#MENDOLINE

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LÉGENDES DU JAZZ

JOHNNY ST. CYR, LE ROI DU BANJO

Né le 17 avril 1890 à La Nouvelle-Orléans, Johnny St. Cyr a été élevé dans la religion catholique. Son père, qui était également musicien, jouait de la guitare et de la flûte. Un jour, le père de St. Cyr avait fait cadeau d’une de ses guitares à sa mère, et c’est à cette époque qu’il avait commencé à s’intéresser à cet instrument. Il précisait: ‘’When I was growing up we had a guitar in the house, my father’s gift to my mother. The guitar was a very popular instrument in the homes at that time in New Orleans. My mother would not let me play this guitar of hers, so I made my own out of a cigar box with thread and fishing lines for strings. Soon I could make as many chords on my homemade guitar as mother could on her good one. After a while, she let me use her guitar.’’ 

St. Cyr explique comment il avait commencé à jouer de la guitare:

‘’My brother had gone to work in the Cooperage shop, making barrels. It was there he met Jules Baptiste and Jackie Dowden. Jack and Jules would put on little parties on Sunday and always there was a barrel of beer. They would play and sing, the neighbours would come in and dance. Jack played the mendolin and Jules played guitar. They just played the popular songs of the day and a few blues.They had a party at our house one Sunday and they asked me to play with them. I came in when I could on certain numbers in the key of ‘C’ and ‘G’.’ Jules took an interest in me and started giving me lessons. In a few weeks they took me out on jobs with them on Saturday night — fish fries mostly. People put on these parties in their homes to make a little money. The best music got the biggest crowd and we had it. Jack and Jules were great for serenading their friends late at night, on the way home from a little job. They would play a number, the people would get up and set out the whisky bottle. Then they would go on to the next friend’s house and repeat the serenade.’’

C’est à la même époque que St. Cyr avait commencé à travailler comme plâtrier. Il poursuivait:

‘’I was apprenticed to the plastering trade about 1905, working with George Guesnon’s father, who was a journeyman plasterer. We worked for August Bon Hagen, a contractor. When I had served out my apprenticeship, I had saved a little money and was able to get out and go to halls and different functions where the bands were playing. I could study the different guitar players and see if I could pick up some more ideas. I didn’t get too much from most of these guitar players though. These bands would be the Silver Leaf, Imperial and the Eagle Bands, playing at Masonic Halls and at the parks. The balls were on Saturday, Sunday or Monday nights.’’

DÉBUTS DE CARRIÈRE

C’est après avoir rencontré Manuel Gabriel que St. Cyr avait amorcé sa carrière professionnelle. Gabriel, qui habitait dans le même quartier que St. Cyr, l’avait invité à venir pratiquer avec son groupe. Il poursuivait: ‘’Manny played cornet. This was just a little neighbourhood group, but I got a start. Manny had one of his sons playing drums and another fellow, named Wade Waley (Whaley), playing clarinet. I was with them about four months. We just rehearsed and played a few small jobs, including a few weeks in the district.’’

Au début de sa carrière, St. Cyr avait surtout joué dans des événements mondains comme les mariages, les fêtes, les danses, les défilés et les pique-niques. À l’époque, St-Cyr avait joué avec des pionniers du jazz de La Nouvelle-Orléans comme  Bab Frank, Peter Bocage, Jimmy Brown, Manuel Perez, George Baquet, B. Johnson, les frères Lorenzo et Louis ‘’Papa’’ Tio, Billy Marrero, Big Eye Louis Nelson, George Fields et Bouboul Augustin. Il avait aussi joué à Storyville, le quartier des prostituées de La Nouvelle-Orléans, pour environ 1,50$ par soir. À partir de 1905, St. Cyr avait également dirigé ses propres formations et collaboré avec A.J. Piron, les groupes Superior, Olympia et Tuxedo.

Avec le temps, le groupe de Gabriel avait commencé à jouer dans la basse-ville de La Nouvelle-Orléans, ce qui avait permis à St. Cyr de reprendre contact avec A.J. Piron et Paul Dominguez. C’est d’ailleurs grâce à ces derniers, qui étaient tous deux barbiers et violonistes, que St. Cyr avait pu commencer à se produire avec le groupe de Freddie Keppard. St. Cyr expliquait:

‘’Freddie had been playing for ‘Fewclothes’ in the District the Olympia was the hottest band around at this time. Keppard was getting away from playing straight lead. He was the first of the ‘get off’ cornet then — getting away from the melody, more like the clarinet. Bands as a whole still played ensemble style. On certain numbers they would feature the cornet player, and sometimes the trombone, but the clarinet was always featured.’’

St. Cyr avait rencontré Sidney Bechet par l’entremise de son frère Joe, qui était également plâtrier. St. Cyr expliquait: ‘

‘’He told me about his young brother and the clarinet, and that he just couldn’t keep time. I told him to bring Sidney over to my house and I’d see if I could help him. I lived just a few blocks away, so he came over and we worked together for a while. We just played together once in a band, the Eagle Band. The Eagle Band was going to make an excursion trip. A lot of people would go to the station when an excursion left. The band would play a few numbers on the platform just before the train pulled out. Brock Mumford’s girl friend didn’t want him to go on this excursion. She caught him at the station, got hold of his guitar and hit him across his fat belly with it, which busted the guitar all up. I was asked to make the trip in his place, so I hurried and got my guitar, and arrived back at the station just before the train left. After the excursion I played a ball at Masonic Hall with the Eagle Band, then Brock got another guitar and took his job back.’’

