Continued: Jazz in the Heartland

A holiday card from someone whose music you know and love: Butch Thompson scheduled his annual "Home for Christmas" benefit concert at 4 p.m. Sunday, Dec.14 in his home town, Marine-on-St. Croix, Minn. This popular annual show has become a must-see both for Marine locals and for many Twin Citians. Held at Marine's historic Village Hall, site of Thompson's first public performance at age 11, the concert combines traditional holiday music and Thompson's well-known New Orleans jazz style, from the bluesy "Silent Night" to the stomping "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear." Tickets are available in person at the Marine General Store, or send a check made out to Marine Restoration Society (the concert's beneficiary) and a self-addressed, stamped envelope to Marine Restoration Society, P. O. Box 274, Marine, MN 55047. The price is $22. For more information, phone (651) 433-2049. Marine is on the St. Croix River, 10 miles north of Stillwater on Minnesota Highway 95. Thompson also gave a holiday concert at Minneapolis' Dakota jazz club Dec. 7. FFI Butch Thompson@centurytel.net.

Media Matters: The November issue of Notes to You, newsletter of the Illiana (Illinois-Indiana) Club of Traditional Jazz, previews numerous events in the heartland and offers some really funny jokes which, I daresay, most of us can use these days. Great work as always by tireless editor Eddy (JazzEddy@aol.com) Banjura.

The November issue of the newsletter of the Catfish Jazz Society of the Quad Cities (Iowa-Illinois) mourns the passing of its front page columnist Alpha Dog and thanks jazzer Manny Lopez for volunteering to take over Alpha Dog's space. The Society's annual holiday event was held Dec. 7, catfish jazz@yahoo.com.

The November issue of the EarlyJas Rag of Northeast Ohio (www.earlyjas.org) concludes a two-part series on Duke Ellington; memorializes the late Franz Jackson, reviews numerous recordings and lists numerous gigs.

The November issue of The Dixieland Hot Sheet, newsletter of The Central Ohio Hot Jazz Society, is chock-full of gigs, near and far, www.cohjs.org.

The November-December issue of Duet, newsletter of the American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada, Local 30-73, Twin Cities, carries an excellent column by Pres. Brad Eggen on "the universal language of music;" mourns the passing of saxophonist Eddie Berger and violinist Bruce Allard and recalls in photos jazz at the 2008 Minnesota State Fair, www.tcmu.com. The union's annual holiday open house was Dec. 1.

More on Studs: I did not know that Studs Terkel, whose death we reported last month, named the Minnesota band The Mouldy Figs until Roseville, Minn. banjoist-journalist Dick Parker e-mailed the following about his past and a band in which he now plays: "Jim Field grew up in Western Springs, a Chicago suburb. Field is proud of the fact that Studs Terkel named his band. As early as 1959 Jim and his best friend had a Dixieland group. His friend's mom worked at WFMT, which even then was home to Studs Terkel's radio show. Terkel was at the friend's house one day in 1959 when the band was practicing, and Jim was introduced to him. `So you like those moldy figs, eh?' he said to Jim, referring to the kind of music they were playing. Then he explained that musicians in the swing era used that as a derisive term for old jazz, `Dixieland,' which wasn't cool anymore, and the musicians who played it. When Jim moved to Minnesota in 1973 and established his band here, he used the British spelling 'mouldy' to give it a little class. It's now a repertory band that includes about 35 members -- some of them among the Twin Cities' best jazz musicians. They play in countless combinations for all kinds of events. Regular gigs are alternating Sundays at the Mainstreet Bar & Grill in Hopkins, Minn., from 3 to 7 p.m., and Shamrocks Irish Nook on W. 7th St in St. Paul from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m."

Check www.mouldyfigs.com for details and don't miss Terkel's memorable hour-long interview with Amy Goodman (www.democracynow.org) Nov. 27 including his memories of Armstrong, Earl Hines, Bessie Smith and Mahalia Jackson,

Minnesota vocalist Doris Hines celebrated her 85th birthday Nov. 19 with a concert backed by old friends and collaborators Jimmy Hamilton, piano; Irv Williams, tenor sax and Percy Hughes, reeds and vocals, among others.

Finally, I have composed a song to honor the doctor who prescribed a cholesterol-lowering drug for me. I call it "Statin Doll."

Please send me your news by the fifth of the month preceding publication: Will Shapira, 5644 Morgan Av. S., Minneapolis MN 55419 or wshapira@aol.com, no attachments. Thanks, later.

December 2008 issue | © 2008 The Mississippi Rag

P.O. Box 19068, Minneapolis, MN 55419.