Frank Big Boy Goudie, Pt. 2 of 3, South America 1939-46, Europe 1946-56

Creole multi-instrumentalist Frank “Big Boy” Goudie (1899-1964) spent six vibrant years blowing saxophone, trumpet and clarinet in Brazil and South America. Big Boy played Samba-swing, indigenous Latin dance music and encouraged a nascent Jazz movement. Also explored are his return to Paris, postwar recordings, excursions to Switzerland and half decade in Berlin. Sharing in Frank’s South American sojourn and post-war life was his wife, Madeleine Boissin (1916-2012). They had wed in Paris in May 1939 with proper nuptial and church ceremonies. The newlyweds ran a tiny restaurant in Rio near the famed Copacabana Beach and traveled the continent. Illuminating these years for the first time and a main source for this episode is the excellent biography, BIG BOY: The Life and Music of Frank Goudie by Dan Vernhettes, Christine Goudie (his French daughter) and Tony Baldwin (reviewed below). Adding color and context is an eyewitness account of Goudie in South America from musician, broadcaster and writer Richard Hadlock. All of the music offered below was recorded in Brazil or Europe. But no recordings of Goudie from South America have yet been identified. A Big Life: Recap Goudie (pronounced “goody”) has been almost completely overlooked by Jaz