Dick Allen, 80, a Historian of Jazz, Dies

[Brownian Motion]

The New York Times

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April 18, 2007

Dick Allen, 80, a Historian of Jazz, Dies

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Dick Allen, a jazz historian whose scholarly command of the traditional New Orleans sound was matched only by his role as a French Quarter character, died on Thursday in Dublin, Ga. He was 80.

The cause was heart failure, said his sister, Betty Smith. He had been bedridden since leaving New Orleans in 2003 and had lived in a nursing home before that.

“In a town that enshrines and cherishes characters, Dick was one of the great ones,” said Robert H. Patterson, who worked with Mr. Allen at Tulane University’s William Ransom Hogan Jazz Archive, a premier collection of oral histories of traditional jazz, which Mr. Allen began in 1958.

Mr. Allen and Bill Russell began recording interviews with traditional jazz musicians in the mid-1950s in an oral history project that grew into the Hogan Jazz Archive. He was the archive’s associate curator from 1958 to 1965 and curator from 1965 to 1980. He retired in 1992.

At various times he ran a record shop in New Orleans and made recordings as well as becoming “the friend and confidant of all New Orleans musicians” and “adviser and guide to everyone from television networks to old ladies in pursuit of George Lewis,” the jazz critic Whitney Balliett said in 1967.

He also wrote numerous articles, liner notes and program notes and was a consultant, instructor, production adviser, producer or curator for many institutions, including the Smithsonian Institution.

In addition, he was among the founders of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, which draws thousands of people to the city annually.

Mr. Allen was born on Jan. 29, 1927, near Milledgeville, Ga., at Allen’s Invalid Home, a home for mentally ill patients established by his grandfather, Dr. Henry Dawson Allen.

He went to Princeton before serving in the Navy during World War II and returned home to graduate from the University of Georgia.

Mr. Allen studied trombone with Manuel Manetta, who taught Jelly Roll Morton, Red Allen and many other New Orleans musicians.

[Christiern]

I met Dick in 1961, when I spent 3 weeks producing sessions in New Orleans. He was there every day, taking in the music and--I sometimes felt--making sure that I got it right. I also interviewed many of the musicians between sessions and, not surprisingly, they had little to say about Bunk Johnson's persona that wasn't negative. Dick, who listened intently as I interviewed, reported such remarks to Bill Russell (with whom he was working at the time) and it wasn't long before Bill asked me to edit out of my tapes and derogatory remarks re Bunk. Of course, I did not comply with that request, which--sad to say--had Dick's approval. I never quite trusted Bill Russell's research after that little attempt to edit history, but I still think both he and Dick contributed much to our knowledge of early jazz.

Here's a photo taken during one of the two sessions with Billie and Dede Pierce. That's Dick (with pipe), seated in the background and engineer Dave Jones standing behind him. I'm the guy with the old typewriter.

[montg]

That's a beautiful picture thanks for sharing it! From the Living Legends session?

[Christiern]

Thanks, yes, this is where all the N.O. Living Legends sessions took place: The Societe Des Jeunes Amis hall, in the French Quarter--this particular one on January 27, 1961.

Here's another shot of Billie and Dede from that day:

[montg]

I'm spinning 'Blues and Tonks' right now, with these pictures in my mind's eye. Billie's vocals are so direct.

Beautiful music, Albert Jiles playing the bells, with De De blowing away, it's a really haunting sound. Concord seems to have let both of the Billie and De De CDs drift oop.

Billie Pierce > Ella ??