[Dixieland] Dancing Flower
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An excerpt from an episode of John Nash Ott's weekly television program How Does Your Garden Grow?, featuring a performance by Ott's neighbor Jim Cunningham and his seven-piece traditional jazz band. How Does Your Garden Grow? first aired in 1951 on the Chicago television station WNBQ (channel 5), and became part of NBC network programming where it continued to air until 1956.
Credits
John Nash Ott Jr. (filmmaker); James Cunningham Jr. (musician); Mel Grant (musician); Bob Cousins (musician); Sid Dawson (musician); Frank Chace (musician); Marty Grosz (musician)
Complete catalog record
Date: circa 1955
Cfa collection: John Nash Ott Collection
Notes: The film begins in host John Ott's tool shed and studio in Winnetka, Illinois, where he greets the audience and prepares to introduce the day's topic, but is quickly distracted by the sound of an offscreen musical instrument. His neighbor Jim Cunningham enters the tool shed clutching a trumpet and questions if Ott has been playing "the right type of music" for his flowers. When Ott asks him if he can help with that endeavor, Cunningham promptly summons the rest of his seven-piece band into the shed who immediately begin rearranging the furnishings to make room for their piano, guitar, trombone, clarinet, drums and upright bass, much to Ott's consternation and amusement. In the remainder of the excerpt, they play several traditional jazz songs, including "Sweet Georgia Brown" and "Tiger Rag."; In Ott's book, My Ivory Cellar: The Story of Time Lapse Photography, he explains that two of his sons encouraged his further experimentation with a plant's time-lapse photography synchronized with music, as he had initiated with the primroses featured in Dancing Flowers. His sons emphasized, "they thought I would do much better to keep more abreast of the time," by exploring more topical musical genres, so Ott recorded songs played by his neighbor's traditional jazz band on magnetic tape, and then re-recorded on an optical film track.; Featured band members include Mel Grant on piano, Bob "Cuz" Cousins on drums, Sid Dawson on trombone, Frank Chace on clarinet, and Marty Grosz on guitar, nearly all of whom regularly played alongside Cunningham at the Red Arrow Lounge at 6929 Pershing Rd in Stickney, Illinois.
Subjects: Jazz; Musicians; Music
Places: North America > United States > Illinois > Winnetka
Cfa elements: Print, 300 feet; Print, 150 feet
Cfa records: https://collections.chicagofilmarchives.org/Detail/objects/35987; https://collections.chicagofilmarchives.org/Detail/objects/37664
Cfa collection: John Nash Ott Collection
Notes: The film begins in host John Ott's tool shed and studio in Winnetka, Illinois, where he greets the audience and prepares to introduce the day's topic, but is quickly distracted by the sound of an offscreen musical instrument. His neighbor Jim Cunningham enters the tool shed clutching a trumpet and questions if Ott has been playing "the right type of music" for his flowers. When Ott asks him if he can help with that endeavor, Cunningham promptly summons the rest of his seven-piece band into the shed who immediately begin rearranging the furnishings to make room for their piano, guitar, trombone, clarinet, drums and upright bass, much to Ott's consternation and amusement. In the remainder of the excerpt, they play several traditional jazz songs, including "Sweet Georgia Brown" and "Tiger Rag."; In Ott's book, My Ivory Cellar: The Story of Time Lapse Photography, he explains that two of his sons encouraged his further experimentation with a plant's time-lapse photography synchronized with music, as he had initiated with the primroses featured in Dancing Flowers. His sons emphasized, "they thought I would do much better to keep more abreast of the time," by exploring more topical musical genres, so Ott recorded songs played by his neighbor's traditional jazz band on magnetic tape, and then re-recorded on an optical film track.; Featured band members include Mel Grant on piano, Bob "Cuz" Cousins on drums, Sid Dawson on trombone, Frank Chace on clarinet, and Marty Grosz on guitar, nearly all of whom regularly played alongside Cunningham at the Red Arrow Lounge at 6929 Pershing Rd in Stickney, Illinois.
Subjects: Jazz; Musicians; Music
Places: North America > United States > Illinois > Winnetka
Cfa elements: Print, 300 feet; Print, 150 feet
Cfa records: https://collections.chicagofilmarchives.org/Detail/objects/35987; https://collections.chicagofilmarchives.org/Detail/objects/37664
Sources
- Chicago Film Archives · record ↗ — title, year, creator, format, color, sound, genre, description, credits, catalog record, video
Record added 2026-11-08 21:25:25