D O W N BEAT February 24. 1954 February PERSPECTIVES Feather Tells Woes Of Lunch, Too? New York — Apollo Theater _________ ________________ By Ralph J- Gleason ■nd all points north! Jazz Club U.S.A. Tour Stag« show» huvr disappear«^) Is the band business coming back? Well, I don’t think any­ By Leonard Feather ♦------------------------------------------------ irons the Broadway scene, and one can legitimately claim to know the answer to that one, shows, (2) Gene Wright and Bobby the Apollo in Harlem is flow The but there are some indications which point to a resurgence Oslo, Norway — If you’ve1 White, Buddy DeFraneo’ii bassist about the only theater to fea­ | of interest in the big units. ever told yourself what a ball1 and drummer, had to work on bor­ ture name bands. And many New t rowed equipment because their in­ Yorkers will learn this when Gh To begin with, the days of the it must be to tour Europe with Lionel Hampton applies his pro­ single acts, the vocalists, and struments were snowbound in New a jazz unit, you ought to be; York, (3) Billie Holiday, after a motional mallet* to the problem. Miller the featured instrumentalists, are along on the “Jazz Club U.S. A.” bound, by the nature of the beast, ( long series of hassels about who Hamp goes into the Apollo jaunt, now engaged in a 28-day should accompany her, had nc time for a week starting Feb. 12, and Tradi Biography to be numbered. Most of the real tussle with customs officials in nine draws in the vocal field have priced ' to rehears« with Carl Drinkard, for that period he'll station his had a r countries. Red Mitchell, and Elaine Leighton, two large band bust* in Tunes themselves out of th« class of the The job of accompanying a dozen more s ordinary smallish night dub. By because (4) the whole bunch of u*< Square. With the aid of ■ hip artistic temperaments on their had been dumped off the plane in hawker and rousing Hampton than Ed the same token, the days when a joint juurncy through a couple of records, the pasaeru-b» will be dub ope single star instrumentalist can Copenhagen, as the Stockholm air­ dozen cities, via bus, train, ferry,; port was snowed tinder, and we’d informed that anyone who wants come into u town like San Fran- and plane, present* problems that to go to the Apollo will be trans­ ciaeo und pick up a local group had to straggle in by train a few even the lest-Iaid plans of pro­' hours before the first show ported there for free. The buses music on and pack in the customers is over. moters (Nils Hellstmm) and agentsi leave five times a day. Tht ret Th« concert tours have acquainted (Joe Glaser) can’t foresee. Typical Passengers will be dropped Alta* Clm Miller. M everyone with what the names look carefully Othen. Too Thesi are typical of the hazard« right in from of the boxoffice. amples o like in person. Now they have to a unit like this must face—net to idioms — offer a little more than one soloist It happened the same way, no mention the rain and snow that Jazz, sen to draw the crowds, unless of doubt, to Kenton and Humpton and dented business. tig band course, the price goes down to all who preceded us, but it’s some­। Rome fin« aides, which Prestige will where the club owner get* a solo­ thing you can’t understand, until After this sad start, though, releast in America Lars. Guilin, examples ist and the local pickups for the you’ve experienced it yourself, to tilings picked up little by little. Bengt Hallberg, Putte Wickman, electric < price of a local band. wake up ana be momentarily un­ As these lines are written the team Gosta Theseliu»- and Simon Brehm three so On the other band, bandleaders able to recall not only what city, is really wailing, and ready t o play wen on some sides; the Americans Hammoiu have reported busir.ess picking up but even what country you’re in a midnight house already sold out included Raney, Mitchell, Bobby vibrahar] here at Oslo’s Colos.cum theater. White, Elaine Leighton, and Son Eddie on the road. Now add to that, the This sensation is easy living,; From the second night on, Lady recent success story in San Fran­ though, compand with the panic ny Clark, DeFranco’o wailing pi­ whatever Day has been thrilling everyone, anist. for him, cisco of Woody Herman and you that preceded tht show’s premiere' looking prettier and singing better may have