JAZZLIGHT
November 1, 1949, St Louis, MO. Tommy Jackson, as you might surmise from the drum stick, was a drummer in Thompson's band at this time. There were several shots taken this day, several of Thompson alone, but this one I like best. You look at this and over and over again you wonder why Bill didn't unplug that lamp cord. But it would never occur to Bill to do that....ambience, you know, record the facts. That's a baby grand (top down) under Charlie's fingers, and he's wearing a suit, and these guys are reading sheet music. A black drummer reading sheet music? More evidence that blacks weren't ear players...oh, well, so much for that cherished myth. But this will not daunt the true believers.
Trebor Tichenor has speculated that Charles Thompson's excellent but unusual style (for the Midwest) came from making a trip(s) to the eastern coast. Maybe. Bear in mind we have no record of what the vast number of players sounded like. Ben Harney is reputed to have sounded like Zez Confrey. That's almost ludicrous (to use one of DTR's terms). Harney had large family relationships in St Louis and visited there often. Vaudeville moved style around like bottle caps in a breeze. It would be a mistake to underestimate how well those turn of the century men played. If you had it, you used it; and if you could steal it, why not? It was money in the bank. And there wasn't a lot of perfume associated with picking cotton.
