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Jazz history - all of it! The Thread

ska invita said:
This sure beats reading the paper every morning - amazing stuff Danny - hope its not getting too tiring. And glad we're still sticking in the 20s - when you did the post about Louis Armstrong I thought we were moving on to the 30s...I didnt realise how thorough you were going to be!
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I will flounce from Urban if we move onto the 30's before doing Jimmy Noone.
 
Jimmy McPartland
(Cornet, Chicago).


McPartland was another Chicago native, born in 1907. He was raised in a succession of orphanages, before finally being expelled for fighting.

Austin High Gang
Along with other members of the Austin High Gang of high school friends who got together over their mutual love of jazz, he would initially learn jazz by copying the records of the New Orleans Rhythm Kings. (YouTube link).

“What we used to do was put the record on [...] play a few bars, and then get all our notes. We’d have to tune our instruments up to the record machine, to the pitch, and go ahead with a few notes. Then stop. A few more bars of the record, each guy would pick out his notes and boom! We would go on and play it”, McPartland remembered.

Victrola Time
When McPartland was around 15-years-old, the age he took up cornet, their hangout was an ice cream parlour called the Spoon and Straw. “They had a Victrola there, and we used to sit around listening to a bunch of records laid on the table”. [A Victrola model released in 1921-22, when the Austin High Gang were hanging out at the Spoon and Straw].

Eventually, McPartland and the Austin High Gang would discover King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band, and would go to see them in person. The club boss, gangster-connected Joe Glaser, would let them in for free, knowing they’d be wanting to sit in and that he would get some free playing from them.

Wolverines
As well as the NORK and King Oliver, the Austin High Gang admired Bix Beiderbecke, whom they first heard on the Gennett records Bix made with the Wolverines.

“I was tremendously influenced by Bix, and hearing the Wolverines was a step forward for all of the gang. We got their numbers off, and added them to our repertoire”. (Shapiro and Hentoff, p144).



McPartland and the Austin High Gang were soon calling themselves The Blue Friars, after the speak easy club the NORK played at in Chicago, Friar's Inn, and were playing at the Cellar and the 3 Deuces, and falling into the circle of Eddie Condon and others.

Taking over from Bix
Then Jimmy was offered his dream job, as Bix’s replacement in the Wolverines. He showed round the telegram offering him the job, and asked if it was a joke. It wasn’t. He accepted and moved to New York, where he shadowed Bix to begin with, learning the parts, both of them playing the gigs together. He roomed with Bix, and Bix bought him a new cornet saying the one Jimmy had been playing wasn’t worthy of the tunes.

Jimmy with the Woilverines:


McKenzie and Condon's Chicagoans
Jimmy joined McKenzie and Condon's Chicagoans in 1927, and with some of the old Austin High Gang and Eddie Condon, recorded a number of sides including China Boy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-8DXDOrJ0s

Nobody’s Sweetheart:


In 1928, Jimmy was part of Benny Goodman and His Boys who recorded Room 1411, the first known composition by Glenn Miller (who co-wrote it with Benny Goodman, about whom more later).


(Glenn Miller on trombone, Ben Pollack on drums, Dick "Icky" Morgan on guitar, Bud Freeman on tenor sax, Fud Livingston on clarinet and tenor saxophone, Jimmy McPartland on cornet, Vic Breidis on piano, Harry Goodman on tuba, and Benny Goodman on clarinet and baritone sax).

Jimmy on CD:
Jimmy’s work with the Wolverines is included in the Complete Wolverines: 1924-1928, on the Off the Record label:

ARCH_OTR-03.jpg



His later years are better served by CD issues.
 
Knotted said:
I will flounce from Urban if we move onto the 30's before doing Jimmy Noone.
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Don't worry, there's a lot left of the 20s. Although he have already had Noone. (You even "liked" the post!).

But feel free to post more of his tunes if you feel he's been short-changed. It's OK to chip in. I'll just go on and on if you don't. ;) *



*Former lecturer mode.
 
danny la rouge said:
Don't worry, there's a lot left of the 20s. Although he have already had Noone. (You even "liked" the post!).

But feel free to post more of his tunes if you feel he's been short-changed. It's OK to chip in. I'll just go on and on if you don't. ;) *



*Former lecturer mode.
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I read that post but somehow missed the Noone bit :oops:. It was the bits that I'm less familiar with that I was "liking". I don't know enough about the history to chip in properly. Didn't Noone graduate to Chicago eventually?

