The Jitterburg Vipers: An unknown 30s style Jazz trio
Interview Conducted in February of 2018
by Daniel Locke
The Jitterbug Vipers specialize in a beloved cult jazz offshoot called “viper jazz,” a screeching U-Turn back to the party where jazz music packed the dance floor and dazzled the audience with brilliant streams of improvisatory musicianship. This musical heritage pulls from the cherished musicality of Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Fats Waller, Cab Calloway, and Slim Galliard.
The four piece’s distinct variety of this smoking intoxicant is known as “swingadelic” for its panoramic aesthetic sprawl. Fusing an authentic command of every era of American roots music with wry wordplay and freewheeling hippie ethos, the Jitterbug Vipers energize and vibrantly reimagine a movement in music long shackled in by nostalgia and overly reverent revivalism. In 3 years, the band has released two albums. On its first offering, the quartet swaggered through the classic viper songbook with speakeasy boisterousness. For its most recent release, Phoebe’s Dream, the Jitterbug Vipers baked some originals steeped in the ribald wit, quaint sophistication, and graceful virtuosity of those blissfully heavy-lidded 1930s and 1940s classics.
The band’s mix of chops and charms have garnered them a loyal live following and plum press. Downbeat enthuses: “No Musical act embodies the ‘Keep Austin Weird’ civic mantra with more style and class than the ‘swingadelic’ quartet Jitterbug Vipers. The band’s witty updating of classic 1930s reefer jive music, featuring septuagenarian guitar genius Slim Rich front and center, is sly, sophisticated and more than a little habit-forming.” The Austin Chronicle says: “The local quartet’s one of the funnest and best bands you can catch around Austin.” Eugene Weekly says: “When the group plays, somehow, somewhere, Jerry Garcia hands Count Basie a joint and says, ‘Now that’s what I’m talking about.’”
Bree Romeo on Vocals
Masumi Jones on Drums
and a host of all-star guest vipers! come see who’s smokin’ now!
Dan Locke: You are a group whose does original tunes written in style of the 1940s jazz swing era, and featuring lyrical references to the 1940’s Hipster jazz scene which historically includes references to marijuana, a legal drug during prohibition. How did this happen?
Francie Meaux Jeaux: My husband and I really liked the music, it’s fun, so we decided to go for it, start a band. Nobody else was doing it, though it would be different and fun.
Your style of music comes from the Great American Songbook
Correct?
Not really the style, but several of the tunes do.
What kind of people comes out to watch you perform?
Dancers, people who like swing music like Cab Callaway, Louie Jordan; people young and old, professionals, students, other musicians, all kinds. Little kids LOVE our music; it’s just a lot of fun and they love to dance and jump around…
How did you guys meet?
Slim and I met at a Christmas party in ft. worth. we met Masumi Jones, our drummer, at an all-night jam for professional musicians in north Austin, and she recommended Bree Romeo, our singer; and we met Greg at Johnny gimbal’s swing camp, or maybe a little before that…
How did you get your band name?
My husband and I were sitting around and came up with ‘viper’ (that’s what pot smokers were called in the 30s) and ‘jitterbug’ is a style of swing dancing.
Has anyone in the band major in music? And where did they go to school?
Masumi Jones
I know our drummer, Masumi Jones, went to the Berkeley school of music in Boston. I believe she’s the only one
You and Slim Richey were married. How did you keep your married fresh which in a rock band?
We were absolutely mad for each other
In the 1970s and ’80s, Slim ran Warehouse Music, a mail order company that offered a full range of musical instruments and equipment. Which included his own band of folk instruments called Ridge Runner. Do you still have any of these instruments?
I think I do. There are some in our business building I haven’t gone through, yet… I still have many of the cd, some of the home lessons he produced…
Slim Richeyand Francie Meaux Jeaux
Tell me something about Slim?
All he ever wanted to do was play guitar. He was mostly self-taught, but early on he learned from records of Barney Kessel, Herb Ellis, Wes Montgomery (especially his style of not using a pick and the use of octave chords)…. he adored women. He knew what he wanted but was open-minded to anything just about. He was very much into Joseph Campbell’s ‘follow your bliss’ way of living.
Besides playing standup bass, do you play electric bass or acoustic bass? And what type of basses do you play. What is your collection of basses?
I started out learning on an electric ‘baby’ bass, about the size of a guitar. And a few years later, slim bought me an upright and I fell in love and never played an electric again, with a couple of exceptions. I play an Austrian bass I bought after slim (and my bass) got run over one night as he was loading out at a gig. The only other bass I have is a Chadwick fold up travel bass…
What color was your hair before you started coloring it?
Francie Meaux Jeaux
Ha! Brown, kind of salt and pepper
And what color is it now?
Rainbow
Do you kids take after your musical talent?
Not really; they took fiddle lessons after they met Allison Krause, but I think hormones took over after a while…
Now you are engaged again, to someone in the band. How that change the dynamics of the band?
No! I wonder who told you that.
Since your husband has passed, you have had guest joining your band. Who are some of these people who has filled in for Slim?
Greg Harkins (Marshall Ford swing band) is our guitar player now. Slim was a mentor of his. we also have several people who join us when they can- Tomas Ramirez (the jazzmanian devil, Beto y Los fairlanes), Connor Forsyth (asleep at the wheel),Beth Gallagher, who plays flute and sax with several bands, Katie shore (asleep at the wheel), Todd Sloan (Westbank string shop)…. one time I told Connor to tell ray (Benson) to stop stealing our players (4 of them have been/are members of asleep at the wheel). Ha!
