By Barbara White
Only in New Orleans would the seamy, steamy red light district have a name evocative of a children's rhyme, a name like Storyville. The name was deceptive; there was nothing poetic or romantic about that gritty part of town. Life for folks there was harsh and hardscrabble. People lived and died without hope, but not without music. Some of the best music in New Orleans came out of the joints in Storyville. Some of the best musicians did too. One of those musicians was Danny Barker.
Danny was born on January 13, 1909. He began playing in a children's band in Storyville around the end of World War One when he was just a young teenager. He played the banjo. All of this led to his first real gig when he subbed for a drunken Babe Son in the Kid Rena Band. Buddy did in his own words "okay", but he decided to take a few lessons after that. Those lessons paid off and before long he was known as the Banjo King of New Orleans. One of his mentors was the great Lorenzo Stall who played banjo with Buddy Bolden's band.
As the Roaring Twenties gathered steam and the jazz age began, Danny left New Orleans and moved to Chicago. He worked with Lil Brother Montgomery and others. He accompanied musicians like Sidney Bechet and Alberta Hunter.
In 1930, he moved again, this time to New York City. Jazz was growing ever more popular and there was plenty of work in the Big Apple. Danny switched his attention from banjo to guitar because guitar fit better into the more sophisticated jazz scene. There was always work for a musician of Danny's caliber and he worked with such well-known big band leaders as Benny Carter and Lucky Millinder.
In 1939 luck smiled again on Danny and he began working with Cab Calloway. Danny stayed with Cab for seven years. Thanks to the exposure, Danny's reputation as a musician continued to grow.
Danny Barker became the full-time bandleader at the famous Jimmy Ryan's on 42nd Street. He also worked with Wilbur De Paris, Paul Barbarin (who was his uncle) and his wife Blue Lu Barker.
As a kid, I used to go see Danny Barker at Jimmy Ryan's and with Wilbur De Paris. What I remember best about him was the way he could tell a story. He had an easy way about him that made you feel like he was talking right to you. Years later, when it was my privilege to visit with him again hours flew by as I listened while he described the New Orleans that used to be. Danny was an extraordinary storyteller.
Danny wrote innumerable songs many of which were recorded by the biggest and best-known artists of the day. Many are still being recorded. The lyrics of these songs reflect a sense irony (that I imagine came as a result of growing up in that quaintly named red light district, Storyville) and the storytelling that were Danny Barker's trademark. Even the titles make you chuckle "Save the Bones for Henry Jones" or "You Got to Get Yourself a Job, Girl" or that reflection of the Great Depression "Ham and Eggs".
In 1965, Danny Barker returned to his childhood home of New Orleans. He became assistant curator of the New Orleans Jazz Museum. He played with his French Market Jazz Band at Tradition Hall. He is credited with reviving the Brass Band scene in New Orleans.
But Danny didn't settle into some kind of quiet retirement. He wrote three books, his two-volume autobiography A Life in Jazz and Buddy Bolden and the Last Days of Storyville. And he co-authored a book about New Orleans music titled Bourbon Street Black.
Danny still traveled playing back up for his wife Lu and he lectured on Traditional Jazz Music at colleges and universities. He received the National Endowment for the Arts Music Master Award and was inducted into the Jazz Hall of Fame. Danny was active in the jazz scene right up until he died on March 13, 1994.
Over the course of his career, Danny Barker played banjo and guitar on more than 1,000 records. Chances are, if you look through your collection of traditional jazz recordings from the 30's until the 90's you will find Danny Barker listed among the personnel on more than one record. But the album I recommend to everyone is one he recorded a few years before his death on which Danny Barker does a solo gig. The name of the album is "Save the Bones for Henry Jones." Buy yourself an early Christmas present!
