Hot
4: Preservation Hall with Duke Dejan
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CD
“Preservation Hall Hot
4 with Duke Dejan”- Preservation Hall’s
first recording by a quartet. Featuring sweet and poignant
vocals by the legendary Harold “Duke” Dejan,
founder of the Olympia Brass Band, captured here in
his final recorded performance.
HAROLD “DUKE” DEJAN played saxophone from
deep, deep down in his soul. His voice was strong and
full from years of singing outdoors over a brass band
without a microphone. Duke continued singing with his
Olympia Band at their weekly performances at Preservation
Hall after a stroke in the late 1980’s left him
partially paralyzed and unable to play the horn. The
Olympia were his family...
...and the Hall his home.
Duke--everyone in New Orleans called Harold “Duke”--
gave me my first professional gig as a musician marching
with the Olympia Brass Band in a parade on Mardi Gras
Day. He founded the Band in the 1950’s, the sound
of his saxophone soaring high above the brass in constant
harmony. I was 11 years old and played a small horn called
a baritone. My dad, Allan, played tuba with the Olympia
Brass Band which accounts for some of the reason Duke
gave me a shot. (Duke was also as he liked to brag my “piran,” or “godfather” in
Creole, which probably accounts for the rest of the reason.)
Even with the chord changes taped to the bell of my horn,
the band always seemed two steps ahead, with me three
bars behind. Occasionally Duke looked my way with an
approving wink or nod. Asked how I was doing, Duke replied, “Everything’s
lovely.”
I grew up celebrating holidays at Duke’s house,
overwhelmed and amazed at the collection of photographs,
awards, posters and plaques that covered every inch of
every wall, a shrine (in progress) to his travels around
the world, his family, and his life in music. I never
saw Duke get upset or angry, raise his voice, or ever
have a bad thing to say about anyone. Everything was
always “lovely.” The Olympia performed for
every kind of event, from picnics to conventions, parades,
holiday parties, and jazz funerals. Duke was a constant
presence in our lives. He regularly showed up at our
house, driving his red Mustang. We were always ready
to join him as he announced himself by his distinctive
whistle. Dad gently slid his tuba into the back seat,
I squeezed in, and off we’d go to the next job.
When I had the idea to record a smaller version of the
Preservation Hall Band, it was natural that Duke be a
guest vocalist. We had no idea what songs we were going
to record. Duke chose the tunes, some he hadn’t
played in years. Some we didn’t know. It took me
back to that parade with the Olympia, so many years ago,
searching for the right notes, playing old songs that
were new to me. Now instead of the baritone, I played
the bass. I asked Duke how he was feeling. He had just
turned 88, and with his ever present smile he turned
to me and said the phrase we all knew him by, “Everything’s
lovely.” And it was.
Liner Notes by Benjamin Jaffe
PRESERVATION HALL HOT 4
with DUKE DEJAN
1 Corrina, Corrina
(Traditional, arranged by Hot 4)
Wendell Brunious (vocals)
2 I’m Alone Because I Love You
I. Schuster, J. Young, M. Whitmark
(Sony/ATV Tunes LLC, Warlock Corp.)
Harold “Duke” Dejan (vocals)
3 Lady Be Good
George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin
( G. Gershwin Music, I. Gershwin Music, WB Music)
4 I’m Confessin’ (that I
Love You)
Don Dougherty, Al J. Neiburg, Ellis Reynolds, Graham
Roger, and Williams Spencer
(Bourne Co. c/o Ms. Beebe Bourne, and Irving Caesar Music
Corp. c/o WB Music
Harold “Duke” Dejan (vocals)
5 Ain’t She Sweet
Milton Ager, Jack Yellen
(WB Music, Edwin H. Morris Co. Division of MPL Communications)
Don Vappie (vocals)
6 Red Wing
Kerry Mills, Thurland Chattaway
(Shawnee Press Inc.)
7 Basin Street Blues
S. Williams
(Edwin H. Morris & Co. Inc.)
Harold “Duke” Dejan (vocals)
8 Dinah
Harry Akst, Sam Lewis, and Joe Young
(Morley Music Co.)
9 Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams
Harry Barris, Ted Koehler, Billy Moll
(Shapiro Bernstein and Co., Ted Koehler Music co. c/o
Fred Ahlert Music Corp.)
Don Vappie (vocals)
10 If I Had My Life to Live Over
Moe Jaffe, Henry Tobias, Larry Vincent
(Colgems EMI Music Inc., WB Music Corp.)
Harold “Duke” Dejan (vocals) all selections
ASCAP except Corrina, Corrina
Recorded September 19, 1996, at Ultrasonic Studios,
New Orleans, Louisiana
Produced by Benjamin Jaffe
Engineered by Steve Reynolds
Mastered by Adam Ayan at Gateway Mastering
Coordination for Preservation Hall Recordings:
Murf Reeves, Howard Lambert
Photographs by Carolyn Fernandez
and Graphic design by David Cohen for Gravy Design
Don Vappie appears courtesy of Vappielle Records |
