He met Leon
Bismark "Bix" Beiderbecke in November 1922.
The ODJB
"On a bitter cold night in January, 1917, five laughing
young men mounted the orchestra stand at Reisenweber's
Restaurant in New York City and began an engagement
that changed the course of American music. They were
the Original Dixieland Jazz Band from New Orleans." The Story of the Original Dixieland
Jazz Band by H. O. Brunn.
The original ODJB consisted of Nick LaRocca, cornet; Eddie Edwards,
trombone, Larry Shields, clarinet; Henry Ragas, piano, and Tony
Sbarbaro, drums. As time went by, the composition of the band changed.
Bunn describes the cirumstances associated with Shields leaving the ODJB: "The Original Dixieland Jazz
Band might have carried its successful tour into every state in the
union, had it not been for the replacement problems that continued to
haunt it. The temperamental Larry Shields, who had threatened to
quit so many times that his warning was no longer taken seriously,
submitted his two-week notice to LaRocca on November 29, just seven
days before the band was to begin its two-week run at Jack Fiegle's
Dance Palace in Philadelphia. Larry always hated New York, which he
called a "cheese town," and now the endless town-hopping and
living out of a suitcase had worn him down. Homesick for his wife, who
ran a beauty parlor in Hollywood, he was now determined to settle down
in California. He remained with the band for the duration of the Jack
Fiegle job, and on December 20, 1921, unscrewed his clarinet and packed
it neatly into its long, narrow box."
Larry Shields was
replaced by Art Seaberg. Brunn describes when Seaberg joined the ODJB:
"These were the conditions facing the Original Dixieland Jazz Band on April 10, 1922, when LaRocca, now recovered from pneumonia, reorganized his group for a two-week run at the Flatbush Theater in Brooklyn. Replacing Signorelli and Lytel, who were at the Balconades with the Original Memphis Five, were Artie Seabergon clarinet and Henry Vanicelli on piano. The original nucleus of LaRocca, Edwards, and Sbarbaro still remained intact."
Bix Meets the ODJB, November 1922.
On Sep
21, 1922, the Royal Harmonists of Indiana (Bix, Eddie Condon, Mervin
Rank, Johny Eberhardt and Wayne Hotstetter) opened at the Alhambra
Hotel in Syracuse, NY. The gig ended in late October and Bix went to
New York City where he met Nick LaRocca and the ODJB musicians. Bix left New York
in mid-Novembe. On his way to Davenport (Nov 20, 1922) he wrote to
Nick LaRocca.
The
clarinette player mentioned by Bix in his letter was Artie Seaberg.
Here is a photo of Artie with the
ODJB in late 1922 or early 1923.
Henry Vanicelli, p; Artie Seaberg, cl; Nick LaRocca, co;
Eddie Edwards, tp; and Tony Sbarbaro, d.
Another photo taken on the same day. Sbarbaro with a kazoo.
H. O. BrunninThe Story of the Original Dixieland Jazz Bandprovides an interesting account of Bix's visit with some of the musicians of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band.
The advent of sound movies had thrown hundreds of pit musicians out of work all over the city, and an enterprising jazzman could form a small combination by standing at the corner of Broadway and 47th Street and taking his pick of the tuxedoed union men who wandered by, instrument cases in hand, seeking jobs and ready to play at a moment's notice. One of these transient jazzmen was a popular cornetist named Leon Bismarck [sic] Beiderbecke, known simply as "Bix" to his many friends in the jazz underground. Bix and Artie Seaberg palled around together, being about the same age, and many were the times Artie paid Bix's train fare back home to Davenport, Iowa, when the cometist was flat broke from lack of work. Like most of the promising young musicians of his generation, Bix had first heard jazz on the famous Victor records of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band. His mother recalls how he would wait until the family had gone out for an evening, then sneak downstairs in his pajamas to play his comet to the accompaniment of the Dixieland's records, usually "Tiger Rag." Young Bix's reverence for LaRocca began at an early age and was a definite influence on his great cornet style. Bix hung around for a week, staying at LaRocca's hotel suite during the day and sitting quietly at a cafe table at night, hypnotized by the music he loved. Then LaRocca became worried over the possible consequences of harboring a minor and shipped the boy back to Davenport. This vivid boyhood experience must have carried its effect throughout all of the musician's life.
Artie Seaberg. Artie Seaberg was born Arthur Leonard Sjoberg. His birth record:
Artie had two sisters: Minnie, born Dec 1897 and
Irene, born
July, 1899. He also had two brothers: Gustave died at age 0 on Dec 3,
1902 and Ernest died on Oct 18, 1898 at age 2.
Edward Sojberg's occupation is listed as elevator man in the 1900 US
Census and his last name as Seaberg. He died in Brooklyn, NY on
June 15, 1912. Emma married David Bodquist. In 1920 (US Census),
Artie is living in Brooklyn NY with his stepfather and his
family. Artie's occupation is listed
as draftsman in ironwork.
Arthur
Seaburg
New York State Census, 1915
Name:
Arthur
Seaburg
Event
Type:
Census
Event
Date:
1915
Event
Place:
New
York, Kings, New York, United States
Gender:
Male
Age:
11
Relationship
to Head of Household:
Stepson
Birth
Year (Estimated):
1904
Years
in United States:
11
House
Number:
1215
Page:
08
Arthur
L Seaberg
United States Census, 1920
Name
Authur L Seaberg
Event
Type
Census
Event
Date
1920
Event
Place
Brooklyn Assembly District 9, Kings, New
York, United States
The Seattle Harmony
Kings were part of the Benson Circuit and included at this time the
legendary Rosy McHargue and the somewhat Bixian Earl Baker. The
following is
from Variety, Sep 9, 1925.
This is a short review of the appearance of the Seattle Harmony
Kings in the Cinderella Ballroom in Chicago from Variety, Dec 9, 1925:
The record labels and music files of Artie Seaberg's recordings with
the Seattle Harmony Kings.
Artie Seaberg was a generous man.
He helped 17-year
old Henry
Levine to become a
member of the ODJB.
From The Forgotten Ones: Henry Levine
by Nick Dellow, http://www.doctorjazz.co.uk/page37.html
"He was still at school when the chance came to play jazz
professionally. The year was 1925 and the ODJB were playing at the
Cinderella Ballroom. Things had changed since 1917 — the only original
member remaining was Tony Sbarbaro, now the group’s leader. Public
taste had changed too — “symphonic jazz”, which was simply dance music
often with no jazz solos whatsoever, had become popular after its
introduction by Paul Whiteman. But the ODJB were still well known, and
survived by playing the numbers that had made them famous. The band’s
clarinettist was now Artie Seaberg and it was he who got to hear about
the teenager from Brooklyn who could play pretty good Dixieland. The
band needed a new cornettist (La Rocca had returned to New Orleans), so
Seaberg got in contact with Levine and began coaching him.
Henry remembers his 17 week stint with the ODJB with obvious pleasure:
“That was a great job; in fact it was a ball. Along with Seaberg and
Sbarbaro there was Al Caplan on trombone and Wilder Chase on piano. I
was still at school at the time and did my homework on the subway.”
Finally, for an interesting comparison, I present youtube videos of
Toddlin' Blues by the ODJB and by the Rhythm Jugglers.
