Armstrong (with C. Williams, E. Taylor, Bechet, C. Green, B. Christian): Coal Cart Blues, Henderson: What-Cha -Call Em Blues, Sleepy Time Gal, Lovie Austin and her Blues Serenaders (with Priscilla Stewart): Charleston Mad, Charleston South Carolina, Bix and his Rhythm Jugglers: Toddlin' Blues, Mound City Blue Blowers: Gettin' Told, University Six: Then I'll Be Happy, 5 Birmingham Babies: Indigo Blues, NORK: Everybody Loves Somebody Blues, Henderson: Me Neenyah, Spanish Shawl, Clara Smith: When My Sugar Walks Down the Street, 5 Birmingham Babies: As Far as I'm Concerned, University 6: Fallin' Down, Cliff Edwards: Fascinatin' Rhythm.

Microphones made a difference in bringing the music alive in 1925. Most of these numbers were recorded through the new technology. All the better to hear Armstrong, Hawkins, Rollini, Bechet. Redman’s arrangements. NORK, Bix. And the non-microphone recordings have that balanced acoustic sound. Accounts indicate some resisted the microphone as giving too distinct a sound but after 100 years it’s hard to quarrel with the microphone’s fidelity. This pretty much brings us up date out of the archaeological acoustical era pre-1925.

Jazz rode the coattails of the fox trot and the blues. There’s a gap between Bix as pure Chicago jazz and Henderson as the fox trot King. A Henderson associate Clara Smith adjusts just enough to sing a patent Jazz song and it still comes out bluesy. Hard not to be a fan of Clara who has the more modern sound of the blues bunch.. Also by 1925 if you have been following this series Henderson had nothing left to prove. He could have retired that year with a prolific portfolio and gone back to chemistry but he remained a musical force well into the future.

No episode is complete without hearing some Rollini. Listen to Cliff Edwards and try to figure out how he did it, apparently inimitable. Remiss not to mention his resurgence in B Westerns as Ukulele Ike and went A list as the iconic J. Cricket.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fletcher Henderson: Money Blues, Carolina Stomp, Gershwin:That Certain Feeling, Eddie Lang: Best Black, C. Williams with Armstrong, Bechet, Eva Taylor: Papa De-Da-Da, Lovie Austin: Heebie Jeebies, Henderson: Alabamy Bound, Piron: Red Man Blues, Austin: Don’t Shake It No More, University 6: Charleston Baby of Mine, Art Gillham: Angry, U6: Desdemona, The Camel Walk, Ellington: I’m Gonna Hang Around My Sugar, Moten: 18th Street Strut.

Henderson’s dance band combined rhythm with levity. Armstrong, Hawkins, Redman are special signatures. Gershwin on piano evokes chorus dancers on a Broadway stage. Eddie Lang augurs the decline of the banjo. Clarence Williams made some of the best jazz records, here with a Bechet tune. Lovie Austin demonstrates rhythm piano. Piron gives another definition of New Orleans jazz. The University Six debut under that name, with Rollini. Ellington flashes on piano but Hardwick carries the band like Hawkins did for Henderson. If much is said about the enduring Ellington brass sound coming from Bubber Miley (from Joe Oliver) similarly the essential reed sound was Hardwick (coming from Redman/Hawkins) with later Carney and Hodges filling out the choir. We hear the nucleus of the Ellington sound in 1925.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Moten: Sister Honky Tonk. Bessie Smith: St. Louis Blues. Arcadian Serenaders: The Co-Ed. Busse’s Buzzards: Milenberg Joys. Little Ramblers: Got No Time, In Your Green Hat. Arcadian Serenaders: Angry. Moten: Things Seem So Blue to Me. Lovie Austin’s Blues Serenaders: Peepin’ Blues. Bix: Davenport Blues. Henderson: Sugarfoot Stomp, Armstrong: Gut Bucket Blues, Yes I’m in the Barrel. Henderson: I’ll See You in My Dreams. Goofus 5: Alabamy Bound.

