DOCSLIB.ORG

Kansas City: the Crossroads of Jazz

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Kansas City: the Crossroads of Jazz Kansas City: The Crossroads of Jazz Kansas City, Wilbur Harrison, 1959 • What makes Kansas City Jazz different from all the other styles of Jazz and Swing? • Riff Based melodies and background figures • Blues coming back to the forefront of the music • Featuring Virtuoso soloists • Driving rhythm always with a sense of motion • Use of head-arrangements: memorized structures embellished on the fly by the musicians; a sort of ensemble based improvisation. • What are the factors that allowed Kansas City Jazz to come to be? • Political/Economic factors such as a lax attitude towards prohibition • Geographical factors such as Kansas City’s central location • Musical factors such as a strong musicians union and well developed music education programs. Tickle Toe, 1940 The Early Bands Bennie Moten’s Kansas City Orchestra 1925 Bennie Moten’s Kansas City Orchestra Vine Street Blues, 1924 • Probably the most influential bandleader in Kansas City Jazz, Pianist Bennie Moten led the most successful of the Kansas City bands. Nearly everyone who would become an important member of the Kansas City bands came though his organization at one point or another. • Early on the scene, with recording dates as early as 1923, Moten was the most established and financially successful of the early Kansas City bands, which enabled him to successfully poach talent from the other KC and territory bands, such as Walter Page’s Oklahoma Blue devils. • This included luminaries such as Count Basie (just known as Bill Basie then), Eddie Durham, Hot Lips Page, Jimmy Rushing, and eventually Walter Page himself. • Hired Bill Basie to play piano because he was too busy with the business side of running his band to always be at the keys. Basie would play while Moten was dealing with club owners or other important money figures. • Died in 1935 from a botched Tonsillectomy, and after a short period was replaced as bandleader by Bill Basie, who soon acquired the nickname “Count” Moten Swing, 1932 George E. Lee and His Novelty Singing Orchestra Paseo Street, 1929 • Vocalist and Saxophonist George E. Lee’s band was the main competition for Bennie Moten’s band in the 20s. • The members of the band that would go on to the most acclaim would be his sister Julia Lee as a vocalist, and the pianist Jesse Stone. Down Home Syncopated Blues, 1927 • His band was absorbed by Bennie Moten in 1933, and after a brief attempt to come back following Moten’s death in 1935 he ended up retiring from music. • His sister Julia would continue a successful music career until the 50s. Coon Sanders Nighthawks Orchestra High Fever, 1926 • Founded by Drummer Carleton Coon and Pianist Joe Sanders. • Operated from 1919 to 1932 • Highly successful white dance band, one of the pioneers of band focused radio shows. • Collapsed in 1932 with the death of Carleton Coon from a jaw infection which festered. Jesse Stone and his Blues Serenaders Boot to Boot, 1927 • Jesse Stone was a talented pianist, composer and arranger. Count Basie himself would later state in his autobiography: “Jesse Stone, as everybody knows, was one of the best arrangers in Kansas City.” • In addition to leading his own bands, Stone would move in and out of many bands in his career as an arranger and musical director: George Lee, Thamon Hayes, Harlan Leonard, even Earl Hines in Chicago. The previously exampled pieces from the George E. Lee band were Stone compositions. • Stone’s first professional band included a young saxophone player named Coleman Hawkins, who would eventually become one of the two most influential tenor saxophone players of the era. • The Blues Serenaders were a complete show, they included a number of vaudeville style stage acts inside their very tight and rehearsed band. Starvation Blues, 1927 Walter Page’s Blue Devils Blue Devil Blues, 1927 (Jimmy Rushing) • Walter Page played a multitude of Bass instruments as was common in the day, but the instrument he would most be associated with is the double bass. He was ten when he moved to Kansas City, and was educated in music at Lincoln High School by Major Smith. • Page is commonly considered the originator of the eight beats over two bars walking bass line technique • The Blue Devils was a territory band originally based out of Oklahoma, but would eventually be very closely associated with the early days of the Kansas City sound. The band members consisted of such aforementioned luminaries and workhorses of the to come Basie Band as Lester Young, Hot Lips Page, Jo Jones, Buster Smith, Eddie Durham, Jimmy Rushing, and Bill Basie himself. Squabblin’, 1927 Local 627 The Colored Musicians Union 627 Stomp, Pete Johnson, 1940 • Formed in 1917, The Local 627 was the African-American musician’s union, and provided both a spiritual and physical center for Kansas City musicians to congregate. • The Lincoln Theater, a popular venue with union bands, joined the Theater Owners Booking Association, known as TOBA, in 1923. TOBA was a network of theaters stretching from the East Coast to Kansas City, and headquartered in Nashville, TN. • TOBA was responsible for many of the artists getting brought into the Kansas City scene on touring circuits, including Bill Basie • In 1928, William Shaw was elected president of the Union, and created a system of discipline which improved the reliability of the local musicians and created accountability within their ranks. • Forced to merge with the Local 34, the “White” musicians union in 1970, the spirit of the 627 lives on in the Mutual Musicians Foundation. Lincoln High School and Major N. Clark Smith • Lincoln High School began just after the civil war as a preparatory