1978 Interview with Dicky Wells from Erling Kroner

A few years ago, Dutch jazz trombonist Erling Kroner posted a fabulous transcribed interview from 1978 he did with legendary Basie trombonist Dicky Wells in it's entirety, including a great discussion about Wells' famed "Pepper Pot Mute". Here is a snippet from Kroner's introduction:

In May 1978 Dicky Wells and Earle Warren appeared at the Vognporten in Copenhagen accompanied by Finn Otto Hansen (tp), Torben Hertz (p), Carsten Tanggaard (b) and Sven-Erik Nørregaard (d). It was the first time ever I had a chance to hear one of my greatest inspirations live. I talked to Dicky Wells on a break, and he graciously accepted to meet me a couple of days later for an interview. As I was talking to Dicky, Earle Warren came over and heard what we were talking about. He pulled me aside and looked me deep in the eye: "Don’t bring him no booze, dig?" Earle was chaperoning Dicky, looking out for him. We met at Dicky’s room at the then Hotel Adlon, situated over the Montmartre in Nørregade, downtown Copenhagen. I recorded the interview/talk onto cassette tape. Later I transcribed the interview and translated it into Danish for use in the new jazzmag Jazz Special. I am not much of an interviewer, so I have tried to rephrase the most obnoxious trivialities on my part, but have tried to keep Dicky’s narrative as close to the way it presents itself on the tape as possible.

The interview is a rare one, to be sure -- the length and depth of the interview make it one not to miss, especially in light of the fact that Erling Kroner is no longer with us. Read the entire interview on Erling Kroner's website.

NOTE: Can anyone confirm the proper spelling for Dicky/Dickie Wells -- I have seen both and was curious if anyone has a definitive answer... apparently, there was a nightclub owner in New York named Dickie Wells, who died in 1949, so it is possible the confusion began in the years prior...