1925 adds new dimensions including Papa Dip on vocals, Rollini on a microphone, Bobby Davis steps up, Jimmy Dorsey, Henderson at industrial strength. Nichols arrives. Moten, Lovie Austin deliver. Bessie Smith with Armstrong. Arcadian Serenaders and Bix in a new era again.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Papa Celestin: Original Tuxedo Rag, Careless Love, Black Rag. Brownlee's Orch: Dirty Rag. Halfway House Orch: Barataria, Maple Leaf Rag. Eddie Cantor: Palesteena. Arcadia Peacock Orch.: I Wouldn’t Be Crying Now, Waiting for the Moon, Lovie Austin's Blues Serenaders: Steppin’ On the Blues, Travelin’ Blues. Charles H. Booker: Hot Sax, West Texas Blues. Fletcher Henderson: TNT, Carolina Stomp. The Goofus Five: Yes Sir That’s My Baby. Cal Ramblers: Sweet Georgia Brown. Coon-Sanders: Yes Sir That’s My Baby.

Every new year seems to bring entirely new musical trends. 1925 brings new dimensions of clever arrangements but also unbuttoned free improvisation. Sound is vastly improved and stars get their audio spotlight. Probably not enough has been said by jazz enthusiasts about Eddie Cantor. Perhaps his misfortune to work early on in an era of minstrelsy is pardoned by his apprenticeship with Bert Williams who invented what would become jazz singing with George Walker on records around 1901. Cantor’s was the first LP album I bought. Not himself a jazz singer although he worked with Jimmy Durante but with all the chops of a great personality with his comic intimacy. Similar to the Mills Bros who perfected modern jazz singing alongside Armstrong. And never leave Redman out of this discussion.

Not to ignore Henderson, this 1925 band is a highlight in history. Like Oliver in 1923 or Moten in 1924 this band is for all time.If we compare Oliver’s sudden burst of hit records (with Armstrong, Dodds, Hardin) to the Beatles then the combination of Armstrong with Henderson is like Elvis. The singular genius Armstrong with the Henderson band defined jazz solo form. Somewhat like aria form like how Elvis made a living after Mario Lanza’s example.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Whiteman (Gershwin p.): Rhapsody in Blue (side 1). Bix, Bessie Smith, Moten, OTO, Arcadian Serenaders {Wingy Manone), Oliver, ODJB, Henderson, The New Jersey Dance Orch, Williams and Walker, Clara Smith, Coon-Sanders, Arcadia Peacock Orch. of St.Louis, Vincent Lopez, Gershwin (side 2).

The Gershwin recording with Grofe’s orchestration emphasizes the 1924 jazz style in Whiteman’s Orch fused with Gershwin’s classical keyboard. This is Third Stream of which Whiteman was the King. The Gorman opening clarinet solo is spiced with laughing tricks and is apparently never played with these 1924-isms anymore in favor of more modern jazz phrasing. This episode ends with side two of the Whiteman/Gershwin rhapsody. Marcus Roberts did a modern update on piano worth watching, changing some of Gershwin’s notes.

George Walker sings lead on Pretty Desdemona from 1906. Oliver in 1923 does the majestic Southern Stomps with a powerful basso weight. Bix in 1924 and the Wolverines play Tia Juana. Oriole Terrace Orch (OTO) plays Back Where The Daffodils Grow. Clara Smith sings WC Handy’s Basement Blues, not so well known but maybe his most significant composition. Moten plays Vine St. Blues and from that blues concept KC jazz would eventually dominate US dance halls. Vincent Lopez plays Palesteena. ODJB provides Satanic Blues. Bessie Smith sings Frankie Blues. The Arcadia Peacock Orch. from the Arcadia Ballroom in St. Louis does 4 numbers: Tripping Along, Ain’t You Ashamed, She Wouldn’t Do What I Want Her To (vocal deleted), Dream Boat. The Arcadian Serenaders apparently also from the Arcadia in St. Louis play Bobbed Hair Bobbie. Coon-Sanders Nighthawks from KC play Show Me The Way. The New Jersey Dance Orchestra plays Last Night on the Back Porch. Henderson with Redman on goofus and Hawkins on bass sax (sound familiar?) play You’ll Never Go To Heaven With Those Eyes. Previous episodes have gone deep with many of these performers and here the Arcadian Peacock Orchestra gets some deeper attention along with Whiteman/Gershwin.

