A Tribute to Sidney Arodin
One of Dixielands greatest clarinet players.
You are listening to
...."Up A Lazy River"
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Listen to a Real Audio presentation of a Jazz Radio Show which was dedicated to his music shortly after his death.
A Tribute to his memory. You may alternately click on the songs with the Real Audio icon
behind any of the songs in his discography below in order to hear that particular song.
There are a few pictures of Sidney and groups he was with at the bottom of this page.
Up the Lazy River
Sidney Arodin: His Life and Records
Arnondin, Sidney . Born in Westwego, La. March 29, 1901: died February 6, 1948.
By Don Perry
Thus did the world, or that part of it which reads the obituary notices in the New Orleans newspapers, learn of the death in February of one of the finest New Orleans clarinetists.
It was a meager notice, but it was in keeping with the comparative obscurity in which Sidney Arodin lived his half century. Few persons really knew him, and none knew many of the details of his career. Outside of a handful of musicians who worked with him and students of jazz who admired his work, the name was just a name among a column of others.
Even the name was misleading. It is not clear just when Sidney dropped the first "n" in his surname, but he was born Arnondin. Westwego is a little town across the river from New Orleans. There he grew up against a non-musical background, but he must have been a born musician. When 15 years old, he obtained a clarinet and took lessons for only two months, after which music became his carer.
Starting out just as jazz was moving up the river from New Orleans, he was to become one of the nomads of jazz. After that 16th birthday he was rarely home. A few months here, and a few months there, but hardly ever in New Orleans for many weeks at a time.
He must have loved the river, because nearly all the songs he wrote contained that word in the title.
"Lazy River", 
of course, is the most famous of them. This song, incidentally, gives a good clue to the mood
and character of Sidney Arodin, and to the style of his playing. Those who were fortunate enough to hear him play
it will always remember how perfectly it served as his personal expression.
Another Real Audio version of Lazy River
can
be heard here sung by Bobby Darin.
Oddly enough, although he made a substantial number of recordings, not once does he seem to have waxed this tune which was so closely identified with him. And on the many versions which were recorded he usually shared credit for the composition with
Hoagy Carmichael. Sometimes his name was left off entirely.
Arodin went up the "lazy river" for the first time apparently with the New Orleans Jazz Band, of which Johnny Stein was the drummer and leader. He divided his time thereafter about equally between the east and his home city, making scores of trips back and forth.
His last trip, down the river was just two months ago. It was then that he came home ill from St. Louis.
EDITORS NOTE:(Oren Blackstone) The chronological list below contains all the records on which Sidney Arodin's presence is definite. He probably made many more, which have not been traced. For instance, some of the New Orleans Jazz Band records on Banner and other labels undoubtedly featured Arodin's clarinet and he once told Raymond Burke that he played on "Hopeless Blues" by Jazzbo's Carolina Serenaders (Cameo and Muse 232) with Phil Napoleon, trumpet, and probably Miff Mole, trombone, and others.
It was originally believed that Arodin was the clarinetist on the Halfway House Columbias from masters 142006 through 145011 but it has been established that Charlie Cordella recorded them. It is not difficult to detect the differences between the clarinet style on them and on Halfway House records which followed.
Acknowledgement is due Ralph Venables for the data on the rejected masters among the Brunies dates. Sharkey Bonano gave the personnels for the Johnnie Miller disk, and Brunies and Monk Hazel identified those appearing under their names. It is well to point out that the Joy Loyacano who plays bass on the Miller record and the one who plays alto on the Halfway House records are not the same.
There are some obvious gaps among the Louis Prima sides which the editor has not been able to fill.
_______________________
Additional notes by Wesley Dick, nephew.
I got rather close to Sidney in the last few years of his life. I was in my mid teens at the time and enjoyed hearing his stories of being on the road and will now attempt to put them down on paper for the first time.
Our closeness was originally brought about by a mutual like of science fiction when I was about fifteen. He was an avid reader and although had not had much formal education was very intelligent and well read on many topics.
