Dan Barrett shares some of his experiences in playing with legendary trombonist Spiegle Willcox (1903-99) and gives insight as to the interplay among musicians while on the bandstand. During his long career, Willcox played in the Paul Whiteman and Jean Goldkette orchestras, reminisced on his experiences with Bix Beiderbecke for the documentary film Bix, and discussed his life and music in the Ken Burns documentary, Jazz.
James “Rosy” McHargue (1902-99) became a professional musician at the age of 15 and over the years played with Frank Trumbauer, Ted Weems, Kay Kyser, Jimmy McPartland, and Red Nichols, among others. In his later years, he was a popular performer at West Coast festivals and was active in the jazz preservation movement, working with historians in interviews and recalling the tunes and lyrics of many long-forgotten songs from the 1920s and before. - Ed.
That should count for something!
The late Rick Fay—a wonderful, funny guy and a very good soprano saxophonist and singer—shared this with me some time ago. Back around 1996, Rick was leading an “all-star” group for the weekend at one of the dixieland festivals. (It may have been the Suncoast Dixieland Classic, I’m not sure.)
As Rick tells it, it was a very good band, with Spiegle Willcox on tro
