A Few Months in Chicago (Bio part 3: 1919-1920)

When Willie Humphrey left the band of the Streckfus steamboat J.S. at the end of the 1919 season, he headed for Chicago, one of the country's major centers of black entertainment. The young musician managed to get a job his first night in the city. Many of Chicago's jazz musicians were from New Orleans; one of them, George Filhe, was leading the band at the Deluxe Cafe, at 35th and State Streets at the edge of the city's Bronzeville neighborhood. Shortly before Willie's arrival in Chicago, Filhe's clarinetist, Lorenzo Tio, Jr., quit.

For awhile, Filhe made do with a clarinetist named Fernandez, but Fernandez was also playing with the band at the nearby Grand Theater, and could only arrive for Filhe's gig when the Grand's show was over. Willie, newly arrived, walked into the Grand and introduced himself to the band; he didn't know any of the musicians, but many of the New Orleans-born players knew his family and thought that it would be worth taking a chance on his abilities. He was sent to the Deluxe to play with Filhe, who was apparently pleased with the clarinetist's abilities, since Willie stayed with the band until the Deluxe closed for repairs.

George Filhe, some 28 years older than Humphrey, had a distinguished background that included stints with the Onward Brass Band, the Peerless Orchestra, and the Imperial Orchestra in New Orleans. The young clarinetist admired Filhe's musicianship: "George Filhe - he had a wonderful lip - he said he could make a chromatic scale in each position.... He was a great baritone player, too." Filhe's band at the Deluxe included a truly legendary New Orleans musician, cornetist Manuel Perez. The band played from stock arrangements,Willie recalled.

We didn't play nothing by ear. I used to go around to all the publishing houses and pick up the music after I was introduced down there by George Filhe. I'd come back with a pack of music every Monday. It was our rehearsal. We'd put the music out.

During his stint with Filhe, Humphrey became friends with fellow clarinetists Darnell Howard and Buster Bailey. Apparently, the three men formed something of a mutual admiration society. Howard, working with Charles Elgar's orchestra, and Bailey, playing at the time with Erskine Tate at the Vendome Theater, would come to the Deluxe to hear Willie play. He would return the compliment by listening to then at their gigs. He considered Howard to be a better violinist that clarinetist, however.

Filhe and Humphrey played a pickup gig of some renown during this period. A group of Chicago

White Sox baseball fans engaged a jazz band to play in the bleachers at the infamous, scandal-plagued 1919 "Black Sox" World Series. The band was led by clarinetist Lawrence Duhé; besides Filhe and Humphrey, it included King Oliver on cornet, tenor saxophonist Jimmie Palao, But Scott on banjo, bassist Wellman Braud, and Willie's cousin Tubby Hall on drums. (This personnel does not completely match those given in other sources; it is a composite of those given by Frank Driggs and Harris Lewine in Black Beauty, White Heat and in interviews by Willie Humphrey.) The group of fans payed the band's way into the game; the musicians then played for tips, picking up about thirty dollars apiece. Years later Willie described the band as "satisfied" with the arrangement. "They wanted to see the game, you know." And who were these fans who brought King Oliver and Willie Humphrey to the World Series at Comiskey Park? Pointing to the fans surrounding the band in the famous photograph of the event, Willie said, "And these were all the gamblers and pimps and hustlers." Commenting on this photo many years later, Allan Jaffe, longtime proprietor of Preservation Hall, described his hypothetical ideal day to jazz historian Richard Allen: "watching the World Series and listening to King Oliver."

1919 World Series band. Willie is fifth from left, partially obscured by the tenor sax neck.

When the Deluxe closed for repairs, Filhe's band was temporarily out of work. Willie was soon offered a job by the great New Orleans cornetist Freddie Keppard, who was enjoying great popularity in Chicago at the time. Humphrey felt indebted to George Filhe for giving him a steady job, so he asked the trombonist's permission before accepting Keppard's offer. Filhe gave Willie his blessing, but with a condition: if Filhe found another steady gig, Willie had to promise to quit Keppard's band and return. Humphrey agreed to this condition and began playing with Keppard.

The young clarinetist was now playing with one of the most famous and respected early New Orleans musicians. Keppard was considered by his peers to be one of the very best cornetists of early jazz. His true stature is difficult to verify today; it is generally agreed that he did not record until he was past his prime. In any case, Willie was extremely impressed by Keppard's playing:

Such beautiful tone. Good ideas. Freddie played all over his horn. He had a different style altogether from King Oliver. Oliver was much rougher, you understand. Freddie was nice and light. Clear. You could be sitting right under him, and it would sound just as nice. But you could hear him two, three blocks away.

Keppard's repertoire included selections from the "Red Back Book," as musicians of the time called the collection of ragtime arrangements published by Stark Music under the more formal title Standard High-Class Rags. Willie recalls "The Entertainer" and "The Easy Winners" as two of the selections Keppard favored. He said of playing the Stark arrangements, "That was my first experience with them. It was hard. It's easier after get accustomed to it." Of his music reading skills during this period, he said, "I considered myself to be a fair reader at the time. Of course, we had guys that could outread me but I used to get compliments anyway."

Before long, George Filhe came calling with the news that he had secured another job. Willie kept his word and rejoined Filhe's band at Freiberg's at 22nd St. and Wabash Avenue on the Near South Side. In retrospect, he believed that this was a mistake; the job at Freiberg's did not last long.

 After three or four months in Chicago, Willie fell ill and decided to return home to New Orleans in early 1920. He had left the city as a promising youngster from a well-known musical family, but he would return as a full-fledged professional musician.

Sources:

William Russell and Ralph Collins: interview with Willie Eli Humphrey and Willie James Humphrey, New Orleans, March 15, 1959; Hogan Jazz Archive, Tulane University.

Charlie DeVore: "Talking With Willie," Mississippi Rag, June, 1982.

Al Rose & Edmond Souchon: New Orleans Jazz: A Family Album; Louisiana State University Press, 1984.

Frank Driggs & Harris Lewine: Black Beauty, White Heat; Da Capo Press, 1995.

Frederick Turner: Renembering Song; Viking Press, 1982.

Conversation with Richard Allen, April 4, 2001.