Since 2004 Plastic Crimewave (aka Steve Krakow) has used the Secret History of Chicago Music to shine a light on worthy artists with Chicago ties who’ve been forgotten, underrated, or never noticed in the first place.
Within a few years the band was frequently playing at the Lewis Institute, where Tough was taking language and literature classes, and he would often join in on drums. (The Lewis Institute no longer exists, having merged in 1940 with the Armour Institute of Technology to form IIT.) The Austin High Gang performed under several names as their personnel evolved, including the Blue Friars and Husk O’Hare’s Wolverines (the latter with Tough as a regular member). In 1927, jazz guitarist Eddie Condon led the group for two sessions as “McKenzie and Condon’s Chicagoans.” Those recordings helped make the young players famous, but the newly married Tough had already left to play in Europe, replaced by Gene Krupa.
Though slight of frame, Tough was a powerful player. A perfectionist who hated to take solos, he was known to gripe about the insipid, overly commercial music many bands had to play to survive. He had the skill and musicality to work with the biggest names of the era, but he was frequently dissatisfied and remained restless.
Henrit also quotes several jazz titans praising Tough, including Dizzy Gillespie, who had this to say about his unflashy but not-just-timekeeping swing: “Dave never got in the way; he didn’t overplay. What we need today are a few more Dave Toughs.” v
