Smith have been released on the Storyville CD Stuff Smith, Five Fine Violins.

DS/233; 6 August 1966; Molde
The the few bars played by Smith on the hardangerfele are, in fact, “Turkey in the Straw”.

DS/228; 30 or 31 January 1966; Suff Smith and Svend Asmussen
CD Storyville [DK, mfd DR] (b-e) Stuff Smith Quartet, Hot Stuff, Featuring Svend Asmussen – with 18 March 1965 session
CD [DK, mfd. DR] 1018506 (b,d) Masters of Jazz, Stuff Smith

DS/231; ?1967, ?–not 1966; Stuff Smith with Helmer Berg
A complete tape of this session is extant and its status is corrected as follows: Location and date Sct. Knuds Gymnasium, Odense, summer 1967, [not, we are reliably informed, Fyns Tivoli, May 1966] – (c), which breaks down, and (d) are medleys of “It Ain’t Necessarily So” and “Summertime” – (e) is “Crazy Rhythm” [not Perdido]. The session was entirely private [not for broadcast], probably supervised by Carsten Mollerup, former leader of town choirs.

DS/235–236; 27 September 1966; Stuff Smith with the Jazz Live Trio
A tape of the complete broadcast concert has been located. Titles, from audience requests, in order of performance follow. Smith talks.
. [Unidentified fade in intro fragment] – Smith out
a How High the Moon – issued
b Timme’s Blues (Smith)
c Confessin’ – Smith (vc)
d Take the ‘A’-Train
e S’posin’ – Smith (vc)
f Stardust
g Bugle Call Blues
h The C-Jam Blues [aka Duke’s Place] – Smith (vc)
i Swingin’ Softly (Smith) – Smith (vc)
j Oh, Lady, Be Good Smith (vc)

DS/236–237; rev. UD/83; 30 September 1966; 1 October 1966; Violin Summit
Further titles, incl. one with Smith, are confirmed as extant from a broadcast tape but regrettably five titles neither released nor broadcast, of which four include all four violinists, appear not to be extant. Seven of the unreleased titles, together with six of the seven titles released on LP/CD, were broadcast by Radio Basel on at least two occasions: 6 August 1972; 3 August 1979. Smith’s feature “Oh. Lady, Be Good!”, with humorous vocal, was intended for broadcast but edited out of one or both broadcasts because of an overrunning football match prior to one of the broadcasts. The low audio quality rehearsal tape, which contains the four titles with all four violinists played at the concert, is confirmed as part of the rehearsal for the concert itself—not the unissued 1 October 1966 follow up session, which may not be extant, as originally suggested. However, some or all of the photos that appear on LP/CD release may have been taken at this follow up studio session believed to have taken place at Radio Basel, Novarastraße 2, not Südwestfunk, Baden-Baden. It is also confirmed that the released “Only Time Will Tell” is definitely from the concert, not the studio follow up sesssion; Smith’s spoken intro on the release of this title is patched in from its true original position as intro to “Oh, Lady, Be Good!”. Berendt’s intention for the follow up session was to remake concert titles that he was unhappy with for a variety of reasons. Ponty reported in Glaser, Jazz Violin, confirmed with AB, that while Smith, refreshed after a good sleep, played beautifully at the follow up session the others had lost their spontaniety. Research assistance courtesy Joachim Berendt producer of the concert; Gérard Lüll presenter of the concert in his Jazz im Fauteuil series; Eva Løgager; Arild Widerøe; Peter Pfister; Willy Bischof, Jean-Luc Ponty.