Although Whiteman was acclaimed the King of Jazz, within the narrow category of jazz at this time it is possible that Fletcher Henderson was that King, in the Whiteman lineage with Redman, Buster Bailey, Elmer Chambers, Charlie Green, Hawkins, Armstrong et al in his organization. Whiteman was the King of Third Stream uniting classical and jazz. Henderson was also third stream uniting hotel foxtrot with jazz. But maybe never was there the sound of New Orleans polyphony on a foxtrot by Henderson. For Southern jazz there was Clarence Williams. But for Henderson that kind of jazz was saved for the blues records to which Whiteman and the hotel bands had no access. The Hendersons were royalty that included brother Horace and Leora with whom Fletcher was married on December 25, 1924. Horace was born Nov. 22, 1904 one day after Coleman Hawkins. Jazz as named for New Orleans music as a type was off the dance floor being Dixieland or trad for listeners while jazz became swing, also for listeners came bebop. and the term Jazz was used include mainstream and an all inclusive expression as in a jazz festival. But New Orleans music at the beginning was just as various early on. ODJB, NORK, Morton, Ory, Oliver, Piron, C. Will with Bechet, Ladnier. Dodds. Armstrong all in their own orbits.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Red McKenzie (Mound City Blue Blowers): When My Sugar Walks Down The Street, Charles H. Booker: Pencil Papa Blues, Ford and Ford: Skeeg-A-Lee Blues, Varsity Eight: Last Night on the Back Porch, Fletcher Henderson Orch.: Swanee River Blues, It Won’t Be Long, War Horse Mama, Steppin’ Out, Mama’s Goin’ to Slow You Down, Those Broken Busted Blues, You’ll Never Go to Heaven With Those Eyes, Forsaken Blues, Strutter’s Drag, I Don’t Know and I Don’t Care, Dixie Moon.

One assumes it was Redman who took the Rollini pill adding a bass sax and goofus with Chambers in the Bill Moore role. Unlike the small Rambler groups, Henderson had Hawkins on tenor in duets with Redman and soloing, giving the unique full Hawkins sound. And Hawkins could play bass sax as in several here. Chambers is also inspired. This period of 1924 was prolific and innovative before the expansion to a big band sound.

Notable that the next year Bobby Davis and Rollini were a star sax section. The Varsity 8 deliver an over the top version of the Whiteman hit Last Night on the Back Porch. Ford and Ford are in front of Lovie Austin, Tommy Ladnier and Johnny Dodds with a frank blues conversation. Booker demonstrates blues saxophone lead. Red McKenzie isn’t the only star named Red, but in 1924 he made hit records with a comb, a kazoo backing him up and the great Eddie Lang, so Red it is.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Original Dixieland Jazz Band: Palesteena, Tell Me, Skeleton Jungle, Dixie Jazz One-Step, Mournin', Dangerous Blues (Al Bernard Voc.), Bow Wow My Mama Treats Me Like a Dog, Jazz Me Blues, Home Again, St. Louis Blues (Al Bernard voc.), Alice Blue Gown, The Sphinx, Look at 'em Doin' It.

This is the third compilation after the Season 1 episode 8 tribute and Season 2 episode 46. Here is a mix that does not duplicate the last episode and is delivered without interruption. Some hits omitted in these twin episodes are found in the first show.

