Bob Mielke was a superb musician. His versatile trombone sound
ranged from Kid Ory's New Orleans tailgate style to the Harlem swing
of J.C. Higginbotham.
Bob Mielke's Bearcats was one of the most popular and creative jazz bands of the Traditional Jazz revival movement, c. 1954-70.
RIP Bob (1927-2020)
My fond Farewell to Bob Mielke offers three dozen previously unpublished photos and fifty streaming audio tracks profiling this innovative bandleader and imaginative trombonist.
Newly available exclusives include Mielke's New Bearcats (1991) and Joe Sullivan (1961) live on the San Francisco waterfront.
Photo of Mielke from the early 1950s.
The passing of trombone player and bandleader Bob Mielke (1927-2020) at age 93 was the result of age and fragility. He was in slow decline for decades, though able to play at parties and special events until recently.
Bob Mielke and The Bearcats Jazz Band, were a distinct and independent voice in the great Traditional Jazz revival that swept through San Francisco and environs in the mid-20th Century.
Bob was one of the most imaginative trombonists to emerge from the Frisco Revival. His personal trombone style fused elements from Kid Ory’s New Orleans tailgate tradition, the Harlem swing of J.C. Higginbotham and plunger mute techniques of Ellington’s “Tricky Sam” Nanton.
Trombone player Bob Mielke was active in the San Francisco Traditional Jazz scene from the 1940s until a few years ago. His outstanding musicianship brought him to the attention of jazz greats as a young man. By his mid-30s he’d performed or recorded with Sidney Bechet, Bunk Johnson, George Lewis, Bob Scobey, Joe Sullivan, Lu Watters, Wingie Manone, Muggsy Spanier and Barbara Dane and a half-dozen West Coast Jazz Bands.
Bob has been a bright light on the West Coast Jazz scene, creating a delightful body of work. For a couple decades starting in 1968 he shared a gig playing the Oakland A’s Swingers jazz band and their baseball games with Dick Oxtot and band that often featured Bob Helm, Richard Hadlock, Bob Neighbor and others.
More music and rarities are found at the accompanying Bearcats archive.
EMPIRICAL LP/Tape (1955)
The ill-fated Empirical Stereo album is a jewel. The San Francisco Traditional Jazz Foundation eventually issued the
music on CD in 1991 from existing second-generation sources. The liner
notes explain the back story, and apologize for the remaining but
unavoidable flaws in “Ice Cream” and “Creole Song.”
Through the kindness of jazz collector Joe Spencer I have made fresh
transfers from the original Empirical master tape. Besides superb
sound, this was a pioneering stereo recording utilizing a microphone
technique known as mid-side.
This allowed me to extract maximum detail and presence, while retaining
the glorious ambiance of Jenny Lind Hall – well know as one the best
sounding recording locations in Northern California. An innovative technical and musical milestone may now be savored as it was first intended in the mid-1950s.
Mielke synthesized his own exciting trombone style with elements ranging from Kid Ory’s New Orleans tailgate tradition to the Harlem swing of J.C. Higginbotham and Ellington’s “Tricky Sam” Nanton. Leading his own very popular Bearcats jazz band in the 1950-60s. And he may have been the first to hire Frank "Big Boy" Goudie in the Bay Area c. 1957-58.
Mielke was particularly skillful at was carrying his solos back into the
ensemble and providing excellent support for his fellow musicians. He
is a warm and personable man who has a deep understanding of the early
jazz music to which he dedicated his life.
As a soloist Mielke kept things interesting because he was brave enough to take the unexpected route. His support for the other players is palpable, his comping alternates between ensemble counterpoint and background riffs.
The Bearcats name was inspired by Mielke’s esteem for Bob Crosby’s Bobcats (a Dixieland unit within the popular Swing orchestra of Bing’s brother) and the Wildcats of Bob Wilbur, whom he knew and played with on record. The grizzly bear on the California state flag has been a fierce symbol of independence dating back to the Bear Flag Revolt of 1846.
Bob’s bands were bold and inventive, rejecting the prevalent Dixieland formulas of Eddie Condon’s jam sessions, East Coast cutting contests or the Traditional Jazz style of Lu Watters and Turk Murphy. Instead, they adopted as a starting point the popular New Orleans four-beat style associated with George Lewis and Jim Robinson, adding their own innovations.