DS/238; 13 October 1966, Jazz Jamboree, Warsaw

All four titles, incl. two not released on LP, have been released on CD in 2018 in what is believed to be playing order: “Ain’t Misbehavin’” (Smith vc), “How High the Moon”, “Oh, Lady Be Good” (Smith vc), “Perdido”. There was no “Honeysuckle Rose” given in error in a newspaper report – CD Polskie Radio PRCD2076, Polish Jazz Archives, 31, Jazz Jamboree ’66, vol. 3

¶Rehearsal – Fauteuil – Basel – 30 September 1966
a–c Farewell Blues – all – false starts and two takes
d–f Swingin’ Softly (Smith, Løgager) – all – Smith (vc) – three takes of which third theme only
g It Don’t Mean a Thing (if It Ain’t Got that Swing) – all – one take
h Twins and Two More [aka Quadruplets] (Asmussen) – all – fragment – ?–remainder erased by Smith’s tape reuse

¶Concert – Jazz im Fauteuil – Basel – 30 September 1966
. [Pennies from Heaven] – Grappelli – unissued – broadcast
. [How High the Moon] – Grappelli – unissued – broadcast
. [Yesterdays] – Asmussen – unissued – broadcast
. [Don’t Beat Me] (Asmussen) – Asmussen – Asmussen (vc grunts) – unissued – broadcast
. [Sonnymoon for Two] – Ponty – unissued – broadcast
. [Carol’s Garden] – Ponty – unissued – broadcast
. [Mean to Me] – Grappelli, Ponty – unissued – broadcast
. [Love for Sale] – Grappelli, Ponty – unissued – not broadcast
. [Pent-up House] – Grappelli, Ponty – issued – broadcast
. [Hot Toddy] – Asmussen, Ponty, Grappelli – issued – broadcast
. [Summit Soul] – Grappelli, Asmussen, Ponty – issued – broadcast
. [Stella by Starlight] – no (vn) – (pn), (sb), (dm) only – 20:30 – unissued – broadcast on another occasion
a Only Time Will Tell (Smith) – Smith – issued [incl. Smith intro talk patched in from (b)]
b Oh, Lady, Be Good! (Smith) – Smith (vc) – unissued [except intro talk patched in to (a)] – possibly broadcast on one occasion but certainly not on both – extant
c Take the ‘A’-Train – Asmussen, Smith – unissued – not broadcast – ?–not extant
d Timme’s Blues (Smith) – Asmussen, Smith – Asmussen, Smith (vc) – issued – not broadcast
. [So Sorry] (?Asmussen, ?Grappelli) – Asmussen, Grappelli – unissued – not broadcast – ?–not extant
e Twins and Two More [aka Quadruplets] (Asmussen) – all – unissued – not broadcast – ?–not extant
f It Don’t Mean a Thing (if It Ain’t Got that Swing) – all – issued – broadcast
g Swingin’ Softly (Smith, Løgager) – all – Smith (vc) – unissued – not broadcast – ?–not extant
h Farewell Blues – all – unissued – not broadcast – ?–not extant

The photo of all four violinists that appears on most releases of Violin Summit is reversed and shows four left-handed violinists!

Violin Summit also released LP MPS [NZ] 68000

Studio – Radio Basel – 1 October 1966
a Unknown titles drawn from concert titles – ?–not extant

DS/240; 18 November 1966
Read: Iserlohn, not Iserholm

DS/241; rev. UD/84; 3 December 1966
Read: Club Paramount, Restaurant Fjordvilla, not Fjordville

DS/242; rev. UD/84; 1966 or 1967
Eskild Holten has been identified as a tenor saxophonist from Århus. There is no (ts) on any session on the tape on which his name is written. There is some evidence that he may have played a rhythm instrument with Smith. It is also possible that this or another performance with Holten has been erased by over-recording.

DS/245–246; Saba Session
Ove Rex (dm) who recorded the part broadcast Karlsruhe concert with Smith on 19 May 1967 is adamant that LP Saba Black Violin could not have been recorded on this date. The quartet flew directly there and back for this one concert, arranged by SDR with DR, during which Smith was quite unwell. This is corroborated in Klause-Gotthard Fischer, Jazzin the Black Forest, The Complete Saba/MPS Jazz Recordings (Berlin, 1999) who unexpectedly gives the Saba session date as 3 April 1965 [yes, 1965].

