From 1960 to 1970, “Dixieland at Disneyland” was an annual event at the park. Walt Disney was a great fan of Traditional Jazz and Dixieland and—especially while he was alive—the talent lineup for the mini-festival was incredible: Louis Armstrong’s All-Stars, Earl Hines, Eddie Condon, Bob Crosby, Turk Murphy, the Firehouse Five Plus Two, Ben Pollack, Doc Souchon, Sweet Emma Barrett, Sharkey Bonano, Al Hirt, Matty Matlock, Joe Darensbourg, Teddy Buckner, the Dukes of Dixieland, Bob Havens, and many others were featured on one or two weekend nights in the fall.
With the benefit of hindsight, I would have tried to attend all the D-at-D weekends, and to have checked out all the bands during the six-hours presentations. Fortunately, I got to hear at least one or two numbers by many of the groups mentioned above. Among the standout moments for me: hearing Louis Armstrong singing “Sleepy Time Down South”; watching Ben Pollack using a stick on his oversize bass drum and playing crisp rolls on his closed hi-hat; hearing a dozen Traditional Jazz classics for the very first time, played by Turk Murphy’s San Francisco Jazz Band…
But for
The Rise of a Jazz Vibraphonist: Evelyn Yosmali
Garry Berman