Décrivant les débuts de la carrière de Bechet, St. Cyr avait ajouté: ’’Sidney was playing up a storm at a very early age. He was playing with the best of them by the time he was fifteen years old. Of course, he was up against the toughest kind of competition — Big Eye Louis, Lorenzo Tio, Jr., Jimmie Noone, Johnny Dodds, Alphonse Picou. And Emile Barnes and George Lewis were also coming up about this same time. George Baguet was about the top man until he left with Keppard. Then there was Willie Warner, the only man who triple-tongued the clarinet. He was always good for a free drink if you told him, ‘Willie, you’re the greatest clarinet player in New Orleans’. He’d say, ‘Now, there’s a man that knows — what will you have to drink, my boy?’ Then he would say, ‘They all ask me, how do you do it? How do you triple-tongue a clarinet?’ Willie would stick out his tongue, tap it with his fingers and say, ‘That is my secret.’ Then how he would go on!’’

L’ÉPOQUE DES NAVIRES À VAPEUR

De 1918 à 1920, St. Cyr avait joué sur les navires à vapeur avec Fate Marable. St. Cyr explique comment il avait commencé à jouer avec Marable:

‘’About two weeks after, Fate Marable asked me to come on the river boat. I had a friend named Buford, who had a bar room at Gasket (Gasquet) and Villery (Villere), and I used to hang around there. I was living out back of town and Buford played a little, I left the banjo there, as I was in town every night, so I’d not have to go clear back home for the banjo if a job turned up. Buford asked if I minded if he played a little, and I said no. Marable went into Buford’s one Saturday night about midnight, after he left the boat, and Buford was playing the banjo. Marable said, ‘When did you buy the banjo,’ and Buford replied ‘It belongs to Johnny St. Cyr. He’s back there in the other room.’ Marable said to me, ‘Come out here and I’ll buy you a drink.’ He asked me what I was doing, and I told him I was playing out at the lake tomorrow. He asked me, ‘Why don’t you come out on the boat, take a ride with us, bring your banjo.’ He said, ‘The only way you’ll come out there is if I take your banjo.’ I said, ‘Okay.’ Buford and I almost had a fight over the banjo — but I promised to have it back there that Sunday night. I played with the band on the boat and one of the Strekfus Brothers called me into the office and asked me if I wanted to play with the band regularly ‘What are you paying?’ I asked. He said, ‘In New Orleans we are paying $30.00 a week, and when we get to St. Louis we pay $52.50 a week.’ I said ‘I’ll try it.’ He said, ‘You’ll get paid for all you did today’ — and I did get paid. I worked 1918, 1919 and 1920 on that boat.’’

Le groupe de Marable se produisait sur la célèbre Streckfus Line, qui était opérée par les frères Joe et John Streckfus. St. Cyr décrit l’ambiance qui prévalait à bord des vapeurs:

‘’I will try to give a little of the history of the Strekfus line, to the best of my recollection. Originally this was a packet line, hauling freight, on the river. After about 1900 the railroads started giving so much competition to the packets that they were gradually being driven out of business. Mr. John Strekfus got the idea of making one of his packets into a floating dancehall, working out of his headquarters in St. Louis. At first his sons Joe, Roy and Johnnie, were the only musicians. They all had musical training and were good, legitimate musicians. This idea caught on with the public and soon they had more boats and the boys took over the management and hired musicians to play for them. The boys were all very good steamboat men, pilots, engineers, electricians and captains. At first they hired white bands to play for them. Fate Marable was playing piano with one of these bands. He was very light complexioned and a very good musician. Well, they started sending a boat down to New Orleans for the winter season. Fate got around town and liked our music, so he convinced Strekfus to try a band of New Orleans musicians, also he would be a leader in his own right, and he would collect leader’s pay. In 1918 I was asked by Fate to join his band. Of course, they had other boats and other bands all this time, in fact, at one time they had a total of four boats working. There were other people who tried this same idea on the river, but the Strekfus people were very smart politicians and they got all the best landings tied up in every city. These other guys would find themselves out of town when they went to dock, but the Strekfus boat would be right at the foot of the main street of town.’’

