Just Play B Natural 
Some kids grow up knowing the names of baseball players while I grew up knowing the names of jazz musicians in big bands.
For
instance, in Woody Herman’s band, there were such names as Stan Getz,
Zoot Sims and Al Cohn; Shorty Rogers, Bernie Glow and Milt Jackson.
But, the most fascinating for me was the bass player, Chubby Jackson.
I
learned that Chubby joined Woody’s band in 1943. He was a zany
character who brought a touch of vaudeville to the band. He was known
as the cheerleader. His antics ranged from wearing comical costumes,
doing slapstick routines with his bass to giving outlandish
vocalizations. However, none of his clowning over shadowed his powerful
bass playing. In 1946, he won the readers jazz polls for best bass
player in magazines Esquire, Metronome and Down Beat. Also, that year,
he endorsed the model S-51 Kay bass. It had five strings with a blond
finish and was called the “Chubby Jackson Model.”
In
the 1950s, Chubby led his own band. In addition to making recordings
and touring in Europe, he hosted a television show for kids on ABC in
Chicago. His eighteen piece band was featured between re-runs of “The
Little Rascals.” In those days, when I was a teenager, I had a 45rpm
album of his band called, “Father Knickerbopper.” The music was
high-powered and dynamic.
During
the summer of 1993, my son Geoff was visiting me in Los Angeles. One
afternoon in Hollywood, after finishing some business at the musicians
union, we crossed Vine Street to visit Gary Chen at “Stein on Vine,” a
music store and frequent hangout for musicians. When we entered, Gary
was by his desk, talking with a stocky, older gentleman. Gary
introduced us to Chubby Jackson. Instantly, we fell in with their
spirited conversation. Chubby was truly comical, spinning tales with
animated delivery.
Gary
left us to help a customer while Geoff and I followed Chubby out to the
parking lot behind the store. There, the brisk banter continued.
Fortunately, Geoff had his camera with him. He shot a roll of film,
capturing Chubby’s lively gestures.
The
photo of Chubby playing “air” bass was taken while he was giving a kind
of music lesson. He was saying, “Do you know, when you’re playing a
slow ballad and you’re not sure of the first note in bridge? Just play
B natural! If it’s wrong, you can slide up to C or down to B flat. You
see? Either way, you’re safe. And, they’ll think you’re very hip!”
I
mentioned that in the mid-1960s, I had played bass with Woody Herman’s
band, more than twenty years after him. I said that on more than one
occasion, a fan would ask, “Are you Chubby Jackson?” At most, I was
twenty-six at the time and not the least bit “chubby.” I commented that
the question had always struck me as funny.
As
we were saying our goodbyes, Chubby asked, “Do you know where I can
find a ‘Chubby Jackson Model’ Kay bass? You know… the blond one with
the five strings? Can you believe it? They named a bass after me and I
don’t even own one!”
Over the years, Geoff’s photos have been a fond remembrance of our chance meeting with a legend: Chubby Jackson.
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