Live at the El

By David "Chet" Williamson Sneade 

The original El Morocco on Wall Street

To say it was a legendary place would only reduce it to a cliché. It was more than that. It was a dream.

For the many musicians who worked the room and the fans who witnessed their artistry in action, it was a jazz Mecca personified. The dream not only lives in the collective memory of all involved, fortunately, many of the nights have been captured through the magic of recording. Some have been released commercially, some in the form of bootleg tapes, and still others in private collections only shared among the fortunate few.

The new building, when it was relocated across the street from the original

The intent of this piece is to shed some light on what’s been documented out there, explore the sound, and dig up the many layers of pavement on old memory lane.

The earliest recording is one of the finest. Recorded live at the El in 1980, it’s called Herb Pomeroy: Pramlatta’s Hips. It was produced by longtime Boston radio host Ron Della Chiesa for the Shiah label.

Marc Myers, a regular contributor to the Wall Street Journal and author of Why Jazz Happened, has written widely on the subject.

What’s in a name? He asked trombonist Hal Crook, the composer of the piece, “Pramlatta’s Hips.” "If I recall, back in the mid-1970s, I was reading a book written by a yogi and there was a story in it about this beautiful Indian woman named Pramlatta who seduced men and drove them mad with her hips. This suggested to me the sound of the music I had just written for Herb's band. So I called the song Pramlatta's Hips.”

When asked about the woman on the album jacket, Crook said, "I think the drawing on the cover may be of Betty [Loftin], a jazz singer from Georgia and Herb's wife at the time. She's the Betty from Benny Golson's tune, 'Along Came Betty.' When Pramlatta's Hips came out, everyone was very surprised by the cover. It was totally unexpected. Some loved it, some hated it. Sadly, Betty later died, and I remember everyone was shaken by her passing." 

Unfortunately, as of this writing, the album is still not yet released on CD. For more go here: http://www.jazzwax.com/2011/10/herb-pomeroy-pramlattas-hips.html

Another historic recording is The Count Basie Orchestra Live at El Morocco (under the direction of Frank Foster). Originally released on vinyl by the Telarc label, it is now available on CD through the Concord Music Group.

Recorded in the “Green Room” at the El on two nights, February 20-21, 1992, the album came out in June of that year. In addition to many of the hits from the Basie band book including, “Corner Pocket,” “Shiny Stocking,” and “One O’Clock Jump,” the repertoire includes a tune originally titled, “Easy As It Goes,” now renamed “A Night at the El Morocco,” in dedication to the Worcester venue. It was written by Melton Mutasfa, the trumpeter on the date, and like Dizzy Gillespie’s “Groovin’ High,” it was based on the standard, “Whispering.”

According to the liner notes, written by Don Elfman, the piece is a “tribute to the setting and to the graciousness of the Aboody family.” Special thanks also went out to Mary Mardirosian of WICN-FM “for her support and encouragement.”

Jazz radio host, Mary Mardirosian

For a sound sample of the tune go here:  http://www.myspace.com/music/player?sid=50808527&ac=now

Also see: “Corner Pocket:”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTdeXS4_c3g

For more go here: http://www.concordmusicgroup.com/albums/Count-Basie-Orchestra-Live-At-El-Morocco/

* Note: Saxophonist Boots Mussulli also wrote a tune for the room. It’s called “El Morocco” and can be found on his Capitol release, Little Big Man. 

Another commercially available CD is Jim Porcella and the Jeff Holmes Big Band release, You’ve Got That Look! with special guest Dick Johnson Live at the El Morocco. Recorded in 1994 by Signature Sound, the disc features a dozen tunes including two written by Porcella and the title track by Holmes. 

Saxophonist Dick Johnson on soprano

In his liner notes Fred Bouchard said: “Man-with-a-horn-about-town Dick Johnson is a natural guest of honors (alto spots smoke ‘Georgia’ and ‘Teach Me,’ clarinet lifts off ‘S Wonderful) for his reed magic and bandsmanship…. A final element in this ethereal equation is the El Morocco audience; two generations have clamored at the pointy doors overlooking Worcester for the baba ganoosh and big band push.”   

