Muggsy Spanier
Encyclopedia
Francis Joseph Julian "Muggsy" Spanier (November 9, 1906 – February 12, 1967) was a prominent cornet
player based in Chicago
. He was renowned as the best trumpet
/cornet
in Chicago until Bix Beiderbecke
entered the scene.
Muggsy led several traditional/"hot" jazz
bands, most notably Muggsy Spanier and His Ragtime Band (which did not, in fact, play ragtime
but, rather, "hot jazz" that would now be called Dixieland
). This band set the style for all later attempts to play traditional jazz with a swing rhythm section
. Its key members, apart from Muggsy, were: George Brunies
- later Brunis - (trombone and vocals), Rodney Cless (clarinet), George Zack or Joe Bushkin
(piano), Ray McKinstry, Nick Ciazza or Bernie Billings (tenor sax), and Bob Casey (bass). A number of competent but unmemorable drummers worked in the band.
The Ragtime Band's theme tune was "Relaxin' at the Touro", named for Touro Infirmary
, the New Orleans
hospital where Muggsy had been treated for a perforated ulcer early in 1938. He had been at the point of death when he was saved by one Dr. Alton Ochsner
who drained the fluid and eased Muggsy's weakened breathing.
"Relaxin' At The Touro" is a fairly straightforward 12-bar blues, with a neat piano introduction and coda by Joe Bushkin. The pianist recalled, many years later: "When I finally joined Muggsy in Chicago (having left Bunny Berigan's
failing big band
) we met to talk it over at the Three Deuces, where Art Tatum
was appearing. Muggsy was now playing opposite Fats Waller
at the Sherman hotel and we worked out a kind of stage show for the two bands. Muggsy was a man of great integrity. We played a blues
in C and I made up a little intro. After that I was listed as the co-composer of "Relaxin' at the Touro" (quoted by Richard B. Hadlock in the notes to the Bluebird CD 'Muggsy Spanier 1939 - The "Ragtime Band" Sessions', 07863 66550).
In his time, Muggsy made numerous Dixieland recordings that still serve as favorites today. Apart from the famous Ragtime Band, his other most important venture was the traditional band he co-led with pianist Earl Hines
at the Club Hangover in San Francisco in the 1950s.
Although Muggsy's real name was Francis Joseph Julian Spanier, he acquired the nickname "Muggsy" either because of his youthful enthusiasm for a baseball hero ("Muggsy" McGraw), or because of his obsession with King Oliver and Louis Armstrong
. He was known to have shadowed and "mugged" both of them, copying their styles and incorporating them into his own music. He was allowed, on at least one occasion, to sit in with King Oliver's band (with Louis Armstrong on second cornet) at the Lincoln Gardens, Chicago, in the early 1920s.
He ended his days in the 1960s, leading a traditional jazz band that included old friends like Joe Sullivan
(piano), Pops Foster
(bass) and Darnell Howard (clarinet). He was not a great technician or virtuoso, but he could lead a traditional ensemble with fire and guts. The (then) young pianist Joe Bushkin
was in the Ragtime Band in 1939 and later said of Muggsy: "When he nailed something right, he stayed with it; he wouldn't fix it if it wasn't broke".
Cornet
The cornet is a brass instrument very similar to the trumpet, distinguished by its conical bore, compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B. It is not related to the renaissance and early baroque cornett or cornetto.-History:The cornet was...
player based in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. He was renowned as the best trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
/cornet
Cornet
The cornet is a brass instrument very similar to the trumpet, distinguished by its conical bore, compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B. It is not related to the renaissance and early baroque cornett or cornetto.-History:The cornet was...
in Chicago until Bix Beiderbecke
Bix Beiderbecke
Leon Bismark "Bix" Beiderbecke was an American jazz cornetist, jazz pianist, and composer.With Louis Armstrong, Beiderbecke was one of the most influential jazz soloists of the 1920s...
entered the scene.
Muggsy led several traditional/"hot" jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
bands, most notably Muggsy Spanier and His Ragtime Band (which did not, in fact, play ragtime
Ragtime
Ragtime is an original musical genre which enjoyed its peak popularity between 1897 and 1918. Its main characteristic trait is its syncopated, or "ragged," rhythm. It began as dance music in the red-light districts of American cities such as St. Louis and New Orleans years before being published...
but, rather, "hot jazz" that would now be called Dixieland
Dixieland
Dixieland music, sometimes referred to as Hot jazz, Early Jazz or New Orleans jazz, is a style of jazz music which developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century, and was spread to Chicago and New York City by New Orleans bands in the 1910s.Well-known jazz standard songs from the...
). This band set the style for all later attempts to play traditional jazz with a swing rhythm section
Rhythm section
A rhythm section is a collection of musicians who make up a section of instruments which provides the accompaniment section of the music, giving the music its rhythmic texture and pulse, also serving as a rhythmic reference for the rest of the band...