DS/261–267; rev. FB:VIS/iv/13/7; Smith Compositions Recorded [or Featured] by Others

I’se a Muggin’
Arrangement for orchestra incl. violin by Paul Weirick (J. Albert & Son, Sydney, Australia, [prob.1936])
A new musical arrangement by Bianca Miller 1987 LC reg. PAU-1-191-747
The Jack Teagarden aircheck is by the The Three Ts from a Paul Whiteman broadcast 15 March 1936.
Grand Marquis – CD

You’se a Viper aka If You’re a Viper
David Bookes Swingtet, as “If You’re a Viper” Cowtown Jive
Bubblin’ Toorop Trio, incl. (vn), as You’s a Viper (Reefer Song) – ?1991 – CD Laughin’ in Rhythm
Captain Matchbox Whoopie Band incl. (vn), as “ If Youse a Viper” – ?2002 – CD Wangaretta Wahine
Alex Chilton, as “You’s a Viper” Set
Exit 13 Featuring Bliss Blood, as “If You’re a Viper (Viper Mad Lilker Mix)” – 1996 – CD Smoking Songs
Exit 13 Featuring Bliss Blood, incl. (vn), as “If You’re a Viper (Blissful Mix)” – 1996 – CD Smoking Songs
Grand Marquis, as “If You’se a Viper” – CD
Kramer, Wayne, as “If You’re a Viper” Hempilation 2 Kermit Ruffins, as “If You’re a Viper” The Big Butter and Egg Man
Frank Melrose (vn) , as “If You’re a Viper” (credited in error to Waller) absolutely in error because June Davis (vc) sings “If You’se a Viper” – recorded ?1939, first released 2006 on CD Delmark Frank Melrose, Bluesiana
John Sinclair, as “If You’se a Viper – CD No Money Down
Bobby Short, as “If You’re a Viper” – 1969 – CD Jump for Joy

Here Comes the Man with the Jive
Sheet music published by Sherman, Clay (San Francisco, 1936) – an example featuring photo of The Three Rhythm Kings is known
Gutbucket (no vn), as “Where’s the Man with the Jive” – LP [7”] Shangri-La Where’s the Man with the Jive

It’s Wonderful

Featured musician photo on published sheet music – it is not known in every case whether the featured musician also recorded and/or broadcast the composition:

Alice Cornett
Jerry Blaine Orchestra
Henry Busse
The Collegians
Tommy Dorsey
Jean Ellington
Benny Goodman – also recorded by
John Herrick
Kay Kyser
Red Norvo – also recorded by
Paul Pendarvis Orchestra
Ben Pollack
Joe Reichman
Larry Ross
Jo Sanders and His Original Nighthawks Orchestra
Jan Savitt
Maxine Sullivan – believed to bear the legend: Introduced by Maxine Sullivan at the Onyx Club in 1938 – also recorded by
Carol Weyman

Recordings:
Bunny Berrigan 1938 aircheck
Barney Bigard Quartet – incl. Earl Hines – Nice – 19 July 1974 – Giants in Nice
Betty O’Hara It’s a Woman’s Intuition
Dick Sudhulter – Memories Heard Memories Sweet
Ralph Sutton and Ruby Braff – Thebarton Hall, Adelaide, Australia – 6 October 1981 – in Concert
Chris Hopkins (solo pn) on Antti Sarpila Quintet – CD Nagel–Heyer [DR] 095 A Hundred Years from Today – Birdland Jazz Club Hamburg – 12 February 2005
Johnny Varo Say Yes
Teddy Wilson Trio – CD Storyville [DK] STCD8307 – Copenhagen – 21 May 1979