For sound samples of the disc go here: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/porcella1

Vocalist, former radio programmer, and TV host, Toni Ballard captured a collection of live performances that were recorded at variety of venues throughout the city. They were presented on her outstanding program, "Studio 3." Three were taped at the El Morocco. They include:

Jack Pezanelli --  http://www.jazzhistorydatabase.com/content/media/studio_3/jazz_videos_41-60.html

Amy Rome w/bassist Ray Appleman

Amy Rome -- http://www.jazzhistorydatabase.com/content/media/studio_3/jazz_videos_41-60.html

Jim Porcella and the Jeff Holmes Big Band  http://www.jazzhistorydatabase.com/content/media/studio_3/jazz_videos_1-20.html

To see a Ballard report on the restaurant, go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxuPnSP61iY

For many years radio station WCUW 91.3 FM at 910 Main Street presented live jazz shows in Worcester. 






Best known for offering cutting edge artists such as Archie Shepp, Max Roach, and Jaki Byard at venues such as the New England Repertory Theatre, the Worcester Artist Group, and the planetarium at the Ecotarium, for a couple of years they produced shows at the El as well, including:  

Emily Remler – http://www.jazzhistorydatabase.com/content/events/wcuw_jazz_festivals/1985.html?zoom_highlight=Kenny+Werner

Kenny Werner

http://www.jazzhistorydatabase.com/content/events/wcuw_jazz_festivals/1985.html?zoom_highlight=Kenny+Werner

Marty Ehrlich

http://www.jazzhistorydatabase.com/content/events/wcuw_jazz_festivals/1985.html?zoom_highlight=Kenny+Werner

Saxophonist Bob Mover

A spate of private recordings was also captured at the El. Here is one of the best:  

Bob Mover –

http://www.attictoys.com/BobMover/Bob_Mover_discography.php

Charlie Rouse

A couple of bootlegs have been passed around by collectors over the years. They include: Charlie Rouse with special guest Emil Haddad on trumpet and the Mike Metheny Quartet.

Videos

Some notable videos also are circulating recently on facebook, including the Rebecca Parris Quartet with special guest Emil Haddad.

Rebecca Parris

As mentioned, the El Morocco was a dream. 

Here is a partial list (in no particular order) of other performers who made it so dreamlike.

(In the Nile Room)

• Freddie Hubbard
• Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis and Harry “Sweets” Edison
• Makoto Ozone
• Bobby Shew
• Chet Baker
• Joe Turner
• Roomful of Blues
• Ahmad Jamal ...                                                                             

Scott Hamilton/Warren Vache in the Nile Room at the El

• Ruby Braff
• Dick Johnson
• Philly Joe Jones
• Red Rodney
• Etta Jones and Houston Person
• Jerry Bergonzi – Con Brio
• Richard Carr Pro Bow Trio
• Shorty Rogers
• Scott Hamilton
• John Pizzarelli
• Richie Cole
• Mark Murphy
• Chris Neville
• Art Farmer
• Warren Vache
• Mike Turk
• Joanne Brackeen

Gray Sargent, Emil Haddad and Dave McKenna in the Green Room at the El

In the Green Room

• The Buddy Rich Band
• The Count Basie Orchestra, under the direction of Frank Foster
• Dave McKenna, Donna Byrne, Gray Sargent and Marshall Wood

*Note: This is a work in progress. Comments, corrections, and suggestions are always welcome at: walnutharmonicas@gmail.com. Also see: www.worcestersongs.blogspot.com. Thank you.

Resources

http://cf.telegram.com/submissions/gonebutnotforgotten.cfm?CATEGORY=ELMOROCCO

  

http://worcesterscene.com/foodies/el-morocco/

http://www.jazzhistorydatabase.com/search/search.php?zoom_query=El&zoom_per_page=200&zoom_and=0&zoom_sort=1

http://worcesterma.blogspot.com/2011/03/el-morcco.html

http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=david_n_orth&id=I01208

http://nejazz.org/pdf/TakTakvorian.pdf

http://www.tvclip.biz/video/fxuPnSP61iY/the-famous-el-morocco-of-worcester.html

The Plymouth and its pilgrims

By David "Chet" Williamson Sneade

In the early days of jazz, long before the music was codified and taught in academia, the magical mysteries of the music were -- as the old-timers would say – “learned on the bandstand.”

