FROM THE ARCHIVES - January 13, 1957

 

On January 13, 1957 George A. Borgman, music teacher at the Pershing County High School in Lovelock, Nevada, attended the state meeting of the Nevada Music Educators Association in Tonpah, Nevada.

In a months time he will be married to a fellow Lovelock, Nevada teacher Janet C. Ferroli.

 

 

READ ABOUT PETE PELIGIAN IN THE LAST "FROM THE ARCHIVES" ENTRY!

Mainly Morton - Geoff Cole's Red Hot Seven CD Review - George A. Borgman

Bill Bissonnette is the producer of this fine recording by British musicians brought together by trombonist Geoff Cole to perform tunes that were either written by Jelly Roll Morton, played by his Hot Five or are performed here in the style of the Hot Five.

Cole is one of the better trombone players to grace the world today. Alan Elsdon has no peers on the trumpet and Tony Pyke is splendid on his solos and leads on the clarinet and alto saxophone. What a front line!

And the rhythm section is just as good. Pat Hawes is a gem on the piano, especially when he is accompanying the soloists on the front line.

This is, no doubt, one of the better recordings to be released on the Jazz Crusade label and it is most certainly recommended for anyone interested in music that was associated with the great Jelly Roll Morton. - George A. Borgman, IAJRC Journal

Louis Nelson/Alton Purnell with Dave Brennan's Jazzmen CD Review - George A. Borgman

Two famous New Orleans jazz musicians are featured on this recording. The common denominator between the two sessions is the group known as Dave Brennan's Jazz Band. They support well both Nelson & Purnell, who do not play together on any of the tunes.

The Nelson renditions are a bit disappointing, not because of his playing, which is exceptional on many of his solos, but in the poor balance due to the misplacement of one or more mikes. Since Nelson is being featured, his trombone is louder than the other instruments, even when he is playing accompaniment to someone else's solo or melodic lead. Over There, that great George M. Cohan tune from World War I, is performed very well by Nelson and the group who give it a jazz flavor.

Purnell displays a great left hand on Alton's Boogie and he takes an exceptional solo on the Original Dixie Jass Band One-Step. He and the frontliners provide excellent accompaniment to his vocal on I'm Putting All My Eggs In One Basket. He sings splendidly on I Want A Little Girl. The audio balance on the Purnel tracks is much better than that on Nelson's.

This recording, especially the Alton Purnel renditions is mostly for fans of jazz that was performed in New Orleans in the early 1970s.  - George A. Borgman, IAJRC Journal

I'm Putting All My Eggs Into One Basket - Alton Purnell, Rotherham, England November, 24 1974

Memories of a Jazz Journalist - Part Four - Cellist Bob Ripley

Here George A. Borgman briefly remembers his 1996 interview with cellist Bob Ripley, who incidentally, lived only a few streets over from him in Massachusetts.

 

I interviewed Bob Ripley at my house. Ripley spent nine years with the Cleveland Symphony in addition to 40 years with the Boston Symphony. He played cello. During World War II he was in Glenn Miller's Army Air Corps Band, both in the United States and England. He provided me with priceless information concerning the Miller band and Miller's disappearance.

I have a two-CD set of some of the lost Glenn Miller Army Air Corps Orchestra recordings which Bob Ripley played cello on, when the band recorded in England. It was a great interview. I used bits of it for my column in The Mississippi Rag and for a longer story in Joslin's Jazz Journal.

Bob Ripley plays on this recording of Smoke Gets in Your Eyes 

recorded in England in November 1944.

CHECK OUT PART FIVE

Joseph F. Lamb Biography References George A. Borgman's Work

George A. Borgman's article "Joseph F. Lamb, Classic Ragtimer, Part 1," which was published in the August 2001 Mississippi Rag was referenced in the 2012 biography Joseph F. Lamb: A Passion for Ragtimeby Carol J. Binkowski.

Joseph F. Lamb was a noted ragtime composer who lived from 1887 to 1960. He is considered one of the three "big" ragtime composers along with Scott Joplin and James Scott. Here is Lamb's 1919 composition Bohemia as played by Florian Krüger.