Wesley Dick's story (longish, but worth the read)
OASYSCO
about whether music is learned or inate. As per his usual self, Wes' recounting
of his earlier days is just too good to keep private. For anybody that loves
jazz, this is a MUST read. Many of you know about Wes and his tropical fish,
his lovely wife about whom he brags constantly and his music which he loves.
You know about his web site and his special appointment as our resident BIB
expert. The days and times that he recounts are gone now, but we can all
benefit from listening this our own personal NG treasury of Lousiana (hope I've
got that right) musical history. Now, on to Wes:
==========================================================
I first became aware of music at a very early age as my mom would play lots of
classical songs for our entertainment. Dad was a fan of Frankie Carle among
others so she also played a lot of his piano arrangements. But she had a
style of her own which I can only describe as 'red hot'. She used to tell us
about how when she jazzed things up at the conservatory of music her professor
would hold his hands over his eyes and scream "My eyes! My eyes!" She was
probably influenced by her love for her brother, my uncle Sid, who was a
famous star in her eyes.
When I was around 14 I heard some cat at school playing boogie woogie and I
flipped out. Went home and tried to do what I saw him doing an was playing
boogie and lovin' it. Mom brought me to take music lessons the following year
(by which time I was getting quite adept) and after 2 lessons the music teacher
told her to forget it. Seems I kept putting a boogie bass to songs like "Dance
of the Fairies", etc. and she didn't like it.<G> By the time I was a senior
in high school I needed 1/4 point to graduate so music looked like a good
option. I borrowed a cousins clarinet a few weeks before school started and
started to play. It came so naturally that I was playing songs immediately
and within 2 weeks I was playing along with dad's dixieland recordings.
When I reported to first band practice the prof was elated to see another
clarinet players since the band had 17 trumpets and only 2 (girls)
clarinetists. I guess he assumed that I was experienced at my age. When the
band started playing Stars and Stripes Forever (or some such jazz) I just
started wailin' away with vigor. The prof smiled as he walked towards me and
the 2 girls and as he got close his smile turned down and he said, "What the
hell are you playing?" I explained that I couldn't read music yet so was
just improvising. He told me to stay after class. I was worried but as I
walked up towards the front of the auditorium he sat down and the piano and
started comping the chords to Darktown Strutter's Ball and grinned and said,
"Can you play this one?" I made straight A's in music but never did learn
how to read. We just jammed during clarinet class and the girls did their
homework.<G>
Before the year was out I was gigging in a dixie band and loving it. By the
time I got to Tulane where I had planned to take Chemistry I was miserable.
Wanted to play music. Got into an argument with dad about it and in a fit of
stupidity I joined the USMC to get even with him.<G> While in the Corps I
picked up guitar somewhere along the way. Strickly dixie chords, mostly
open. Some cat came and sat next to me on my bunk one night and asked me if
I could play certain chords. He started to tell me which notes were required
and I fumbled around trying to find a good place to play the notes. Turned
out that what I was doing was going from Gmaj7 to G6th (2 beats each) then
Gmin7 to G6th (2 beats) then down to Fmaj7 to F6, etc., etc. etc., Took
about a week but I learned all the chords he asked for and one night about a
week or so later he showed up with his alto sax and said "Ok, man. Let's try
it out." He gave me a tempo and we were playing How High the Moon.
Flipped me out! He continued to tutor me and within about 6 months I had
learned tons of chord positions, inversions, etc, as well as the chords to
most standards. Started my own group and played all around Camp LeJeune as
well as getting un-officially inducted to the 2nd Div.
Marine Dance Band by request of the C.O. to my C.O. Next trip home I
introduced myself to Bourbon Street and was accepted. When the Korean 'peace
action' broke out there were lots of pros from up east who were recalled to
duty and I learned lots from them over the next few years. It was such a rush
to be on such a fast learning curve with some fantastic talents.
After a year on Bourbon St. after discharge I began to doubt the integrity of
the life style I was falling into so decided to go 'straight'. <G> Started
my tropical fish farm outside of N. O. and settled down. Several years later I
met some cats on the NorthShore who were attending SLU in Hammond, La. just a
few miles away and started playing gigs with them on weekends, etc. Again,
lots of vets who were going to school on the G.I. bill, many from up east.
