Castle Jazz Band

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The Castle Jazz Band was a

Dixieland jazz band, part of the "West Coast revival" of traditional jazz music. Their recordings were popular worldwide for a time, although touring outside their Portland, Oregon
base was limited.

History

The Castle Jazz Band started in 1943,[1] part of a West Coast revival of traditional jazz that rebelled against modern jazz.[2] It was named after "The Castle", a roadhouse tavern south of Portland (although at the time the group worked there they were simply called "Monte Ballou and his Orchestra").[3]

The band's roots began earlier, in 1940, with a band led by trumpeter Dick Sheuerman. He assembled a five-piece band with Bill Pavia on clarinet, George Phillips on trombone, Al Puderbaugh on piano, and Axel Tyle on drums. The group played at the Hi-Hat Club in downtown Portland until late 1941. During the run there, guitarist/vocalist Monte Ballou sat in frequently. At the time he was a headliner at the popular Clover Club in downtown Portland. In 1943, he reassembled the Hi-Hat group and began playing Saturdays at The Castle.

The band was a cooperative venture that never paid its members. It was led by banjoist Monte Ballou.

78 RPM recordings on the Castle Records label.[5] Trumpet player Don Kinch claimed one of these records, Floating Down the Old Green River, sold more than a million copies. George Bruns left in 1950 to join the Turk Murphy band,[6] and was replaced initially by George Phillips (who had worked and recorded in the earlier edition of the band), and then by Rod Levitt.[8]

Levitt was considered too modern for the band and found it difficult to fit in.[8] The cooperative band broke up in 1951, and Ballou formed a new version of the band that performed in a club he bought called the Diamond Horseshoe, in good part due to the success of the Castle Records releases.[5][6] Ballou sold the club in 1954 and disbanded in order to briefly join forces with Doc Evans.[5]

After his time with Evans Ballou reformed the group and continued to work various venues in the Portland area in addition to private engagements. Members of the 1949–50 band were reassembled in the late 1950s to make two LPs for the Good Time Jazz Records label (reissued on CD). In the early 1960s, Ballou led the band for a steady engagement in the Roaring 20s club in Harvey Dick's Hoyt Hotel, but when that ended in 1966 Ballou found it difficult to find another steady engagement. He continued to perform sporadically in the Portland area, often as a single act as he had done in his younger days. Periodically he would assemble a six or seven piece for concerts and recordings, including sessions in 1968 and 1972.[4]

Style

The Castle Jazz Band was an all-white traditional jazz ensemble.[3][9] It was composed of top-notch musicians who considered themselves neo-traditionalists; as such they rejected big band music as over-arranged and bebop as the domain of "drug-addicted crackpots".[3] The Castle Jazz Band stuck to what they considered the roots of jazz, with an instrumentation consisting of trumpet, clarinet, trombone, tuba, drums, banjo and piano. They aimed to emulate the music of Jelly Roll Morton and King Oliver.[3] The band was reviewed as "rousing" and having the ability to impart "fire" to "cornier" numbers.[10] Of importance to the band's success was the "rhythm and enthusiasm" of Ballou, and Kinch's trumpet which could evoke Bix Beiderbecke.[1] Also important was the "hell of a good time" the band was able to communicate.[11] Individual solos were limited in the Castle band, with Ballou preferring an ensemble style.[8] They were considered to be a "superior, authentic, two-beat" band.[12] The band was well-rehearsed, but did not come off as overly polished.[13] Of greatest importance was blending of the ensemble work,[8] or as Kinch put it, "It's your sound that matters."[6]

Impact

During its heyday the Castle Jazz Band was Portland's most popular jazz group, both locally and internationally.[3] In the late 1940s, they were among four groups which were leading the traditional jazz movement on the West coast.[5] George Avakian stated that the band made Oregon "a better place to live"[11] and considered them the acme of semi-professional jazz groups at the time (even though several members of the band, including Ballou, were full-time musicians).[13]

Castle Records

Castle 8, When the Saints Go Marching In

Castle Records was founded by Harry Fosbury to release the band's records. The label's first issues were primitive sounding, but as recording engineer Fosbury continued, the sound quality improved.[13] In addition to the Castle Jazz Band, Castle Records also released four piano solos by Lee Stafford. The recordings for the label took place between 1944 and 1950, Castle Records 15 being the last 78 RPM issue.[14]

Personnel

  • Monte Ballou, banjo, guitar, vocals (1944–1954, 1957–1977)
  • George Bruns, trombone (1947–1949)[6][1]
  • Don Kinch, cornet/trumpet (1947–1950, 1958)[6][1][15]
  • Freddie Crews, piano (1951–1954)[5]
  • Larry DuFresne, piano (1947–1950)[1]
  • Bob Gilbert, clarinet (1948–1954)[5][6][1]
  • Bob Johnson, piano (1944)[1]
  • Rod Levitt, trombone[8]
  • George Phillips, trombone (1944, 1949–1950)
  • Hiram "Hi" Gates, trombone (1951–1952)
  • Nathanial "Ned" Dotson, cornet (1944, 1950–1952)
  • Bill "Willie" Pavia, clarinet (1944–1947)[6][1]
  • Bob Short, tuba (1947–1954)[5][6][1]
  • Axel Tyle, drums (1944–1948)[6][1]
  • Homer Welch, drums (1949–1950)[6]
  • Bob Chester, drums (1951–1953)
  • Edwin Fountaine Sr., Bass (1966–1977)
  • Ernie Carson, trumpet (1954–1956)[16]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Drew, Peter (April 1949). "The Castle Jazz Band". The Record Changer. 8 (4). Changer Publications, Inc.: 10.
  2. ISBN 9780195183597
    .
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-0-87071-114-5
    .
  4. ^ a b Yanow, Scott. "Monte Ballou: Monte Ballou and His New Castle Jazz Band". AllMusic. All Media Network, LLC. Retrieved November 4, 2015.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Koenig, Lester (1958). The Famous Castle Jazz Band in Hi-Fi (LP Record). Los Angeles, California: Good Time Jazz Records. GTJ L-12030.
  6. ^
    ISBN 978-0-87071-114-5
    .
  7. ^ Fosbury, Harry (May 1949). "The Jazz Parade". The Record Changer. 8 (5). Changer Publications, Inc.: 4.
  8. ^
    ISBN 978-0-87071-114-5
    .
  9. ^ Wynn, Ron. "The Castle Jazz Band: Biography". AllMusic. All Media Network, LLC. Retrieved November 4, 2015.
  10. ^ Koda, Cub. "The Castle Jazz Band: The Famous Castle Jazz Band Plays "The Five Pennies"". AllMusic. All Media Network, LLC. Retrieved November 4, 2015.
  11. ^ a b Avakian, George (May 1949). "Records Noted". The Record Changer. 8 (5). Changer Publications, Inc.: 17.
  12. ^ "Record Reviews". Billboard. May 20, 1950. p. 122.
  13. ^ a b c Avakian, George (July 1949). "Records Noted". The Record Changer. 8 (7). Changer Publications, Inc.: 12.
  14. ^ Settlemier, Tyrone (January 22, 2008). "CASTLE Records (Oregon) 78rpm numerical listing discography". The Online Discographical Project. Retrieved November 9, 2015.
  15. ISBN 9780879306403
    .
  16. ISBN 9780634080548
    . Castle Jazz Band.
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