Les Muscutt (bjo, gtr) – born in Barrow-in-Furness, England, on June 30, 1941. A noted jazz player, he carved out a place for himself among New Orleans’ top jazz players during the 1970s, particularly with The French Market JazzBand.
This article from the revised edition of “New Orleans Jazz – A Family Album” by Al Rose and Edmond Souchon (published by Louisiana State University Press, long out of print and costing a fortune on eBay) hints at the prestige of this wonderful musician.
It’s not easy being accepted as a “brother” in New Orleans, but Les Muscutt pulled it off with the twin qualities of his amiably cheery personality and his remarkable ability on the guitar and particularly the banjo. His retirement due to health problems came as a shock to all of us and I was drawn to write this article to encourage you to hear of his enormous output and contribution to jazz and New Orleans Jazz in particular. He came from a musical family and the gift of a scruffy banjo and a decent ‘Harmony’ guitar led him to take an interest in music, and with the BBC’s jazz and dance music programmes, his fate was sealed. When a friend of John Beecham’s rang the bell and asked if he would like to come and rehearse with a band and maybe play some shows, he was hooked!
Les moved to central London, in fact to Lisle Street in Soho, which was the center of the jazz, blues, skiffle and folk scene. He got a job at 77 Charing Cross Road, yes, the legendary Dobell record store! Many of his clients were musicians, and Les’s first professional job was with the Nat Gonella Band. He worked briefly with Acker Bilk, Cy Laurie, Terry Pitt and the London version of the Clyde Valley Stompers and over a year with Clinton Ford and Charlie Gall’s Jazz Band. Works with “Mike Cotton Sound” and Bruce Turner appeared, and during this time the quality of Les’s interpretation increased.
Les was married to the amazing “Babs” at the time and when an offer came to play in the new “Your Father’s Mustache” franchise in New York, it was too good to turn down. Many moves followed to play for this franchise in the US, and traveling with a wife and children was expensive business. When the offer came to open the franchise in New Orleans, it came with a degree of permanence, and as the leader of the gang, Les stuck with it.
The opening of a “Red Garter Club” in New Orleans created more opportunities. Leading a gang in New Orleans is the key to the magical kingdom! The wonderful Freddie Lonzo got his first jobs with Les, then came Maynard Chatters and Paul Crawford. The trick with “Mustache” and “Red Garter” was knowing almost every song that had been written and Les had learned this skill. The three chord trick was gone and Les, the master musician, was here in New Orleans.
In these jobs quantity was of the essence – they were five or sometimes six hours a night – but Les had the added asset of quality to add to quantity! Les was the leader of the band six nights a week and on his night off, Emmanuel Sayles led the band. He samples a CD titled “Banjos on Bourbon”-ADD.NOBILITY 701 with Manny Sayles, Narvin Kimball and Jerry Green to sample banjo music at the Red Garter.
During intervals of his Bourbon Street concerts, Les walked around the corner of St. Peter Street and Preservation Hall. He began playing with Kid Sheik’s band at the Hall and worked with many bands on Bourbon Street, including Famous Door and Connie Jones’s Band.
In the Al Rose/Ed Souchon book there is a great image of the “French Market Jazz Band”. I asked Les about this; said: “It was a wonderful way to spend the weekend! The band mainly understood the band leaders, people loved jazz, threw money at the kitty and we had lots of money for beer and had a great time with a little money to take home to our wives to prove that we had been working!”
When Nina Buck opened “The Palm Court Cafe”, Les was playing with the band led by Louis Nelson. When Nelson died in 1988, Pud Brown took over and when Pud died, Brian O’Connell took over the clarinet chair, Lionel Ferbos played trumpet, and Les became leader of the band and held this position until his early retirement. of this year.
For many years, Les did a summer tour of the UK with Chris Burke. This was made possible by a lucrative visit to Norway with Chris and then a trip to the UK to meet up with old friends and play some gigs. In fact, Les was in the UK when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and she rushed home to find the Babs of hers evacuated to the countryside to avoid the dire situation in New Orleans.
In 2001, Les had to undergo open heart surgery. He never fully recovered and caused his eventual retirement. He lost feeling in two fingers on his left hand and even after extensive physical therapy, he had to admit defeat!
I must tell you that even with this problem, I listened to him many nights and enjoyed his superb playing, but Les is a perfectionist and as he told me, “I just got tired of pretending and knowing I couldn’t do it.” what he wanted to do.” So the banjo sits on his case and stands up so Babs can clean underneath!
There are so many CDs with Les Muscutt I’m almost scared to pick them out, but here goes: 504CDS 100 “The 504 Records Story 1978-2003” This gives a cross-section of the bands Les recorded with. 504CDS8 with Wendell Eugene’s Band; this is one of Les’ favourites: Albert Walters (tpt), Raymond Burke (clt) Janette Kimball (Pno), Chester Zardis (bass) and Chester Jones (drums)
He played them on a Doc Cheatham and Nicholas Payton record on the Verve label, which was a Grammy Award winner.
Finally, one of Les’s favorites is a CD on the Jazzology JCD-233 label titled “Swinging Down to New Orleans” again with the legendary Doc Cheatham.
If you come to New Orleans, you won’t find Les Muscutt on a bandstand anywhere. You might see him on a special night at the Palm Court Cafe, or if you’re fishing on the lake, the guy next to you catching the giant catfish could be Les Muscutt!