school for blacks. • Until the 1950s it was the only public high school black students could attend. • Major N. Clark Smith was an influential music teacher, who instructed many of Kansas City’s most famous musicians: Walter Page, Harlan Leonard, Lamar Wright, and many more. • His influence on the music program of Lincoln High would serve to create a long lasting strength for the program that would generate many other outstanding musicians, including Charlie Parker. • Still exists as Lincoln College Preparatory Academy, and remains a top level school nationwide, with a strong music program. The Pendergast Dynasty The Golden Era of Kansas City Jazz Tom Pendergast • Democratic party boss in Kansas City and the surrounding counties from 1925-1939. • Born July 22nd, 1872. • Brother James was city councilman of the First Ward of Kansas City, near the river and stockyards and mostly Irish and Italian immigrants. Manual laborers were the main population. Pendergast brothers supported poor workers with food and job connections in exchange for voting for the candidates they promoted. • Became the KC superintendent of streets in 1900, and in 1910 after his brother James died, stepped in to control the First Ward. One year later, he was elected to the city council. • After prohibition, he retained control of alcohol businesses he had controlled prior to the Volstead Act (1919), but moved them to technically illegal settings. Due to control of many levels of KC politics, prohibition was never enforced in any real way. Alcohol sales were tremendously profitable because of the lack of taxation, and provided a solid foundation for the profitability of jazz venues. • One of his many political underlings was Harry S. Truman, who would of course go on to be the president of the United States. Pendergast would die before Truman was sworn in as president. • Indicted for tax fraud in 1939, he pled guilty to two counts of tax evasion and was sentenced to 366 days in prison. While in prison, reform agents rose to power and “cleaned up” Kansas City, leading to the end of the heyday of Kansas City entertainment. The last of the great Kansas City bands departed for New York, and the smaller, weaker bands folded. The Swing Era Bands Andy Kirk and his Twelve Clouds of Joy Until the Real Thing Comes Along, 1936 • Andy Kirk was born in Kentucky but raised in Denver, Colorado where he studied music under Wilburforce Whiteman, father of Paul Whiteman of New York City dance band fame. • Kirk started on the tenor saxophone, but soon switched to Bass saxophone and sousaphone and would continue to play bass range instruments for the rest of his career. • The Twelve Clouds of Joy was more tightly and carefully arranged than many of the other Kansas City style bands, probably due to the educated backgrounds of Kirk and their chief composer and arranger, Mary Lou Williams • Mary Lou Williams was born in Georgia and raised in Pittsburgh, PA. She joined the Clouds of Joy in 1929 and provided many of their most memorable compositions. Originally hired as a staff arranger at the urging of saxophonist husband John Williams, she became the lead pianist for the group when the main pianist, Marion Jackson, failed to show up for a band audition and the rest was history. • Featured Vocalist Pha Terrell. Mary’s Idea, 1936 Harlan Leonard and His Rockets Dameron Stomp, 1940 • Harlan Leonard and his Rockets grew out of the earlier Thamon Hayes and his Kansas City Rockets after Hayes departed the band. • Charlie Parker was fired from this band for being inconsistent. This would not be unusual. • Featured vocalist Myra Taylor, who would continue to perform as a jazz singer until her death in 2011. I Don’t Want to Set the World on Fire, 1940 The Count Basie Orchestra One O’Clock Jump, 1937 • Bill Basie took over as co bandleader with Buster Smith of the remnants of the Bennie Moten band after Moten’s untimely death in 1935.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Category Swainsboro Statesboro Augusta
    ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT DUKES WINS MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR Justin Dukes, 2015 graduate of East Georgia State Col- lege, was awarded Male Vocalist of the Year during the GA Music Awards on August 15, 2015. The ceremony was held East Georgia State College at the Buckhead Theatre in Atlanta. Dukes, 21, earned his degree in business management 1 from EGSC. He is a country music singer/SESAC affiliate songwriter from Vidalia. He has been singing and perform- ing since the age of eight, and was the lead singer of the GA Music Country Band of the Year 2014. He was also nominated for the Georgia-Country Male Artist of the Year Award for 2015. Dukes has opened for artists such as Vince Gill, Char- lie Daniels, Craig Campbell, John Michael Montgomery, Shenandoah, David Nail and Joshua Scott Jones. He has a unique voice like no other in country music and his writing ability reaches all ages in the country music genre. LOVELADY DRAFTED BY KANSAS CITY ROYALS Richard Lovelady, a left-handed pitcher from Hinesville, grad- uated from East Georgia State College in May of 2015 after play- ing Bobcat Baseball under former Head Coach Chuck Lusted and current Head Coach Matthew Passauer. He continued his baseball career at Kennesaw State University and finished the 2016 season ranked inside the top three in the NCAA in appearances and ranked second in KSU Division 1 program history for most appearances in a single season (with 37). Lovelady was the first Bobcat to go on to play D-1 ball, and the dedication to his craft paid off on Friday, June 10, 2016, when he learned that he was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 10th round of the Major League Baseball draft pick.