Décrivant l’arrivée de Louis Armstrong avec le groupe, St. Cyr avait ajouté: ’’Most of us were not real good readers and Fate agreed to help us with out parts until we caught on. We had William ‘Bebe’ Ridgley on trombone; Joe Howard, cornet; Johnny Dodds, clarinet; Dave Jones, mellophone; Geo. ‘Pops’ Foster, bass; Warren ‘Baby’ Dodds, drums; myself on guitar and banjo; and Fate on piano. Well, we needed another cornet to fill out the band. We all had our eye on Louis Armstrong as the coming man on this instrument in New Orleans. So we were all bucking to get him in the band. At this time Louis was working for Kid Ory. Louis had gone in ‘hock’ to Ory for a new cornet and was paying back so much a week. When the time came for Louis to join us, Ory said he couldn’t take his horn because it wasn’t paid for. Louis came around very sad, said he couldn’t make it as he would have no instrument. We went to Roy Strekfus and explained the situation to him. He said, ‘Is this the man you want? Can he play the music?’ We said, ‘Yes.’ Strekfus replied, ‘Then I’ll give him an order for a new horn and he can pay for it so much a week.’ That was how Louis was able to join the band. Most of this band had been with Fate before I joined it in the early summer of 1918.’’

Le groupe de n’avait aucun joueur de banjo dans ses rangs lorsque St. Cyr s’était joint à la formation. Il expliquait:

‘’They had no banjo before I came into the band. Johnny Dodds had replaced Sam Dutrey, Sr., then Louis came in a little later to fill out the cornet section. This was on the Steamer Sidney. This was their first and smallest boat. We were playing at night, plus Sunday afternoon and evening. We were getting $35.00 a week. Johnny Dodds left the band shortly after I joined and Sam Dutrey came back. As I recollect, Johnny just took Dutrey’s place for a few weeks. I don’t think Johnny ever played on the boats regularly.’’

Commentant le fonctionnement du groupe, St. Cyr avait précisé:

‘’Now, the music we played — how the band sounded — this would be more like a swing band than the New Orleans type jazz band. Strekfus had a standing order with the music publishers and they shipped him all the new arrangements right off the press. He just paid them by the month. We just played the arrangements as they were, we never changed them. We had no staff arranger, no special jazz arrangements.The other bands used the same music we did. We just had that feeling, that rhythm, that swing. We were very popular in New Orleans that summer and fall, so they made arrangements to take us to St. Louis for the next summer season. We rehearsed one morning a week (Tuesdays) for two hours, we played the same programme all week and changed on Sunday night. One of the Strekfus brothers was always at rehearsal to make sure everything was just the way they wanted it. This was strictly a reading band, no hot solos. We played all through the winter in New Orleans, then we went to St. Louis in April, by train, where we joined the St. Louis Musician’s Local, then up to Davenport, Iowa, where the boats were stored. Steamer St. Paul was our boat. Now, if Bix Biederbeke came out to hear us, I couldn’t say, but many musicians did come out to hear us and he may very well have been there. From Davenport we worked our way up to St. Paul, then back to St. Louis by Decoration Day (May 30). We had a very good front line that was used to playing jazz in New Orleans, and they could put that feeling into the arrangements we were using, although they were mostly just ‘stocks’. With men like Louis Armstrong, Dave Jones, Joe Howard, Sam Dutry (Dutrey) and ‘Bebe’ Ridgley — we just couldn’t miss. Also we had a very powerful rhythm section. Fate Marable was a very strong man on the piano, very good rhythm and he played very good chords. I will say now, that he was the equal of any band piano man that I ever played with anywhere. Fate also played the steam calliope on the upper deck and this was something to hear. This calliope could be heard for blocks and was a very good advertisement {...}. Sometimes one of the Strekfus family would hear a band play an arrangement that appealed to them. They would buy it from the leader and we would play it. The Strekfus family always travelled around to other cities and visited the ballrooms so they could keep up with what was going on with the bands.’’

C’est à l’été 1919 que St. Cyr avait acheté la guitare-banjo avec laquelle il avait joué durant la majeure partie de sa carrière. Il expliquait:

‘’It was in the summer of 1919 that I bought the guitar-banjo that I still have today. Some fellow had hocked it with a pool room proprietor. He asked me to look at it for him. I did and asked him what he wanted for it. ‘$20.00’, he said, so I bought it. This is the instrument that I used on all my recording dates with the Hot 5 in Chicago several years later. I still have it and play it now and then, when a banjo is required on the job. Of course, it has been worked over several times, but it is still with me.’’

Avec le temps, Marable en avait eu assez d’aider ses musiciens à déchiffrer ses partitions et avait décidé de ne pas renouveler leur contrat. St. Cyr précisait: ‘’We were all getting dissatisfied with his attitude. So, because of this, we would not sign up for the winter in New Orleans of 1920-21. Well, Joe Strekfus looked into the matter and as a result he gave Fate the winter off, and made Ed Allen who had come into the band as a trumpet player, the leader playing piano in Fate’s place. My last summer on the boats (1921) Pops and I played with the Creath Band. When we returned to New Orleans that fall, I left the band and the boats for good.’’ Il faut dire qu’à l’époque, St. Cyr gagnait bien sa vie comme plâtrier. Il s’était même construit une maison avec l’argent qu’il avait gagné sur les vapeurs tout en continuant de se produire dans les environs de La Nouvelle-Orléans.