Their fresh and creative style blended Mielke’s love for New Orleans ensemble polyphony with P.T. Stanton’s Basie-inspired riffing behind the soloists, a key feature of the band. The riffs were typically organized by cornet player P.T. Stanton in coordination with the clarinetist or trombonist. This riffing became a distinctive feature of East Bay bands run by Stanton, Dick Oxtot, Earl Scheelar and Mielke.
ARCHIVE MUSIC The Bearcats distinctive style is evident in early tracks from a recovered demo tape much of it probably recorded around 1955 or ’56. “Bully of the Town” is sung by Oxtot who imported it from the country string band tradition. “Darktown Strutters’ Ball” is a rare surviving example of P.T. Stanton’s vocal stylings. Their sublime rendition of “Saturday Night Function” is an early Ellington tune that is so ubiquitous among the surviving tapes it might be considered their theme song.
Bob Mielke's Bearcats Mielke, P.T. Stanton (cornet) and Dick Oxtot (banjo, vocals) established early the basic elements of the Bearcats sound: strong ensemble unity, and riffing: P.T.’s contribution inspired by the Basie band, says Mielke. The riffs were simple repeated figures played behind a soloist, typically Stanton in co-ordination with the clarinet or trombone player. Riffing added complexity, harmonic development and rhythmic drive to the Bearcats, and was a popular technique in Bay Area jams and jazz performance at the time.
Fusing Mielke’s love for full-throated New Orleans ensemble polyphony and P.T.’s sly riffing the Bearcats created an independent style that was a potent brew. It proved a fresh alternative to the formulas of Eddie Condon’s Dixieland jam sessions, East Coast ‘cutting contests,’ and the Traditional Jazz styles of Lu Watters and Turk Murphy.
Bob Mielke and his crew were at the core of an East Bay contingent in the San Francisco jazz-revival, and among the second wave of jazz musicians who built their own independent style during the 1950s. His band was a significant voice in the mid-century jazz revival. Their independent style was an achievement of originality that left an indelible signature on the West Coast jazz revival.
The Lark's Club
By 1955 Bob Mielke and The Bearcats Jazz Band were leading a second wave of the Frisco Jazz Revival at The Lark’s Club in Berkeley. They crafted a distinctive sound based on driving rhythms, skilled soloing, creative voicing of the horns and Bob’s faith in “standing on the chord.” Most importantly, they fused New Orleans ensemble parts with Kansas City-style riffing to shape their independent style.
The Bearcats name was inspired by Mielke’s esteem for Bob Crosby’s Bobcats (a Dixieland unit within the popular Swing orchestra of Bing’s brother) and the Wildcats of Bob Wilbur, whom he knew and played with on record. The grizzly bear on the California state flag has been a fierce symbol of independence dating back to the Bear Flag Revolt of 1846.
Mielke’s bands were bold and inventive, rejecting the prevalent Dixieland formulas of Eddie Condon’s jam sessions, East Coast cutting contests or the Traditional Jazz style of Lu Watters and Turk Murphy. Instead, they adopted as a starting point the popular New Orleans four-beat style associated with George Lewis and Jim Robinson, adding their own innovations.
The basic Bearcats lineup was P.T. Stanton (cornet), Bob Mielke
(trombone), Bunky Coleman (clarinet), Dick Oxtot (banjo and vocals),
Pete Allen (bass), and Don Marchant (drums). Additions and substitutes
included singer Barbara Dane, clarinet players Bill Napier, Ellis Horne and Frank "Big Boy" Goudie, and drummer Don Fay.
When Mielke could not attend Bill Bardin
stood in on trombone. The core group did not include piano, and they
didn’t use one at the Lark’s Club, but when a piano player was needed
for a gig Bill Erickson or Burt Bales.
West Coast Trombonist Bob Mielke In an exclusive interview program, Bob recalls his fascinating life making Jazz with the likes of Sidney
Bechet, Bob Wilbur, Dick Oxtot and his own band since the early
1950s. Many rare and one-of-a-kind recordings are featured.
Pt. 1 - Early years, Bechet and Bob Wilbur, Mielke bands of the 1950s.
