Word: mezzrow
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Died. Milton ("Mezz") Mezzrow, 72, who, after learning to play jazz in a Pontiac, Ill., prison, became one of the most influential white clarinetists of the '30s and '40s; in Paris. Dealing in New Orleans blues, and in marijuana by the pound, Mezzrow became a familiar figure to jazz fans from New York City to the Chicago nightclubs of Al Capone. In 1937 he created one of the first racially mixed bands in the U.S. Though he was a popular performer, Mezzrow's life-style was out of tune with his times, and after a two-year...
...Jazz Clarinetist Milton ("Mezz") Mezzrovv also crossed the line from white to black. Arrested by New York police for marijuana peddling, Mezzrow, whose parents were Russian Jews, asked to be confined with Negro inmates on Riker's Island. Later he wrote: "Some of the finest, most high-spirited guys of the [Negro] race landed in jail because of their conditions of life . . . I made up my mind to do something drastic. Just as we were having our pictures took for the rogues' gallery, along came Mr. Slattery, the deputy . . . 'Mr. Slattery,' I said...
...midweek, the U.S. jazzbos - Satchmo, Stewart and Milton ("Mezz") Mezzrow - had won the wildest ovations. By comparison, the polite jazz of the Swiss, the Belgians (who went in for bebop) and the British got only polite applause. But the festival's local wonder was an un known young (24) French clarinetist named Claude Luter. When Claude blew out Canal Street Blues and High Society and one of his own called Abouche, sentimental Drummer Baby Dodds (whose late brother Johnny played clarinet with King Oliver) said tearfully: "That kid is terrific. I'd almost think Johnny was playing...
Author Meets Critics (Wed. 10 p.m., Mutual). Clarinetist Mezz Mezzrow gets in some licks for his new book, Really the Blues. Critics: Guitarist Eddie Condon and Esquire's Leonard Feather...
...having blown the breath of life into that walloping organization, The Hot Club of France, and was instrumental in forming the French recording company called Swing. On his whirlwind visit to this country circa 1938, he did the spade work on Victor's re-issuing program, organized those lusty Mezzrow-Ladnier Quintet sessions on Bluebird, and godfathered one of Basie's best waxings, the Panassie Stomp...