Didn't realize it at the time but I was being priveleged to play with Bill
Evans and his brother Harry on numerous occasions as well as some other great
talents. First time I sat in with the University Big Band I was rather leery
of what a bunch of school kids could do but when we opened with Opus in Pastels
I just went limp and couldn't even play for a few seconds. What a sound they
had! Thought I was sitting in with Kenton!
Somewhere along the way I fell in to the French Quarters again along with some
of these cats and before you know it we had a club off Bourbon which became a
mecca of jazz. Some of the semi-names involved were cats like Brew Moore,
Carl Fontana, Al Belleto and many other cool musicians. I met June Christy
at a radio station where I was talking to a DJ friend into remote broadcasts
where she was doing an interview. I invited her to the club that night (which
had just opened the night before) and she showed up. On a break she and I
were standing with my buddy who owned the club and she asked us "What's the
name of this club?" It still had the old "Dante's Inferno" sign outside but
I told her we were going to come up with a new name but hadn't yet decided on
one. She suggested "The Pendulum Club" since it swang and swang and swang!
So it was.
Anyway, I just realized how I'm ranting on and on (but relishing the memories)
about the past. Got so busy with the business that I didn't play for many
years except on rare occasions. Developed this condition with my hands where
my middle fingers bent in at a 90 degree angle which effectively blocked
playing of guitar, piano and clarinet. Wasn't until about 3 or 4 years ago
when I first discovered Band in a Box that I got the courage to have an
operation just so I could play again. So far it's coming along slowly but
I'm having a ball. Right now am in the process of adding to my home and will
soon be converting a spare room into a computer/music studio and going to try
my hand at a little recording. Something to leave for the kids and
grandkids.<G>
Wes
dka...@intermec.com
oas...@aol.com (OASYSCO) wrote:
> Wesley Dick sent me this email in response to the sub-thread on
"Jimmy Bruno"
> about whether music is learned or inate. As per his usual self, Wes'
recounting
> of his earlier days is just too good to keep private. For anybody
that loves
> jazz, this is a MUST read. Many of you know about Wes and his
tropical fish,
Great story deleted for brevity...
Thanks for posting that!
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Share what you know. Learn what you don't.
Tom Walls
George4908
>stupidity I joined the USMC to get even with him.
Boy, you sure showed him. Great stuff!
Wesley Clark Dick
>>Got into an argument with dad about it and in a fit of
>>stupidity I joined the USMC to get even with him.
>
>Boy, you sure showed him. Great stuff!
When I told him he just grinned, pulled out his wallet and gave me
$100 and told me to go out and have a good time adding that it would
probably be the last good time for a while. That was back in January
of 1948 and I did have a ball with that much loot. Right before I
left for boot camp the trumpet man I'd been playing with managed to
get together a jam session in my honor. We had mostly been playing
with me on clarinet plus trumpet, piano, bass and drums. For this
session he managed to get a guitar man and a trombone man, knowing
that I'd always liked tailgate bone. The kid was only about 14 or so
and later played with Sam Butera (Louis Prima's band) and the
Witnesses in Vegas for many years. Don't remember his name off hand.
The night before Sam left New Orleans for Vegas he dropped into a club
where we were jamming. Paul Gayton, a local legend at the time, was
on piano that night sounding like Peterson and spurring me on to the
point where I could only look at my fingers as they played
independently of my brain and wonder how the hell they could do all
that good stuff. At a break Sam told me that he was leaving for
Vegas the following day to join Prima in putting together a lounge
act, said he could use a guitar man and asked if I cared to go. I
apologized saying that I couldn't go because my Apistogramma ramirezi
had just spawned for the first time and the eggs would be a week in
hatching. He said, "Man, I'm offering you a chance for the big time
and you're telling me about fish eggs?" <G>
In retrospect I think I made a wise decision. After all, who wants
a life of decadence involving music, booze and wild women?
Wes
Pete Kerezman
> ... who wants
>a life of decadence involving music, booze and wild women?
>
Hey, i only *look* a hunnert and ten, i'm really only half that.
And to think i mostly gave it all up over twenty years ago when i
still looked a youthful sixty.
Texas Pete
Pete Kerezman (pete...@aol.com)
Kingsville, Texas
Karl G. Helmer
Wesley Clark Dick <wiz...@gs.verio.net> wrote:
<excellent verbiage snipped>
>In retrospect I think I made a wise decision. After all, who wants
>a life of decadence involving music, booze and wild women?
ME! Me!
(Oh, wait. Was that rhetorical?)
Damn,
Karl Helmer