BOB MIELKE 1A.mp3 COME BACK SWEET PAPA -- Frisco Syncopators POLKA DOT STOMP -- Sidney Bechet w/ Bob Wilber’s Wildcats, 1947 KANSAS CITY MAN BLUES -- Sidney Bechet w/ Bob Wilber’s Wildcats, 1947 SNAKE RAG -- Bob Wilber’s Wildcats, Ramparts 78 rpm c. 1948 CHARLESTON -- Fairway Rhythm Kings, 1949 78 rpm DIDN’T HE RAMBLE -- Fairway Rhythm Kings, 1949 78 rpm CRAZY CHORDS -- Bob Mielke’s Jazz Band, 1949 78 rpm RIVERBOAT SHUFFLE -- Bob Meilke Jazz Band, 1949 78 rpm BOGALUSA STRUT -- Bob Mielke’s New Bearcats, Live, KALW-FM San Francisco, CA 1992
BOB MIELKE 1B.mp3 MY LOVIN’ IMOGENE -- Bob Mielke and his Bearcats, 1954 THAT’S MY WEAKNESS NOW -- Mielke Bearcats, Lark’s Club, Berkeley, CA 1955 EGYPTIAN FANTASY -- Bob Mielke and his Bearcats, Lark’s Club, Berkeley 1955 JUST A CLOSER WALK -- Estuary Jazz Band, San Francisco, CA 1959 WEARY BLUES -- Bob Mielke and his Bearcats, 1954
Mielke became the leader of this pre-Exising group when he secured them steady gigs -- most notably at the The Lark’s Club in Berkeley. The club was located in an African American neighborhood at the South end of Berkeley. The clientele was from the local black community, young white Dixieland fans and traditional jazz enthusiasts. It became a vanguard for the East Bay Jazz Revival.
The Bearcats popularity demonstrated that an eager young audience would turn up for the music, and not just on weekends but several nights of the week. They played Thursday through Saturday, other bands performed, and Dick Oxtot booked in one of his Polecats ensembles.
For the next half century Bob Mielke was at the core of an East Bay contingent in the second wave of the great Frisco Jazz revival.
Mielke with several of his closest associates:
L to R: Goudie, Mielke, P.T. Stanton, Allen, Oxtot
Pioneer Village, East Bay, c. 1958.
Recovered contact print, Bob Mielke collection
Pt. 2 - Featuring exclusive live recordings of Mielke with Frank Goudie, and his recollections
of the legendary clarinet player.
BOB MIELKE 2A.mp3 GIVE ME YOUR TELEPHONE NUMBER -- Golden State Jazz Band, Live San Francisco, 1980 SATURDAY NIGHT FUNCTION -- Estuary Jazz Band, San Francisco, CA 1959 THE GOLDIGGER’S SONG -- Bill Erickson’s Quartet, Live, Monkey Inn, Berkeley, CA, 1962 CHINA BOY -- Bill Erickson’s Quartet, Live, Monkey Inn, Berkeley, CA, 1962 RING DEM BELLS -- Bill Erickson’s Quartet, Live, Monkey Inn, Berkeley, CA, 1962 GETTYSBURG MARCH -- Bill Erickson’s Quartet, Live, Monkey Inn, Berkeley, CA, 1962
BOB MIELKE 2B.mp3 WILLIE THE WEEPER -- Bill Erickson’s Quartet, Live, Monkey Inn, Berkeley, CA, 1962 SHOUT ‘EM AUNT TILLIE -- Bob Mielke’s Bearcats, Live in San Francisco, CA 1958 GET OUT OF HERE -- Bill Erickson’s Quartet, Live, Monkey Inn, Berkeley, CA, 1962 BUGLE BOY MARCH -- Bob Mielke’s New Bearcats, Live, KALW San Francisco, CA 1992
The first season of Bob Mielke's Oakland A's Swingers baseball team band (1968) consisted of a quartet Mileke (trombone) Bob Neighbor (trumpet), Bob Helm (soprano) and Dick Oxtot (banjo).
After the band complained strenuously about lacking a bass, tuba player John Moore was hired. In subsequent years Helm was replaced by Bill Napier, later by Richard Hadlock and others.
