HR: Historians Recount, Les historiens(ne)s racotent
Quebec
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Historian SHOWTIME
May Oliver and Hugette Swartz were and still are avid fans of jazz music. From the 1920’s to the 1970’s Montreal, Quebec was alive with the sound of jazz music. Canadian jazz musicians Oscar Peterson, Willey Girard and Maynard Ferguson, plus American jazz greats like Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday and Count Basie performed in the nightclubs that dotted the city.
Les Montréalaises May Oliver et Huguette Swartz étaient – et sont toujours – des passionnées de jazz. Des années 1920 aux années 1970, Montréal vibrait au son du jazz. Les musiciens canadiens Oscar Peterson, Willie Girard et Maynard Ferguson, et plusieurs grands noms du jazz des États-Unis, dont Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday et Count Basie, se produisaient dans les nombreux clubs de la ville.

MO: “Montrealer Willey Girard was the finest jazz violinist in America.
If he had left Montreal he would have been a worldwide star.

“There was [the nightclubs] Rockhead's, the Café St. Michel, the Tic Toc, the Chez Paree'umpteen!

“Louis Metcalf formed a group in Montreal. [Canadian] Wilkie Wilkinson on drums looked Norwegian, pianist 'Steep' Wade was Black American, Louie Metcalf was part Indian, Willie Girard was Francophone from Montreal, 'Butch' Watanabe was Japanese.

“We had Catholic, Baptist, Jewish. Seven men with seven different mixes of something or other. It was a matter of, you can bring Black and White [jazz musicians]. You can bring in somebody purple. It would have been fine. You were only there because of your music.

“Hey! Every year you live you learn something. As long as you keep curious about things, keep in touch, you don't ever think about what age you are anymore. Because you got the memories.

HS: “We spent hours just talking with Charlie Parker.”
Swinging in Paradise, The History of Jazz in Montreal.
Source Material/Documentation
  1. Véhicule Press www.vehiculepress.com
  2. Upstairs Jazz Club www.upstairsjazz.com
  3. Gilmore, John. Swinging in Paradise, The History of Jazz in Montreal. Montreal: Vehicule Press, 1988.