If you are a student of jazz history, you are aware that Emmet Ray -- the subject of Woody Allen’s "Sweet and Lowdown" -- really existed. And not only did he exist, Emmet resembled many of the jazz musicians of the 1940s. At one point in his career he lived off the money earned by a couple of prostitutes, a practice not unheard of in jazz circles beginning with Buddy Bolden and Jelly Roll Morton. However, these jazz musicians prefer the term "manager" to the phrase pimp. Like many jazz legends, Emmet was an anti-hero, but his guitar playing -- makes up for his multitude of sins.
Emmet was also a traveler who not only toured America but has played extensively in Europe. The guitarist lived at a time when jazzmen first traversed the country, spreading consciousness of jazz even to American audiences who were beyond the modest reach of radio and recordings. This original American art form not only spread across the country but to Europe in the 20s and 30s. The way was paved by such men as Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington who were welcomed enthusiastically when they appeared on the other side of the Atlantic – Armstrong in 1932 and Ellington in 1933.
The audience for these giant talents included foreign musicians who modeled themselves after the American originators. Many Europeans played on a high level but only one became a major influence on American jazzmen -- the gypsy guitarist, Django Reinhardt.
In Paris, Reinhardt and violinist Stephan Grappelli founded the Quintet of the Hot Club of France in 1934. Bringing his romantic, bittersweet gypsy ethos to the American jazz with which he had fallen in love, Django created an original sound and style.
Though little is known about the life of Emmet Ray (few photographs and recordings exist today), the Woody Allen film attempted quite enthusiastically to capture the spirit of Emmet Ray -- and that of the crazy world of jazz -- on celluoid forever.
Dirk Dickens,
Encyclopedia of Obscure Jazz Artists (Mirage Press)