L’ÉPOQUE DE CHICAGO

St. Cyr jouait au Pythian Roof Gardens avec Manuel Perez lorsqu’il avait été contacté par King Oliver en septembre 1923. Comme St. Cyr l’avait expliqué lui-même: ‘’He needed a good banjo player for his recording work and he assured me I could find plenty of steady work in Chicago. I was not hired to play with the band, just to record. I was a little doubtful about making this big step, but Manuel Perez encouraged me to go. He said, ‘They’ll be crazy about your work in Chicago’’’. À l’origine, St. Cyr ne devait jouer que deux semaines avec le groupe, mais il était finalement resté six ans. Il précisait: ‘’I was to play with the King Oliver Band for two weeks at Lincoln Gardens to catch their style. I received $75.00 a week which was also to cover my fees for recording.’’ St. Cyr connaissait presque tous les membres du groupe sauf la pianiste Lil Hardin.

Louis Armstrong s’était joint au groupe d’Oliver à peu près au même moment. Il poursuivait:

‘’So Joe Oliver was looking for a substitute cornet player he could use when he wanted to take a night off. I mentioned Louis to him and Joe got hold of him. Louis had a wonderful ear, and he learned Oliver’s repertoire from him in about three days. And that’s how Louis came to play in Oliver’s place at Lala’s when Joe was working with the Magnolia Band. They had to keep the noise down after midnight and used mutes in the cornets. Well, the waiters and everybody around there liked to hear Louis get off, so they would talk him into taking the mute out of the cornet.’’

À son arrivée à Chicago, St. Cyr avait habité avec la famille de King Oliver. Lorsque le contrat de St. Cyr au Lincoln Gardens avait pris fin, Datnell Howard l’avait engagé pour jouer à l’Arcadia Ballroom pour 50$ par semaine. Il expliquait: ‘’We played stock arrangements, nothing special in the way of music, the same type of stock arrangements we used on the riverboats. After two months Darnell lost the job and the band broke up.’’ À l’époque, Oliver avait demandé à St. Cyr de se trouver un nouvel endroit où habiter, car il vivait dans un petit appartement et commençait à manquer de place. À ce moment-là, Armstrong et Hardin étaient sur le point de se marier. Même si le couple s’était loué une petite maison, il n’avait pas encore commencé à l’occuper, et avait offert à St. Cyr de s’y installer pendant quelque temps. St. Cyr avait même continué de vivre avec le couple durant une brève période après que celui-ci ait emménagé.

Pendant qu’il jouait avec le groupe d’Howard, St. Cyr avait également enregistré avec Charlie Cook. Lorsque le groupe d’Howard avait été démantelé, St. Cyr avait fait savoir à Cook qu’il était sans travail. C’est ainsi qu’il avait commencé à jouer avec le Dreamland Orchestra de Cook qui se produisait au Dreamland Ballroom situé à l’intersection des rues Paulina et Van Buren. Durant l’été, le groupe se produisait également dans des parcs d’amusements comme ceux de Riverside.

C’était la première fois de sa carrière que St. Cyr jouait avec un groupe qui utilisait ses propres arrangements sur pratiquement chacune des pièces. St. Cyr poursuivait: ‘’ We had many specials, strictly in the jazz style, but all arranged, written out. Doc Cook did all his own arrangements. He played piano and organ. He was just an average piano player, but he was at his best at the organ. The use of ad lib, hot solos, etc., had not come into too much use at this time in the larger bands. Two of my old friends from New Orleans were in this band, Freddie Keppard and Jimmie Noone.’’

À l’époque, Noone travaillait au Edelwiess, un club de danse multiracial, avec un groupe composé de Joe Poston au saxophone alto, Earl Hines au piano et Johnny Wells à la batterie. Comme sa famille était demeurée à La Nouvelle-Orléans, St. Cyr avait énormément de temps de loisirs, ce qui lui avait permis d’aller retrouver Noone au Edelwiess et de jouer avec le groupe. Il expliquait:

‘’This was a black and tan club with singers and dancers. As my family was still New Orleans, I had plenty of time on my hands, and so when we were finished at the Dreamland at 12.30 a.m., I started going over to the Edelweiss and sitting in with the group. I was not on salary, but I got my share of the tips, and they were good enough to pay me for my work. This started me off with the Jimmie Noone Orchestra, and so then when Jimmie, Joe and Earl went into the Apex Club in December, 1926, I went with them. This was one of the best jobs I ever had — the management was the nicest I ever worked for. They gave us each $5.00 for a Christmas present, although we had only been there a few days. The Manager also gave us tips on the quiet. This was also an after hours spot.’’

De tous les membres du groupe, St. Cyr était particulièrement proche du saxophoniste Joe Poston. Il poursuivait:

‘’Joe Poston was one of my special friends in the Doc Cook Band. He was from Alexandria, Louisiana. He played saxophone and oboe. His music was more on the sweet side. He and Doc Cook and myself were called the Three Musketeers as we always rode to work together. Then, sometimes after work, we would get a pint of prescription whiskey from a druggist we knew and go over to Doc Cook’s. Joe and I would sit around and have a few while Doc worked on his arrangements. Doc always worked at a high desk and stood up to write. He could write out music as fast as I could write a letter.’’ 

