Fanning, right, is on tour with pianist Johnny Varro in Germany this month. (Photo: Courtesy Jack Fanning).

Continued: Fanning

"There were fewer radio stations in the 1930s, and I don't remember hearing the great black bands on the air," he says. "Never mind. The spark survived to become a fire in my belly later in life."

Fanning was in a National Guard unit activated in 1950 and in Germany for two years. He did factory work until going into the Army in 1958. As a Green Beret in Vietnam and Laos, he earned a Purple Heart, Bronze and Silver Stars. He finished a 17-year service career in 1972 at Ford Ord, Calif., then was a manager for 17 years with McGraw Hill Publishing and three with Lockheed Aircraft.

Jazzing It Up in California

Jack, who was known as John when in California, had not been active musically until Joe Ingram asked him to learn vibes to join his trio. Joe also played vibes but preferred playing trumpet. "I knew piano and drums, so I put the two together and learned the instrument rather quickly," says Fanning.

He recalls Ingram's band meeting people deplaning at the Monterey airport. "We set up on the observation deck above the gates. As people started down the stairs, we'd break into 'It Happened in Monterey.' Their expressions would change from being bored to happy smiles as they were serenaded."

One time the band was to greet Abe Most and Nick Fatool flying up from Los Angeles. "As we started to play, they showed up behind us, having arrived on an earlier flight. So, they joined in, and we serenaded the debarking passengers anyway," he recalls.

Ingram, drummer Ned Brundage, pianist Patti Glen and Fanning were having cocktails at La Fonda bar when they decided to form the Monterey Jazz Society. Jack agreed to be "point man," then Patti moved away, Ned had heart problems and Joe was busy with a six-night gig. So, Fanning became president pro-tem of the society. It drew 150 fans at the first meeting in October 1974 and still has monthly sessions and about 400 members.

"We had a fine roster of excellent musicians in Monterey in the 1970s," he recalls. The best known band was Papa Jake Stock's Abalone Stompers, whose members at various times included Eddie Erickson, Jackie Coon, Jackson Stock, Alan O'Dea and Bill Dendle.

When Fanning was with Ingram's band at Casa Munras, he recalls harmonica player Chuck Fendal bringing a noisy crowd to complete silence and dancers stopping to listen. He told the Harmonicats' Jerry Murad about that later, and Murad said, "That's nothing. He sat in with a group in San Francisco, and the band stopped playing to listen"

Launching Sacramento Jubilees

Sacramento Jubilee founder Bill Borcher invited about 25 leaders of area jazz societies, including Fanning and his wife-to-be Billie, to a planning meeting in January 1974, and it became a memorable party.

At the meeting Borcher read from a lengthy agenda, and some offered "better" ideas on how to run the show. "I decided to jump in on his side and immediately became his bosom buddy," says Fanning.

Billie Fanning operates a computer with MIDI system backing Jack's Shadows. She's shown here at the Family Table restaurant, North Port, Fla., in  2005.

October 2008 issue | © 2008 The Mississippi Rag

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