Hi, I’m Apple…
…and I’m Ginger.
And this week let us tell you the story of The Phantom of Jazz & Swing.
The year was 1938. Benny Goodman had just played Carnegie Hall and he was the king of swing, together with Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw and Harry James.
It was the year George Gershwin would’ve turned 39 for the first time and Jack Benny turned 39 for the sixth time.
But there used to be another name up there with them, Gene Sax, now long since airbrushed out of musical history, just like a phantom.
Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw had their clarinets, Jack Benny had his violin, George Gershwin had his piano, Glenn Miller had his trombone, Harry James had his trumpet and Gene Sax had his saxophone.
He was so popular with the jitterbuggers that the record company produced rubber masks of Gene Sax’s face for fans to wear. They figured if all teenagers want to look alike, they’d better look like Gene Sax and besides, it sold more records.
All this came to an end one fateful night in 1938.
While practising at his home in Sacramento, California, fire broke out.
Gene Sax survived, but his hands and face were severely burned.
He thought he could continue recording solely in the studio, or at least write hits for other artists, but he couldn’t play his saxophone anymore, due to the burns.
Django Reinhardt managed it with his guitar after fire broke out in his gypsy caravan, but a saxophone was a different matter and his hands were too badly damaged, although he was encouraged that they would heal and become stronger with time.
Time is what he didn’t have. He had a manager, an agent and all sorts of other people to pay and he fell into a deep depression.
On New Year’s Eve 1938 Gene Sax boarded a cruise ship for Paris. He was not seen when the ship docked in Paris and after no body turned up it was presumed he had jumped overboard.
And so began the legend of Gene Sax and the Phantom of Jazz & Swing ghost stories.
His house was never rebuilt and remained as it stood after the fire, a forgotten shell.
However, people started saying they could hear the faint sound of Gene Sax playing his saxophone as they walked past at night.
The year is now 1968 and for 30 years these stories have persisted. The house still stands. No-one will buy the land because they believe it’s haunted.
At a nearby malt shop a group of teenagers decide to get to the bottom of the mystery of the Phantom of Jazz & Swing.
They decide to spend the night in the house. As midnight falls they arrive. The house looks like the Munsters’ place at 1313 Mockingbird Road. They go in and light the candles on a candelabra for light and heat.
At first nothing happens and they doze off. Then they are woken by the echoey sound of a saxophone being played.
It seems to come from every direction. They panic and run outside, knocking over the candelabra as they go, starting a fire.
As they stand helplessly watching the house burn for a second time, they see a figure on the roof.
It was Gene Sax, after 30 years, playing his saxophone and wearing one of those rubber masks over his burnt face.
He played triumphantly as the house finally collapsed, with him in it. He had been living for 30 years in the shadows and learning to play his beloved saxophone again in the cellar and attic, untouched by the fire in 1938.
And this is the tragic story of Gene Sax, the Phantom of Jazz & Swing. Now it can be told.
As for the group of teenagers, they starred in a cartoon series about a group of teenagers solving haunted house mysteries with a talking Great Dane and a drug addict called Shaggy, beginning the following year.
Time for us to go now.
Say goodnight to all the nice people around the world.
OK, goodnight folks. See you next Tuesday.
themaster1968 