L.to r.: Jim Cullum, Jr., Billy Butterfield, Yank Lawson, and Rich Matteson

Billy Butterfield was born in 1917 in Middleton, Ohio. He attended high school in Wyoming and studied medicine at Transylvania College. His early gigs included Austin Wyle in Pittsburgh before joining the Bob Crosby band in 1936. He worked and recorded with Crosby until 1940, then with Artie Shaw until 1941. After this he worked with Benny Goodman and Les Brown before being called up by the Army.

After the war, he formed his own successful band which continued until 1947, after which he began a prolific studio recording career in New York. Throughout the 40's and 50's, Billy continued working at Nick's and Condon's as well as touring with his own small group. From 1968-73 he worked regularly with the World's Greatest Jazzband and appeared at many jazz festivals well into the 80's.

My Dad got to know Billy when the Crosby Band played an extended engagement at the Adolphus Hotel in Dallas in 1936. The Crosby Band had a strong emphasis on New Orleans forms of jazz and was just then emerging as a strong force in popular music.

When in 1968 we did the first World Series of Jazz concert in San Antonio, Dad renewed his friendship with Billy, and I met him for the first time. He would come down to the Landing and jam with us whenever he was in town, and our paths crossed on many other bandstands. He was a great teller of jazz stories, most of which are unprintable.

In 1983, Billy played a week's engagement at Condon's, and I went every night and soaked it up--a great learning experience in jazz band trumpet playing. This was the last time I ever saw him, and he sure was playing great!

I first met Rich Matteson around '66-'67 when he was an area rep for Getzen. I was then playing the Getzen cornet. Rich was introduced to me as the guy who played tuba on the Dukes of Dixieland album, Louie and the Dukes. At this time, Rich was known as a tuba and valve trombone player--the euphonium was kind of a new thing for him.

He would come into the Landing, tell stories, and play the blues on the euphonium. He would play about 20 choruses of blues, take the horn away from his face, and yell at the top of his lungs, "I LOVE YA' BABY!" and then continue to play more blues choruses. Later, we would go out to the Pan American to eat and hang out--he was so much fun to be around!

Rich played valve trombone on the first World Series of Jazz concert--he and Ernie Caceres were our "secret weapons." I considered him one of my really good friends--I really liked him a lot. Later, he began to teach at North Texas State University and became well-known in the jazz world. Unfortunately, we lost Rich to cancer last year.