For a taste of the Twenties — just a taste — listen to Runnin' Wild. It was written in 1922, about ten years before Frank and Fred Assunto were born. But their dad, Papa Jac Assunto, remembers it. He taught the boys a lot, and they picked up a few things on their own. Check the selections in this album ; some date back to Papa Jac's time, but many were heard on Broadway for the first time a few years ago. As the Dukes of Dixieland play them, you realize why this is one of the most popular instrumental groups in thewcountry today.
Recently, trumpeter Bobby Hackett was questioned by a callow youth about Dixieland. The mild-mannered jazz pioneer said, "Please ; Dixieland is a dirty word — it's so unnecessary." Says Joe Delaney, who represents the Dukes of Dixieland, "I think Bobby's statement fights those people who insist on pigeonholing Dixieland, who insist some of it is jazz and some isn't. There's a small, stubborn hard core that feels only certain tunes and only the forms in which they were first played are the true forms of Dixieland jazz. But many people who hear the Dukes for the first time say, 'l don't particularly care for Dixieland, but I sure like what you fellows play.'"
The Dukes cannot be pigeonholed. They're now appreciated by young people (some of the young hipsters are coming around !) and even by that most critical group, fellow jazz musicians. "For the past few years," says Delaney, "the boys have played jazz festivals and they've had to make the audience swing whether they came to hear Basie or Miles or Kenton !"
But their most enthusiastic fans are in the older generation, and Delaney thinks that Papa Jac is largely responsible. "Dad was near 50 when he played outside of New Orleans for the first time. The boys were working in Chicago without him. Freddie's wife, Betty, who had been singing with the band, became pregnant, and so we sent for-Papa Jac to replace her temporarily as the special attraction. People love watching him work sitting up there with his two sons." The performances on this album, the Dukes' first for Columbia, present the group at the peak of their twelve-year career. Freddie organized the group in 1949 ; among its early members was Pete Fountain. The Dukes won a Horace Heidt-T audition, toured for awhile, then returned to New Orleans and replaced Sharkey Bonano's band at the Famous Door for 44 months. (Santo Pecora, Bonano's trombonist, was one of Freddie Assunto's idols.) Meanwhile, Papa Jac Assunto, who holds a degree in business administration from Tulane University, was teaching and directing the band atRedemptorist High School. He joined the group when he received the call for help from Chicago, and he's been trouping ever since.
Billy James (from the original Liner Notes)
The Dukes of Dixieland
Breakin' it Up on Broadway
Tracks
1 Runnin' Wild 6:16
2 Old Fashioned Love 2:51
3 How Are Things in Glocca Morra ? 2:48
4 Oh, Lady Be Good 3:10
5 Ain't Misbehavin' 3:01
6 Hey, Look me Over 2:54
7 The New Ashmolean Marching Society and Students Conservatory Band 3:14
8 Lida Rose 2:44
9 If I Were a Bell 2:58
10 I Can't Give You Anything But Love 4:29
11 From this Moment On 2:23
12 Adrift On a Star 3:45
*
Personnel
Frank Assunto - tp
Fred Assunto - tb
Jack Assunto - tb or bnj
Jerry Fuller - cl
Jim Hall - g
Gene Schroeder - p
Jim Atlas - b
Charlie Lodice - dr
Recorded ca 1961