Today's playlist. For the 30th installment, we have "DULES OF DIXIELAND".
I bought it at Flash Disc Ranch, my favorite record store in Shimokitazawa.
This is a record store I've been going to ever since I first moved to Setagaya. It's popular because of its amazing point card system, which is valid as long as the store is open. Once you collect 50 stamps, you can buy any number of records under 15,000 yen for half price.
The glorious history of the Dukes of Dixieland
Formed in 1948 by Frank Assund (trumpet), Fred Assund (trombone), and their father Jack Assund (trombone and banjo), the Dukes of Dixieland were a Dixieland-style revival band from New Orleans, USA. Early recordings featured Jack Matthew (clarinet), Stanley Mendelson (piano), Tommy Randell (drums), and Bernie Maron (tuba and string bass). The 1958 album "Marching Along with the Dukes of Dixieland, Volume 3" credits Frank, Fred, Jack Assund, Harold Cooper (clarinet), Stanley Mendelson (piano), Paul Ferrara (drums), and Bill Porter (tuba and string bass).
Throughout the band's history, renowned musicians such as Pete Fountain, Jerry Fuller, Kenny Davern (clarinet), Barrett Deems, Charlie Rodis, Buzz Drutin (drums), Jim Hall, and Herb Ellis (guitar) have participated. They have also collaborated with Louis Armstrong.
Glory and Transformation
Fred and Frank Assund both died young, and the original "Dukes of Dixieland" disbanded in the early 1970s. However, in April 1974, producer and manager John Shub relaunched the band with Connie Jones as the leader, renting Louis Prima's nightclub, the Montelione Hotel, in the French Quarter and renaming it "Dukes Place." Since 1974, the band has been unrelated to the Assund family, and subsequent lineups have not included any of the original members.
Technological innovation and achievements
The original "Dukes of Dixieland" was featured on the first stereo record released by Audio Fidelity in November 1957. In 1978, they recorded their first direct-to-disc album under the direction of John Schupp, and in 1984, they made their first CD recording. In 1980, they performed with the New Orleans Pops Orchestra, and in 1986, they recorded a television special with jazz musician Danny Barker at Mahogany Hall. In 2001, their gospel CD "Gloryland" was nominated for a Grammy Award, and in 2011, they recorded "Country Meets Dixie" in Nashville with the Oak Ridge Boys.
They have performed with orchestras in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Chicago, The National, the New York Pops (at Carnegie Hall), and 29 other orchestras around the world. In 2005, they traveled up the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers to Cincinnati aboard the Steamboat Natchez to raise funds for the Bush-Clinton Katrina Relief Fund. In 2011, they performed with the Boston Pops.
Their latest CD, "Here Comes the Girls," features R&B tracks by The Meters, Ernie K. Doo, Allen Toussaint, and others.&The music of artist B is featured.
Lawsuits and disputes
In a comment on an article published in The Syncopated Times, Dino Assunto, son of original member Frank Assunto, stated that "the settlement in the lawsuit against John Shoop prohibits any suggestion of a historical connection between Shoop's cover bands and the original Dukes of Dixieland from before 1974." The claim that Shoop was given the rights to the band name by Freddie Mercury's widow, Betty Assunto, has also been denied due to a lack of evidence. The Assunto family has now formed a tribute band called "The Assunto Dukes, a Dixieland Tribute," with Frank's granddaughter, Lexi, as the vocalist.
WAITER-U offers not only camping gear, but also a curated selection of music, books, and movies.
I've also created a playlist on Spotify, so please feel free to listen to it in the car on your way to a camping trip.
