A battered old photograph of the Austin High Gang in 1926. (Left to right): Frank Teschemacher and Bud Freeman, saxophones, with Jim Lanigan, bass, between them; Jimmy McPartland, trumpet; Dave Tough, drums; Floyd O’Brien, trombone; Dave North, piano; and Dick McPartland, banjo.
![Interviewer: “Can you remember how Frank Teschemacher reacted to the passing of Bix Beiderbecke? Is that too hard to recall?”
Jess Stacy: “No it isn’t, because he cried. Teschemacher was crazy and nuts about Bix, ya know. He idolized the ground he walked on. And he took it very hard, well, so did I. But Teschemacher actually cried. I was with him when we got the news.”
Interview with pianist Jess Stacy on a radio program honoring what would have been Bix Beiderbecke’s 87th birthday, 1990 [x]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m3y6x5RaQ21r51ae2o1_1280.jpg)
Interviewer: “Can you remember how Frank Teschemacher reacted to the passing of Bix Beiderbecke? Is that too hard to recall?”
Jess Stacy: “No it isn’t, because he cried. Teschemacher was crazy and nuts about Bix, ya know. He idolized the ground he walked on. And he took it very hard, well, so did I. But Teschemacher actually cried. I was with him when we got the news.”
Interview with pianist Jess Stacy on a radio program honoring what would have been Bix Beiderbecke’s 87th birthday, 1990 [x]
Oh, wow, thank you so much for the kind words — it really means a lot! Tesch deserves to be remembered, in my opinion!
I haven’t gotten to listen to his music from a 78rpm record but I have listened to his music on 33rpm records (I own the Giants of Jazz Frank Teschemacher LP boxset). I would love to find, own, and listen to one of his records on a 78! I don’t doubt that it’s phenomenal!
Thank you for following and for sending this message!
“You knock yourself out making a great new music for people, and they treat you like some kind of plague or blight, like you were offering them leprosy instead of art.”
— Frank Teschemacher, pictured here in a 1926 Midway Gardens Orchestra photo.
Indeed they are! (And I, too, love that lady’s stockings!)
And no problem — I’m glad you finally get to see it!
The Husk O’Hare’s Wolverines with their girlfriends, c. 1926.
Frank Teschemacher and his future wife Helen Berglund can be seen in the back row.
(A large thank you to a member of the Hot Jazz Records Facebook group for unveiling this photograph! Also, because this is such a rare photograph, this photo may not be up on this blog for very long.)
I did! The kind man researching Teschemacher on a jazz facebook group I’m a part of did post a photo featuring the members of the Austin High Gang and their girlfriends, where Tesch and his wife Helen are seen in the back row. It’s of slightly low quality so it’s a tad hard to see them but it was super exciting to find!
I remember I posted it a while ago. Did you ever get to see it or did you leave before I posted it? If you haven’t seen it, I’ll gladly post it again!
Other than that, I haven’t found any other photos of Tesch’s wife. At least, not yet!
Liza | McKenzie and Condon’s Chicagoans
Frank Teschemacher on clarinet, Jimmy McPartland on cornet, Bud Freeman on tenor saxophone, Joe Sullivan on piano, Eddie Condon on lute, Jim Lanigan on string bass, and Gene Krupa on drums.
Recorded in Chicago on December 16, 1927.
Shades of Teschemacher’s playing in the introduction (particularly the use of a glissando) hearken back to his early musical training on the violin. It should also be noted that Teschemacher’s arrangement of the introduction is written in 6/4 time — a meter rarely seen in jazz until the late 1950s.
“There was a visitor who appeared quite regularly and sat behind a post and just studied Frank Teschemacher. He wasn’t there to fraternize. Benny Goodman was all business.”
— Jess Stacy, close friend of Frank Teschemacher’s and eventual pianist in Benny Goodman’s big band.
Known by fellow musicians and jazz fans alike as simply "Tesch," Frank Teschemacher was a key member of the famed Austin High Gang, a group of schoolmates who helped pioneer what was known as "Chicago-style jazz."
Though talented at many instruments, Tesch is best known for his hot and exciting playing on the clarinet and alto saxophone. Unfortunately, his career was cut tragically short after he was killed in a fatal car accident in 1932.
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