In response to the list of Armstrong’s rivals in Lew Shaw’s column (“Jazz Jottings,” February 2024), I think Jabbo Smith could (and in fact, did) give Louis a run for his money. Ikey Robinson told me that he and Jabbo were high and out on the town and walked into the Sunset Cafe during an intermission. They went into a version of “Chinatown, My Chinatown” that had the audience in an uproar and Louis had to hustle him men back on stage before they lost their audience.
Jabbo didn’t have the physical strength Louis did, and his music didn’t have the same appeal to southern audiences Louis’ did. Ikey said he had a hard time getting Jabbo up to make the Rhythm Aces record—he only wanted to chase the girls and waste his money on the Clearinghouse, the numbers game popular on the South Side.
I worked in Milwaukee for four years and every Friday I’d walk walk across downtown to see what was new at the record shop. I’d see him mopping the floor in the Avis garage and never knew what to say to the second greatest jazz trumpeter of all time when he was doing menial work. He had a young family and a nice house on the north side of town—I finally got to meet him a few years later. I’ve been collecting jazz records 65 years and I’ve only worn one record out—the original orange-covered LP from the Melodeon label, my introduction to Jabbo when it game out about 1966.
Paige VanVorst
Chicago, IL