St. Cyr appréciait également le saxophoniste Stump Evans au sujet duquel il avait déclaré:

‘’Stump Evans was one of the few musicians not from New Orleans who seemed to fit in with our bunch; that is, his style of playing. He was from St. Louis and had picked up our style off the riverboat bands before he came to Chicago. He was the first sax player I ever heard to play slap tongue. We all liked his work and he got in on a lot of record dates with us for this reason. He played regularly with Erskine Tate at the Vendome Theatre and hung around a pool room at 35th and State. He was very short in height, which gave him his nickname Stump and not Stomp as it is sometimes misspelled.’’

Après avoir eu un désaccord avec Cook, Noone avait été congédié du groupe. St. Cyr poursuivait:

‘’Shortly after this Jimmie had a big fuss with Doc Cook one night and Cook gave him his notice. As the Apex Club was doing so good and Jimmie was then available they started opening up earlier in the night. Bud Scott took my place till I could get over, then he went to a job he had at the Regal Theatre. One night Jimmie got to talking about why Doc Cook had let him go. Jimmie acted as if he didn’t know why Cook had let him go, so to be helpful, I told him. That made Jimmie mad at me and he fired me. Bud Scott didn’t want to take the job under the circumstances, but I told him, ‘Go ahead, take it, I won’t be there so you might as well take it, if you want it, it’s a good job!’ Shortly after all this took place this group made several recordings for the Brunswick Vocalion Company. These recordings are a very good example of the music that was being played in the clubs, at that time in Chicago. These recordings are just the way we played on the job.’’

À l’été 1929, les affaires ayant commencé à décliner, Cook avait dû réduire taille de son groupe de quatorze à dix musiciens. St. Cyr, qui ne jouait que du banjo et de la guitare, avait été un des premiers à être sacrifiés et avait été remplacé par un banjoïste qui jouait également du violon.

De tous les musiciens qu’il avait cotoyés, St. Cyr avait d’excellents souvenirs de sa collaboration avec Freddie Keppard. Il précisait:

‘’Freddie was drinking a lot by this time, although, he never seemed to let it interfere with his work. We spent a lot of time together at the Union Hall and were the best of friends. Freddie was playing very well, with Doc Cook, as well as all the gigs we all used to get around town. In spite of some of the stories about him, he was a pretty good reader, he played all those arrangements Doc Cook wrote, as well as playing with other bands on gigs. These bands would have their own library of music. He had been reading violin music many years before in New Orleans, before he took up the cornet. Freddie had been, in New Orleans, the first of the get off men on cornet, a real pace setter and pioneer. In Chicago, he was more satisfied to let music just be his work. His inspiration to be coming up with something new seemed to be gone. To compare him to Louis Armstrong I would say: they both started out about even as to ability and inspiration, but music was Louis’ whole life and with Freddie Keppard, it got to be just the way he earned his living, just a job. He also had that independent Creole temperament and was not always the easiest guy in the world to get to cooperate. He had his own ideas about a lot of things, but he was a great jazz musician and a good friend of mine {...}. There were so many great musicians around Chicago at that time I would never be able to name them all. Also singers, they all worked in Chicago at one time or another when I was there.’’

À Chicago, St. Cyr avait également joué avec le groupe de Kid Ory. De tous les musiciens avec lesquels il avait collaboré, St. Cyr se rappelait particulièrement de Johnny Dodds et King Oliver. Comme il l’avait expliqué lui-même:

‘’Johnny was a quiet, serious man, all business. Although we recorded together a lot, this was about the only time we would meet. We never played together on a job except the first few weeks when I came to Chicago. Johnny had come to Chicago several years before I did. Fie had bought a small apartment house where he lived with his family. I would only see him once in a while at the Union Hall when he came in to pay his dues or on a record date. We were always friendly, but not what could be called close friends. I had been good friends with Joe Oliver in New Orleans and of course kept this friendship up in Chicago. Joe didn’t come around the Union Hall much either, although I used to visit him at his home. Joe didn’t like to go out much. He was such a big eater, he always said it embarrassed him to go out to eat, so I would stop by his home now and then for a visit or a meal. He never asked me to join him as he knew I was set with Doc Cook. He was a good-humoured man, liked to joke with his friends, talk with them. He was very business-like, a good band leader and organizer. Jimmie Noone didn’t come around the Union Hall much either. He was quite a ladies man, and usually spent his spare time visiting one or the other of his girl friends. Of the other musicians around in those days George Fields, Ray (Roy) Palmer, Honore Dutrey, Kid Ory, Jelly Roll Morton, Richard M. Jones never spent much time around the Union Hall. Jelly Roll and Richard M. Jones spent most of their time around Melrose Bros Music Store. That is where I first met Jelly Roll. I had known him in New Orleans very slightly. Richard M. Jones kept himself busy with the Okeh Record Company. He was their contact man for their race records. He was a fine fellow, very jolly and a good organizer with a good head. He knew music very well, but he was just an ordinary piano soloist, nothing special.’’

Après avoir été congédié par Cook, St. Cyr avait rencontré un banjoïste appelé Dago qui était également chanteur. Après avoir fait quelques répétitions, le duo avait joué dans des courses de chiens à Gary, en Indiana avant de se produire dans des clubs de Kenosha et de Milwaukee au Wisconsin où il avait remporté un certain succès. Mais St. Cyr avait dû retourner seul à Chicago, car Dago s’était fait une petite amie à Milwaukee.

