Concerts
Ticket Info
Photos
Posters
FAQs
Other Information
Auditions
Members' page
Mission and History
Defining Dixieland Jazz
[goto] The Brass and Ragtime Bands of New Orleans & the Mid-Southwest
[goto] The Early Roots of Jazz
[goto] Old New Orleans, Storyville and the Jazz Connection
[goto] “Dixieland Jazz” Today
[goto] Differentiating Between “Traditional” and “Modern” JazzIt's rather sad to relate, but many Americans (in the land where Jazz was born) no longer understand the meaning of the expression "Dixieland Jazz". If we define 'Jazz' as the free improvisation on a melody, then "Dixieland Jazz" is that type of improvisation which we today associate with bands originally playing in America's 'Southland'. Most folks now think of 'Southland' as New Orleans, LA, but in fact the music was being played over very large areas of the U.S.A. including, Memphis, St. Louis, Texas, Detroit etc., not to mention the lively 'Barrelhouse' music of San Francisco's Barbary Coast.
The Brass and Ragtime Bands of New Orleans & the Mid-Southwest
About the time of the Civil War, most towns had a bandstand, or Belvedere, set up in a park. There was no Radio; records or TV of course, and on weekends, a small brass band - 4 to 8 pcs- would entertain the townsfolk. Dressed in their uniforms, they must have made a very pleasant sight. Probably, these bands, were the prototype for the bands of New Orleans and other towns, too.
Before the 1880’s, composers would write a melody, which would be arranged or orchestrated for a small ensemble. Bands would always play the tune the same way - precisely as it was orchestrated. For example, in the 1890's, a group of musicians, including Scott Joplin, were living in and around Sedalia, MO, writing Rags for solo piano or band,
Eventually, small groups of musicians took it upon themselves to improvise on the melody - to "Jazz" it up. Early bands were usually small groups, a "Frontline" of cornet, trombone and clarinet/Saxophone, and a "backline" (rhythm section) of Brass Bass (tuba), Banjo (an American invention), Drums and Piano.When we think of old New Orleans, the mind conjures up an image of Street Parades with Jack "Papa" Laine's Brass Band leading the way. Or a Band riding thru town, in a horse drawn wagon advertising a dance, or of Funeral Processions, with the band playing dirges, for example, "Nearer My God To Thee", on the way out to the cemetery, with songs such as "When The Saints Go Marching In" and "Didn't He Ramble" on the way back.
There has been an ongoing argument of who had the greater influence on the development of Jazz, - Black or White men. Suffice it to say, that historians now feel that there was a parallel development of the music by the two groups: The White and the Black Brass Bands and musicians were listening to each other. Both groups had much to offer.
The two groups, White and Black, listened avidly to each other's playing. The negro bands trying to learn from the smoother playing White bands, and the White bands trying to get the soul or essence of the rougher or more freely played Black music. And so, there was a parallel development of Jazz by both Black and White Bands.
Old New Orleans, Storyville and the Jazz Connection
In the late 1800's New Orleans was two cities. There was the uptown, or American Section, West of Canal Street, and the downtown, or French Section, East of Canal Street. The Downtown city had Whites and Creoles, while the Uptown was mostly recently freed Black slaves. Among the Creoles were many musically trained individuals, good sight readers, such as John Robichaux, the most popular orchestra leader in town. The blacks, from uptown, often studied music with Creole instructors.
In 1894, all that changed. Very restrictive racial segregation laws were promulgated, insuring the segregation of even the Creoles. It was something of a comedown for the usually well trained Creole musicians, to be thrown into competition with the poorer, largely untrained, 'uptown' Blacks, and to play for audiences who rarely appreciated their superior musical background.
Years later, the Creoles did combine with the "Uptowners", and added their own very special ethnic influences to the music. Men such as John Robichaux and Peter Bocage contributed a French-Haitian mixture; Oscar Duconge, Alcibiades Jeanjacque, Punkie and Bouboul Valentin lent their French style; while Lorenzo Tio, who had been educated at a Mexican conservatory, added a Spanish touch. The first melting and refining of Jazz was already taking place. Musicians began to play what they felt, -what their talents allowed, with each making his individual contribution to the whole.
In 1897, the city council passed legislation that restricted all prostitutes and brothels to a 38 square block area, that came to be known as the the Storyville district (after assemblyman Story, who sponsored the ordinance restricting prostitutes to the area), or just "the district" to the locals, and, later, the ‘French Quarter.’
If Jazz wasn't born in Storyville, it was certainly incubated in the districts extravagant saloons and Brothels. Between 1897 and 1917, Basin Street (the district's main avenue) flourished, as did America's truly indigenous music. A brothel prostitute was known as a "Jazz Belle", while her customer was a "Jazz Beau". The better establishments were decorated with gilded mirrors, Oriental carpets, and crystal chandeliers. Guests were entertained with nightly music by such men as Buddy Bolden, Ferdinand "Jelly Roll" Morton, and King Oliver.
