April 19, 1975: The Morgan Street Stompers with Eli Konikoff
In which we meet up with one of the
grand old men of
April 19,
1975
Eli
Konikoff’s Trombone Puts
Into the
WHEN IT COMES TO LISTENER LOYALTY, Dixieland jazz trombonist Eli Konikoff is a hard man
to beat. Once a bandleader fired him because folks thought it was Eli’s band.
That quirk of popularity
still seems to apply Friday and Saturday nights at
But drummer Jack Bacon,
leader of the Stompers, doesn’t seem to mind as people come up to Eli left and
right – old fans, new fans, younger players, music teachers.
* * *
IT DOESN’T bother the other four Stompers either – pianist Paul
Kozmalo, who’s a champion airplane builder; bassist Lloyd Heppner, trumpeter
Dean Lilack and clarinetist Mike Milaka, who teaches at
After all, Eli was the
And the Morgan Street
Stompers are a pretty exciting ensemble to begin with. Not quite up to the
Olympian precision of Eli’s old unit – the Yankee Six – in its prime, but close
enough.
What counts is that
they’re slick and quick and full of spunk. They’ll bowl you over with rowdy
good-time spirit. Eli, of course, is an integral part of that team.
In Dixieland, the
trombonist is the clean-up man for the trumpet and clarinet, which carry the
lead. Eli brings them home with punchy little papa-pa-pa-pa riffs, brings them
home every time.
* * *
THE TROMBONE is Eli’s only instrument. He picked it up more or
less against his will when he was going to Buffalo School 31.
“I was in sixth, seventh
grade and I wanted to play in the school band,” he says, sitting with his wife
Frances and a pile of clippings in his cozy Town of Tonawanda home, “and I
didn’t want to play the trombone.
“But it was the only
instrument they had left. I took it home and I was hitting my three brothers
with the slide until my parents told me I had to play it in my room.”
As a young big band
musician in the ‘30s, his star was definitely rising. Even though he didn’t
live the part – he doesn’t drink or smoke – he played it big.
Dark shirts, white ties,
big lapels and a new convertible every year with tiger-skin seat covers.
* * *
“I HAD PLANS in those days,” he says. “I liked Tommy Dorsey. I was
thinking of going with Benny Goodman. Then I had a terrible accident.
“I had a brand new car,
a ’36 Ford convertible with the rumble seat inside. I’d played the Falls and I
was drivin’ home down
“I smashed my face and
my front teeth were knocked out. I had to go to
Though he’ll be 60 in
June, Eli still follows a grueling schedule. Play at night, up at 6:30 a.m.,
run Custom Cleaners on
Besides the Stompers, he
leads his own Dixieland quartet Wednesday nights at the Hotel Lackawanna.
He came to Dixieland
during the revival of the style in the ‘50s, gathered the nucleus of the Yankee
Six (clarinetist Paul Preston and trumpeter Jim Koteras – now Barrroom
Buzzards) and created a sensation.
Eli’s music has rubbed
off on the rest of his family. His wife sings with the Sweet Adelines, both
daughters sing and play, son Ross trumpets with Buddy Rich and son Mark drums
with a band in
His name has rubbed off
as well. Mark fancies it so much he’s adopted it. Now everybody calls him Eli
Konikoff too.
* * * * *
IN THE PHOTO: The
* * * * *
FOOTNOTE: Eli Konikoff
received the Pioneer Award when he was inducted into the
The
bio also sketches in details about his earlier career – stints touring with
Woody Herman, Jack Mayhew and Wild Bill Donovan; the Yankee Six playing six
nights a week at the city’s premiere showroom – the Town Casino – in the 1950s.
As
for his sons, Eli Jr. played for five years with Spyro Gyra after succeeding Ted
Reinhardt as drummer during the “Morning Dance” sessions and Ross graduated
from Buddy Rich to a long career in Liza Minnelli’s band.
Eli’s obituary in The Buffalo News noted that he played his final show on New Year’s Eve in 1995 at the Buffalo Yacht Club, leading a quartet. He died eight days later.
Meanwhile,
the
Comments
Post a Comment