Evening star., 1925-07-26
KING TUT" RULES
ALLEY ORCHESTRA
Jazz Is 0utdone by Small
Boys Band With Home
made Instruments"

Al JolSon has a riVal-One Leon
Christian, yclept King Tut by his
intimates
King Tut" plays a whole drum
mer's outfit, all improvised, and he
creates real music where no music
could be expected to come forth. He
is the star attraction, comedian
clown and leading spirit in the ALLEY
Orchestra" a syncopating organiza-
tion of colored youths who have won
local renown in the l. Street alley,
which runs between Fifteenth street
and Vermont avenue, where they give
daily jazz concerts that are attract
ing large and larger audiences.
He not only plays 'em-he makes
EN- talk. Feet just won't behave
when they chance within dancing dis
tance of his highness and his royal
subjects in one of their musical
moods.
The king" is an abbreviated lad
with rolling eyes and an expansive
grin, who "jedges he's bout 13 yeahs
Old He scarcely LOOKS II, hut then
he's the judge, and who are we TO
doubt monarch's word?
Obviously he is a lad of ample un-
derstanding. Oh, quite. He wears
No. IS. And what he can't do in the
clog line with those twin dogs" of his
Just isn't done. that's all.
Their Instruments Marvels.
His ma ajesty tortures traps of his
own design and manufacture. And
they are both rare and original. His
drum" is "a soap box of generous
proportions The traps consist of one
large sized pie pan of Silverish hue,
but finnish tinkle, and a we'll worn
cigar box with Stats across il. The
pan Is attached at a carefree angle 10
the extreme end of a stick the other
end of which is nailed TO the drum. =
The cigar box, or snare drum''-to
lend it the proper musical tone-is
hitched to the other end of the big
bass" and makes a delightful poise
when properly pounded. The royal
drumsticks bear a suspicious resem-
blance TO chair rungs.
Keeping perfect time and juggling
the lii ole sticks are just second ma
ture TO this boy. Jazz is what he
don't know nothin' else but! He
doesn't exactly "disremember' how
long he has been a trap drummer, but
IT has been. 'yeahs and yeahs." Per-
haps it's a talent left TO him from
the Egyptian dynasty when Tuts
were kings and not mummies. At any
rate, he's an old-timer.
Crave Piano Player.
Nor is his royal highness the only
talent in the ALLEY Orchestra. -
James Thomas, the manager. plays a
wicked ukelele and admits he fiddles
James doesn't know it, but he is Il
natural born comedian as we'll
Charles Tate also worries the ukelele,
while Walter Jackson does his stuff
on the "laftin' trombone" Originally
the trombone was a homemade affair,
consisting of two curtain poles in
CenuouSly fastened together so they
would slide and tin horn attached
But now prosperity has smiled upon
The young artists and they possess a
real 'boughten" trombone. AS King
Tut wistfully remarked. Eff we on'y
had piano-player we'd be a eg'laT
orchestry." .
They may not be a reg lar orches
try" as vet. but they have had two
regular engagements. Not long ago
they were asked 10 play for an 'en-
tahtainment," in the Roydon Apart
ments at Sixteenth and K streets and
made all of S10.49
Another red-letter day in their
orchestral existence was when they
recently played for a woman on Con
necticut avenue, who was so charmed
by their mellow melodies floating
through the window that she hied
herself forth and invited them in to
entertain her guests.
According to the leader, Hurley
Howard, who lodges cameras like d
bootlegger lodges cops. his group of
minStrels can play all popular airs by
ear and anything else by request.
Sheets of music mean less than moth
inS in their young lives. Music just
naturally resides in their bones and
needs no assistance from sheeted
notes to express itself through their
'fretted Instruments.