Dad shared about this chapter in his life in an interview with Liz Morrison. The interview produced a "Sunspots" feature in the Morris newspaper. Thanks Liz for your efforts.
Dad's story is of interest to the UMM-oriented folks because of course Dad brought his musical commitment here in 1960. He established one of the building blocks for the U of M-Morris. He was the only music faculty in the institution's first year. He directed the first-ever music concert at the Morris Armory for a big county 4-H gathering. How appropriate for cementing the relationship between the institution and the broader community. The armory was located where the public library is now.
But let's get back to Dad's adventurous days when he honed much of his music ability. So I shall quote from Liz Morrison's writing.
Playing with Swifty: My father died of cancer when I was 16 years old, so I earned my way through college by playing trumpet in dance bands. During the school year, I played with Swifty Ellickson, a well-known Twin Cities band leader in the 1930s. At one of our dance jobs, Glenn Miller stopped by, and I had a chance to visit with him. His band was playing at the old Nicollet Hotel in Minneapolis.
Montana musician: During the summers I worked in dance bands at hotels in Glacier Park, Montana. I played trumpet and doubled on saxophone, clarinet, and violin. During dinner, I played piano concerts.
I performed at Glacier for four years. In the summer of 1940, I led the band.
The picture you see with this post suggests that Dad could have incorporated some jazz with early UMM music. One big problem: The broad public would not have been ready for it. It was a cultural thing. "Jazz" could be a touchy word and concept. Suggested lowlife or lowbrow in some ways, I guess. Seems strange to look back on now.
I'm reminded of Michael J. Fox performing "Johnny B. Goode" in one of the "Back to the Future" movies. "I guess you guys aren't ready for that yet, but your kids are going to love it."
Morris High School had a band director in the 1970s who did in fact lay the foundation for jazz, however he avoided the term "jazz band." He called it "stage band." With a wink, I guess. That director was John Woell.
Jazz burst forward with no inhibitions when a former student of my father's, Jim Carlson, made his triumphant return to UMM in 1979. So triumphant that within a few years (if not right away), the UMM Jazz Festival might have been the biggest annual event on the UMM calendar.
So it's bittersweet looking at the 1940 picture of Dad and the other "cats," as I realize he had the creds to do much the same kind of thing. He did everything else in UMM's first year, all sorts of ensembles.
Talk about bittersweet: Dad's biggest claim to fame was his UMM men's chorus. Such a gender-specific group came across as palatable for a time. But you know what happened: women's liberation with the old rules and expectations being deconstructed. And let me say, that was a good thing. It was overdue. Women got serious varsity sports opportunities. Imagine a world without that.
I don't think my father was sexist at all, it's just that he grew up in a different world. I do fear that a small part of him never left the 1930s. But that happens to a lot of us, being imbued with established norms from an earlier time. I am imbued with the cynicism that came from following the Vietnam war and other concerning issues from the 1960s and into the '70s. Electing Ronald Reagan was a good thing. What a classy human being. Today we see Republicans of an entirely different stripe.
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| Bill Stewart |
Other quotes from Liz's article:
Trail guide, too: In addition to performing every night at Glacier Park, during the day I guided horseback trips in the Rocky Mountains. I had practically grown up on horseback.
Clothes make the man: The real Montana cowboys used to give me their castoff riding clothes and boots, so I really did look like a cowboy. Then every night, I would get all dressed up in a tuxedo. I didn't usually tell people I guided up the mountain that I was also in the orchestra, and vice versa.
America on the cusp
Ah, 1940. "America First" was an influential organization. Charles Lindbergh was a prominent spokesperson. But the organization went down like a flaming wreckage when one thing happened: Pearl Harbor. So my father got into the Navy as lieutenant, headed to the Pacific. So unfortunate the world fell into the conflagration of war.
The big band sound was quite the thing in the war years. Glenn Miller hit his peak, then his plane vanished over the English Channel. My father was blessed to survive and to end up here in Morris with the start of our U of M branch in the 1960s. I was five years old.
We previously lived in the Twin Cities. I was baptized at Central Lutheran Church, Minneapolis, in 1955. I share reflections on that in my current "Morris of Course" post where you'll see a picture that I consider especially precious. I invite y'all to look:
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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