Dick Oxtot wrote in his memoir, Jazz Scrapbook: "We played the first season, each and every A's home game, with four musicians. We played in the hallways before the game, on top of the dugouts during each half-inning, and strolled through the bleachers."
". . . the band was dissatisfied with the 4-piece arrangement -- especially me. It was tough on me to provide an entire rhythm for the three horns . . . I needed a tuba to complete the rhythm for the section. Also the band would sound much better . . . the following season [team owner Art] Finley went along and agreed to add a fifth musician."
In his maturity, Mielke grew into a warm and personable man, a skilled musician dedicated to the performance, lore and culture of Classic Jazz. Nonetheless in his early years Bob was a drinker and known as a hothead.
Being a local celebrity did not exempt him from tragedy and travail. Sadly, Bob’s wife and partner Frances Mielke, died suddenly in 1960, leaving him a widower raising two young sons in his early-30s.
Among his new responsibilities was a full-time job dealing with statistics for the State of California Department of Health. When his position was moved to Sacramento, Bob commuted from Berkeley, sleeping in his van several nights of the week in the capitol city. Meanwhile he continued performing, running ensembles and building his superlative chops.
By the mid-1960s, Mielke and most of his fellow musicians had acquired larger responsibilities, growing families, demanding jobs or other avocations. The “beer and peanuts” music joints where they had played closed.
Rock music displaced or absorbed the former jazz venues. For Mielke and his cohort, the action shifted from nightclubs three or more nights a week to the weekends and events hosted by Traditional Jazz societies.
Traditional Jazz clubs like the New Orleans Jazz Club of Northern California (NOJCNC) were formed as non-profit organizations to support a culture of monthly dances, jam sessions, band showcases and multi-day special events. And for instance, Mielke won the NOJCNC favorite trombonist polls for half a dozen consecutive years. And Bob played regularly at the biggest festival of them all in Sacramento, California, often performing in more than one band.
Pt. 3 - Bob recalls more of his years in the Bay Area, exclusive live broadcast recordings of the New Bearcats, 1992.
BOB MIELKE 3A.mp3 SUGARFOOT STRUT -- Golden State Jazz Band, Live San Francisco, 1980 SHE’S CRYI N’ FOR ME -- Bob Mielke’s New Bearcats, Live, KALW San Francisco, CA 1992 AIN’T NOBODY GOT THE BLUES LIKE ME -- Baraba Dane, 1957 MUDDY WATER -- Baraba Dane, 1957 I’M SATISFIED WITH MY GAL -- Bob Mielke’s Bearcats, 1958 MILENBURG JOYS -- Bob Mielke’s Bearcats, 1958
BOB MIELKE 3B.mp3 BLUE GUAIAC BLUES -- Bob Mielke’s New Bearcats, Live, KALW San Francisco 1992 SWING THAT MUSIC -- Bob Mielke’s New Bearcats, Live, KALW San Francisco 1992 SAWDUST BLUES -- Bob Mielke’s New Bearcats, Live, KALW San Francisco 1992 TEARS -- Berkeley Rhythm, c. 1973 SING ON -- Bob Mielke’s New Bearcats, Live, KALW San Francisco 1992
Farewell, Bob
Accidents and health challenges sidelined Mielke in the 2000s. Remaining a beloved musician, he was a popular guest at concerts, parties and informal jams until not long before his passing.
The Bearcats Jazz Band and related ensembles created a fresh mid-century sound by fusing four-beat New Orleans ensemble polyphony with Kansas City style riffs, fueling a second wave of the great San Francisco traditionalist jazz movement.
A creative jazz trombonist and original bandleader, Bob Mielke left a distinctive signature on the Frisco Revival and mid-century Jazz in the West.
Bob Mielke with Bunk Johnson Caravan Ballroom, October 1947
Bob Wilbur’s Wildcats 12.31.1947 Issued on, Young Men with Horns, London H-APB 1026, 10” vinyl LP
Johnny Glasel and Jerry Blumberg (cornets) Bob Wilber (clarinet) Bob Mielke (trombone) Dick Wellstood (piano) Charlier Trager (bass) Denny Strong (drums)
Excerpts from the original Young Men with Horns LP liner notes:
In
1946 the management of Jimmy Ryan’s on New York’s 52nd Street, were
talked into letting a group of very young musicians from suburban
Scarsdale take over for a few numbers during one of the regular weekend
jam sessions. They played New Orleans standards . . . with an
enthusiasm that made even the hardened professionals sit up and take
notice. This was the group that was to be known as Bob Wilber’s
Wildcats.
