The History, the Present, the Future!

It all started back in 1946 when Frank and Freddie Assunto played Saturdays at Mama Lou’s Seafood House.  Then on February 20, 1949 the Junior Dixieland Jazz Band won top honors on the Horace Heidt Pot ‘O Gold Radio Hour.  After six weeks the Assunto brothers decided to go professional.

Through the next twenty-five years the Assuntos' Real Dukes of Dixieland would be a driving force in the direction of Dixieland Jazz.  Recording for such labels as Bandwagon, Imperial, Okeh, RCA, Audio Fidelity, MCA-Decca, and Columbia the Dukes released several dozen albums many of which have been reissued several times.

Now join us, the Assunto family, for a journey into the past to relive many of the high points of the tremendous career of the original band and watch us forge new frontiers in Dixieland Jazz. 

The Personnel

Angela Assunto-Soulas
Vocalist

Angela Assunto-Soulas has been working in theatre since the mid 1980's.  She was a member of Theater Schmeater, an improvisational theatre troupe and performed at the Café Brazil and in Montreal, Canada.  Soulas then went on to perform with The Lower Garden Project Theater in three of their productions.  Soulas has a degree from the University of New Orleans, where she majored in Secondary Speech Education and performed and toured with the Department of Drama and Communications as well.

She is also a founding member and director of the Holy Rosary Players, a theatre group performing at the Our Lady of the Rosary Church in New Orleans.

Edwin Stoddard
Trombone/Vocals
Ed was introduced to Dixieland by his school band director (who wanted a small group to play during stage changes), ED was bitten by the bug and was forevermore out of touch with "popular" music.  Ed played in a Trad band at UNC, the surviving members of which all still play.  The next stop was Cape Cod, where sing-along and Dixieland were popular (Cape Cod Ragtime Society Orchestra and Bourbon St Paraders), even with the younger set, and Ed got to hear and play with many fine musicians.  Florida beckoned, and the Florida native returned home to play and fish (bass, snook, sometimes just peace).  Living in Venice, Ed roamed from Naples to Tampa (Delta Steamers) to Orlando, and occasionally fronted his own Panama Hat Band.  From here Ed also toured with Connie Jones and the Crescent City JB (New Orleans), including the maiden voyage of the American Queen on the Mississippi (the famous "mud bank" trip).

Charlie Lodice
Drums 
Born on August 31, 1926 in Queens New York, Charlie was one of 7 children, 4 boys and 3 girls. His father, Bartolomeo LoGiudice, was an Italian immigrant from Sicily who was a musician of many sorts. He played many different stringed instruments as well as horns. Charlie's mother, Margaret Verga LoGiudice, was born in New Jersey after her parents migrated there from Sicily. Two of Charlie's brothers were also musicians, the late Dominick "Don" Lodice and August "Augie" LoGiudice. 

Charlie grew up during the great depression. Along with their father, he and his sibling's learned to chip in at a young age.

"Everybody pitched in, I remember my mother sending us out to pick dandy lions which she used to make salads for dinner. We used to go to the dump to find left over pieces of coal to heat our house and that's also where we got some of our toy's for Christmas."

"My father carried the nickname "Professor" because of his musical talents. Some of the neighborhood store owners would often give my father an extra loaf of bread, extra meat or something because they had respect for musicians. During the depression my family was on "home relief," a form of welfare. It's similar to welfare today only you had to work for it. One of my fathers jobs on the program was cleaning the streets. I remember how embarrassed he was, but, he did it."

"We really didn't start getting ahead till my oldest brother Don moved to California and began working as a musician there. He used to send money back home to my family to help out and he also was the first in our family to buy an automobile."

Charlie started playing drums when he was very young. As a teenager he began playing gig's for money making him a professional musician at a young age. After his oldest brother, Don, moved to California to pursue his music career, Charlie soon followed.  

At age 18, Don began traveling and playing music with the likes of, Mike Riley, Bunny Berrigan, Teddy Powell, Tommy Dorsey and even the big guy, Frank Sinatra. Not only did Don play music with Frank, they became close friend's which grew into a relationship that would wind up finding them roommates.

In 1944, Don moved to Hollywood and became a freelance studio musician. In 1947, he signed a contract with MGM to play with the MGM orchestra.

