Paul Mares

Paul Mares (June 15, 1900 – August 18, 1949), was an American early dixieland jazz cornet & trumpet player, and leader of the New Orleans Rhythm Kings.

Mares was born in New Orleans. His father, Joseph E. Mares, played cornet with the military band at the New Orleans lakefront and ran a fur and hide business.

Like many New Orleans cornetists of his generation, Joe Mares's main influence was "King" Joe Oliver.

About 1919 cornetist Abbie Brunies was offered a job playing in Chicago, and passed the offer on to Mares. (Brunies thought his New Orleans position of doubling driving a taxi-cab and playing music was more secure than prospects in Chicago.)

Mares established himself as a respected band leader over a group of wild and strong willed musicians, as The New Orleans Rhythm Kings (N.O.R.K.) became one of the best regarded bands in Chicago in the early 1920s.

In late 1924 Mares returned to New Orleans. He decided to play music on the side while taking over the running of his family fur & hide business. He ran the business well and with his prosperity purchased 3 homes for himself and his relatives in New Orleans' new suburb of Metairie, Louisiana. Mares's Metairie home was the site of a legendary jam-session in 1929 where Bix Beiderbecke and the other jazz playing members of the Paul Whiteman Orchestra jammed with the local New Orleans jazz musicians.

Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings

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Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings are a blues-rock band founded and led by former Rolling Stones bass guitarist Bill Wyman.

Discography

Featured musicians

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New Orleans Rhythm Kings

The New Orleans Rhythm Kings (nicknamed NORK) were one of the most influential jazz bands of the early to mid-1920s. The band was a combination of New Orleans and Chicago musicians who helped shape Chicago Jazz and influenced many younger jazz musicians.

History of the band

The New Orleans Rhythm Kings in its earliest stages was the brainchild of drummer Mike "Ragbaby" Stevens, solely in that he sent the first telegram to Albert Brunies about going to Chicago to make a band and find better gigs than New Orleans had to offer. Albert "Abbie" Brunies and his younger brother and trombonist George Brunies were initially hesitant but suggested the idea to friend, trumpet player Paul Mares, who immediately lunged for the opportunity.

"So I says Paul, I says, Abbie don't want to go to Chicago and I'm kind of leery, I'm afraid", George recalled. "Paul says, 'man, give me that wire. I'll go.' So Paul went up [to Chicago] and introduced himself to Ragbaby Stevens and Ragbaby liked him… and Paul got the railroad fare from his father and sent me $60".

New Orleans

New Orleans (/nuː ˈɔːrlɪnz/,/nuː ˈɔːrliənz/, /nuː ɔːrˈliːnz/, or /ˈnɔːrlənz/; French: La Nouvelle-Orléans [la nuvɛlɔʁleɑ̃]) is a major United States port and the largest city and the center of the metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The population of the city was 343,829 as of the 2010 U.S. Census. The New Orleans metropolitan area (New Orleans–Metairie–Kenner Metropolitan Statistical Area) had a population of 1,167,764 in 2010 and was the 46th largest in the United States. The New Orleans–Metairie–Bogalusa Combined Statistical Area, a larger trading area, had a 2010 population of 1,452,502.

The city is named after the Duke of Orleans, who reigned as Regent for Louis XV from 1715 to 1723, as it was established by French colonists and strongly influenced by their European culture. It is well known for its distinct French and Spanish Creole architecture, as well as its cross-cultural and multilingual heritage. New Orleans is also famous for its cuisine, music (particularly as the birthplace of jazz), and its annual celebrations and festivals, most notably Mardi Gras, dating to French colonial times. The city is often referred to as the "most unique" in the United States.

Leon Roppolo

Leon Joseph Roppolo (March 16, 1902 – October 5, 1943) was a prominent early jazz clarinetist, best known for his playing with the New Orleans Rhythm Kings. He also played saxophone and guitar.

Life and career

Leon Roppolo (nicknamed "Rap" and sometimes misspelled as "Rappolo") was born in Lutcher, Louisiana, up-river from New Orleans. His family, of Sicilian origin, moved to the Uptown neighborhood of New Orleans about 1912. Young Leon's first instrument was the violin. He was a fan of the marching bands he heard in the streets of New Orleans, and wanted to play clarinet. An older relative with the same name played that instrument in Papa Jack Laine's Reliance Brass Band.

Roppolo soon excelled at the clarinet, and played youthful jobs with his friends Paul Mares and George Brunies for parades, parties, and at Milneburg on the shores of Lake Pontchartrain. At the age of 15 he decided to leave home to travel with the band of Bee Palmer, which soon became the nucleus for the New Orleans Rhythm Kings. The Rhythm Kings became (along with King Oliver's band) one of the best regarded hot jazz bands in Chicago in the early 1920s. Many considered Roppolo to be the star. His style influenced many younger Chicago musicians, most famously Benny Goodman. Some critics have called Roppolo's work on the Rhythm Kings Gennett Records the first recorded jazz solos.