Celebrating Dale Jones' Flood Nature
#209 / Flood Time Capsule: 2010
A dear friend of The Flood for a quarter of a century now, jazzman Dale Jones has been in on some important chapters in the band’s story.
Dale was on hand, for instance, back in the mid-1990s, when Joe Dobbs, David Peyton and Charlie Bowen just started reawakening their sleeping Floodishness after almost a decade of inactivity.
That was when Floodster Emeritus Bill Hoke, realizing his old band mates could use a bass for their tunes, suggested they consider a tuba. He recommended they reach out to Dale, whom Bill had known for years.
Jones was already quite busy, of course, leading his own Backyard Dixie Jazz Stompers, but he was happy to give his Flood buddies some of his time and talent.
He hauled his tuba to jam sessions and early Flood gigs, such as the band’s first performance at the wonderful Coon-Sanders Nighthawks Fan Reunion Bash. Ultimately, the tuba didn’t work out — Doug Chaffin and later Dave Ball would be along soon with their mighty string basses to take care of the bottom parts of all those chords — but Dale Jones has remained a major force in assorted Flood affairs.
Besides being a regular at jams, Dale also has invited the guys to share the stage with his Dixieland band, as he did when he asked them to be part of a major 2005 fundraiser at Pullman Square just weeks after Hurricane Karina devastated New Orleans.
Dale also got The Flood regularly playing the Renaissance Ballroom at the old Huntington High School building throughout the 2000s, sometimes sharing the stage with them.
Most importantly, as director of the Coon Sanders gathering, Dale invited The Flood to create an annual feature called “The Jug Band Breakfast” which continued as a much anticipated yearly event for more than a dozen years. Click the button below to hear Jones’ lovely introduction of the band at its very first appearance there in May 2000:
Giving Dale Jones His Flood Bona Fides
It was on stage that Dale Jones finally got fully Floodified 13 years ago this week.
After all those years of fun, fellowship and foolishness, we figured that the May 2010 Coon Sanders gig was a perfect time to make Dale an honorary (or, as we pronounce it in Floodspeak, an “ornery”) Floodster.
The event was complete with a certificate and his own blue kazoo. But first, we wanted Dale to work a little for it.
As you can see and hear below in the video that Pamela Bowen shot that morning, Dale did triple duty on this rendering of “All of Me.” First, he performed a vocal solo through his trombone mute for a weirdly wonderful Rudy Vallée megaphone effect. Then he took up his horn, rising to the challenge of playing a chorus in the not-so-cornet-friendly key of G. Then, he wrapped up the song by singing a duet with Michelle.
After all that, we were happy to present the honors and turn him loose.
Stories and Quips
Over the years, the band has always enjoyed exchanging quips and jokes with Dale. Here’s a suite of audios from various occasions and venues.
One evening Dale used a tune to teach us a bit on music theory (not to mention a lesson in minimalism.):
Dale and Charlie also regularly traded barbs about kazoos:
When he needed it, Dale could get out the hook:
At a spring 2010 fundraiser, Dale reflected on 10 years of Floodification at the Coon Sanders bashes …
… and told us how much he appreciated The Flood's role:
A particular favorite is Dale’s occasional comments on the band's snazzy music stands:
And the Jokes…
Finally, in the relative privacy of the jam sessions at the Bowen house, Dale Jones has always been ready with a joke or two. Here’s a couple of the cleaner ones.
Dale tells his grocery store joke:
… and about some fishing buddies:
Meanwhile, NEW in the Newsletter!
In other business, we want to tell you about a new feature in the newsletter for tracing the long history of the band. Launched this week, it’s called The Flood Timeline.
In its first year or so, Flood Watch has published dozens of articles from The Flood’s hefty scrapbook, usually on the anniversary of this or that event. That is all fine and interesting, several readers have told us, but how about a simple chronology of when, where and how the band came to be?
That’s where The Timeline comes in. We have grouped the articles about key bit of Flood lore in an easy-to-scroll-and-click format. We’ve pinned it to the top of the newsletter’s home page so it will always be in easy reach. To give it a spin, click here.