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Joe Darensbourg
Review of
Jazz Odyssey: The Autobiography of Joe Darensbourg. As told to Peter Vacher. Joseph Wilmer Darensbourg was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on July 9, 1906. Joe was the son of a shoemaker and amateur musician, Henry Darensbourg. His mother; was called Alice, died in 1912. Joe’s father raised all six of his children and eventually remarried French woman called Amalie, who had helped out with the children, in 1918. All of the Darensbourg children learned to play an instrument because music had been so important to their father and they had been inspired to learn by their Uncle Willie, who was a great circus performer. Of course they were forced to learn a trade before they could take up music because it was an unstable living; all the boys learned shoemaking. As a child Joe took lessons from the traveling musicians that visited his fathers shop. Joe’s goal in life was to be in a circus parade or course he could not do that playing violin or piano, so his uncle brought him his first clarinet. One instructor, Manuel Roque was able to realize Joe’s potential on clarinet and let Joe sit in with his band occasionally. In 1920 Joe started playing professional jobs with jazz bands in Baton Rouge. Joe also ran away from home and made several attempts at joining the circus, but he always returned home. It was after this that Joe started playing any gig that he could. He would play at any opportunity, in any town, as long as he could play that jazz. Joe, also, tells us about the hard time of life and the society that was conducive to jazz musicians. Because Joe played in many clubs, and less savory places he because a heavy drinker as were many of the musicians in that time period. When times were good, he was making as much as forty dollars a week, which was an impressive salary for any musician in the twenties. Of course there were also times that he had nothing to eat and no place to sleep. He speaks with honesty about working as a pimp, moonshining, and living it up. Joe said that he is not proud of his life style habits, but that’s not the point here. Joe Darensbourg had an amazing life through the clarinet, and later saxophone. He saw Europe, traveled around most of the United States playing wherever he could. Darensbourg recorded for Okay an record, which was the black label, as well as any other label that would have his band. He appeared in a few films, as well. Joe played with all the musical giants and later legends, as well as starting his own band, the Dixie Flyers, which brought him fame and a brush with fortune. He spent several years with Kid Ory, Louis Armstrong, and several others, playing any style that he could and composing several of his own hits, including Joe’s Blues, Hot Rod Harry The Coolest Cat in Town, and Lou-easy-an-ia. Joe organized bands from the time he was twelve until he retired to take care of his wife Helen in 1982. After Joe and Helen recovered from hospitalizations in the early eighties, Joe recorded for Eagle Brass band, and was made “Jazz Man of the year” by Jazz Forum. Truly this man was a musical Renaissance man, gifted in music and in spirit. Joe Darensbourg worked all the angles of Jazz music. He played well and had a good ear for the notes, however he could read music, which was rare in this period. He loved to put the New Orleans style on anything he played. He probably got from listening to the funeral parades in Baton Rouge. He would follow those musicians all over just to listen to their playing. Actually Joe would follow any parade that passed just so he could hear them play. He would follow tailgate musicians; which were players that used a moving platform to help advertise the concert, party, or meeting they were playing. Joe was a popular entertainer in the dance bands and on cruise ships. He was involved in bootlegging and moonshining during the Prohibition era. Prohibition tried to ban alcohol, but the musicians and club owners found ways to make or purchase their drinks. This was one method that musicians used to get money when times were tight. Musicians were also prone to picking up items out of the country where they were less expensive and then sell them in the states for twice the price. He was also a leading instrumentalist in the preservation of many different styles. Darensbourg was fond of playing Dixieland music, which was growing less popular until its revival with Orsen Wells. Joe liked to travel around and relied on his abilities as a shoemaker, a bricklayer and a jazzman to get him through. He is a prime example of the American dream, and the spirit of opportunism. In Classical Jazz History there is little written about Joe Darensbourg, but perhaps we should give him his due. This man started playing Jazz professionally at the age of 12 and continued until his death at the age of 79. In that time he composed 11 jazz pieces, not including those he helped compose which were credited to him. He starred in 11 movies that still exist and several that were lost, add to that an list of nearly 100 recordings with most of the ‘Legends’ of jazz. It is clear that this ‘cat’ has left his imprint on the face of Classic Jazz, and he should be written in along with Ory, Armstrong, and any other you would call great. Historically speaking (that is in Jazz history as it is today), Joe wasn’t anything special. Many musicians lived in his time, became famous, and sadly enough disappeared into the past. He has only one lasting contribution, the truth. Joe tells his story in a very honest and simple manner. He never hides the underside of jazz culture, his drink or chasing women. He worked in just about every note worth musical group from little family parties and funeral parades, to sleazy dinners and bars, not to mention playing for the Pope in Rome, and all of Europe. Joe started playing young and figured he would play ‘until he cut out’ and that is just what he did. Joe died of cardiac arrest in California, May 24, 1985. He had been in intensive care after having a stroke in February 5th of the same year. “Thus came the end of Joe Darensbroug, a fine New Orleans-style clarinetist, a warm-hearted friend and a splendid storyteller. He had no enemies, and was an enthusiastic performer on the clarinet and soprano saxophone, always carrying the torch for the best musical values” (Vacher, p 4). Vacher, Peter. Jazz Odyssey: The Autobiography of Joe Darensbourg. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1988. |
The Gardens
~ Table of Contents ~
Drinks with Hattie Changelings The Leanhaun-Shee Dobhar-chú The Redcap warm and toasty Welcome I think I'll go for a walk... test Dead or Alive? Do you recognize? Is this man dead or alive? I'm not dead yet! I feel happy! A song for you Who's that man? Lets dance? Kiss me, I'm Irish Wha....? Can you figure out what I have here? According to the Aztec, Is he dead or alive? AW Welcome! |