A collection of Saxtrum Club's founding members with Jaki Byard at far right, front row 

Mentoring was the key to the highway. Up and coming players gathered information heard on radio, recordings, books, and from other practitioners. Role models were where you found them.

To rub elbows with professionals was rare, especially of the touring kind. To play with the jazz stars of the day was virtually unheard of -- unless of course you were fortunate enough to find them at an after-hours jam session.

Barney Price singing with saxophonists Guido Grandpietro and Howie Jefferson

Here in Central New England, the musicians of the “Greatest Generation” -- those born in the Depression and fought in WWII -- created a local venue that attracted some of best and brightest players of the day.

It was called the Saxtrum Club, a musician’s cooperative located in the Laurel/Clayton neighborhood. The Plymouth Theater (now called the Palladium) at 261 Main Street was its wellspring.

Plymouth interior

The great pianist Jaki Byard was one of the club’s founders. In an interview with Len Lyons for his book, The Great Pianists, Byard said, “It was a private club organized by a few of us musicians. We used to jam and hold rehearsals there. The jam sessions were usually started after midnight.

Young Jaki

“There was a nearby theater where the big names played, and they used to come in to jam with us: Joe Venuti, Basie, the members of Stan Kenton’s early orchestra. I was sixteen, and I guess I originated the name, Saxtrum, for sax, trumpet, and drums. I was playing trumpet at the time with a local band led by Howie Jefferson.”

Young Barney Price

Young Howie Jefferson

In Worcester jazz lore, tales  of legendary figures such as Roy Eldridge, Chu Berry, Herschel Evans, Gene Krupa, and a young singer named Frank Sinatra burned the midnight oil at the club in jam sessions that still conjure tales for the ages. This, of course, was after completing their public performance at the Plymouth.

Plymouth Lobby

In 1941 alone, Basie, Venuti, as well as Cab Calloway, Fats Waller, Ina Ray Hutton, Charlie Barnet, Louie Prima, and the Ink Spots headlined the Plymouth’s marquee. 

Local musicians to benefit from such nights eventually became national players themselves -- Byard, Barbara Carroll, Don Asher, Bobby Holt, Murray Guarlnick, Paul Kokunen, Ockie Menard, Lou Mercuri  and Don Fagerquist, just to name a few --  not to mention local heroes like Emil Haddad, Eddy Shamgochian, Rockie Blunt, and co-founders Howie Jefferson and Barney Price, who were presented with travel opportunities, but opted to stay home.   

The impact, influence, and inspiration drawn from these musical encounters were immeasurable. In a 1969 interview with writer Ev Skehan, saxophonist Howie Jefferson said, “I remember Sam Donahue comin’ into the club and sittin’ in his tenor case and wailin’ right through about 20 choruses of ‘Indiana’ without ever comin’ up for air. Main, that cat could blow.”

The dates of these exchanges are difficult to pin down. The Saxtrum Club dates roughly from 1938 to some time in the war years. In the years that the club was open, virtually every name act and big band on the touring circuit played Worcester. Unfortunately, most of the Saxtrum's more than 100 members are now gone. 

In addition to those mentioned, other club members include: Ralph Briscott, Dick Murray, Harold Black, Jude Wade, Dave Robertson, Dick Adshead, Joe Ferrazano, Tony Finelli, Phil Scott, Bill Toney, Kenny Proctor, Eddie Dolbare, Al Mercury, Billy Halbeck, Hal Drelinger, Eddie Temple, Benny Hurwitz, Franny O’Connor, Moe Batchelder, Lou Levine, Mary Conlin, and Bert Hardin. Other musicians active in that period who may have jammed at the club were Eddie Dolbare, Luke Myers, Pete and Alice Price, Morgan Sorrell, Tony Mandel, Rod Ford, Miff George and Gretchen Morrow.  

Another regular at the Saxtrum was Al Hirt. “Old Jumbo was stationed up at Fort Devens,” Jefferson said. “It got so he was at the club every Saturday night.”

