Gumbo has lived a long and unusual life (two in fact), and so he has had the good fortune to record in a variety of styles over the years ... and he has always found something to party to.
He numbers amongst his friends some of the most innovative musicians going.
He was born in New Orleans in the year 1900, on July the Fourth, to nationwide celebration. Together with his young buddy Louis Dan, he roamed the outhouses and fields around their Jane Alley home, regularly getting into trouble, being beaten and nursing thier bruises. Many of the bruises were inflicted by Louis' mother ("I'm Ma Armstrong and ma arm is strong!") This is where he first started to develop his early "Hollering" vocal style, trying to expel the pain inflicted by his elders and betters, and also led to Louis Dan naming their first band "The Hot Two" when they were seven.
They first realised they had a new sound going when the cattle they would practice for began to sing back and Gumbo got an edumacation in "The Mood" as Louis called that special time when so many cows were harmonising together that, as Louis put it, "nobody can complain about our singing". For a long time Louis Dan was the only person to appreciate Gumbo's musical abilities, so it was a tough blow for Gumbo that his family moved to Hawaii when he was thirteen. He wasn't to see Louis again for another thirty years, when he was released from jail in 1943.
Gumbo never got to Hawaii (still hasn't) as he was kidnapped by Jamaican Pirates during the crossing, and made to work for a while - but that's another story ... Read More