Le lendemain, St. Cyr était retourné à La Nouvelle-Orléans où il avait travaillé comme plâtrier tout en se produisant avec des groupes locaux avec de grands noms du Dixieland comme Paul Barbarin et Alphonse Picou.

ÉPILOGUE

Dans les années 1950, St. Cyr avait joué et dirigé un groupe appelé  Johnny St. Cyr and His Hot Five. Il avait aussi enregistré avec Paul Barbarin et George Lewis. Après être déménagé à Los Angeles en 1955 et être retourné à la musique à plein temps, St. Cyr avait dirigé le groupe Young Men from New Orleans de 1961 à sa mort en 1966. Parmi les membres du groupe, on remarquait le clarinettiste Barney Bigard.

Johnny St. Cyr est mort le 17 juin 1966 au General Hospital de Los Angeles. Il était âgé de soixante-seize ans. St-Cyr a été inhumé au Evergreen Cemetery de Los Angeles. 

Reconnu comme un pionnier du jazz, St. Cyr, qui s’était surtout fait connaître en enregistrant avec le Hot Five et le Hot Seven de Louis Armstrong de 1925 à 1927 (notamment sur les classiques Gut Bucket Blues et Heebie Jeebies), avait aussi joué et enregistré avec les  Red Hot Peppers de Jelly Roll Morton. Également compositeur, St. Cyr était l’auteur du standard "Oriental Strut", qui était connu pour ses accords particulièrement innovateurs. St. Cyr, qui jouait du banjo d’une façon complètement différente que les autres banjoïstes de son époque, se produisait sur un banjo à six cordes. Il excellait également à la guitare. St. Cyr avait d’ailleurs fabriqué sa propre guitare lui-même en modifiant un de ses propres banjos.

Johnny St. Cyr a été intronisé au sein du Banjo Hall of Fame en 2002.

©- 2024, tous droits réservés, Les Productions de l’Imaginaire historique

SOURCES:

‘’Johnny St. Cyr.’’ Wikipedia, 2023.

‘’Johnny St. Cyr.’’ Jazz Journal, 2023.

‘’Johnny St. Cyr.’’ All About Jazz, 2023.  

‘’Johnny St. Cyr (1890-1966).’’ The Syncopated Times, 2023.

[shankerjaikishen-the-unbeatables]

Musical review of film Yahudi

REVIEWER :hitesh.mehta@gmail.com

Director: Bimal Roy; Producer: Savak B Vacha Artistes: Dilip Kumar, Meena Kumari, Sohrab Modi, Nigar Sultana, Nazir Hussain, Kamala Laxman, Helen, Cuckoo, Tiwari, Baby Naaz, Anwar Hussain, Minoo Mumtaz, Murad, Indira Bansal, Munshi, Bikram Kapoor, Romi, Adil

This is only film Shankar Jaikishan did for Producer Savak B Vacha, who died even before this film could complete. Also its SJ’s only film for Director Bimal Roy- a legend director, who happened to be producer also for many films- notable were Do Bigha Jamin, Parakh, Devdas, Madhumati etc. He normally worked with Bengali MDs like SDB and Salil Chaudhury, but I think, for Yahudi, Savak Vacha chose SJ.

This is based on historic theme of Romans and Jews (Yahudis) rivalary in Rome thousand of years ago. SJ, master of varieties as they are, blended their music perefectly with situation and time frame of story- lot of arabian touch in music. This movie is a masterpiece, not only for its music but also direction,  acting,screenplay, sets, dialogues, acting and lyrics. Bimal Roy, as we know, was a master director. Film’s dialogues were very popular, eg. “Tumhara khun khun, hamara khun pani hai”. Two great actors of Hindi movies, Sohrab Modi and Dileep Kumar were at their best. The sets were very good and able to create scene of Rome hundreds of year ago. As usual SJ’s music was adding to magic- not only songs but background music too. On top of that simple but soulful lyrics by Shailendra- this film has 7 songs, in which 6 were written by Shailendra and he won first filmfare award for “Ye mera diwanapan hai”.

In the film title, Only Dattaram’s name appeared as Asst. Music Director, so I believe Sebastian was not assisting SJ in this particular movie. Movie start with instrumental music of song “ye duniya , ye duniya” alongwith titles. For a change, this movie doesn’t have any title song. Also there are only 7 songs and its pity, IMO it should have atleast 3 more songs because its romantic story in backdrop of roman-yahudi rivalry and there is only one song picturised on hero Dilip Kumar. Definitely hero deserved couple of more songs- IMO. Out of 7, only 4 songs are picturised on main stars, 3 went to supporting cast. But Bimal Roy used songs’ beautifully to support flow of story and nowhere they looked unnecessary or coming in the way of story.

Here are the songs and commentary on them:

1) ye duniyaa, ye duniyaa, haa_e hamaarii ye duniyaa. Singers: Muhammad Rafi, Chorus; Lyricist: Shailendra

Picturised on supporting actor, only Md. Rafi song of film- lyrics and music give voice to pain of yahudis due to excesses by Romans. Md. Rafi did justice in expressing deep sorrow and pain.