Al "Jumbo" Hirt

These names represent the deepest bench of jazz musicians Worcester has ever offered. The historic Plymouth Theater, built in the late 1920s, was a 3,000-seat venue situated on the corner of Main and Central streets. The Saxtrum Club was located in a storefront on the corner of Glenn and Clayton Street (Plumley Village today), less than a mile away.

In the early 1940s, the Plymouth would showcase acts for three nights. “Tuesdays nights they tore the roof off the Saxtrum Club, Skehan said. "The name bands would arrive in Worcester on Monday for a three-day engagement at the Plymouth. Having traveled many miles by bus or car, they’d all fall into the Saxtrum as soon as their gig was over at the Plymouth. 

"They’d play until the early hours of the morning, challenging the local musicians with new ideas and sounds. Then, on Wednesday night, the band would finish at the Plymouth and be back on the road. It was a ritual each musician looked forward to whenever he came to Worcester.”

According to Skehan, out of these sessions the Saxtrum Club’s reputation spread far beyond the confines of Worcester, drawing national attention. “Musicians from all over the country knew that here was a place where jazz men got together to exchange ideas, to create, to “carve” each other, and to help each other. They loved it. The freedom of expression and impromptu jazz sessions that typified the Saxtrum Club spread quickly through the area. Before long musicians were beating a path to the club’s door.”

Skehan also contends that at the same time that the Saxtrum Club “really began to swing, the big-name bands were appearing at the Plymouth Theater.” He lists such national acts as Tommy Reynolds, Scat Davis, Gene Krupa, Chu Berry, Carl Hoff, Roy Eldridge, Anita O’Day, Cozy Cole, Cab Calloway, Sam Donahue, Charlie Ventura, and many others made frequent visits to the club and “sat in” with the local musicians.”

Other names rumored to make the trek from the Plymouth to the Saxtrum include Hershel Evans, Lucky Millender, Fats Waller, Charlie Ventura, Anita O’Day, and Don Byas -- all conceivable given their documented Worcester public appearances at the time. 

As the war raged in Europe, more and more young Worcester musicians laid down their instruments and picked up arms to join the fight.   

“In the early 1940s many of the local musicians went into the armed forces,” Skehan wrote. “This was the end of the Saxtrum Club. Although the few members who stayed out of the service tried to keep the club alive, things just weren’t the same. Funds soon ran out and the club was abandoned.”

Through name changes, a variety of owners, and its recent dodging of the wrecking ball, the Plymouth Theater continued to stage national acts. Although nary a jazz musician graces the bill today, every starlit evening the ghosts of yesterday make a bee-line to the corner of Glenn and Clayton streets to wake up the dawn with music.

*Note: This is a work in progress. Comments, corrections, and suggestions are always welcome at: walnutharmonicas@gmail.com. 

Please check out my other features at: www.worcestersongs.blogspot.com. Thank you. 

Resources 

http://www.cinematour.com/tour/us/13478.html

http://www.jazzhistorydatabase.com/content/musicians/blunt_roscoe_rocky/biography.php

http://theatrehistoricalsociety.wordpress.com/2012/07/13/demolition-permit-sought-for-palladium-worcester-mass/

http://theatrehistoricalsociety.wordpress.com/2013/01/03/worcester-ma-palladium-theater-sold-for-1-48-million/

http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2011/10/em-loews-261-main-st-worcester-ma.html

http://www.jazzhistorydatabase.com/jazz_history_musicians/shamgochian_ed/sham-bio.html

http://www.jazzhistorydatabase.com/content/musicians/blunt_roscoe_rocky/biography.php

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/'Hood+lives+in+memory,+in+the+heart.-a0167751415

Boogie-Woogie Boy Bobby Holt

By David "Chet" Williamson Sneade

Although he played with Emil Haddad, one of Central New England’s best-known musicians, pianist Bobby Holt is a largely forgotten name in the annals of local jazz history. 



Given the fact that he also played with national acts the likes of Will Bradley, Ina Ray Hutton, and Al Hirt, his profile should be much more recognized.

By most accounts, Bobby Holt was a self-taught pianist, but his mother played the keyboard in the family home. He was somewhat of a child prodigy. At 9, he led his own band, the Kandy Kids, and appeared every Friday at 6:45 p.m. on WORC radio. According to the Worcester Directory, the family lived at 75 Grove Street at the time of Bobby's birth.

