The Mouthpiece: Dwayne Willis Long
By Ted Nesling – UK 2007
It was in the year of 1943, I was a sixteen year old working on a farm by day and playing piano accordion in Eve Gyfords dance band at night. We were playing one Friday evening for a dance in the village of Stradbroke, a couple of miles from Horham Air Base, several American service men were jitterbugging and jiving, but one was sitting at the bottom of the stage just listening to us playing. After the dance was over he came over and introduced himself as Dwayne Willis Long and would we mind if he sat in with us at our next engagement, we said OK, tomorrow night at Framlingham drill hall, we didn't really know what he was talking about, thought he just wanted to listen. Well, we arrived at Framlingham to find Dwayne waiting for us with a battered case under his arm, we all trooped into the hall with our instruments and started to unpack, Dwayne took a equally battered trumpet from the case plus a mouthpiece from his pocket, put that trumpet to his lips and blew.!!!! We were gob smacked is the under statement of the year, we had never heard playing like it, he went up and down the scales then finished up playing Bugle-Call Rag just to get warmed up, what a night, after that he came out most nights when not on duty ( he was a cook on the base ), he used to cycle as many as twenty miles to be with us, he became a good friend and came to our house lots of times to have supper, he taught me a lot about music.
I joined the army Dec 1944, that was the last time I saw Dwayne, I was posted to India the following August. In 1946 I was preparing to leave India when I received a letter from him, he was back in States and at some music academy in South Dakota, I think it was in the city called Martin ?, unfortunately I lost the letter and his address so couldn't reply, so if you are out there Dwayne or anyone who might know his whereabouts, please get in touch.
By the way, he gave me that mouthpiece as a keepsake, which is now residing in the Museum at Horham Air Base with other memorabilia of Dwayne’s.