2) bechain dil kho_ii sii nazar, tanhaaiyo.n me.n. Singers: Lata Mangeshkar, Geeta Dutt; Lyricist: Shailendra

Dance song by Lata and Geeta Dutt- picturised on Helen and Cukoo (?). Its treat to see this for dance lovers. Energy of orchestra and of dancers competing to each other. Traditional orchastrisation of SJ and fast rhythem but still very melodious song. You may not impress with song in first go but after hearing few times, you will fall in love with this song.  I feel SJ should have used Geeta Dutt for more songs in their films.

3) merii jaa.n merii jaa.n pyaar kisii se ho hii gayaa hai. Singers: Lata Mangeshkar, Chorus; Lyricist: Shailendra

SJ were not getting best only out of singers but from chorus too and this is one of example. This is picturised on main heroine Meena Kumari who looks very young and beautiful and supporting actresses. Its a sheer melody and more you hear this song, more you will like it. And what a simple way to express feelings by Shailendra- “jinki nigahon ne ghayal kiya, unhi se lenge dil ki dawa, na ham muskurate na wo pas aate, uski mili hai saja kya kare….”

4) aate jaate pahluu mein aayaa ko_ii, mere dil batlaa na chhupaa. Singers: Lata Mangeshkar, Chorus; Lyricist: Shailendra

Meena Kumari sings and dances while Dilip Kumar looks at hiding. Shankar Jaikishan actually known for variety and no other MD gave so many different kind of songs so you can not associate a single style with SJ but nevertheless by hearing some songs itself, especially their orchestra, you can identify them as SJ song and this is one of them. Use of violins, mendolin, congo, bongo and dattu ka thheka (dattaram’s rhythem)- a distinctive SJ song. The tune of mukhada is not so ‘catchy’ but antaras’ tunes are more attractive, especially when Lata take alaap aa, aa, aa…..and goes back to Mukhada. The continuously  playing rhythem instruments are the main attraction of this song.

5) dil se tujhko bedilii hai…ye meraa diiwaanaapan hai. Singer: Mukesh; Lyricist: Shailendra

Most hit song of the film, Mukesh beautifully expresses romantic as well as sad feelings at same time! Only song picturised on Dilip Kumar, which is quite unusual given the stardom Dilip kumar was enjoying and looking into his fondness for songs. Mukesh used to be voice of Dilip Kumar in late 40s and early 50s when Rafi was not established- In Naushad’s 1949’s superhit Andaz, Mukesh sang 6 evergreen song for Dilip Kumar while Rafi gave playback to Raj Kapoor!!But then Rafi and Talat Mehmood became voice of him, and Mukesh started getting identified more as Raj Kapoor’s voice. In early 1950s, Mukesh volunteerly left playback to pursue Acting career but miserably failed commercially and was struggling literally to get back his foothold in playback singing. It is said that this song and same year’s “Suhana safar aur ye mausam hasin” again picturised on Dilip Kumar gave him fresh lease of life and after that he never looked back till his death. Ironically he never sang for Dilip Kumar again. It is well known fact that Dilip Kumar wanted Talat to sing this song but Shankar was putting his full weight behind Mukesh. It is said that few people associated with movie wanted Rafi for this song. Shankarji has confirmed on record that Mukesh’s name was finalised by toss but even then Dilip Kumar wanted his approval before song finally goes to film and when he heard recording in voice of Mukesh, he embraced Shankarji for his judgement- for Shankarji made this song keeping Mukesh’s vocal in mind. The moment mukesh starts with lines “dil se tujko bediili hai..” one get immersed in melody of song. Interludes of song are very good and no need to write about orchestra which is outstanding by default as per SJ standard. Two lines of song repeats at the end also.

6) aa.nsuu kii aag leke terii yaad aa_ii, jalte hu_e raag leke. Singer: Lata Mangeshkar; Lyricist: Hasrat Jaipuri

Only Hasrat song of film, a very beautiful sad song, sang perfectly by Lata Mangeshkar. There is arabian touch to orchestrisation and instruments supporting singer like ‘chorus’. This is also one of the great feature of SJ songs, where musical instruments play such prominent role in some of songs, to such extent that without them song loose its sheen. Absolute melody- classic- what to say more?

7)dil me.n pyaar kaa tuufaan na samjhe ko_ii naadaan. Singer: Lata Mangeshkar; Lyricist: Shailendra

Picturised on supporting actress, I could not recognise- may be Kamla Laxman. This is very good dance number with long prelude. SJ used big orchestra for this but still its nowhere become loud. Needless to say Lata’s rendition was very good.

In summary, this is a classic SJ album, definitely in best 15 of them. Everything in music department was great here- lyrics, orchastrisation, rhythem, background music, preludes and interludes of songs, rendition by singers and picturisation- absolutely fantastic!!! !!!!!

I have pasted lyrics of songs in devnagri lipi below. Also given the links, where by clicking you will get lyrics in english fonts too. My sincere thanks to RajPrakashji Ratnam for providing me DVD of Yahudi twice, without which this review was not possible. Due to my limited knowledge of musical instuments and raags, I have not touched that part and that is lacking in review, but hopefully our learned members will add that in their comments to make review more meaningful.

