Re: African-American musicians and Yiddish/Jewish m.

[Ingemar Johansson <hebanon...>]

Bob,

First as to "Mishugana Mambo" ("Mishugana" is the correct spelling, sorry
if I goofed on that): I cannot find any "Jewish" relevance in either its
lyrics or its instrumentation. It was recorded in NYC 1954 "with unknown
big band". A mambo from the 50's no more, no less, but very rhythmic for
sure. And Slim's music always makes me want to dance (as you might know he
is himself tap-dancing on some of his records). As the French surrealist
playwright Antonin Artaud said: "The dance is the language". Anyhow, having
thought it over I still strongly suspect that this "Mishugana" is a
Gaillard variation of "meshuga", "mishegoss" etc. Slim Gaillard made words
up that way, perhaps he chose it because of the alliteration. And the text
is about a mambo driving you crazy, I can furnish it if you want, write me
in private then.

Now, to something definitely Yiddish, a tribute to Jewish food, to "yidishe
maykholim". I'm speaking of Slim Gaillard's "Dunkin' Bagel", mentioned here
a few days by Robert Cohen. Today I got in my hands Slim's CD "Cement Mixer
Putti Putti" (President), where you'll find "Dunkin' Bagel" as well as
"Drei Six Cents" (this song was mentioned by Wolf 
and here Gaillard really pronounces "Dreizig" in a Yiddish way - as far as
I can judge). Now, "Dunkin' Bagel" was recorded in Los Angeles 1945 with
Dodo Marmarosa playing  piano, Bam Brown singing and playing bass, old New
Orleans jazzman Zutty Singleton on drums, and Slim Gaillard. of course,
singing and playing guitar (maybe piano, too). This is how ""Dunkin'
Bagel", a very boppish number to my mind, goes:

Slim sings:
"Dunkin' Bagel
Dunkin' Bagel
Dunkin' Bagel
SPLASH in the coffee
Dunkin' Bagel
Dunkin' Bagel
Dunkin' Bagel
SPLASH in the coffee"
Bam Brown: "Matsoh Balls" Slim: "Matsoboutsiereenie"
Bam: "Gefilte fish" Slim: "Gefilte fish avoutie"
Bam: "Pickled Herrings" Slim: "Pickled Herrivoonie"
Bam: "Macarootie"  Slim: "Macaroonie"
piano solo (perhaps by Slim, but probably by Marmarosa)
guitar solo (very much in the vein of Charlie Christian)
Slim singing: "Dunkin' Bagel" etc
and then as a coda the spoken words:
Bam: "How about a bowl of gefilte fish?"
Slim: "Cold? Hot?"
Final guitar chord

If you are looking for an Afro-American/Yiddish tune for your programs,
this is the one you should choose, at least with Slim Gaillard. But someone
with interest in this whole topic should listen carefully to Slim's
recordings as he is, just as Kerouac wrote, excelling in all languages
known and unknown. As neither English nor Yiddish is my mame-loshn I leave
this to someone else, but having listen carefully to Slim Gaillard's
recordings the last days I'm almost sure that there is more to find,
braided into the tunes.

A song that sounds a bit Yiddish to me in "lanuage" as well as musical
arrangement is "Boot-Ta-La-Za", recorded in NYC on October 11th 1939 by
Slim Gaillard & His Flat Foot Floogie Boys. This one I have on CD "Slim and
Slam - The Groove Juice Special" (Columbia). Here you'll also find "Matzoh
Balls", mentioned by Robert C. And "thats a killer, too, man".

