The New Black Eagle Jazz Band, Part One, with Stan Vincent

Stan Vincent created a playlist of all the tunes discussed in the below article. You may find it in full HERE.

Jeff Barnhart: This month, dear readers, my faithful collaborator Hal Smith is up to his inkwell in other articles, so I’m taking this chance to invite Stan Vincent, the original trombonist with the New Black Eagle Jazz Band (NBEJB) since its inception in 1971(!) to join me. The NBEJB band was extremely important to me as I was learning more tunes and fine-tuning my vision of what ensemble-based jazz should be. The slow builds they’d create during outchoruses on upbeat selections (sometimes up to 6 or 7, and rarely fewer than 3); the breakdown into solos or subgroups within tunes; the weaving interplay between horns with no-one ever overplaying; the steady but fluid rhythm section effortlessly weaving between 2/4 and 4/4 feels; the dynamics from whisper to roar; the sense that there was no star—each musician was a spoke in the wheel rolling the music along; and lastly the vast repertoire were all elements that made NBEJB my favorite contemporary band on records. And all this from a bunch of Boston-based (talented) enthusiasts playing music part-time!

The personnel remained remarkably consistent, excepting the reed chair. The three reedmen who occupied that chair the longest were Stan McDonald, Hugh Blackwell, and Billy Novick (still with the band and assuming leadership since cornetist Tony Pringle passed in 2018). Stan V. and I have decided to split our discussion into these three eras, beginning with the “Stan McDonald” years. No matter what period, the seven musicians sound like an integrated band rather than a septet of soloists, although each shines. Noted music critic John S. Wilson had this to say about Stan V. in High Fidelity magazine: “few trombonists since J.C. Higginbotham have played with the raw, lusty, full-bodied bray that Stan Vincent achieves.”

Stan, now that I’ve increased your hat size by two or three inches, the first thing I’d like to ask is did you ever in your wildest dreams think this would last for over a half a century?

Stan Vincent: Are you kidding? All I wanted to do in those days (1960s) was to find any group in Boston playing traditional jazz. I’d been introduced to this kind of music a few years earlier by Jean and Ed “Doc” Kittrell while I was stationed with the 50th Army Band at Ft. Monroe VA and the Kittrells’ Chesapeake Bay Jass Band held forth in nearby Norfolk.

Once back in Beantown I was fortunate to meet a handful of guys dedicated to this kind of music, and among them was Stanley McDonald. We had much in common—same age, raised in local suburbs, recent college grads, and believe-it-or-not both of us had served at different times with the 50th Army Band! I joined Stanley’s Jazz Doctors playing the college circuit and featuring 70-year-old banjo artist Gil Roberts. In 1971 Stanley and I were among the seven original members of the NBEJB.

JB: So how did the band acquire such an amazing breadth of repertoire (i.e. did everyone contribute ideas for possible pieces? were there rehearsals?)

SV: Among the reasons the band became such a success was due to the willingness of all seven members to give time to regular rehearsals and to monthly meetings. At first, we met weekly. Each of us was welcome to suggest tunes. During the resurgence of “rags” we’d turn to the Red Back Book, etc. Our musical leader Tony Pringle would record on cassettes a dozen or so tunes from old recordings that each of us could absorb before we met again. I played mine over and over while driving to and from work. Then we’d sit down to hash over questions of chords, an arrangement was laid out and we’d practice this a couple of times.

Peter Bullis, our manager, created a chord book for each of us. We began with a collection of several dozen tunes, but the rehearsals soon built our list to 50 and eventually close to 500. Monthly face-to-face meetings were also very helpful. At the outset Bob Pilsbury, the old man of the band, presided and kept notes. Most meetings were cordial (discussions about up-coming gigs, planning trips and finding subs), some were testy, but all played a valuable part in our success.

JB: Before we examine specific albums and tunes, would you please share any preliminary thoughts about your involvement in the NBEJB and what you see to be its legacy?

SV: I have always thought of myself as a sideman. I enjoy playing in a three-man front line with a strong lead horn supported by a solid driving rhythm section. I felt at home playing with the NBEJB. I have played a small part in the band’s successes—suggesting and planning our first visit to Europe, helping to arrange our first invitation to the St. Louis Ragtime Festival, and assisting with publicity and outreach. I am pleasantly surprised that the band has been able to reach a certain amount of success and I am very glad it has brought joy to so many over the past fifty-five years.