    [Show full text]
  • Duke Ellington Kyle Etges Signature Recordings Cottontail
    Duke Ellington Kyle Etges Signature Recordings Cottontail. Cottontail stands as a fine example of Ellington’s “Blanton-Webster” years, where the ​ band was at its peak in performance and popularity. The “Blanton-Webster” moniker refers to bassist Jimmy Blanton and tenor saxophonist Ben Webster, who recorded Cottontail on May 4th, 1940 alongside Johnny Hodges, Barney Bigard, Chauncey Haughton, and Harry Carney on saxophone; Cootie Williams, Wallace Jones, and Ray Nance on trumpet; Rex Stewart on cornet; Juan Tizol, Joe Nanton, and Lawrence Brown on trombone; Fred Guy on guitar, Duke on piano, and Sonny Greer on drums. John Hasse, author of The Life and Genius of Duke ​ Ellington, states that Cottontail “opened a window on the future, predicting elements to come in ​ jazz.” Indeed, Jimmy Blanton’s driving quarter-note feel throughout the piece predicts a collective gravitation away from the traditional two feel amongst modern bassists. Webster’s solo on this record is so iconic that audiences would insist on note-for-note renditions of it in live performances. Even now, it stands as a testament to Webster’s mastery of expression, predicting techniques and patterns that John Coltrane would use decades later. Ellington also shows off his Harlem stride credentials in a quick solo before going into an orchestrated sax soli, one of the first of its kind. After a blaring shout chorus, the piece recalls the A section before Harry Carney caps everything off with the droning tonic. Diminuendo & Crescendo in Blue. This piece is remarkable for two reasons: Diminuendo & ​ ​ Crescendo in Blue exemplifies Duke’s classical influence, and his desire to write more ​ grandiose pieces with more extended forms.
    [Show full text]
  • Big Band Arrangers of the Swing Era Selected List
    Big Band Arrangers of the Swing Era Selected list Band leader Arrangers Tex Beneke Henry Mancini Jimmy Dorsey Tutti Camarata Sonny Burke Tommy Dorsey Paul Weston Sy Oliver Axel Stordahl Benny Goodman Eddie Sauter Buster Harding Fletcher Henderson Horace Heidt Frank DeVol Woody Herman Heil Hefti Ralph Burns Igor Stravinsky Harry James Leroy Holmes Dave Mathews Isham Jones Gordon Jenkins Hal Kemp John Scott Trotter Elliot Lawrence Gerry Mulligan Ray McKinley Eddie Sauter Red Norvo Eddie Sauter Artie Shaw Ray Conniff Johnny Mandel Buster Harding Charlie Spivak Nelson Riddle Claude Thornhill Gil Evans Leader/Arranger Arranger Count Basie Buster Smith Jimmy Mundy Andy Gibson Herschel Evans Cab Calloway Foots Thomas Harry White Duke Ellington Billy Strayhorn Earl Hines Jimmy Mundy Budd Johnson Stan Kenton Pete Rugolo Bill Holman Andy Kirk Mary Lou Williams Earl Thompson Glen Miller Bill Finegan Billy May Claude Thornhill Gil Evans Bill Borden Gerry Mulligan Chick Webb Edgar Sampson Charlie Dixon Andy Gibson Herschel Evans Leader/Arranger Les Brown Benny Carter Larry Clinton Will Hudson Elliot Lawrence Russ Morgan Ray Noble Boyd Raeburn Raymond Scott Musicians in Bands that were Important Arrangers Leader Arranger Instrument Bob Crosby Bob Haggart bass Matty Matlock saxophone Deane Kincaide saxophone Jimmy Dorsey Tutti Camarata trumpet Joe Lipman piano Woody Herman Heil Hefti trumpet Ralph Burns piano Hal Kemp John Scott Trotter piano Gene Krupa Gerry Mulligan saxophone Jimmy Lunceford Sy Oliver trumpet Glen Miller Henry Mancini piano Artie Shaw Ray Conniff trombone Johnny Mandel trombone Charlie Spivak Nelson Riddle trombone .
