“CATCHING AS THE SMALLPOX” The Jazz Craze 1917 – 1935
The Jazz Craze
New Orleans c earliest “jass” Hybrid culture: ▫White ▫Creole ▫French ▫Spanish ▫African-American Diverse musical traditions: ▫marching bands ▫Mardi Gras ▫“the Latin Tinge” ▫Tin Pan Alley ▫African-American song traditions
Early Jazz Bands The Original Dixieland Jazz Band (ODJB) “jass” Nick LaRocca “hot music” Victor Records “Livery Stable Blues” Dixieland Jass Band One-Step (1917) “Tiger Rag” (1918)
Listening: “Tiger Rag” rec. ODJB (1918) front line: cornet carries melody clarinet weaves countermelody trombone plays simple countermelody plus slides or smears rhythm section: piano and trap set collective improvisation no clear melody novelty e.g., “stoptime” form: A A B A C C D C C E… texture: polyphonic
“King” Joe Oliver and the Creole Jazz Band Creole Jazz Band vs. ODJB smoother syncopations more relaxed, flowing rhythms improvisation Louis Armstrong (cornet) “King” Joe Oliver
Dance Music in the “Jazz Age” ODJB New subculture: “jazz babies” “flappers” “jazzbos” “sheiks” The Buddy Bolden Band c. 1905
James Reese Europe’s orchestra Shuffle Along “I’m Just Wild about Harry” Noble Sissle (1899–1975) Eubie Blake (1883–1983)
the jazz age racism Harlem’s Cotton Club Duke Ellington’s “Jungle Music” dance music
Listening: “El Manicero” (1930) (The Peanut Vendor) Don Azpiazu and his Havana Casino Orchestra clave rhythm note: clave is also name of the instrument
Paul Whiteman (1890 – 1967) “The King of Jazz”
Listening: “Whispering” Victor studios medium tempo fox-trot ballroom dancing Irene and Vernon Castle Whiteman’s Symphonic Jazz syncopation Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” Swing Era Form: intro A A B A’ A’’ B’ A’’’ A’’’’ coda