JB: Stan, for me you’re a tad too self-effacing, both regarding your involvement with the band and regarding its legacy. Just to give readers some further perspective on the New Black Eagle Jazz Band (NBEJB), here is a sample of the highlights you listed in the liner notes of 25th Anniversary, Vol. 2 (BE(LECD)4021-1/2…so a milestone 29 years ago) under the heading “Random Thoughts”:

Stuffing envelopes for the band’s first and only direct mail promotion—Concert for 5,000 at 3:00 am in Breda, Holland—Performances in 27 states, DC, Canada, England, Ireland, Norway, Germany, Belgium, Holland, France, Switzerland and Singapore—Recording on the Goldenrod Showboat on the Mississippi River in St. Louis in 90 degree heat and no AC—Parading in Central City, Colorado at 6,800 feet and no oxygen—Leg Spreaders at midnight in Sacramento—”Roaring Through The Twenties” at WGBH-TV with Bobby Short and Claude Hopkins—In concert with the Boston Pops, the Scottish National Orchestra et al.—950 +/- dates at the Sticky Wicket Pub—Lost and stolen luggage; lost or stolen instruments—All the great musicians who have filled in—All the loyal fans, past and present—All the wives and children and families

What a journey you had with this amazing band, Stan. And I have to say you really rose to this project! You sent me detailed notes of your favorite albums made during the Stan McDonald years (you refer to him as “Stanley”), and notes concerning your favorite tracks from those albums. As you did them in roughly chronological order, I say “let’s stick with that” and forge ahead into the album, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (BE-Three: and, like EVERY album the band has recorded over the last five decades, available for purchase/download at www.blackeagles.com). Rather than following the order the tunes appear on each release, we’ll discuss the selections in the order of your preference as you listed them.

So, it was a surprise to me that your favorite track from your favorite album released during the McDonald years is the—by comparison with most of the other material the NBEJB has covered over the last half-century—oft-heard jazz standard “Sweethearts on Parade.” Written by Charles Newman and the better-known Carmen Lombardo and first assayed by Louis Armstrong, the song is in virtually every traditionally-oriented jazz band’s book. I was scratching my head as I began to reacquaint myself with this track when clarity struck like a bell and I was reminded of the title of another early jazz standard “Tain’t Whatcha Do (It’s The Way That You Do It)!” Stan, the NBEJB version is sui generis.

This tune (along with two others you don’t mention in your notes) was recorded six years after the original 1975 album was released and included in the 2006 CD reissue to make for a “CD length” release. Everyone’s in top form. Your notes to this side are: “tempo and ensemble good; SBV vocal [that’s YOU offering a rare warble] very good, ensemb very good, tuba solo OK, ensemb & clar break [bridge] excellent!!”

I’ll add what truly sets this performance apart for me: the NBEJB—when other bands would have concluded with one final out-chorus after the trombone, piano and clarinet solos—turns that outchorus into a central ensemble ride transitioning to Eli Newberger’s tuba solo, and THEN gives the audience THREE ensembles out..and this on a bog-standard AABA pop tune…WHAT??? So unexpected, unique, exciting, AND pure NBEJB! I’ll point out that Bob Pilsbury’s solo includes great use of dynamics (one of his signatures) and a cheeky quote of “Oh, Baby,” while Stan McDonald rides hard on his solo. The entire track ignites a fire in me.

SV: This recording and those that follow reflect the talent of Ewing D Nunn. I believe it was Pete Bullis who persuaded Ewing to record us, first at a festival in New Orleans in ’74, Ewing’s hometown, and then the following summer while the band was performing at the annual Ragtime Festival in St. Louis. Ewing was a genius.

JB: I’ll say! These recordings sound amazing! The next tune you chose came from the original LP, recorded in July 1975 in St. Louis. I first learned “Spreading Joy” from this band; it was decades before I had access to Bechet’s original. Here, Stan McDonald rightly takes center stage. However, I’d also point out Tony Pringle’s cornet playing. He always left space for you and whatever reedman was with the band at the time to have your say in the ensembles. There’s never a sense of overplaying. And this was true even in these very early days of the band. Could you share a bit about that?

SV: The Bechet tunes our band played came from the urging of Stanley. He was a great fan of Bechet, was a master on soprano, and he put his heart and soul into performing those tunes. The audience loved it.

Your point about Tony’s ability to provide space is well taken. I believe, because he was self-taught, that it just came naturally. Meantime as we’re rolling along each of us is keeping our ears open, reacting to what else is going on and adjusting our own playing accordingly. We all knew the general arrangement of a tune—intro, two choruses in, breaks, etc.—but we never knew beforehand the order of solos, how long we’d stretch out, or when the last chorus was coming. It made each tune and each performance interesting and very exciting.