There's an exotic and musically colourful (in terms of timbres) side to early jazz which I really like, and I would see Noone as part of that along with more obvious band leaders like Ellington and Henderson. The Sheik of Araby was a standard at the time. It isn't a great song (IMO) but it does highlight this fascination with the exotic and the oriental (even if it was all a bit ersatz). I think there were certain escapist tendencies in some of this music, a prelude to people like Sun Ra. Noone and his band had quite odd instrumentation and could play with real warmth. He was also an extraordinary talent as well, of course. Just an angle on things that we might be missing. I'll try and make up a small compilation of early jazz cod orientalism.
 
i really like these last bunch of cuts Danny - a different feel to them - cant put my finger on what the difference is though...but i like them is the most important!
 
Knotted said:
Didn't Noone graduate to Chicago eventually?
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Yes indeed. In fact almost all* of the people we've discussed so far did.

The broad story so far is that:

1. Jazz originates in New Orleans, among black musicians. (Late 19th century, probably).
2. From the very early years of the century, those originators start to pollinate other places with jazz (and it gets a good reception because the antecedents of Jazz are already quite widespread, in varying degrees: ragtime, blues, field hollers, gospel, black brass bands etc).
3. Many jazz musicians migrate from New Orleans to Chicago, along with a general migration of African Americans. (Those musicians we continue to call New Orleans musicians. Some continue to play the NO style. Others, like Louis, don't, but he is from NO). So, in the 20s Chicago becomes a major centre for jazz.
4. When they're there, a wave of mainly white Chicago and Mid West musicians join in, often initially inspired by the white groups (who have better distribution) like ODJB (formed 1916) and the NORK (formed 1921, and who are the better band, in my opinion). Some, like Bix, possibly hear the black bands first, though, because of their connection to the riverboats.
5. There's a wave of mainly white musicians just behind that, inspired by all this. So they're inspired by all that's going on. (ie The original polyphony that's still being played. The new style Louis is pioneering. As well as Bix and Tram, and their colleagues like Lang).

And that's where we've got to. Obviously there's stuff going on elsewhere. We've already alluded to people heading off to New York from Chicago (and sometimes coming back). So when we've finished exploring Chicago, there's a lot to catch up with elsewhere. And we'll still only be in the 20s!


*And if they didn't, we've heard of them because the musicians who did go to Chicago spread the word. This will be especially true of Bunk Johnson, when we get to him during the "revival".
 
ska invita said:
Danny would NOT be happy :D just wait till he gets back!
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Don't knock Amy Winehouse. She may have been a modern singer but she had a jazz sensibility. I thought she was good. Sadly we will never find out where she might have taken things. I speak as a Billie Holiday fan for many years, as well as a lover of the old jazz of the pre-war years.
 
malatesta32 said:
any recommendations for jelly roll CDs? awesome thread by the way Danny!
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Jelly Roll Morton Centennial: His Complete Victor Recording (a five CD set) is meant to contain the best of his recordings although some of the Amazon reviews complain about the quality. One of Danny's recommendations is possibly part of that box set.

http://www.allmusic.com/album/jelly...al-his-complete-victor-recording-mw0000310142

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Centennial-Complete-Jelly-Roll-Morton/dp/B000002W3E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1372587858&sr=8-1&keywords=jelly roll morton centennial

BMG/RCA has yet to remaster these recordings [by 2000], but luckily, there's a great, affordable alternative: famed jazz expert John T.R. Davies remastered these recordings for JSP, a small, British label. Taking more care in the mastering process and utilizing golden sounding, vintage 78's from private collections, his work puts this box set to shame. His work is available at a much more affordable price on Amazon as well; also a 5-CD set, it's called "As Artist" (even thought that's not really the set's title). Don't be a fool; buy the JSP set, not "The Centennial.
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danny la rouge said:
Sidney Bechet

A child prodigy on clarinet who took up the then unusual soprano saxophone (which only really gained popularity after John Coltrane took it up in the1960s), Bechet was playing professionally in New Orleans bands before he was in his teens. He played in the Olympia Orchestra, under the leadership of Freddie Keppard, and in 1911, aged 14, joined Buddy Bolden’s former band, the Eagle Band, where he played alongside Bunk Johnson.
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There are a couple of books on Bechet:

The Wizard of Jazz

Treat it Gentle: An Autobiography

Potentially no longer available, but All Music Guide highly recommends the following albums:

Master Takes: Victor Sessions (1932 - 1943)