Their subtitle might be called the jazz messengers since they popularized and epitomized the term taking jazz to Chicago, NYC and Europe. And didn’t last as a group but the foundation they laid has not cracked. These tunes still cook with hot pepper and will never die. A generation of jazz players, including Armstrong himself, learned from this New Orleans group. And their repertoire remains the standard for those in the Dixieland genre named from the originals.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Original Dixieland Jazz Band with intermittent piano by Clarence Williams. Royal Garden Blues (Al Bernard voc.), Darktown Strutters Ball, At the Jazz Band Ball, Clarinet Marmalade, Some of These Days. C. Williams: My Own Blues. OJDB: Soudan, Toddlin’ Blues, Sensation Rag, Lazy Daddy, Fidgety Feet, Indiana, Lasses Candy. C. Williams: Gravier St. Blues. ODJB:Tiger Rag, Satanic Blues. C. Williams: Weary Blues.

Tony Sbarbaro’s percussion is evident particularly in Sensation Rag. LaRocca apparently taught people like Bix indirectly by phonograph, who had a worn out ODJB collection and covered the tunes on his own recordings. Armstrong in one of his books lavishes praise on the Dixieland. Edwards on trombone, Larry Shields clarinet, Henry Ragas and later J. Russel Robinson on piano. A quintet with sometimes the addition of a saxophone like Benny Krueger. Included for intermission is the piano of Clarence Williams.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Clara Smith: Freight Train Blues, Cold Weather Papa, The Basement Blues, The Clearing House Blues. Clarence Williams: Gravier St. Blues. Clara Smith: War Horse Mama (Pig Meat Sweetie), 31st St. Blues. Clarence Williams: My Own Blues. C. Williams Blue Five (Armstrong and Bechet): Texas Moaner Blues. C. Williams: Weary Blues, C. Williams Blue Five (Thomas Morris with Bechet): House Rent Blues. Atlantic Dance Orchestra: Lime House Blues, Henderson (Billy Fowler bass sax): Doo Doodle Oom, C. Williams: Mixing the Blues.

Clarence Williams composed Texas Moaner Blues with Fay Barnes, and Charlie Irvis is on trombone. Don Redman is on Clearing House Blues, War Horse Mama and Cold Weather Papa. Charlie Dixon is on banjo and Don Redman plays the goofus on Freight Train Blues. Fletcher Henderson played on several tunes including Freight Train Blues, War Horse Mama and Cold Weather Papa, on which he also plays the whistle. Smith’s vocal with Ernest Elliott and Charles Mattson in WC Handy’s Basement Blues is among the higher points of 1924.

Comparable high points were reached by Clarence Williams on his solo piano records and with the Blue Five and also by Henderson’s Orchestra who are included here. Limehouse Blues fits in as one of the hits of 1924 bringing chinoiserie to the fox trot.

Henderson played a lead role in some of these recordings of Clara and gave her a modicum of the special production support Bessie Smith received in 1924. Clara was at home anywhere but particularly in Henderson’s special world of Redman, goofus and whistle and she makes brrrr noises of her own on Cold Weather Papa. “My razor and your neck are going to connect” in War Horse Mama delivered without losing her usual placid beauty. Clara’s brand: love. Maybe Diana Ross is comparable as a philosopher of love. There is much more to her 1924 catalogue and these are some favorites. Basement Blues is maybe WC Handy’s best. 31st Street Blues receives Clara’s rare jazz singing and sticks like glue. Did Monk listen to C. Will? Maybe not but that whole open space concept delivered with strong attack is familiar in Monk. C Will was one of the Crescent City originals and his business success does not mean he isn’t to be counted among the leading proponents of true jazz.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Clara Smith, vocals with varied artists: Waitin’ for the Evenin’ Mail, I Never Miss the Sunshine, I’m Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down, You Don’t Know My Mind. Clarence Williams with Bechet: Mean Blues. Clara Smith: Don’t Advertise Your Man, Good Lookin’ Papa Blues, I Don’t Love Nobody Blues. Clarence Williams: My Own Blues. Clara Smith with Coleman Hawkins: Texas Moaner Blues, Deep Blue Sea Blues.

Clara Smith is popular in any era. The queen. It is not a stretch to imagine her singing jazz in the 1950s if she had lived that long. Which came first: her perfect voice or the lengthy performance career that developed that perfection? C. Williams and Bechet are included for support alongside the ubiquitous Fletcher Henderson.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.