Author Archives: Diana - Page 11
Staryn Wagner Home Movies
This is a 15-minute compilation of some of the home movies of Staryn Wagner taken by his dad Will Wagner. I've pieced together multiple clips and stills. It's so wonderful that he took and kept these videos. I couldn't include all the footage (then again, how many minutes of crawling do you need to see?), but this gives a nice sampling. I did no color correction. They are as they were transferred. Warning: Will appears…
First Names
I noticed that people's first names often changed throughout their lives. Here are a few I've extracted. Danie Mathilda Hanning is first called Matilda in the census when she's 6 months old. 10 years later she is called Maudana. Most other records called her Danie. Johanne "Lenora" "Caroline" Christiane Hanning was listed as Lenora on the passenger list when she was 8 months old immigrating from Germany. About 10 years later her marriage record and…
Lightroom and genealogy
I use Adobe Lightroom extensively in my genealogy. Primarily, I use it to catalog, edit and organize my photos. I have thousands. Then I use plugins to quickly upload the photos to two online locations: Zenfolio, a photo hosting site for photographers, and a Wordpress blog I created for articles and other information about my family. Lightroom and Photoshop are available from Adobe through their subscription plan or you can buy it outright still I…
Dear Nephew Frank
A letter from William "Old Bill" Wagner to Frank Funkenbusch regarding his journey to America. "Old Bill" William Wagner Frank Funkenbusch Canton, Mo, Feb 22, 1927 Dear Nephew Frank, I think letters Father got from friends in American influenced him somewhat and he also thought he could better himself and family by coming to America as I have frequently heard him express himself so to Mother and others. Father owned a fair sized house…
Noel Rockmore Interviewed by Bill Russell about his art
Following is an interview between “R - Bill Russell” and “N - Noel Rockmore”, from 1973 R - Bill Russell) One thing here Larry wanted you to discuss pop art. You’ve probably covered that as much as you want to, the contrast with your own work and all. N - Noel Rockmore) I think it’s a complete bore and to be forced to take it seriously as an art movement because of the accreditation given…
Bill Russell and Noel Rockmore
Bill Russell was one of Rockmore's favorite subjects from the early 60s until Bill's death in 1992. He was also a friend, mentor, musical companion and fellow documenter of the French Quarter. Bill Russell was always game for an adventure and this time it is with his friend Noel Rockmore to The Melrose Plantation. Rockmore, who was not always up for an adventure outside the French Quarter, would do several sketches at Melrose Plantation. He puts…
Bill Russell All Music Bio
One of the most important writers and historians involved in the New Orleans Revival of the 1940s, Bill Russell had many accomplishments behind the scenes. A violinist who had extensive study in both performance and composition, Russell was with the Red Gate Shadow Players from 1934-40. During that period, he became enamored with New Orleans jazz. He bought and sold records through the Hot Record Exchange, which he ran starting in 1935. Russell was a…
Bill Russell; Historian Helped Launch Revival of New Orleans Jazz
Obituary in LA Times, Aug. 10, 1992 Bill Russell, 87, a violinist and music historian credited with launching a revival of New Orleans traditional jazz. Russell had just completed a biography of Jelly Roll Morton, which took him 30 years to research and write. The American Music Label he founded reissued the recordings of such long-retired musicians as Baby Dodds, Bunk Johnson, Dink Johnson, George Lewis, Jim Robinson and (Wooden) Joe Nicholas. Russell, the longtime…
On William Russell by John Kennedy
In the late 1980’s, with the invaluable assistance of Don Gillespie, I established contact with New Orleans composer William Russell, who had been part of the avant-garde scene in New York in the 1930’s. Apart from isolated performances led by Charles Amrikhanian at the 1984 Cabrillo Festival, Russell’s music was unknown, and some of his works were still unperformed. With my new music ensemble Essential Music, we brought Russell to New York in February, 1990,…
Remembering Bill Russell
by Chris Albertson In my recollections of the 1961 New Orleans "Living Legends" trip, I mention William Russell, the man who was, in good measure, responsible for a 1940s awakening that is often referred to as the "New Orleans Jazz Revival." His bringing trumpeter Bunk Johnson out of an Iberia rice field, buying him a horn and refurnishing his mouth may be apocryphal, but it is still being told some seven decades later. While the…