Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1930-02-08

and Baxter. and it was nothing to
his credit that the Jazz maintained
its spirit. Occasionally he lost the
pair: brace of young wild birds
double timed through the forest
miraculously avoiding the trees: an
extremely ardent couple. welded to-
gether. did decidedly localized
mess-around; that gigantic black
farmer whom Jean had pointed out
Sashayed into the line of vision
swung about, backed off, being
fancy.
Abruptly. as if someone had
caught and held his right arm,
Buss baton halted above his head
His men kept on playing under
the impulse of their own momen-
tum, but Bus was a creature apart
Slowly his baton dropped, like the
crest Of a proud bird, beaten. His
eyes died on their object and all
his features sagged. On the floor
forty feet away, amid the surround
ing clot of dancers, Jean and Bax-
ter had stopped moving and were
standing perfectly still. The girl
had claSped her partner close about
the shoulders with both arms. Her
face was buried in his chest.
Baxter, who was facing the plat
form, looked up and saw Bus star
ing. He drew the girl closer, grim
ned, and shut one eye.
They stood so a moment or an
hour till Bus dragged his eyes away
Automatically he resumed beating
time. Every moment or so his baton
wavered slowed, and hurried toI
catch up. The blues were very
low-down. the nakedest of Jazz,
series of periodic walls against
background of steady, slow rhythm
each pounding pulse descending in
evitably. like leaden strokes of fate.
Bus found himself singing the
words of this grief stricken lamen-
tation:
Trouble has followed me
all my days,
Trouble-trouble has followed me
all my days
Seems like troubles gonna follow
me always.
The mob demanded an encore,
mob that knew its blues and liked
them blue. Bus complied. Each
refrain became bluer as it was
caught up by different voice: the
wailing clarinet, the weeping CT
sax, the moaning b fiat sax, the
trombone. and Bus's own plaintive
tenor:
Baby-Baby-my baby's gone away,
Baby-baby-my baby's gone away
Seems like baby-my baby's gone
to stay.
Presently the thing beat itself
out, and Bus turned to acknowl-
edge applause. He broke bow off
in half. Directly before the plat
form stood Jean, alone, looking up
at him.
He jumped down. Dancer"
mo. Listen. You know what /
said at the tablet"
"At the tablet"
"About-wolves?"
"Oh-that-?"
"Yea. I didn't mean anything
personal. Honest didn't" Her
eyes besought his. You didn't
think meant anything personal,
did you?" Il
Course not" He laughed. IT
know now you didn't mean any
thing" He laughed again. Neither
one of us meant anything"
Her eyes lifted, widened, fell.
"Oh," she said. Neither one of us
meant-anything."
With wry little smile, he
watched her slip off through the
crowd.
From his side of the platform Bus
overheard Tess Baxter talking to
Perry Parker. Baxter had a custom
of talking while he conducted the
jazz serving to blanket his words.
The blanket was not quite heavy
enough tonight.
"P. P, old pooter, she fell"
Parker was resting while the CT
sax took the lead. "She did?"
mo lie. She says, You don't
leave me any time for cash Gus
TONER'S"
"Yea?"
"Yea. And I says, I'm a cash
customer, baby. Just name your
InetantIv Rus was across the Mat