a trend. Hermar opened in Stockholm. The critics who Ton l'a*i our nessit than she has in y« ars. She’s been ments w< New Year's; Day at the Diamond panned our opening show (and getting an even bigger hand since One thing that bugs everyone on Knee, a converted strip joint off failed to catch the smooth second vent any she started to nse Strange Fruit, trips of this kind, you soon find Market street, New Year’s is n tion. night) should have been along with। which her fans know from the rec- out, is that everything happens too traditionally rough day to open, ut when wc found that (1) Red fast. Yesterday we played two >»rd, and the constant aura of ap­ Tba Rec but they loaded the joint. Business Norvo’s guitarist, Jimmy Raney, show« in Gothenburg, Sweden, 1928. Worked briefly , plause, bouquets photographers, I. Ceas* kept up like that through the week­ who had crossed the Atlantic' nnd autograph hunters has done boarded a night train for Oslo end, died during the week when a ahead of us by boat, was sick in' for her morale what u trip like which lift at 3:23 a.ir., were couple of days of rain hit town, London, and Sweden’s Rolf Berg; this could do for many a despond­ awakened at 7:30 a.m. by Nor­ and then jumped up again fcr the had to pinch hit for the first three* ent American artist. wegian customs cats, it ached our That ct closing weekend. “The band made hotel at 11 a.m., and had to play got off li me money," Frank Franges the bands played was the Edgewater- DeFranco u Hit a matinee at 2:30. good tiro club owner said. “They averaged at-the-Btach bullroom, now de­■ Buddy DeFranco gets a terrific One of these days, some of us if you de $1,000 a night for me. And as a funct, where many of the best hand every evening, the surprise have decided, we’ll all come back »•efl be i »w« MMO ta April 1955. n suit I'm hnng’nr in Les Brown groups in recent vears limbed. It; hit of the whole ««hew being the and really get an eyeful of the ■lightest and Harry James. Big bands cer­ was miles away from the center■ long drum number by Bobby White. .-ights and ar earful of the music heard an, tainly sell as far as San Fran­ of town, out by the ocean, and Red Norvo stopped the show in in the places we’ve visited. Thus it’s admi cisco goes.” subject to the worst possible weath­ Gothenburg: the audiences all s»ein far, it seems as though we’ve bounce a. Now thio is directly against all er. Lack of success there had kept; to know Jimmy Raney and Red passed through each town the way a long tii previous indications here. Up to perators from bringing in bandsi Mitchell by name, and the trio the chicken passes through the around li «bout three years ago. the place to other spots until Franges’ gam­ seems ns contented as the cuatom- chicken soup in a greasy spoon res­ kette ban ble poid off. Now it looks Tike there: era. taurant. Before you’vt arid God will b« a steady stream of big’ As foi the Beryl Booker trio, dag it’s time to say Adjot bands playing the down town club, the S< andinavians gawk in unbe-, Music Sidelights with Franges interested in book­ lief at the sight of three pretty, (Jumped from Page 5) ing Ellington. Basie, Hampton, and ■ winging chicks playing piano, Record* From fice of Ed Kirby, public relations practically all major names. bass, and drums. To quote bissist man who, as a wartime colonel, Could be big bands are on the Bonnie Wetzel, “They look at us as helped Glenn Miller cut govern­ upswing. Ard it could be that this if it was raining schnapps I” MODERN MUSIC mental red tape in order to get his is the best piece of news the busi­ The unit was in Stockholm just 625 N. Gra«d. St Laai« 3. Mo AAF unit ~verseas During u visit ness had had in some time. I hope long enough to get together with Everythin« In Jan LP—AA—JR to his office by U.-I.’s Washington it’s true. some »f the best Swedish cats for We Speclallia hi Cat Outs representative, Kirby pointed to a photo on his wall of Glenn Miller, □ Jerry Fielding Vols. I A 2, aa achedelod ta «roas raying “Your studio should make Trend ............................ £ Les Brown (previously un­ a film about that man.” The U.-I. released), 12", Col.............. man agreed, and started the ball lot Brown Vols 1-4. Corel..Ea. rolling. Stan Kenton Vols. I A 2 THE SWINGINEST OF THE LOT ! ! BMacGregor ...........................