Desert Sands
Martin Norgaard Trio incl. Norgaard (vn) – web download – Augusta Heritage Center’s Swing Week Concert, 12 July 2001 – see silver page Norgaard link
Swingamajig w/ twelve year old Michael Fraser (vn) and father Don Fraser (gt) – Vancouver, 26 or 27 October 2001 – CD SWNG [CN] 001 Swingamajig – also includes see fol. and “Comin’ Thru the Rye” and “Oh, Lady, Be Good” in arrangements similar to Smith’s – see silver page Fraser link
Jay Geils, Gerry Beaudoin and the Kings of Swing Featuring Aaron Weinstein (vn) – Acton, MA, 16, 17 or 18 August 2005 – CD Arbors ARCD19332 – imitation of Smith’s 1957 Verve version with Oscar Peterson, as is “In a Mellow Tone” also on this CD

The Red Jumps
Swingamajig w/ Michael Fraser (vn) – as CD Swing prev.

Skip It
Paul Anastasio trio incl. Anastasio (vn) – concert – Bumbershoot, Seattle, 1997 – CD Swing Cat CD1502 Paul Anastasio and His Swing Cats, Swingin’ in Seattle . . . Live * 2/02 – see silver page Anastasio link
Bus Boyk and the Bus Boys incl. Bus Boyk, Paul Anastasio (vn) – St Johns Pub – Portland, OR, c.1999 – tape
Spencer Capier – 2006 – CD Play Well with Others
Swingamajig w/ now fifteen year old Michael Fraser – Vancouver, 2004 – CD PM12072 Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff
Buddy Spicher and Calvin Vollrath (vn) – Nashville, TN – 2005 – CD Calvin Vollrath [?–no no.] Air Mail Special

Is! Is!
Swingamajig w/ Michael Fraser (vn) – as CD Swing prev.

Bugle Call Rag [aka Bugle Blues]
Paul Anastasio – as Bugle Blues – theme (twice) – as prec.

Hillcrest
The Spurs, “Hillcrest” credited Bryant, Smith – CD Spinout SPINCD012 Go, Boy, Go – ?2000 – see FB:VIS/iv/13/2
Mike Piggott Quartet incl. Piggott (vn) – Fordcombe, Kent, 10 or 11 April 2006 – CD DOZ [EN] DOZ007 Mike Piggott, Take a Walk [titled after a Smith composition which is not played on the CD]

Timme’s Blues
Gunnar Lidberg Unit and Guests incl. Lidberg (vn) – Karlskrona, Sweden – July or August 2003 – CD J.A.M. JAMCD010 As Long As I Live

“Timmie’s Blues” played by Newport All Stars, incl. Joe Venuti, is not Smith’s composition but an entirely different composition by George Wein

Only Time Will Tell
Billy Bang Quintet – New York – 30 or 31 August 2005 – CD TUM [FI] 018 Prayer for Peace

Swingin’ Softly
Paul Anastasio – as prec.
Henri Chaix Trio – live recording for unrealized LP – 24 October 1975 – scheduled on Chaix memorial CD

Walkin’ by the River
Other recordings incl. John Sheridan, Chenille Sisters, Sonny Til, Martha Tilton, Stan Kenton, Geraldo, Boulevard of Broken Dreams

DS/270; rev. FB:VIS/iv/13/7; Compositions by Smith Believed to Be Unrecorded [or for which no recording by Smith or anyone else has so far been located]

Atomic Fiddle
Smith performed this composition at BIAJ, 23 September 1945 – see DS/132

Takin’ It Slow
A document has been viewed under Smith’s signature, witnessed by his manager Barney Young, in which T. B. Haims Company assigns Canadian copyright to Smith c/o Young in Smith’s composition entitled “Takin’ It Slow”. The undated document carries the printed year 1939. No manuscript, printing or recording of the composition has been located – this corrects our original posting which misread the document.

Three Cheers for F.D.R.
This hitherto unknown composition credited: “Words and Music by Barney Young, LeRoy Stuff Smith, Louis Prima and Edgar Battle” is published 1942 by Barney Young. We suspect this banality in march tempo about what to do with Hitler, Mussolini and the Emp’ror of Japan must be the brain-child of Barney Young. An original example is in the AB Fable archive.