Complete Blue Note Recordings (1939 - 1953)
 
danny la rouge said:
Here's the dates of the tracks I collected on the Spotify list:

St Louis Blues – Louis Armstrong Orchestra(10 members) (1929)
West End Blues – Hot Five (with Earl Hines) (1928) - remarkable opening trumpet cadenza, was considered by many (including Louis himself) to be his greatest recording
Beau Koo Jack - Savoy Ballroom Five (1928)
Weather Bird – Duo with Earl Hines (1928) - duet that found the two taking many chances with time
Muggles – Louis Armstrong Orchestra (1928) (five members)
Knockin’ A Jug – Orchestra (5 members) (1929)
I Can’t Give You Anything But Love – Savoy Ballroom Five (1929)
Basin Street Blues – Louis Armstrong Orchestra (1928) (five members)
Mahogany Hall Stomp – Savoy Ballroom Five (1929)
Ain’t Misbehavin’ – Louis Armstrong Orchestra (1929) (10 members)
(What Did I Do To Be So) Black and Blue? – Orchestra (10 members) (1929)
Potato Head Blues – Hot Seven (1927)
Struttin’ With Some Barbecue – Hot Five (1927)- perfectly constructed and thrilling solo (also Potato Head Blues)
Savoy Blues – Hot Five (1927)
Gut Bucket Blues – Hot Five (1925)
Cornet Chop Suey – Hot Five (1926)
Heebie Jeebies –Hot Five (1926) - hit that greatly popularized scat singing
Dinah – Orchestra (9 members) (1930)
When It’s Sleepy Time Down South – Louis Armstrong Orchestra (14 members)(1941)
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Just reading up on some of this stuff, largely using the All Music Guide to Jazz book (some of the articles of which are online) and thought some of the commentary that I've added in bold to the above tracks might be useful for listeners.
 
danny la rouge said:
Bix Beiderbecke

bix.jpg


We have to be quick to catch Leon Bismark "Bix" Beiderbecke. Born in 1903 in Davenport, Iowa, he comes up through the ranks of dance bands and big bands, and records his first great side in 1927. 4 years later he’s dead.
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For further information on Bix, there is a book, Bix: Man & Legend.

Sweet Sue is meant to feature a good solo from Bix.

Someone has put this, At the Jazz Band's Ball, Ol' Man River and I'm Wondering Who on to You Tube plus other compilations from him.




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJ1kU7...
1. Clarinet Marmalade (1927)
2. Fidgety Feet (1924)
3. Singin' The Blues (1927)
4. Riverboat Shuffle (1924)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFdp6m...
1. I'm Coming Virginia (1927)
2. Royal Garden Blues (1927)
3. Just One More Kiss (1926)
4. Tiger Rag (1924)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlaaUI...
1. Way Down Yonder In New Orleans (1927)
2. Sensation (1924)
3. I'm Looking Over A Four Leaf Clover (1927)
4. Idolizing (1926)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voJw9_...
1. Sunday (1926)
2. Hoosier Sweetheart (1927)
3. Dardanella (1928)
4. My Melancholy Baby (1928)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkRUPD...
1. Blue River (1927)
2. Clementine (1927)
3. Crying All Day (1927)
4. In A Mist (1926)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVwhJD...
1. Let's do it, let's fall in love 1928)
2. Trumbology (1927)
3. Felix The Cat (1928)
4. Georgia On My Mind (1930)
 
ska invita said:
I guess 1920s Chicago is Al Capone era - anyone recommend a good film that captures the mood of Chicago in the 20s - preferably with a lot of music in it? Reno?
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Not really answering your post but the All Music Guide to Jazz book says the following about jazz on film from the 1920s:

It is ironic that the first major sound film is titled "The Jazz Singer", and that all three versions of that movie feature singers who were way outside of jazz: Al Jolson, Danny Thomas and Neil Diamond! Although jazz was not featured on film all that often in the 1920s, there are some major exceptions. The Original Dixieland Jazz Band made an appearance in a rare 1917 film titled "The Good for Nothing" but that was a silent movie so the ODJB could be seen but not heard. Pianist Eubie Blake and singer Noble Sissle participated in some experimental short sound films in the early 1920s and in 1926 the virtuoso studio guitarist Roy Smeck demonstrated his technique on various string instruments. The remarkable video collection "At the Jazz Band Ball" (Yazoo Videos) has some of the best clips of the 1925-1933 period including cornetist Bix Beiderbecke's only appearance on records, a hot version of "Sweet Georgia Brown" by Ben Bernie's Big Band in 1925 and historic selections by Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, the Boswell Sisters and Bessie Smith (the majority of the short movie "St Louis Blues, which was Bessie's only film appearance) among others.