His first gig was on a Saturday night in Westwego at a dance hall. It seems that the group that had come from New Orleans to play that night were minus a clarinet player due to illness. One of Sid's friends told the leader that "my friend plays fine clarinet" so he told Sid to run home and get his clarinet. Sidney told me that he ran about four blocks to his home and back in quick order even though he was barefoot and Sala Avenue was basically mud and oyster shells at the time. The band was impressed with his playing and he was asked to play another gig the following week in New Orleans. So began his career.
Regarding "Lazy River", he confided in me that whenever he broke out his clarinet and began to "warm up" before a gig he would run arpeggios on chords. The chord progression of Lazy River, a common progression in jazz, was the basis of his warm up. He simply slowed the pace of his warm up and added words (which were modified by Hoagy Carmichael; one title word was changed) and the song was accepted for publication. Another of his songs, Drifting Down the River closely follows this same chord progression.
One of his recordings, Sizzling the Blues
, features him on a "tonette" (a little toy instrument) as well as clarinet. I was only about 4 or 5 at the time and vaguely remember being upset about him "borrowing" my toy one day. He later told me that my "toy" was featured on his recording.
He once confided that even after he had become quite professional as a dixie musician he had never bothered to learn how to read music. Until he was offered a gig on a cruise liner, that is, and lost the job because he couldn't read music. He told me that he holed up in a room in New York City for an entire week and when he came out he could site read just about anything put in front of him.
Although Sidney has received credit for only a few songs he may have written many more. He once admitted to me that on occasion he sold songs for a few bucks and/or a bottle of wine. Some of those tunes he mentioned are currently very popular "old standards" but credited to others as composer. Any doubts I had regarding this were dispelled in later years when I had the opportunity to meet and play with some of his old cronies when I was in my early twenties and by that time playing on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. Several of them admitted sadly that Sid had sold some of his best stuff to others who took credit for the compositions. I was more into be-bop on guitar (this was during the early 50's) but still enjoyed playing dixie clarinet.
We became very close during the latter part of 1946 at which time he was very ill and bedridden for the most part. Since I had taken clarinet in my senior year of high school and showed interest in music he gave me his clarinet which he could no longer play. I would sit outside of his bedroom window and play for him since my grandmother said she didn't want me playing in the house. "Too loud!" Sid would look out of the open window and give me tips on playing as I sat on the ground against a tree and played beneath his window. I joined the USMC in January of 1947 and he passed away about a month later while I was still in boot camp. I have since donated his clarinet to the Jazz Museum in New Orleans.
I only had a chance to hear him play with a group on a very few occasions but was impressed by his "authority" and forcefulness. His playing style had developed greatly since his old recording dates and he was playing some great "swing". I once teased him that he was "the Bix of the clarinet" since he was playing things that were ahead of the times. He liked that!
* * * * * * * * *
Discography (incomplete)
______________________
Johnnie Miller's New Orleans Frolickers
(Sharkey Bonano, tru; Sidney Arodin, Cl; Hal Jordy, al; Johnnie Miller, pno; Joe Capraro, ban; Joe Loyacano, bs; Leo Adde, ds.)
New Orleans 1937
146193 Panama Co 1546-D
146194 Dipper Mouth Blues Co 1546-D
________________________
Albert Brunies and His Halfway House Orchestra
(Abbie Brunies, tru; Sidney Arodin, cl; Joe Loyacano, al; Red Long, pno; Angelo Palmisano, ban; Chink Martin, bs; Emmett Rogers, ds.)
New Orleans, April 26, 1928
146205 Love Dreams Co 1542-D
146206 I Hate Myself for Loving You Rejected
146207 Let Your Lips Touch My Lips Rejected
April 27, 1928
146218 I'll Go Back to That Dear Old Pal o' Mine Rejected
146219 Tell Me Who (John Saba, vo) Co 1542-D
146220 Wylie Avenue Blues Australian Co 01427
December 17, 1928
147658 Just Pretending Co 1959-D
147659 If I Didn't Have You Co 1959-D
_________________________
Monk Hazel and His Bienville Roof Orchestra
(Sharkey Bonano, tru; Sidney Arodin, cl; Hal Jordy, sax; Freddie Neumann, pno; Joe Capraro, gui; Luther Lamar, bs; Monk Hazel, ds, mellophone)
Sizzling the Blues Br 4181
High Society Br 4181
Ideas Br 4182
Git-Wit-It Br 4182
_____________________________
Jones and Collins Astoria Hot Eight
(Lee Collins, cor; Sidney Arodin, cl; Theodore Purnell, al; David Jones, ten; Joseph Robichaux, pno; Rene Hall, ban; Al Morgan, bs; Albert Martin, ds.)