I Married a Monster from Outer Space
Los Angeles Times (23 April 1958) reported Smith introducing this new “rock ’n’ roll” number at Dover House.

Credits of ?Unrecorded ?Broadcast BMI-registered Leroy Stuff Smith Compositions

Some, if not most or all, of the compositions fol. were registered by BMI to Leroy Stuff Smith in error. Other Leroy Smiths are involved: As Long As You Are Mine; Cow [aka La Vaca]; Don’t Know Why; Do Watcha Wanna Do; I Can Feel My Love Growing; Midnight Hours; No One for Me; Stutterin’ Johnny.

Smith is, however, the composer of BMI registered “Don’t the Moon Look Pretty (On a Country Road)”—see fol., and, we believe, “Dorothy” assumed to be named for Dorothy Farrell.

Don’t the Moon Look Pretty (On a Country Road) (Smith)
This 1940 BMI published Leroy Stuff Smith composition, not recorded by Smith himself except privately at the piano without vocal in the 1960s in Denmark, is not related to Clayton Horsley’s 1977 “Don’t the Moon Look Pretty”. Dallas Morning News (16 August 1940) reported Smith’s new number to be played by Karl Lambertz Orchestra on Sweethearts’ Serenade over station WFAA that day. Karl Lambertz was WFAA assistant station manager. An example of Smith’s published sheet music is in the AB Fable archive – see FB:VIS/iv/13/3 for illustration of the cover.

Dorothy (Smith)

new feature
DS/270; Compositions by Others Featured by but Unrecorded by Stuff Smith ?–or Others

Lovin’ Georgie Brown (Jack Waverly) (NY, Empire Music, 1936) – publ. sheet music showing photo “featured by Stuff Smith”

DS/271–279; rev. UD/88–90; Musical Tributes to Stuff Smith

DS/273–274; 6 December 1967; Stuff Smith Memorial Concert – Auditioned video of (x-z [Grappelli], zb [Ponty]) reveals that Grappelli and Ponty were acc. Drew, NHØP, Heath, not Solal, Rovere, Bellonzi – Read VIDEO DK, not DR

Svend Asmussen Quartet incl. Asmussen (vn) – Sermon for Stuff (Asmussen) – CD Storyville [DK] 1014252 Svend Asmussen Still Fiddling – very moving tribute – Allerød, Denmark, between June–November 1999

Svend Asmussen Quintet incl. Asmussen (vn) – Sermon for Stuff (Asmussen) – CD Arbors ARCD 19390 Svend Asmussen Makin’ Whoopee! . . . and Music! – Bradenton, FL, 5, 6 or 7 January or 3 or 11 February 2009

Don Cassell & Livingston Gearhart, “Variations on ‘London Bridge’ in Five Styles” incl. “High Bridge” “as per ‘Stuff’ Smith” for 2 clarinets, Clarinet Sessions: Fun for 2, 3 and 4 Clarinets (Delaware Water Gap, PA, Shawnee Press, 1948) – not included in the same authors’ Fiddle Sessions – Stacy Phillips comment to AB: “The bottom is the harmonized melody to ‘London Bridge Is Falling Down.’ The top part is a bluesy melody that fits over London Bridge chords. Not particularly Stuff-sounding.”

