Early Jazz (New Orleans/Swing: ca 1900-1940) Part I
Pre-jazz:
New Orleans, Louisiana was a cultural melting pot - the slave trade, civil unrest in latin america, and european settlers made for an exotic mix. Creoles living in New Orleans (free citizens of African/French descent) were instrumental in developing a distinct flavor of music - one that drew on their diverse influences. The Eurposean heritage brought with it a knowledge of classical music, and the technical prowess assoociated with it. On the other hand, the African heritage brought their own musical tastes - improvisation, polyrhythm, call-and-response, rougher timbres and looser technical abilities.
Preserving the African heritage, the blues was (and is) a very important aspect to the music that was to become jazz. Traditional African work songs, street vendor cries, and folk songs developed into the recognizable form of 'the blues': a simple chord progression and call/response vocalizations. Ragtime was another strong 'black' influence - the syncopated rhythms and rolling feel contributed much to the overall
sound of jazz. Combining the blues and ragtime with local brass/marching bands developed, over time, into music suited for dancing and parties.
No need for too much detail - there's A LOT more to the story: music as a way for Blacks and Creoles to 'rebel'; the juxtaposition of styles (European and African)...Check out Ted Gioia's
The History of Jazz for an unabridged account.
Needless to say, New Orleans around the turn-of-the-century was the pefect spot (and likely the
only spot) for the birth of jazz; the rich ethnic diversity and tradition of music lent themselves well to prompting the advent of a new American sylee.
(Some audio examples are in RealAudio format, and are found on the website
The Red Hot Jazz Archive, an excellent resource for trad-jazz information and audio clips of early Jazz.)
Jazz bands evolved to the point where most common ensembles consisted of a rhythm section of banjo, drums (often just a bass drum, hi-hats, and possibly a snare), piano and possibly tuba. The front line was often made up of cornet (the trumpet was not often used until the mid-30s), clarinet and trombone.
The earliest jazz solidified much of what would become to define it: improvisation and a loose/relaxed feeling ('swing'). Listen to
Louis Armstong - Gut Buchet Blues (Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five, 1925) for an example to traditional New Orleasian 'counterpoint' between the front line instruments. Each player knew the tune, and chord progression very well, and they improvised around/through/with the melody. Usually the trumpet played the melody, while the clarinet improvised sinewy counterlines, and the trombone made up a bassline/counterline. This trombone style was known as 'tailgate trombone' (so named because bands riding on the backs of wagons would have to put the trombone at the back - the tailgate - so their slide could extend over the edge); Kid Ory, one of Louis Armstrong's early bandleaders was a pioneer of this style, a great example of which is
Ory's Creole Trombone, again with Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five (1927).
To be honest, little is known of the earliest,
true New Orleans jazz - the sound recording industry was still in its own infancy, and until the 1920s the opporunity to record was simply not available to many jazz musicians. 1917 marked the first 'jazz' recording - by the
Original Dixieland Jass Band, recorded in New York (listen to:
Livery Stable Blues). This is likely the closest representation of authentic period music out of New Orleans. Few records were actually recorded in Louisiana - most musicians migrated to Chocago or New York.
...
One of the most important and influential musicians of the time (and of
alltime) was
Louis Armstrong.
Born (so he claimed) on the 4th of July, 1900 he was surrounded by music in the red light district of New Orleans. As a child he was sent to the New Orleans Home for Colored waifs (a juvenile detention facility) where he first picked up a cornet in the school band. And so it began - playing, as a youth in various street bands, and pick-ep ensembles around town. He was invited to join the legendary 'King' Oliver in Chicago in 1922, and travelled around the North West with the Oliver band. Armstrong further refined his trumpet skills eventually surpassing 'King' Oliver himself in technique and range. Returning to Chicago in 1925, Armstrong formed one of his most famous ensembles - the Hot Five featuring the legendary Kid Ory on trombone and Johnny Dodds on clarinet. These recordings from the late-1920s were wildly popular and marked the beginning his rise to stardom as a bandleader.
Louis Armstrong's
sound was instantly recognizable - powerful and bright, with his characteristic vibrato. His improvisations we harmonically advanced for the time, and relied on strong rhythmic and melodic sense. His characteristic vocal style is even more recognizable than his trumpet playing, and Louis is often credited with inventing scat singing (nonsense syllables - sha boo do da-ba do beee).
Here's a couple examples of Louis' playing and the traditional N.O. style - the later recordings give a better audio quality.
La Vie En Rose (1935) - a great, clear example of Armstrongs trumpet and singing style.
And
Perdido Street Blues (1940) is a good example of the New Orlenans style of jazz.
Other improtant New Orleans (style) associated musicians, key figures in the development of jazz:
Freddie Keppard,
Bix Beiderbecke,
Buddy Bolden,
Muggsy Spanier (trumpet/cornet) >>
Baby Dodds,
Zutty Singleton (drums) >>
Kid Ory,
J.C. Higgenbotham (trombone) >>
Johnny Dodds,
Jimmie Noone,
Sidney Bechet,
George Lewis,
Edmond Hall (clarinet/saxophone) >>
Jelly Roll Morton,
Earl Hines,
Willie 'the lion' Smith,
Fats Waller (piano).
I've decided to split this up, not wanting to exceed the post character count, and to just get this started. The Swing portion is well under way and will be up shortly.
Now, feel free to discuss, ask questions - if you want more details or whatever, let me know.