The original band many of the musicians were under
seventeen, Johnny Glasel, the cornet player, was actually fifteen . . . .
With the fine, deep, Ory-style trombone of Bob Mielke, their regular
drummer, Denny Strong, to lay down a healthy, solid beat and with Dick
Wellstood to play such fine piano as can be heard on “Old Fashioned
Love,” the band really showed what it could do. Jerry Blumberg, who had
announced his ambition of only playing second cornet parts,
nevertheless takes some fine solos on “I Can’t Say” and “When You Wore a
Tulip,” while Wilber, now on the clarinet, shows that he had achieved
an original, lusty style that wasn’t merely a shadow of the playing of
[his mentor] Sidney Bechet.
ARCHIVE MUSIC
Bob Mielke's Jazz Band, 1951 Mielke (trombone), Bill Erickson (trumpet), Bill Napier (clarinet), Jerry Stanton (piano), Bob Mussiter (guitar), John Schuler (string bass), Jack Lowe (drums)
The
sometimes boisterous Monkey Inn opened onto to busy Shattuck Avenue
through the (audibly) swinging barroom doors next to the piano.
According to Bob Mielke, things could occasionally, “get a little rough.” He describes the college-age crowd as, “fraternity boys out on their first beer benders,” though another less charitably called them “a pack of little thugs.”Earl Scheelar reports that one time, when a tough motorcycle gang infested the joint, the musicians packed up their instruments and left.
The Bearcats and other band played there for “beer and peanuts” (the beer was free, but they were paid peanuts). After about 1960 Bill Erickson was house pianist, directing various combos and ad hoc groups.
ARCHIVE MUSIC
Burp Hollow was a popular jazz bar at 487 Broadway in San Francisco for a few years around 1960. Dick Oxtot
fronted bands there with various line-ups often including Erickson,
Mielke and others.
This rare 1959 tape fromBurp Hollow
is a remarkable manifestation of East Bay revival-jazz players.
Napier
sounds terrific and gets the most solo time, switching occasionally to bass clarinet (visible, right).
Drummer Max Leavitt worked with Erickson, though he was
not part of this coterie.
Bill Erickson (trumpet) Bill Napier (clarinet) Bob Mielke (trombone) Dick Oxtot (banjo, vocals) Peter Allen (string bass) Max Leavitt (drums)
ARCHIVE MUSIC MONKEY INN TAPES from the personal collection of Bob Mielke
Bill Erickson Quartet, 9.7.61 Frank Goudie (clarinet) Bob Mielke (trombone) Bill Erickson (piano) Don Marchant (drums) Goudie sounds particularly good on this session, and it's some of the best sound pickup available of his clarinet.
Oxtot recalled some of the highlights in his memoir, Jazz Scrapbook:
“We played the first season, each and every A’s home game, with four musicians. We played the hallways before the game, on top of the dugout during each half-inning, and strolled through the bleachers.
The band was dissatisfied with the 4-piece arrangement – especially me. It was tough on me to provide an entire rhythm for the three horns . . . I needed a tuba to complete the rhythm section. The following season, (team owner) Charlie Finley went along and agreed to add a fifth musician, Squire Girsback. But Squire had to leave after a month or so, and after trying other tuba players, we decided on John Moore as the regular.
Life on the road with Finely was a full-time party. Finley was a genial host. (In Detroit) he hosted a 7- course lobster dinner for a flock of dignitaries and the band. After the feast, which must have cost him a bundle, Finley called a cab and invited Mielke to ride back to the hotel with him. As the cab approached the hotel, Finley asked Mielke, “Have you got five dollars for the cab?”
Oxtot collection
ARCHIVE INTERVIEW
Earl Scheelar recalls playing with the Swingin' A's:
This site is free. But you can help sustain
it, and encourage me with donation to the tip jar. Secure payment
through PayPal is anonymous, except that I will see your e-mail address.
Bob Mielke's Bearcats
.
Farewell, Bob