JPP incl. Arto Järvelä, Mauno Järvelä, Matti Mäkelä, Tommi Pyykönen (vn) – “Stuffologie” (Arto Järvelä) – CD OArt [FN] CD4 Artology; CD NorthSide NSD6089 Artology – this track only live at Kaustinen Folkmusic Festival – 15 July 2005

Kristian Jørgensen Quartet incl. Jørgensen (vn), Monty Alexander (pn) – The Stuffed Monk (Jørgensen) on CD Stunt [DK] STUCD01212 Meeting Monty

Oliver Lake – Rhasan and Stuff concerto by Oliver Lake dedicated to Ohio musicians Rahsaan Roland Kirk and Stuff Smith – première performed by World Saxophone Quartet with ProMusica Chamber Orchestra – conductor/md Timothy Russell – [no solo vn] – The Southern Theatre, 3–4 November 2001, Columbus, Ohio – recording 4–5 November 2001 released on CD Summit DCD1019 ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, American Jazz Concertos

Gunnar Lidberg Hot Quartet incl. Lidberg (vn) – “Stuff” [quote marks are part of the title] (Lidberg) – Lidingö Jazz Club, Sweden – 14 November 2002 – CD J.A.M. JAMCD008 Dedicated to You

Tomoko Omura Quartet incl. Omura (vn) – Stuffy (Tribute to Stuff Smith) (Omura) – 9 May 2008, Boston – CD no label name, no no. – Tomoko Omura, Visions – tributes to seven violinists

Steve Reich – Daniel Variations incl. fourth and last movement “I sure hope Gabriel likes my music, when the day is done” – composition in memory of Daniel Pearl, American Jewish journalist, and violinist, kidnapped and murdered in Pakistan in 2002 – World Premiere 8 October 2006, Barbican Hall, London – Steve Reich Ensemble / Synergy Vocals / Bradley Lubman – composer’s notes include: “The last text is a bit of a surprise and is explained by a friend of Daniel Pearl as follows: ‘Once, during a two-day bike trip up the Potomac River, his friend Tom Jennings asked about his belief in an afterlife. “I don’t know,” Danny replied. “I don’t have answers, mainly just questions.” Then he added: “But I sure hope Gabriel likes my music.” / After Danny died, Tom was going through his friend’s vinyl collection (Dvorak, Liszt, Miles Davis, REM) and stumbled across this album: Stuff Smith and the Onyx Club Orchestra. ‘Danny loved Stuff Smith—a great jazz violinist,’ Tom says. ‘Here on side A, track 3, I found this: Stuff Smith playing “I Hope Gabriel Likes My Music.” ’ / I have not used any of the music or lyrics of the song and have even edited the title. The addition of ‘when the day is done’ is my own. I hope Danny would approve.”

Nils Solberg Quartet w/ Mike Piggott (vn), Solberg (gt), Peter Ind (sb), Rod Brown (dm) – Struttin’ Stuff (Piggott) – Twickenham, Middx, 21 July 2001 – CD DOZ [EN] DOZ007 Mike Piggott, Take a Walk – released 1006

Swingamajig w/ Michael Fraser (vn) – Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff (Fraser) – Vancouver, 2004 – CD PM12072 Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff

[Stuff Smith] – DS/275 entry ref. unassociated 1960s obscure British blues rock band calling itself Stuff Smith: this band appears on several LP [EN] anthologies in addition to the one noted. An associated or entirely different, similarly inappropriately named, apparently Australian, band appears on 1997 CD Sound Vault [AL] SV0039 Stuff Smith, For Ornamental Purposes Only

DS/334–342; Personnel Index
add: Hoff, Karl Otto, 5–10 April 1965

UD/9; Caption to UD/32 photo
The oft-reproduced photo of Smith outside the Onyx Club with a National amplifier has previously been thought to date from 1937 because that appears to be the known date of the Charles Peterson photo visible on the billboard. Smith first endorsed National Dobro’s “Vio-Lectric” violin in an ad in August 1938 which includes the photo with amplifier so 1938 now appears to be the true date of the photo – see DS/83 prec.

UD/9; Caption to UD/35 Trois Mailletz photo
One of the men between Ponty and Mercer is Claude Guilhot (vb) who led the house rhythm section with Stuff Smith. The other unidentified man is not believed to be either Alex Daniel (sb) or Dante Agostini (dm) – see new sessions prec.