Regards Hitesh

बेचैन दिल खोई सी नज़र – bechain dil kho_ii sii nazar ( Yahudi – 1958)

बेचैन दिल खोई सी नज़र तन्हाइयों में शाम\-ओ\-सहर तुम याद आते हो दिल नहीं पहलू में रह गईं दो आँखें जाने क्या\-क्या हमसे कह गईं दो आँखें सुनसान रातों में अक्सर जब चाँद पे जाती है नज़र तुम याद आते हो दिल तो दीवाना था हम भी क्या कर बैठे मर्ज़ जाने क्या था क्या दवा कर बैठे इक आह ठंडी सी भर कर उनसे कोई कह दे जा कर तुम याद आते हो हम तो ये समझे थे ख़त्म है अफ़साना उठ चुकी है महफ़िल रह गया वीराना हमको न थी लेकिन ये ख़बर ख़ुद हम कहेंगे रह\-रह कर तुम याद आते हो बेचैन दिल खोई सी ...

आँसू की आग ले के तेरी याद आई – aa.Nsuu kii aag le ke terii yaad aa_ii (Yahudi – 1958)

आँसू की आग लेके तेरी याद आई जलते हुए राग लेके तेरी याद आई शिक़वे हज़ार ले के तेरी याद आई हाय रे कैसी जुदाई रोता है गुँचा\-गुँचा आँगन उदास है अब दिल की आरज़ू को जलवों की प्यास है आँसू की आग लेके ... दोनों जहान तेरी चाहत में छोड़ दूँ प्यार का नाज़ुक रिश्ता कैसे मैं तोड़ दूँ आँसू की आग लेके ..

आते जाते पहलू में आया कोई – aate jaate pahaluu me.n aayaa koii (Yahudi – 1958)

आते जाते पहलू में आया कोई मेरे दिल बतला न छुपा आज से मैं तुझे दिल कह��ँ या दिलरुबा तेरी सुनूँ और सुनती रहूँ मैं अपनी तड़प छुपा लूँ फिर भी कहाँ तक सब्र करूँ मैं खुद को कितना संभालूँ आते जाते   ... मस्त नज़र तूने ये क्या किया लिया ये कौन सा बदला है ये शराब\-ए\-नज़र का असर कि मुझे दिल भी न संभला आते जाते   ... तेरा तसव्वुर तेरा ही ग़म लबों पे अब तेरा तराना नींद से भी अब कहती हूँ मैं तू उनको ख़्वाब में लाना आते जाते   ...

दिल में प्यार का तूफ़ान ना समझे कोई नादान – dil me.n pyaar kaa tuufaan naa samajhe ko_ii naadaan ( Yahudi – 1958)

दिल में प्यार का तूफ़ान ना समझे कोई नादान ज़ालिम घूर\-घूर के देखे दूर\-दूर से दिल में प्यार का ... जिसके लिए मैं सारी रात जागी उसने ही देखो मेरी ख़बर न ली छेड़े मीठे राग मेरे दिल में जागे आग दिल में प्यार का ... ये बेरुख़ी न दुआ न सलाम मुझको वफ़ा का मिला ये ईनाम वादा करना था आसान जा देखा तेरा ईमान दिल में प्यार का ..

दिल से तुझको बेदिली है … ये मेरा दीवानापन है – dil se tujhako bedilii hai … ye meraa diivaanaapan hai ( Yahudi – 1958)

दिल से तुझको बेदिली है, मुझको है दिल का गुरूर तू ये माने के न माने, लोग मानेंगे ज़ुरूर ये मेरा दीवानापन है, या मुहब्बत का सुरूर तू न पहचाने तो है ये, तेरी नज़रों का क़ुसूर ये मेरा दीवानापन है ... दिल को तेरी ही तमन्ना, दिल को है तुझसे ही प्यार चाहे तू आए न आए, हम कर���ंगे इंतज़ार ये मेरा दीवानापन है ... ऐसे वीराने में इक दिन, घुट के मर जाएंगे हम जितना जी चाहे पुकारो, फिर नहीं आएंगे हम ये मेरा दीवानापन है ...

मेरी जाँ मेरी जाँ प्यार किसी से हो ही गया है – merii jaa.N merii jaa.N pyaar kisii se ho hii gayaa hai ( Yahudi – 1958)

मेरी जाँ मेरी जाँ प्यार किसीसे हो ही गया है, हम क्या करें \-२ हम क्या करें, और कोई क्या करे, दिल जो दिया है कोई क्या करे (भोली थी मैं, हाय क्या थी खबर लूटेगी यूँ मुझे उनकी नज़र) \-२ न होते मुक़ाबिल न दिल हारते हम ये अपनी ख़ता है, ग़िला क्या करें मेरी जाँ मेरी जाँ... (जिनकी निगाहों ने घायल किया लेंगे उन्हीं से दिल की दवा) \-२ न हम मुस्कुराते न वो पास आते उसकी मिली है हमको सज़ा, क्या करें मेरी जाँ मेरी जाँ ...

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