JB: “Black Bottom Stomp” is played at a more leisurely tempo than Jelly Roll Morton takes his Red Hot Peppers through, and I think this more “ragtime”-oriented feel is very effective. You can hear the beauty of the composition and the structure. More, while some of the breaks and solos are reminiscent of the original, there is never slavish copying. Pilsbury’s piano solo is a HUGE surprise. While he builds the way Morton does on the original, he pulls the rug out from under us at the beginning of his chorus. Not constricted by a three-minute time limit, there is an additional ensemble outchorus paying homage to the final chorus on Morton’s original. Very solid rendition.

SV: I’d forgotten those breaks throughout. Excellent.

JB: King Oliver’s great “Working Man Blues” receives a loving rendition with a perfect tempo and feel. Everyone in the front line is hitting on all cylinders, providing heat while playing in an almost achingly pretty way. But there’s another tune you included in your preferential list I want to concentrate on. I first heard UK cornetist/band-leader Ken Colyer’s tune “Black Cat on a Fence” on this album, and as I was just a kid and had no idea who he was, thought it was an orchestration of a piano rag from the 1900’s. It remains one of my very favorite tunes and yours is my go-to version. Why, I wonder, is it never heard anymore?

SV: Nice tight ensemble, tempo steady and excellent ending. Tony loved it. I really can’t answer why other bands haven’t picked it up.

JB: Stan, before we move to the next recording you’ve chosen including original NBEJB reedman Stan McDonald, I’ll go out on a limb and praise “Coal Black Shine,” a version found only on the CD re-release, but recorded in 1975 and left off the LP for space considerations. It’s not on your list, but I LOVE it! Sidney Bechet’s romping “Coal Black Shine” is expertly rendered here; highlights included three-horn harmonized figure at the end of each ensemble chorus, your execution of those quick runs up and down the horn, the eight bars of breaks you and Stan M. share, his soprano solo, channeling the mighty Bechet himself, Pilsbury’s stomping two-chorus piano solo (the second of which has Eli dancing on his tuba like a hippo from Fantasia!), three building ensembles, and a surprise closer. To my knowledge NBEJB never recorded this one again. Did you play it in concert on occasion?

SV: No question this was a romper—super-fast, very good breaks, excellent sop choruses, excellent piano. It was one of Stanley’s favorites and he was featured on it.

JB: Your second preferred album is NBEJB in New Orleans (BE-One). Again, your top tune was one inexplicably omitted from the original 1974 LP release, but included on the CD reissue. “Bugle Boy March” is the quintessential New Orleans strut, recorded numerous times by New Orleans clarinetist George Lewis and favored across the years by NBEJB. The well-chosen tempo fairly demands the listener strut around the room. I love the rhythm section behind the horns on the A strains! I should point out the great drumming here by C. J. “Pam” Pameijer before I mention how refreshing it is that this side is exclusively ensemble excepting the two-chorus duet between you and Stan M, which was very well done, although we can almost call it ensemble as Tony Pringle is the only one who lays out!

“You’re Next” from Louis Armstrong’s Hot Five group is seldom played by contemporary bands (I recall a wonderful version by Terry Waldo’s Gutbucket Syncopators, which I bring up because Terry had a long association with the band as a sub for Bob Pilsbury). This version showcases Tony Pringle playing very strong lead and I really enjoyed the solo choruses shared by piano and sax and then trombone (HOT, btw) and tuba. Overall, a great side highlighted by the shared breaks during the outchorus.

SV: Yes, I think this is another great example of NBEJ in its early years. Tempo is good, breaks are clean, split choruses good and the ensemble ending with breaks very good. Tony’s ability to pick the right tunes, in the right order and at just the right tempo was remarkable. The same should be said about his ability to call solos. As a side man I couldn’t have found a better leader.

JB: When I first encountered this album, the standout side was “Cataract Rag” by pianist Robert Hampton; at the time I was working on getting it to performance level as a piano solo and I’d never heard a band play it before. Stan, while you site publisher John Stark’s Red Back Book as the source of inspiration for this side, the interpretation is all NBEJB, all the time. The tempo, the dynamics, the accents: this is first-class band ragtime. It was a perfect choice to showcase the virtuosity of the lower brass: You and tubist Eli Newberger are rock solid! Again, I’ll ask did you ever actually perform this one, or was it just for the studio recording?

SV: I’m not sure. I do remember spending quite a bit of time working out arrangements for a handful of rags during the mid-70s when ragtime had resurfaced. In fact, our interest drew the attention of several composers who honored us by writing new tunes for the NBEJB, including “The New Black Eagle Buck” by Max Morath and “Black Eagle Rag” by our friend Glenn Jenks.

