1957
Tuesday, March 26, 1987
University Daily Kansan
Satchmo Says, 'We're Not There Yet, But We're Gettin' It'
Page 3
By JERRY THOMAS
(Daily Kansan Associate Editor)
When Louis Armstrong started playing in the Student Union Saturday night most of the students danced. Some sat in the chairs lined along the dance floor and just listened. They had front row seats.
But that doesn't mean there wasn't movement. Strangglers at the back of the crowd kept moving from place to place trying to see better or trying to find a hole large enough to move through to get closer to the bandstand.
One of over a dozen cameramen would move in front of a front row spectator for a moment. There would be a quick flash and the camerman would go on to a new position.
Then more students began to crowd into the room. The band played one of the old, hot Dixieland favorites. Students who had been dancing moved to the front of the bandstand. Those who had had a front row seat stood up to watch Louis and his band perform.
Only scattered couples were dancing by the time the band had been playing 15 minutes. The rest of the students, about 2,500, were packed as close as they could get to the bandstand. The dance had become another concert.
Each In A Different Way
Each member of the crowd took his jazz in a different way. The expression on some faces did not change. Some did not move except to find a more comfortable standing
position. Others sat at the end of the dimly lighted dance floor away from the crowd and the bandstand. They leaned back in chairs with eyes closed and only moved to say an occasional word to a date or to pull out a cigarette.
Some tapped their feet and others moved almost their whole body in rhythm with the music. One girl stood in the front row in front of the microphone. Her body swayed with the music. When the band would start a buildup for a particularly wild piece she would begin slowly to smile. The smile would grow larger as the tempo of the music increased and by the time the number was over she would be laughing.
On the bandstand the members of Louis' troupe were taking it as if they were used to crowds and reactions like that. They were. But there were few signs of strain for a group that was running on such a rugged schedule.
Sometimes the whole crowd would start applauding spontaneously for a particularly good piece. Sometimes yells and crys of "Go, go, go" made it impossible to hear the music.
Friday night they had played a concert in Lincoln, Neb. They had just finished a 2-hour concert in Hoch Auditorium. They played in the Union for an hour and a half before taking a break. Sunday night they were to play in St. Joseph, Mo.
The piano player smiled and yelled something to a spectator who
had asked him a question. Louis shook hands with his trombone player after they had teamed up to do a good number.
One of the spectators kept requesting numbers. The drummer would lean down, hear the request and shake his head as he sat back up and then leaned low down over his drums. The band did not have the numbers in its repertoire.
Each member of the band had a metal drinking cup filled with ice water. Louis wet his mouth from a glass about every 10 minutes. Every 15 or 20 minutes he would get a new white handkerchief. He never plays without holding a handkerchief. He never uses the same one very long.
New Handkerchief Often
"Hey, Louis, when are you going to Moscow?" someone yelled.
Midway through the set the clarinet player stepped up to the microphone for a solo. Louis moved to the back of the bandstand and sat down to smoke a cigarette. Various members of the crowd who were close to the stand began talking to him. Some of them shoved pencils and programs or slips of paper at him for an autograph.
"No autographs now, please," Louis said. "You can all have a chance later at intermission."
'I'm watin' for the visa now.
About 45 minutes later the band took a break and moved into a room upstairs.
I'll bring the East and the West together. Them cats can't say no to my music."
In the room a man from one of the local radio stations had set up a tape recorder. The first 10 minutes of Louis' rest was spent in an interview.
Then a man at the door began letting in a few students at a time for autographs. One student said a few words to Armstrong. Louis turned to one of the members of the band.
"Give this cat a picture," he said. He autographed the picture in green ink across the bottom. "Be careful now and let that dry."
The Band In Private
Finally the door was locked and the band had its first privacy in several hours.
"We're gettin' it. We're gettin' it," Louis said. "We're not there yet but we're gettin' it.
One of the members of the band mentioned a piece that had gone well.
"Pops, I sure like that song," Velma Middleton said. "Every time the band plays it I break up."
Talk shifted to a movie Louis had
"Yeah, we're gettin' it," Louis said.
made recently. The band had received several clipped copies of reviews of a private showing. Louis had not seen them.
"Are they good ones or bad ones?" he asked.
"Well, you know that one reviewer that gives stars. She gave it four. That meant excellent, Pops," Velma said.
"That wasn't one of those Hollywood type things was it, Louis?" Edmond Hall, the clarinet player asked. "Wasn't it one of those things they call a documentary?"
"I don't care what they calls it as long as it gets four stars," Louis said. "That's the main thing-those four stars. They liked it."
"Here Fops, keep these. Lillian (Mrs. Armstrong) will want to see them." Velma handed the reviews, across the table to Louis.
"Yeah, I want to put them in my scrapbook, anyway."
Someone came to the door and said that the basketball team would arrive soon.
"Well, let's go blow some somethin' for them," Louis said. The members of the band stepped on cigarettes, took another sip of water, and headed for the door. "Yeah, let's go blow."
The break was over. The troupe headed back for the bandstand for another set.
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