The most famous so-called jazz film of the period is Paul Whiteman's "The King of Jazz" but, other than a spirited number by Bing Crosby with the Rhythm Boys and a wonderful 90 seconds from violinist Joe Venuti and guitarist Eddie Lang, the production is quite tedious and very dated. Also worth looking for is the pioneering 1929 movie "Hallelujah" which in one nightclub segment features Curtis Mosby's Blue Blowers on two numbers.
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Here are some clips from the above:

The King of Jazz trailer

Noble Sissle orchestra St Louis Blues

Few more You Tube clips from the above films



Happy Feet



Paul Whiteman - Rhapsody in Blue



Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake sing Snappy Songs



Hallelujah clip - Blue Blowers Blues



Roy Smeck - His Pastimes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Y3f9CWCTes
 
The All Music Guide to Jazz listed some music maps by instrument which are quite useful to summarise what Danny has covered so far (and people who he may cover when he gets to New York):

Cornet

The cornet was the main brass instrument in jazz until it was succeeded by the trumpet in the mid-1920s.

New Orleans Pioneers

Buddy Bolden
Freddie Keppard
Manuel Perez

Important cornetists of the 1920s

Nick LaRocca (with the ODJB)
Paul Mares (with the New Orleans Rhythm Kings)
King Oliver
Oscar Celestin
Lee Collins
Punch Miller
Tommy Ladnier
George Mitchell (with Jelly Roll Morton)
Red Nichols

The Two Most Significant Cornetists

Louis Armstrong (switched to trumpet during 1926-1927)
Bix Beiderbecke

Other important pre-bop players

Bunk Johnson
Ray Nance
Jimmy McPartland
Muggsy Spanier
Warren Vache
Rex Stewart
Bobby Hackett
Wild Bill Davidson
Ruby Braff
 
As they mention about Louis going to the trumpet in 1926-27, their trumpet map (which also included cornetists) listed

Pioneer

Buddy Bolden

Early New Orleans"Kings"

Freddie Keppard
Manuel Perez
King Oliver
Chris Kelly
Buddy Petit

1920-1925

Nick LaRocca
Paul Mares
Phil Napoleon
Joe Smith
Johnny Dunn

Biggest influence and most important innovator

Louis Armstrong

1926-1930

Bix Beiderbecke
Lee Collins
Tommy Ladnier
George Mitchell
Red Nichols
Jabbo Smith
Bob Shoffner
Ed Allen
Natty Dominique
Leonard Davis
Bobby Stark
Red Allen
Reuben "River" Reeves
 
danny la rouge said:
Hot Fives and Sevens on CD:
Click to expand...
The All Music Guide says the following about Volume 3 on Columbia:

Louis Armstrong's 1925-1928 recordings with his Hot Fives and Hot Sevens belong in every serious jazz collection, even those owned by listeners who otherwise do not listen to music before bebop. Armstrong's remarkable trumpet solos of the 1920s were so advanced that they indirectly led the way not only toward swing but bop of 20 years later. On the third of seven CD volumes that have all of Louis' earliest records, Armstrong is featured with three separate groups. His Hot Seven (with the brilliant clarinetist Johnny Dodds, trombonist John Thomas, pianist Lil Armstrong, banjoist Johnny St. Cyr, Pete Briggs on tuba, and drummer Baby Dodds) plays three numbers (including the humorous "That's When I'll Come Back to You"). There are nine of the greatest Hot Five performances (with Dodds, trombonist Kid Ory, Lil on piano, and St. Cyr), including a perfectly constructed Louis Armstrong solo on the original version of "Struttin' With Some Barbeque," "Once in a While," and exciting guest appearances by guitarist Lonnie Johnson on three numbers (most notably "Hotter Than That"). This set concludes in 1928 with Louis Armstrong's new recording group the Savoy Ballroom Five (a sextet with pianist Earl Hines, drummer Zutty Singleton, trombonist Fred Robinson, Jimmy Strong on clarinet and tenor, and banjoist Mancy Cara); their four songs include the initial version of Hines' "A Monday Date" and the tricky "Fireworks." Essential music
Click to expand...

http://www.allmusic.com/album/hot-fives-sevens-vol-3-columbia-mw0000203775
 
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