. Its key members, apart from Muggsy, were: George Brunies
George Brunies
George Brunies, aka Georg Brunis, was a jazz trombonist who came to fame in the 1930s, and was part of the Dixieland revival. He was known as the "King of the Tailgate Trombone"....
- later Brunis - (trombone and vocals), Rodney Cless (clarinet), George Zack or Joe Bushkin
Joe Bushkin
Joe Bushkin was an American jazz pianist.He began his career by playing trumpet and piano with New York City dance bands. He joined Bunny Berigan's band in 1935, then left to join Muggsy Spanier's Ragtime Band in 1939. From the late 1930s through to the late 1940s he also worked with Eddie Condon...
(piano), Ray McKinstry, Nick Ciazza or Bernie Billings (tenor sax), and Bob Casey (bass). A number of competent but unmemorable drummers worked in the band.
The Ragtime Band's theme tune was "Relaxin' at the Touro", named for Touro Infirmary
Touro Infirmary
Touro Infirmary is a non-profit hospital in New Orleans, Louisiana.- Organization. :Touro Infirmary is affiliated with the Louisiana State University Health Science Center and Tulane University School of Medicine....
, the New Orleans
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
hospital where Muggsy had been treated for a perforated ulcer early in 1938. He had been at the point of death when he was saved by one Dr. Alton Ochsner
Alton Ochsner
Alton Ochsner was a surgeon and medical researcher who worked at Tulane University and other New Orleans hospitals before he established his own world-renowned The Ochsner Clinic, now known as Ochsner Foundation Hospital...
who drained the fluid and eased Muggsy's weakened breathing.
"Relaxin' At The Touro" is a fairly straightforward 12-bar blues, with a neat piano introduction and coda by Joe Bushkin. The pianist recalled, many years later: "When I finally joined Muggsy in Chicago (having left Bunny Berigan's
Bunny Berigan
Rowland Bernard "Bunny" Berigan was an American jazz trumpeter who rose to fame during the swing era, but whose virtuosity and influence were shortened by a losing battle with alcoholism that ended in his early death at age 33. He composed the jazz instrumentals "Chicken and Waffles" and "Blues"...
failing big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
) we met to talk it over at the Three Deuces, where Art Tatum
Art Tatum
Arthur "Art" Tatum, Jr. was an American jazz pianist and virtuoso who played with phenomenal facility despite being nearly blind.Tatum is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time...
was appearing. Muggsy was now playing opposite Fats Waller
Fats Waller
Fats Waller , born Thomas Wright Waller, was a jazz pianist, organist, composer, singer, and comedic entertainer...
at the Sherman hotel and we worked out a kind of stage show for the two bands. Muggsy was a man of great integrity. We played a blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
in C and I made up a little intro. After that I was listed as the co-composer of "Relaxin' at the Touro" (quoted by Richard B. Hadlock in the notes to the Bluebird CD 'Muggsy Spanier 1939 - The "Ragtime Band" Sessions', 07863 66550).
In his time, Muggsy made numerous Dixieland recordings that still serve as favorites today. Apart from the famous Ragtime Band, his other most important venture was the traditional band he co-led with pianist Earl Hines
Earl Hines
Earl Kenneth Hines, universally known as Earl "Fatha" Hines, was an American jazz pianist. Hines was one of the most influential figures in the development of modern jazz piano and, according to one source, is "one of a small number of pianists whose playing shaped the history of jazz".-Early...
at the Club Hangover in San Francisco in the 1950s.
Although Muggsy's real name was Francis Joseph Julian Spanier, he acquired the nickname "Muggsy" either because of his youthful enthusiasm for a baseball hero ("Muggsy" McGraw), or because of his obsession with King Oliver and Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
. He was known to have shadowed and "mugged" both of them, copying their styles and incorporating them into his own music. He was allowed, on at least one occasion, to sit in with King Oliver's band (with Louis Armstrong on second cornet) at the Lincoln Gardens, Chicago, in the early 1920s.
He ended his days in the 1960s, leading a traditional jazz band that included old friends like Joe Sullivan
Joe Sullivan
Michael Joseph "Joe" O'Sullivan was an American jazz pianist.Sullivan was the ninth child of Irish immigrant parents. He studied classical piano for 12 years and at age 17, he began to play popular music in a club where he was exposed to jazz...
(piano), Pops Foster
Pops Foster
George Murphy "Pops" Foster was a jazz musician best known for his vigorous playing of the string bass. He also played the tuba and trumpet professionally....
(bass) and Darnell Howard (clarinet). He was not a great technician or virtuoso, but he could lead a traditional ensemble with fire and guts. The (then) young pianist Joe Bushkin
Joe Bushkin
Joe Bushkin was an American jazz pianist.He began his career by playing trumpet and piano with New York City dance bands. He joined Bunny Berigan's band in 1935, then left to join Muggsy Spanier's Ragtime Band in 1939. From the late 1930s through to the late 1940s he also worked with Eddie Condon...
was in the Ragtime Band in 1939 and later said of Muggsy: "When he nailed something right, he stayed with it; he wouldn't fix it if it wasn't broke".