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Hi all - Douglas Yeo, former trombonist with the Boston Symphony, and a good friend, is researching the life of John M. Kuhn, who played Sousaphone with many of the great concert bands, including Sousa's.
We happened upon a photo showing Kuhn helping Jack Dempsey play an upright bell Sousaphone, but we are not aware of the source of the photograph, or the context. All we had was a date - 1927.
Do any of you happen to know? I told Doug I would send this out to the tuba chat rooms I frequent. Thanks for any help you can provide!
1927 Dempsey - Copy.jpg (127.07 KiB) Viewed 775 times
Played an F. E. Olds 4-valve BBb in high school (late '70s)
Led the USC Trojan Marching Band tuba section (early '80s)
Now playing an F. Schmidt (=VMI) 3301 and goofing around
on a 1925 Pan American Sousaphone and an 1899 Conn tuba!
I can’t be sure of the Kuhn connection, but 1927 was the year of the famous Dempsey/Tunney rematch, also known as “The Long Count” match. It occurred in September of that year in Philadelphia - if Kuhn was active in Philadelphia at the time (dark jackets and light trousers were common) it could have been a publicity photo for that boxing match. Everybody appears to be dressed in clothing that would be appropriate for that time of year, so it’s certainly possible.
And, since they are all dressed the same (and there’s a clarinet on the chair in the left background) the people in the background are likely to be members of a dance band, one with which Mr Kuhn was a member of.
Dempsey lost, FWIW
These users thanked the author Yorkboy for the post:
A quick Google search comes up with a place called Soper’s Ranch, Ojai California, for the location of Dempsey’s training camp for the 1927 fight. It appears to have been a popular spot for boxers to set up training camp, partially due to a mineral spring nearby. It also appears to have had a cafe, which is where I’d guess the band was in residence.
Yorkboy wrote: ↑Fri Dec 30, 2022 6:38 pm
Good eye, bort!
A quick Google search comes up with a place called Soper’s Ranch, Ojai California, for the location of Dempsey’s training camp for the 1927 fight. It appears to have been a popular spot for boxers to set up training camp, partially due to a mineral spring nearby. It also appears to have had a cafe, which is where I’d guess the band was in residence.
Next step is finding out what was the “house band” at that time.
Now we're getting somewhere - thanks guys! Here is yet another photo from that day (although I still can't remember where I stumbled upon these images years ago!):
1927 Jack Dempsey holding Sousaphone.jpg (57.93 KiB) Viewed 558 times
These users thanked the author Dave Detwiler for the post (total 2):
Yorkboy (Sat Dec 31, 2022 7:47 am) • York-aholic (Sat Dec 31, 2022 9:58 am)
Played an F. E. Olds 4-valve BBb in high school (late '70s)
Led the USC Trojan Marching Band tuba section (early '80s)
Now playing an F. Schmidt (=VMI) 3301 and goofing around
on a 1925 Pan American Sousaphone and an 1899 Conn tuba!