Bandleader Eddy “Sham” Shamgochian recalls first hearing him in the 1930s with fellow drummer Eddie Dolbare’s band. “That was a good little band,” he said. “They had a great guitarist by the name of Lou Mercuri [who went on to play with Claude Thornhill]. Bobby was a couple of years older. He was very fine player.”

Eddie Dolbare's Band

According to Worcester Telegram & Gazette writer Ev Skehan, Holt was a regular at the Saxtrum Club, a storefront in the Laurel/Clayton neighborhood owned and operated by young jazz musicians. There, Holt got to test his mettle among such local piano players as Jaki Byard, Don Asher, and Barbara Carroll.

Art Hodes

This was before WWII, in the late 1930s, when Holt was still a teenager. He spent three years at North High School, where he sang in the Boys Glee Club. Holt loved to play the emerging blues piano style known as boogie-woogie, best exemplified by Pete Johnson, Albert Ammons, and Meade Lux Lewis. His favorite player was a “two-fisted blues traditionalist” name Art Hodes, whom he later befriended.

Young Bobby in action

In his book, The Story of Boogie-Woogie: A Left Hand Like God, author Peter J. Silvester stated: “A friendship with Art Hodes assisted [Holt] with the mastery of the boogie-woogie style, which he played with conviction.”

Holt’s break came in 1941 when he received a call to join a national touring band led by trombonist and bandleader Will Bradley of "Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar" fame. “Holt was leading a band in Worcester, Massachusetts, when the call came,” Silvester said. “Before that he had spent 1940 working in New York attempting to gain recognition for his piano playing,” Silvester said.

 

Although the opportunity to tour and record for the first time came with Bradley band, Holt’s stay was not long, only two months. He did hang long enough to ask Bradley to be the godfather of Holt’s daughter, Linda.

Holt’s departure was covered by Downbeat, who reported that he was replaced by Billie Maxted for its opening night at the Hotel Astor in Times Square. No other reason was given. Although it is assumed that Bradley was looking to shed his reputation as a band that played boogie-woogie music.

On the road with the Bradley band 

Ray McKinley, Don Goldberg, and young Bobby

“In 1941, Bradley made public his views about the band’s boogie-woogie policy, saying he did not want to be known as the King of Boogie-Woogie, particularly as being misapplied to any music associated with jitterbugs,” Silvester said.

Prior to Holt’s arrival, pianist Freddie Slack was featured and a tremendous draw in the Bradley band, along with the drumming and singing of Ray McKinley. According to Silvester, fans expected to see Slack hammering out his signature eight-to-the-bar beat. “Freddie Slack should be credited with introducing several new ideas into his boogie-woogie interpretations and his arrangements of orchestrated boogie-woogie pieces,” he said. “His efforts probably helped to make boogie-woogie acceptable to a wider audience by removing much of the elemental treble dissonance and introducing in its place catch melodies that could be whistled or hummed and lyrics that were in keeping with the ‘hep cat’ attitudes of popular American culture of the 1940s.”

This Billboard ad highlights the fact Bradley is featuring drummer Shelly Manne and pianist "Bobbie Holt."

In describing the piano work of Holt, Silvester asserted that, “More than any other white pianist playing boogie-woogie at the time, Holt experimented with playing new and complex basses. The effect was highly original and contrapuntal form of 
boogie-woogie.”  

Bobby on stage 

Holt scuffled around New York working with such stars as Ray McKinley and Ina Ray Hutton. As WWII began to intensify in Europe, Holt set aside the music to join in the war effort. On September 28, 1942, he traveled to Springfield, MA and enlisted in the Army Air Corps. His occupation at the time of enlistment was “musician and teacher of music.” He is listed as being 5’ 6” tall, weighing 122 pounds, and married.

After the war, Sgt. Holt returned to town and opened a teaching studio in the Day Building in downtown Worcester where he taught the “modern piano method.”  He and his young family lived at 22 William Street.

He also hooked up with drummer Ed Shamgochian, whose ensemble became the house band at the Ye Old Tavern in West Brookfield. The group also played summers at the Sea Crest Beach Hotel in Falmouth on the Cape. Other members included Emil Haddad, Paul Burby, Eddie Defino, and Teddy Lane.