Although Charlie and Don never legally changed their names, they adopted "Lodice" as a stage name because it was much easier to spell and remember as opposed to their birth names. That name stuck and somehow became more permanent than they actually intended.

When Charlie moved to California in 1949, Don introduced him to some of the biggest names in the business. Charlie went on to play with the likes of Red Nichols, Wingy Manone, Jack Teagarden, Stuff Smith, Barney Bigard and let's not forget, Jerry Calonna. Charlie wound up marrying, Janet, the singer in Jerry's band which resulted in their first child, Lisa.

Charlie appeared several times with Bob Hope. He also performed on the "Hurdie Gurdie Show" an ABC TV for 13 consecutive weeks and in "Funny Girl" with Barbara Streisand. Charlie went on to play with the "Dukes of Dixieland" then the "Hurdie Gurdie Band" in Disneyland.

His biggest and longest stay was as the drummer for the world renowned jazz clarinetist, Pete Fountain of New Orleans. He moved to New Orleans and began playing with Pete in 1970 and continued throughout 1996 where he semi retired. As Pete's drummer, he had the opportunity to perform around the world as well as perform for three United States president's, the Pope and many other political interests and V.I.P's. Throughout his career, he has performed for over a million people. Charlie also was more than willing to perform for charities, free of charge, when asked.

"When I was with Pete you never new who was going to show up at the club. Phil Harris was a shoe in for a couple of times a year. He loved to come by and hang out and even get up on the stage and sing a tune or two. Almost anybody who was somebody came to the club when they were in town. If they didn't come to sit in, they came just to hang out and enjoy the show. The club atmosphere was different than playing a concert somewhere, you could sit back, relax, have a cocktail and enjoy the music."

Charlie has moved about the music scene playing music with many of his good friend's like, but not limited to, the late Pud Brown, Tom Gekler, Connie Jones, the late Jackie Coon and the late Jimmy Ille. For over half a century these guys along with many others have been entertaining crowds abroad with that incomparable "Dixieland" sound.

"Those guys weren't just guys I worked with, they were my friend's. Usually when we were not working we were hanging out. We all go back 40 or 50 years. I remember back in the 70's, Jimmy used to come over to my house with his wife to visit. At that time, Jimmy was a conductor in the circus. They would come in a truck and trailer with a bunch of circus animals in it. You should have seen the kid's in the neighborhood, they went nut's."

"Pud, Tom and I all came to New Orleans from California. Pud and I were running buddies, we both lived in the "French Quarter" so it was easy to meet up and have some coffee or whatever. Pud used to ride his bicycle all over the "Quarter" stopping in to see his friend's playing around in different club's. He was one of the best horn players around. Pud was also a mechanical genius in his own right. Whenever something broke, he would tinker with it till he fixed it or at least patched it up. I've even seen him take thing's apart that wasn't broke just to see what made 'em tick."

"Tom and I still meet up a couple of times a month and sit around and B.S. or we might go somewhere. Tom and I worked together back in California and we worked together here with Pete among others. He still works with Pete. I sure miss the good ole day's with Pud, Jackie, Jimmy and all of those over the years who have passed on. We all had such a great time together. Some stories are better not told."

I'll tell you another thing, you can ask his friend's, Charlie is always good for a laugh. He is well know for his stage antic's. Anyone who has seen him perform can testify to that. For instance, on stage, he would put a frown on then Pete would ask him "What's wrong Charlie?" Charlie would reply in a child like voice "I want my mommy.........I want your mommy too" while doing a drum roll on his snare. The audience loved it!

You can now find Charlie hiding in the stick's of Picayune, Mississippi near his son Chris, Chris' wife Patty and family along with his new granddaughter, Madison. If you look real close, you can still occasionally find him hiding behind a set of drums in and around New Orleans. He swore a few years ago he would never play again, but, that hasn't stopped him yet. If you are around New Orleans for "Mardi Gras," be sure to check out Pete's "Half Fast" marching club. You will most likely see Charlie there. Charlie loves to spend time in Arizona as well with his daughter Lisa and son-in-law Tony along with his two granddaughters, Paige and Tayler. He also travels back and forth to New York to spend time with his surviving brothers and sisters and their families.