"Live" At White Beeches Country Club-October 1963
1.
One O'Clock Jump (Ensemble) 2. Little Slew Foot (Chris Griffin) 3.
Royal Garden Blues (Pee Wee Irwin) 4. Bluesette (Dick Hyman) 5. South
Rampart Street Parade (Ensemble)
6. Track 6 (?) (Bernie Privin) 7. When Sonny Gets Blue (Carl Kress) 8. Big Noise From Winetka (Bob Haggart-Sonny Igoe)
9. St. Louis Blues (Cutty Cutshall/Lou McGarrity) 10. Sing, Sing, Sing (Ensemble) 11. After You've Gone (Bob Wilbur)
In 1962, my family lived in
Manhasset, NY and I had just celebrated my eighteenth birthday, and
enjoyed my first "legal" alcoholic beverage. Three weeks later, we
moved from Manhasset, to Dumont, NJ where we became members of the
White Beeches
Country Cub in Haworth, NJ. (And I once again became under aged since
the drinking age in NJ was twenty-one!) We had our own entrance right
onto the eighteenth tee where I
foolishly practiced my golf swing, and gave up more than my fair share
of
Dunlops to the pond. Ed Prodigo (director) asked my father, Chris
Griffin (trumpet player with Benny
Goodman, Harry James, Ziggy Elman, Ed Sullivan, Jackie Gleason, Frank
Sinatra, etc) if
he would bring in his own Big Band for a special night of entertainment
at the club. Well, my dad pulled together a band worthy of a "who's
who" list of Jazz Greats...straight out of the history books. What a
special night it turned out to be and fortunately, it was captured on
tape. Throughout the years of technological revolutions, paradigm
shifts and worm holes, I have managed to
preserve the music as I converted it from tape, to vinyl, back to tape,
to cassette, to CD and finally to MP3.
The nostalgia and
the enjoyment of that evening are here for anyone who would
care to travel back to a moment in musical history, that took place in
October of 1963 at White Beeches CC. 6. Track 6 (?) (Bernie Privin) 7. When Sonny Gets Blue (Carl Kress) 8. Big Noise From Winetka (Bob Haggart-Sonny Igoe)
9. St. Louis Blues (Cutty Cutshall/Lou McGarrity) 10. Sing, Sing, Sing (Ensemble) 11. After You've Gone (Bob Wilbur)
I began my own trumpet playing career with Fred Waring, and he would open his show with the statement: "Music is meant to be shared!" As a performer, I came to realize that once the music left the end of my trumpet, it became a memory...Years of study and practice culminating in a singular effort, but gone forever! Unless.....? I was fortunate to have enjoyed a successful recording career in the UK with the BBC, and with my own band, Force Ten. Returning to the U.S. in 1982, and after my career was abruptly ended when I fell from a stage, I have endeavored to compile and preserve our music. To that end, I have up linked much of the audio/video that we have produced over the years to: Griffin House Productions.
My Dad passed away on Father's Day, 2005, and this web page is a tribute not only to him, but to all of the great musicians of an era gone bye. Please feel free to share this music and keep their memory alive.
This site seems to
work best with the browsers Google Chrome, and Internet Explorer. The
music should self-load and play.
Featuring:
|
Trumpets: |
Chris Griffin
(Leader) Pee Wee Irwin, Bernie Privin, Jimmie Nottingham |
| Trombones: |
Cutty Cutshall, Lou McGarrity |
| Sax/Clarinet: |
Bob
Wilbur |
| Guitar: |
Carl
Kress |
| Piano: |
Dick Hyman |
| Bass: |
Bob Haggart |
| Drums: |
Sonny Igoe |
 Chris Griffin & Jimmy Nottingham |
 Chris Griffin |
 Chris Griffin & Yogi Berra |
 Chris Griffin & Ed Sullivan |
 Chris Griffin & Dizzy Gillespie |
 Chris & Son, Paul |
 Bernie Privin |
 Pee Wee Irwin |
 Sonny Igoe |
 Bob Haggart |
 Dick Hyman |
 Bob Wilbur |
 Lou McGarity |
 Cutty Cutshall |
 Carl Kress |
Griffin House Productions