Why was he called “The Most Dangerous Guitarist in Texas”?
Haha, one night Stanley Smith just came up with that, when he was introducing slim, when he played with the jazz pharoahs,… it stuck.
What was the reason for the Go fund page? And how long did it take to meet your goal?
The go fund page was to help with Slim’s medical expenses (and to replace my bass) when he was run over outside the hotel vegas, loading out. It raised about $15/20,000 within maybe 6 months?
I watched “A Viper Just The Same”. It reminded me as the psychedelic movie from the 60s. Almost like the Monkees movie “Head”
Yeah, I like to call our music “1930s psychoswingadelic rock” instead of jazz. We like to throw some crazy stuff into the mix
In 2014 The Jitterbug Vipers were featured on Michael Feinstein’s NPR show Song Travels. How was it to be on NPR radar?
Very cool and quite unexpected!
Have you done Tiny Desk Concert yet?
No, but that would be cool
Slim Richeyand Francie Meaux Jeaux
Slim won Best Electric Guitarist at the 2014 Austin Music Awards. Do you still have the award?
Absolutely
What musical influence do you have?
My influences are old school ‘classic rock, and ray brown. I really don’t like jazz; I don’t listen to it at all.
What process do you do in creating your music?
I don’t really have a process unless you count partaking of the devil weed as a process.
Does anyone in the band do any session?
I know Greg does some, and Masumi does…
If someone never heard of you, what bands would you tell them sound similar to you?
Wow, that’s hard to say….i can’t think of any other brands that sound like us. I know that sounds pompous but I don’t get into Austin much unless I’m being paid.
Since you are a female fronted band did you ever check out The Go Girl Music Fest which happens at the same time as SXSW, both in Austin?
I haven’t. I really should, though, and I know the woman who started it, so that’s an idea. Thanks!
Do you least check out SXSW every year since you live in Austin?
nah. The last time I really wandered around, all the bands sounded alike and really sucked. Seriously! I like some of the day parties a lot, though. I think they are more geared to just enjoying the music, enjoying being with friends, instead of trying to make yourself famous.
What type of clubs/places do you like to play in (size)?
I always prefer playing clubs where people like to have fun like c-boys, as opposed to “listening” rooms like the cactus cafe. Size really doesn’t matter (haha) except for connecting to the audience. That is important to us…
What music fests would you like to play in? You should check out Nelsonville Music Fest.
We love playing festivals. We’ve played old settler’s several times, which is my fav, as well as Kerrville. We played the Corpus Christi jazz festival a few years back. We’d like to play some of the festivals in other parts of the country, where they have a big variety of bands. I’ll check out Nelsonville, I don’t know that one. And, of course, slimmest in trilingual, which is near and dear to my heart, honoring my husband.
Tell me about any endorsements you have and may how do get them?
Don’t have any
How would you explain your live performance?
Kind of like music that gets a little crazy and funny, and weird. When our band won our chronicle awards, the MC (Andy Langer, I believe) said we were helping to keep Austin weird … Haha
If someone was listening to you for the first time, what 3 videos or songs would you tell them to look/listen to and why?‘
When I get low (i get high)’, which was actually recorded by Ella Fitzgerald… ‘Sweet lotus blossom’, the original title was ‘sweet marijuana’ but because radio stations wouldn’t play it, the title and the words were changed from ‘marijuana’ to ‘lotus blossom’. That one is very trippy. One of the ones Greg and Bree wrote is ‘Sunday Funday’, it has some audience participation which is fun.
What is you’re feeling about American Idol? Since Kat Edmonson tried out for it back in 2002? She was someone that Slim helped with her career?
I don’t have a TV, so I don’t know a lot about it, but kind of. I think it was a good thing that they didn’t pick her, just because they would have tried to make her into something she wasn’t… she’s a woman who knows what she wants and goes for it and a very unique talent. When she first started singing with us, she had no idea what to do while people were soloing, or anything having to do with stage presence, stuff like that…. slim taught her a lot about performing. a lot about life in general…
Since who is your favorite female singer and why?
Locally it would be Alice Spencer, and also Emily Gimble. The first time I heard them my jaw hit the ground. They both sent chills down my spine. Famously it would be Nina Simone (for jazz) and grace slick… they have such power
Who is your favorite bass player and why?
Ray Brown. He sounds like a bass player should sound, tone as well as style, he never overplayed
How do you see your band in the next 5 years?
The Jitterbug Vipers by Todd V Wolfson
Man, I don’t think of the future much. I’m more in the moment. Hopefully making good money. Ha!
Any guilty pleasures your fans would be surprised you listen to?
I’m not sure if people would be surprised, but I listen mostly to old rock (the 60s, 70s)
What is on your bucket list?
to Africa, meeting Willie, playing with Lyle Lovett
If there was anything you could change what would it be?
My husband dying
What is on your phone for music now?
The Jitterbug Viper with Slim
Don’t have any
Anything in closing you would like to say?
Personally, Slim taught me everything about music. I started playing the day after we got married (the one the state knows about). And this band is all about having fun making music, the sheer joy of doing what we love comes through, I think. Which affects how people see us, they get caught up in it. It beats the hell out of a day job.
Ok. I think that’s all I can think of.Hope it’s good. And thanks
Thank you for talking to Unrated.
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