New Orleans, Nov. 15, 1929
Duet Stomp Vi V-38576, BB 8168
Astoria Strut Vi V-38576, BB 8168
Damp Weather BB 10952
Tip Easy BLues BB 10952
In 1925 after King Oliver's band was burnt out of Chicago's Royal Garden, Collins, who had saved some of his pay, returned to New Orleans to show the home town boys how he looked and felt with a hundred "skags" in his pocket. That he could also show the boys plenty of trumpet is proven by these re-pressings of four sides recorded in New Orleans in 1929, on which his work has even been taken for that of Louis Armstrong.
In Duet Stomp Lee taks an extraordinary two-chorus solo which places him in the front rank of New Orleans trumpets and proves that his is totally undeserving of the obscurity which has been his lot in recent years. His solo has an effective unorthodox accompaniment by the rhythm section led by Al Morgans's dynamic bass. Sidney Arodin, the only white musician on this date, plays fine solo clarinet on both ASTORIA and DUET, giving an acrid punch to the ensembles which, despite some dubious sax work, have a real New Orleans drive. Most distinctive of the remaining sides is TIP EASY, which contains a warm, expressive Collins in middle register, and more of arodin's exciting and forceful clarinet.
_______________________
(Wingy Mannone, tru;
George Brunies, tro; Sidney Arodin, cl; Terry Shand, pno; Benny Pottle, bs; Bob White,ds.)
New York, Sept., 1934
38608 San Antonio Shout De 161 EBr 02040
38609 Tin Roof Blues De 161, 3523, EBr 01910
38610 Jazz It Blues De 162 EBr 02040
38734 Bluin' the Blues De 464 EBr 02337
38735 Ostrich Walk De 229 EBr 01988
38736 Original Dixieland One Step De 229 EBr 01988
38737 Sensation De 464 EBr 02337
________________________
Wingy Mannone and His Orchestra
(
Wingy Mannone, tru; Santo Pecora, tro; Sidney Arodin, cl; Terry Shand, pno; Benny Pottle, bs; Ray Buduc, ds.)
New York, October, 1934
16086 Royal Garden OK 41570
16087 Just One Girl OK 41569
16088 She's Crying for Me OK 41569
16089 Zero OK 41570
___________________________
Louis Prima and His New Orleans Gang
(Louis Prima, tru-vo; George Brunies, tro; Sidney Arodin, cl; Claude Thornhill, pno; George Van Eps, gui; Art Shapirt, bs; Stan King, ds.)
1936
CO 16023 That;s Where the South Begins Br 7524
CO 16024 Jamaica Shout Br 7524 EDc F5429
CO 16025 'Long About Midnight Br 7335
CO 16026 Star Dust Br 7335
B-16150 Sing It Way Down Low Br 7394 EDe F5777
B-16286 Let's Have a Jubilee Br 7394 EDe F5499
B-16288 I Still Want You Br 7320
B-16289 Breakin' the Ice Br 7320 EDe F5459
PICTURES A few pictures from daughter Lillian's collection.
Listen to a Real Audio presentation of a Jazz Radio Show which was dedicated to his music shortly after his death. A Tribute to his memory. You may alternately click on the songs with the Real Audio icon behind any of the songs in his discography below in order to hear that particular song.
There are a few pictures of Sidney and groups he was with at the bottom of this page.
of course, is the most famous of them. This song, incidentally, gives a good clue to the mood
and character of Sidney Arodin, and to the style of his playing. Those who were fortunate enough to hear him play
it will always remember how perfectly it served as his personal expression.
can
be heard here sung by Bobby Darin.
, features him on a "tonette" (a little toy instrument) as well as clarinet. I was only about 4 or 5 at the time and vaguely remember being upset about him "borrowing" my toy one day. He later told me that my "toy" was featured on his recording.
A few pictures from daughter Lillian's collection.