UD/48–50; Stuff Smith Lucidin Orchestra
Some Lucidin lacquers that were in Edgar Sampson’s ownership are now deposited at Institute of Jazz Studies adding some titles not known from Jonah Jones lacquers. Revised full details in liner notes to AB Fable ABCD1-024 Stuff Smith Let’s Listen to Lucidin released 2010

More, though not all, Smith Lucidin programs, of which airchecks are not known to be extant, are detailed in Ken Vail, compiler, Swing Era Scrapbook: The Teenage Diaries and Radio Logs of Bob Inman, 1936–1938 (Lanham, Maryland, 2005) which can also be consulted for details of numerous other Smith broadcasts of the period.

UD/74; 5–10 April 1965; Metropol personnel
Read: Karl Otto Hoff, not Hoft

UD/79: 1965 or 1966; Stuff Smith
Title (e) appears to be “Don’t the Moon Look Pretty (on a Country Road)” not “Night Falls Again” – see UD/82 fol.

UD/80; 1965 or 1966; Stuff Smith Trio
Jørgen Borch confirms that he is indeed the pianist and that Eric Mølbak is indeed the bassist. Location is Herninggade 19, Copenhagen where Smith was staying at the time in an apartment with Ulla Næstved – research assistance Frank Büchmann-Møller.

UD/80; 1965 or 1966; Stuff Smith Duo
End fragment (a) could be “My Thoughts” or “Waltz with Me”, not “Night Falls Again” nor variations on that.

UD/82; ?–spring 1966; Stuff Smith
Title (e) appears to be “Don’t the Moon Look Pretty (on a Country Road)” not “Time and Again” – see UD/79 prec.

UD/86; Moose the Stuff [You’se A Viper]; Latcho Drom
Read: Latcho Drom, not Latchmo Drom
The CD also includes quotes from Smith’s “Stop-Look” by Charles Roman (vn) on “La Poule” (Joël Trolonge).

UD/94; rev. FB:VIS/iii/10/124; 29 May 1938; Randall’s Island Stadium Carnival of Swing
All or most of the prev. unreleased silent footage of this first open-air jazz festival, a Union charity event, produced by Martin Block and WNEW in front of an audience of 25,000, incl. a head and shoulders shot of Stuff Smith ostensibly listening to the Count Basie Orchestra—soundtrack is ostensibly matched from another source—is included in Ken Burns, “Swing, The Velocity of Celebration”, Jazz, Episode 6 (Florentine Films, 2000). The prev. released newsreel footage of Smith playing is not included. Date is confirmed as Sunday, 29 May 1938. Note that Jazz telecast by the BBC, June 2001, is edited down from the original seventeen to twelve hours. Photos of Carnival of Swing appear in the Ward–Burns tie-in book. Metronome (July 1938) printed an extensive photo-feature report with photos by Otto Hess incl. one of Smith’s set with Ben Webster. WNEW broadcast one and a half hours of the five hour proceedings. It is confirmed that one title by Smith is extant among the William Savory airchecks – see blue page photos

FB:VIS/iii/10/121; March 1954; Paul Whiteman Varieties
Broadcast date was 21.00–22.00, 25 March 1954. It is not known for certain whether this was also the recording date.

FB:VIS/iv/11/83–86; Stuff Smith; L’Onyx Cub
Read: Bobby [?]Briar, not Byrne announcer.

FB:VIS/iv/13/7, Charles Fox
Charles Fox recalls that the group with Stuff Smith, Ray Nance (vn), Charles Fox (pn), Al Lucas (sb), Sonny Greer (dm) played a club in Downtown New York, perhaps around 34th Street, in 1958.

REISSUE RELEASES not yet included in prec.
CD Jazz Legends 1013 Stuff Smith – poor resissue incl. selections from 1920s Trent and 1930s–early 1940s Smith Onyx Club Boys / Orchestra commercial sessions


Here follow images of Smith amendments in printed FB:VIS/iii/10–iv/11–13 (1998–2000)
preceded by a loose-leaf sheet originally inserted with UD

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