The Establishments employed every type of musician and musical group, from ragtime pianists, a 3 or 4 man group, ofttimes with a washboard or kazoo, string trios and even brass bands. These were the men who paraded by day, and many of whom worked in the Storyville bagnios, saloons, etc., at night. The Fusion of Musical Styles That Became “Dixieland.”
In the South, these bands would play 'ensemble style' - no solos - with different instruments of the frontline varying, 'Jazzing', the melody -while the musicians all played together (no solos). This 'Ensemble Playing', with each instrument 'jazzing up' it's own part, is what came to be called "Dixieland Jazz".
When the music moved to St. Louis, MO, Detroit, MI, and to Chicago, IL, - it changed somewhat, but most notably in two ways. First, due to the influence of one musician, Bix Beiderbecke, instrumental soloing became a fixture of Dixieland Jazz. Musicians, such as Louis Armstrong and others, would take Bix's idea and expand on it by making solos a fixed feature, along with routining the way bands would play, and some other improvements. Secondly, Dixieland changed into a 'harder driving' form. In America's South, the music seemingly 'unfurled' in front of you. A relatively gentle style of playing, - associated with the gentler days of the old South. In the North, - in Chicago - the music reflected life in Chicago, - a hard driving, hustling and bustling city of stock yards, businesses, saloons, gangsters, bootleg 'hooch', and JAZZ. Due to Bix Beiderbecke's influence, soloists were given "space" in each tune, and the music was more forcefully presented to the audience.
The 1920s are still called "The Jazz Age". Ladies shortened their tresses and bobbed their hair, they hiked up their skirts, rolled down their stockings, and rouged their lips. Men dressed in the new styles of suits, slicked down their hair, and - it seemed - the entire world was listening to, and dancing - publicly - to Jazz.
In summary, one might say that jazz is the Americanization of the New Orleans music developed by the Creoles, occurring at a time when ragtime, blues, spirituals, marches, and popular "tin pan alley" music were converging. Jazz was a style of playing which drew from all of the above and presented an idiomatic model based on a concept of collective, as well as solo improvisation.
Nowadays, one can get an instant "feel" for this music by listening to recordings by 'the Lawson-Haggart World's Greatest Jazz Band', 'Bob Crosby and the Bob Cats', and others of this type, which are readily available in most record shops. And certainly, listening to the many re-issues of the original bands is a most. (Many of these albums use the term 'Dixieland Jazz' in their description.) Listen! It's a real treat. The music is sensational!
Purists will hunt out the original recordings by such bands as Frankie Trumbauer, Bix Beiderbecke and the Wolverines, King Oliver's Creole Orchestra, and Louis Armstrong, to name just a few. Armstrong's impact became apparent with the popularity of his Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings (1925-28), redirecting everyone's imagination toward inspired solos. Listen to the Frankie Trumbauer recordings. Frankie's sax work may very well have predated the "birth of the Cool", and Bix's cornet was never better.
The American revival of the '40s and early '50s is typified by Eddie Condon's Chigargoans, who kept the flag flying more publicly than any of the others, though you may wish to consider Muggsey Spanier & his All Stars. Another band that should be featured is Lu Watter's Yerba Buena Jazz Band, which was the prime revivalist on the west coast from the '40s onward; they were also instrumental in getting revivalists to go back to the original recorded sources. At the same time many of the original, mainly black, New Orleans jazzmen were re-discovered and brought out of retirement; a good example here would be the aforementioned Kid Ory who started recording again in '43 and continued to do so until his death in the '60s.
Meanwhile, in New Orleans, community connections such as "jazz funerals" in which brass bands performed at funerals held by benevolent associations continue to underline the role of jazz as a part of everyday life. Jazz may have been a luxury (entertainment) in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, but in New Orleans it is a necessity--a part of the fabric of life in the neighborhoods.
Differentiating Between “Traditional” and “Modern” Jazz
Traditional jazz is differentiated from "modern jazz" that began in the 1940's with be-bop. The following explanation is offered by a trained player of Jazz.
"As a musician, I differentiate the two forms by noting that Traditional jazz performers create their improvisations on the harmonies of the Romantic and Classical Periods in European music. Modern jazzmen (from the Bop/Cool school) tend to use harmonies from the Neo-Classical and Impressionist schools of music.
"Thus Louis Armstrong's solos are framed with the pallet of harmonies that are not unlike those of Chopin, Liszt and Tchaikovsky, whereas Parker used the extended harmonies of Ravel, Stravinski and Schoenberg. I find that these later composers are an acquired taste, as is the music of the Bop Era."
In this non-musician’s opinion, differences between traditional jazz and modern jazz are as follows:
Traditional jazz is:
- toe-tapping, foot-stomping music
- hot, sensuous, earthy, emotional
- intended for dancing and having a good time
- has an underlying tune that is clear to the untrained listener
- often based on tunes from pop or similar sources
Modern jazz is:
- cerebral, abstract, cool
- intended for serious listening
- does not have a tune recognizable to the untrained listener
- played with intentionally increased use of elements that sound unsatisfying or dissonant to the ears of listeners accustomed to traditional jazz or pop.**********************************************************************
Learn about the dances (Lindy Hop, Cakewalk) of the era HERE