Groovy,
Ingemar
----------
> Från: robert wiener <wiener (at) mindspring(dot)com>
> Till: jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org
> Kopia: Ingemar Johansson <hebanon (at) swipnet(dot)se>
> Ämne: Re: African-American musicians and Yiddish/Jewish m.
> Datum:  den 12 mars 1999 11:21
> 
> Ingemar,
> 
> Thanks for keeping us up-to-date on the "Mishuganah Mambo".  Does it
> have any "Jewish" relevance either in its English lyrics, its
> melodies, or its instrumentation?  Or is it just a crazy mambo?
> (Did it make you want to get up and dance?)
> 
> Bob
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ingemar Johansson <hebanon (at) swipnet(dot)se>
> To: World music from a Jewish slant. <jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org>
> Date: Thursday, March 11, 1999 7:08 PM
> Subject: Re: African-American musicians and Yiddish/Jewish m.
> 
> 
> >Thanks Robert,
> >
> >In an earlier mail I mentioned "Mishuganah Mambo", which I suspected
> could
> >have some Yiddish overtones. However, since then I've come across a
> CD with
> >that number on it and must state that wherever the title comes from,
> >there's just plain English in it. In the liner notes to this CD -
> which I
> >just acquired some days ago ("Laughing in Rhythm" - Verve)  - it's
> however
> >stated that "Fascinated with the music of all kinds of speech, Slim
> heard
> >many foreign languages in New York and Los Angeles and made up his
> own
> >approximations, which sounded like them but weren't". So. perhaps the
> >question still remains: did Slim Gaillard actually speak Yiddish?
> >
> >This is not to say that Slim didn't have some knowledge of Yiddish.
> But
> >certainly he mixed his findings. We have Jack Kerouac's testimony
> from "On
> >the road", too:
> >
> >"Slim sits down at the piano and hits two notes, two C's, then two
> more,
> >then one, then two, and suddenly the big burly bass-player wakes up
> from a
> >reverie and realizes Slim is playing 'C-Jam Blues' and he slugs in
> his big
> >forefinger on the string and the big
> >booming beat begins and everybody starts rocking and Slim looks just
> as sad
> >as ever, and they blow jazz for half an hour, and then Slim goes mad
> and
> >grabs the bongos and plays tremendous rapid Cubana beats and yells
> crazy
> >things in Spanish, in Arabic, in Peruvian dialect, in Egyptian, in
> every
> >language he knows, and he knows innumerable languages".
> >
> >This is, more or less, perfectly mirrored in "Opera in Vout (Grove
> Juice
> >Symphony)", issued on the CD mentioned above (according to the liner
> notes
> >Slim's only existing live recording).
> >
> >With the help of a friend I hope to be able to furnish some
> information on
> >"Dunkin' Bagel" here tomorrow, or so.
> >
> >As Slim's and Leo's musical comrade Harry "The Hipster" once sang:
> >
> >Alright, dancin' in the lights tonight.
> >
> >Ingemar
> >
> >----------
> >> From: Robert Cohen <rlcm17 (at) hotmail(dot)com>
> >> Tol: World music from a Jewish slant. <jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org>
> >> Subject: Re:  African-American musicians and Yiddish/Jewish m.
> >> Date:  March 11 1999 03:42
> >>
> >> Slim Gaillard also recorded a delightful and charming jump blues
> number
> >> called "Matzo Balls" (on SLIM AND SLAM [Stewart], a Swedish label,
> >> apparently, recorded in NYC on 10/11/39), w/ lyrics:  "Matzo balls,
> >> gefilte fish/best ol' dish I ever, ever had/Matzo balls and gefilte
> >> fish/(it) makes you order up an extra dish/Now you put a little
> horse
> >> radish on it (on the side) and make it very mellow/because it
> really
> >> knocks you {right on out?}."  A gevalt!--obviously performed with,
> well,
> >> relish.  My (I think very knowledgeable) source advises that he
> indeed
> >> recorded a song w/ the title, as she remembered or knows it,
> "Dunkin'
> >> Bagel--Splat in the Coffee," but neither she nor I have any access
> to
> >> that record...Leo Watson recorded Ot Azoi (or, as there spelled,
> Utt Da
> >> Zay) (..."sings the tailor...") in the phrase of Yiddish and almost
> all
> >> English--as did Cab Calloway, whose recording, I (not very
> >> knowledgeably) assume, is the more well known.  Watson's is on LEO
> >> WATSON;  THE SCAT MAN, 1937-1946, on Swingtime; recorded NYC,
> 8/22/39,
> >> w/ the song evidently attributed (!) to Buck Ram--I assume the same
> guy
> >> who wrote, I think, and/or produced many Platters songs in the
> 50s--and
> >> Irving Mills.  Hope this is of interest to those ... for whom it's
> of
> >> interest.
> >>
> >>
> >> >From: "Ingemar Johansson" <hebanon (at) swipnet(dot)se>
> >> >Reply-To: jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org
> >> >To: World music from a Jewish slant. <jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org>
> >> >Subject: SV: African-American musicians and Yiddish
> >> >Date: Fri, 5 Mar 1999 12:23:39 +0100
> >> >
> >> >Somewhere I've read that singer and drummer Leo Watson sometimes
> >> excelled
> >> >in Yiddish too. Unfortunately I can't find the reference now and I
> know
> >> of
> >> >no records proving this (could be some in "The Spirits of Rhythm"
> >> >collection, though), but it sounds plausible as he moved around in
> the
> >> >circles of Slim Gaillard ("the jive-idiom" of these artists would
> be
> >> worth
> >> >a close study, I think).
> >> >
> >> >Ingemar
> >> >
> >> >----------
> >> >> Från: robert wiener <wiener (at) mindspring(dot)com>
> >> >> Till: World music from a Jewish slant.
> <jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org>
> >> >> Ämne: African-American musicians and Yiddish
> >> >> Datum:  den 5 mars 1999 01:55
> >> >>
> >> >> I have heard from a reliable source that several
> African-American
> >> >> musicians (other than Cab Calloway) who grew up in neighborhoods
> >> where
> >> >> Yiddish was often spoken spoke some Yiddish themselves.  I
> supoose
> >> >> that this shouldn't be too surprising -- remember our thread on
> Jimmy
> >> >> Cagney speaking Yiddish in movies?  He mentioned Willie the Lion
> >> >> Smith, Dinah Washington, and Slim Gaillard.  Does anyone know of
> >> >> recordings of these (or other) African-American musicians that
> >> reflect
> >> >> this cross-cultural phenomenon?
> >> >>
> >> >> Bob
> >
> >----------------------
> jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org ---------------------+
> >