JB: I appreciate that “Snake Rag” is again almost solely ensemble excepting McDonald’s swinging solo. The band takes this one at a sprightly tempo and no-one slavishly imitates the original Creole Jazz Band recording. The final two ensembles are especially free-wheeling. I’ll point out that back in the mid-seventies, very few bands were performing this repertoire and those that were often treated it as repertory. NBEJB was pioneering painting a wide swath of early jazz material with a fresh coat of style and sound!

SV: Another excellent example from the band’s early years: Tony picks a good up-tempo.

JB: The final cut you chose as “excellent” was “Papa Dip.” Ensemble again reigns here, with some exciting breaks by clarinet, banjo, and tuba before a piano solo that finds Pilsbury pounding with abandon. Ensemble verse gives way to your smearing solo—with a fun, hot break—then three ensembles out with cornet, clarinet and drum breaks. This is a comparatively shorter side that keeps the surprises coming. Once again, the band pays homage to the original version while claiming rights to making the tune its own.

Moving to the CD release 25th Anniversary-Vol. 1 (BE(LECD)4021-1) the NBEJB version of “The Martinique” by trombonist Wilbur DeParis stays close to the original version, with McDonald playing lovely chalameau, and Pringle playing torrid cornet over Pameijer’s tom-tom “jungle drums,” the surprise arranged horn cadence into a strutting piano solo a la Pilsbury. The cornet solo is without comparison: Tony Pringle always referenced the original artists and recordings while always sounding like himself.

I love how you begin your solo verse on muted trombone with a sly quote of “Summertime.” And a very nice 4-beat silent break before the duet figure for Pringle and McDonald. It’s no surprise that while some bands might have stopped after this ensemble, THIS band continues to explore a tune’s possibilities. This time, a return to the single-chord tom-tom section highlights McDonald and coming out of that you take a swinging solo on the chorus. During the bridge of the outchorus (only one here as the form of the tune is quite extended), Tony plays a cornet figure that Eli echoes on the tuba, all of this over a slow, shuffling build. A remarkable live performance!

SV: I think this may have been recorded in Indianapolis in 1975 at the inappropriately named World Championship of Jazz. The three-day affair, sponsored by the local jazz club, brought to town fifteen bands—all playing “traditional” jazz—with an offer of prizes to the three judged most popular, as well as awards to jazz clubs based on attendance, distance, etc. When all was said and done, England’s Max Collie Rhythm Aces won first prize, the Black Eagles finished second. The highlight for us was to be recorded wth New Orleans jazz trumpeter and vocalist Kid Thomas Valentine. Stanley was at his best that weekend.

JB: You also chose a solid rendition of King Oliver’s terrific blues “Snag It.” The band starts out closely to the original recording, but once we get to the string of one-chorus solos freedom of expression reigns, first with a facile clarinet solo, a trilling piano solo, a cornet solo that takes in not just Oliver, but Keppard, Armstrong and all of the New Orleans contemporaries, your trombone solo that encompasses so many of your stated influences. We arrive at the expected stops for the famous cornet figures and Tony nails them! The first of the final two choruses features Stanley leading on clarinet, with Tony taking the lead once again for the final ride.

SV: Exceptionally well recorded by Ewing D. Nunn.

JB: As were so many of the releases the NBEJB made with Stan McDonald! We’ve no more space to discuss any additional tunes, but could you to share why Stan left the band and when this happened?

SV: Since its earliest days, the band counted on frequent meetings to sort out gripes and misunderstandings, both musical and otherwise. Often during rehearsals, we were able to settle most questions, more regularly scheduled meetings with a pre-arranged agenda provided a better solution, and additional meetings were called whenever the need arose. I clearly remember three problems we discussed, often more than once: getting to gigs on time, not listening to each other on the stand, drinking and drugs.

Our strength was working together—”the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” While we had in the band individuals who on their own were world class musicians, we were more successful as a solid unit. I believe it was this willingness to interact with each other that made us so effective and it was a great distraction when we were unable to focus on this goal. Midway through our tenth year it was clear that we were no longer able to function as a cohesive group, and after much discussion the band made the decision to look for a new reed player.

JB: Stan McDonald went on to a successful musical career as a band leader, and of course the NBEJB went from strength to strength, as we’ll continue to explore next month!

Trombonist Stan Vincent is the sole remaining “original” member of the New Black Eagle Jazz Band. Visit the New Black Eagles online at www.blackeagles.com for more information or to purchase their CDs.