In 1948, Holt appeared with George Robinson’s orchestra at the Moors, a nightclub and showcase in Shrewsbury. However, before the year was out, he re-enlisted in the military and for the next 26 years was a working pianist in the Unites States Air Force.

Burby, Holt, Sham, Defino, and Haddad

Originally stationed at Westover Air Force, Chicopee, MA, Holt’s tour of duty took him to Waco, Texas; West Palm Beach, Fl.; Reykjavik, Iceland and the island of Guam. 

Upon retirement in 1969, Holt first settled in Chicopee and took a job teaching at the Cathedral High School in Wilbraham and taught privately. He also moonlighted as the pianist in the Teddy Lockwood Band.

His first wife, Vivian (Hallback) died in 1976 and Holt married Eileen Gelsone in 1977. The newly weds thought it was time to leave New England weather and headed south. She had family in Texas. Along the way, Holt decided to stop in New Orleans and look up old military friend Al Hirt. The two musicians were stationed together in Massachusetts during the war.

Talk about being in the right place at the right time. The renowned trumpeter’s pianist had just given his notice and offered Holt the gig. The Worcester-born pianist accepted and immediately Holt began working with Hirt culminating in an appearance on the Johnny Carson show. The program is dated at December 11, 1979, where the band played “Hot Lips and Sugar Blues.” 

Holt with Hirt in New Orleans

The Holts settled into Metairie, Louisiana. She was a nurse and Bobby played at Hirt’s nightclub in New Orleans. After 10 months of the late nights in the Crescent City, the “City That Care Forgot,” the Holts moved on to Texas, where Eileen’s children (from a former marriage) had settled. The couple lived in the Kerrville/Fredricksville area. At this time, Holt was approaching 70, but continued to play in general business and jazz bands in town.  

 

Family members recall that Bobby started showing signs of memory loss as early 1993. He was later diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease, yet he continued to play the piano to the end. He died in San Antonio, Texas in 2001. In a gesture fitting this great American, a memorial service was held for Mr. Holt at the Park Congregational Church, 80 Russell St., here in Worcester.

Robert “Bobby” John Holt

DOB: June 13, 1921

DOD: June 22, 2001 

Special thanks to the Holt family for their assistance in the piece.

*Note: This is a work in progress. Comments, corrections, and suggestions are always welcome at: walnutharmonicas@gmail.com. Please check out my features on Worcester songwriters at: www.worcestersongs.blogspot.com. Thank you. 

Resources

http://books.google.com/books?id=wh8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA33&dq=Bobby+Holt+piano&hl=en&sa=X&ei=peEBUZq8MIeB0AHEwICgCw&ved=0CD0Q6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=Bobby%20Holt%20piano&f=false

http://books.google.com/books?id=tk8KcGuzPcYC&pg=PA249&dq=Bobby+Holt+piano&hl=en&sa=X&ei=peEBUZq8MIeB0AHEwICgCw&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=Bobby%20Holt%20piano&f=false

Eddie Sham

http://jazzhistorydatabase.com/files/scans/sham/fs-articles/06110335.jpg

http://books.google.com/books?id=yqiIxrsTFF0C&pg=PA249&lpg=PA249&dq=Worcester+Bob+Holt+piano&source=bl&ots=U3iekaVRzu&sig=GhYpYdgbIXUGhnGiAMDsPtSmMRo&hl=en&sa=X&ei=KG0YUOWiGYbm8QSJk4GoCQ&ved=0CEYQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=Worcester%20Bob%20Holt%20piano&f=false

Will Bradley

http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/artist/Bob+Holt/a/albums.htm

http://www.theastrocowboy.com/BB/SidemanHistory.htm

Lou Mercuri’s obit
http://articles.philly.com/2001-05-28/news/25302498_1_banjo-post-band-american-federation

Art Hodes obit

http://www.nytimes.com/1993/03/06/arts/art-hodes-a-pianist-known-for-the-blues-in-the-old-style-88.html

Ray McKinley

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PJI5Io6zPY

Holt with Bradley on record

http://www.search4jazz.com/2011/02/will-bradley-in-disco-order-volume-7.html