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Betty
Comora is an international entertainer
specialising in the music of the jazz age...
see her website: www.bettycomora.com
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Sarasota musician
Betty Comora has very kindly sent this touching
remeniscence of the great ukulele hero Roy Smeck
- a wonderful insight into his character... 'About
thirty years ago I was performing in local clubs
with a banjo player, Earl Dow, who lived in
Fairlawn, New Jersey. He was taking lessons from
Roy Smeck in New York City and invited me to come
for a lesson to meet the legendary musician. I
went and was fascinated by Roy, who took every
opportunity to show off his abilities to a
newcomer! He showed me the routine where he
played his ukulele fast and furiously and ended
by "paddling down the river" with the
uke as a paddle. Simultaneously, he played a tune
on the harmonica - AND with his flexible tongue,
he flipped the harmonica around back to front, so
that he alternately exhaled and inhaled to keep
the tune going. AMAZING! I guess it gave a new
meaning to The Music Goes
Round and Round!!
He
then proceeded to show me his album of very
impressive credits, which included playing for
the Queen of England. He noted a few newspaper
stories which described an illicit love affair
that he was entangled in. Whispering, he asked me
not to mention to his wife (in the kitchen ) that
he had shown me these pages!
Earl
and I were scheduled to play free at Bergen Pines
Hospital in Paramus, NJ (near my home). Earl
mentioned it to Roy who readily offered to play
it with us. I was stunned! I told him we weren't
getting paid for it, but he was glad to do it -
as long as Earl picked him up and brought him
home. Well, we played for the chronic illness
wing and the people had a real treat. Roy
remenisced about his radio show, which many of
them remembered.
After
the performance, we went to a neighbouring
restaurant where we jammed for over three hours -
I finally had to leave, but Roy and Earl
continued on...!
Around
that time I was the vocalist with the Speakeasy
Jazz Babies at the Red Blazer in NYC. I knew the
audience would love to see Roy, so I invited him
and his wife to be my guests there, and offered
to send a cab for them. However, Roy's back was
severely hunched over, and his reply was, "Not
until my back's straightened! I don't want the
audience to see me this way". I thought that
was just the saddest thing for him to say... Of
course, his back never improved'.
Thanks,
Betty, for a great article! Can anyone else send
us memories of their ukulele heroes?
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