    [Show full text]
  • Good Morning Blues
    STJHUMRev Vol. 1-1 1 Good Morning Blues: The Autobiography of Count Basie as told to Albert Murray, with a new introduction by Dan Morgenstern Da Capo Press, 2002 $17.50 paperback 50 photographs [originally published by Random House, 1985] Reviewed By Paul Devlin Da Capo has just released a new edition of this book which Quincy Jones called "indispensable to any appreciation of our musical culture". This is the story of Count Basie, the legendary piano player and bandleader who was especially known for swinging the blues, as told to Albert Murray between 1978 and 1984, and published to great fanfare and stellar reviews in late 1985. With a new and valuable introduction by Dan Morgenstern, eminent jazz critic and Director of the Institute for Jazz Studies at Rutgers University, Good Morning Blues will hopefully find its place on the bookshelves of young jazz fans. "When Albert Murray told me that he was going to be, as he put it, Count Basie’s co-writer on the great man’s autobiography, I was both baffled and elated", writes Morgenstern in the introduction to what has to be one of the finest American memoirs. "Elated", he continues, because Basie...had for years been stalling journalists and scholars with the excuse that he was saving anything worth talking about for a (hypothetical) book; baffled not so much because I knew Murray had other literary irons in the fire, but because these two, on the face of it, made such an odd couple. Basie was laid back, laconic, taciturn, the incarnation of the man-of-few words, while Murray was intense, animated, a brilliant and enthusiastic talker, a veritable verbalist.
    [Show full text]
  • Sh-Boom« Die Gesangsgruppen
    15. »Sh-Boom« Die Gesangsgruppen Martin Pfleiderer In den USA gab es bereits im 19. Jahrhundert professionelle Gesangsgrup- pen. So reisten etwa im Rahmen von Minstrelsy und Vaudeville zahlreiche singende Familiengruppen, insbesondere von Immigranten aus Deutsch- land und Österreich, durchs Land (vgl. Friedman/Gribin 2013: 3–9). Im 20. Jahrhundert veränderten sich die Traditionen des Gruppengesangs aufgrund der fortschreitenden Professionalisierung und der neuen Me- dientechnologien, aber auch aufgrund gesamtkultureller Veränderungen. Im Folgenden sollen einige der stilistischen Entwicklungen des populären Gruppengesangs in den USA zwischen 1900 und 1960 dargestellt werden. Die zentrale Fragestellung richtet sich auf die Art und Weise, wie die ver- schiedenen Gesangsstimmen einer Vokalgruppe zusammenwirken. Diese Gestaltungsweisen, ihr Auftreten in verschiedenen Musikgenres und ihre historischen Veränderungen sollen exemplarisch anhand von einflussrei- chen Aufnahmen und Vokalgruppen dargestellt werden. Gegenstand sind Vokalgruppen mit einer Besetzung von drei bis sechs Sängerinnen oder Sängern mit oder ohne zusätzliche Instrumental begleitung, die unter ei- nem gemeinsamen Gruppennamen aufgetreten sind. Vokalensembles, die als Background-Bands für einen Gesangsstar fungieren, werden dagegen nur am Rande thematisiert, ebenso wie größere Vokalensembles und Chö- re. Historischer Ausgangspunkt sind Praktiken und Gestaltungsweisen des Gruppengesangs, wie sie in frühen Aufnahmen des Hillbilly bezie- hungsweise Folk und Country und der afroamerikanischen
    [Show full text]
  • “In the Mood”—Glenn Miller (1939) Added to the National Recording Registry: 2004 Essay by Cary O’Dell
    “In the Mood”—Glenn Miller (1939) Added to the National Recording Registry: 2004 Essay by Cary O’Dell Glenn Miller Original release label “Sun Valley Serenade” Though Glenn Miller and His Orchestra’s well-known, robust and swinging hit “In the Mood” was recorded in 1939 (and was written even earlier), it has since come to symbolize the 1940s, World War II, and the entire Big Band Era. Its resounding success—becoming a hit twice, once in 1940 and again in 1943—and its frequent reprisal by other artists has solidified it as a time- traversing classic. Covered innumerable times, “In the Mood” has endured in two versions, its original instrumental (the specific recording added to the Registry in 2004) and a version with lyrics. The music was written (or written down) by Joe Garland, a Tin Pan Alley tunesmith who also composed “Leap Frog” for Les Brown and his band. The lyrics are by Andy Razaf who would also contribute the words to “Ain’t Misbehavin’” and “Honeysuckle Rose.” For as much as it was an original work, “In the Mood” is also an amalgamation, a “mash-up” before the term was coined. It arrived at its creation via the mixture and integration of three or four different riffs from various earlier works. Its earliest elements can be found in “Clarinet Getaway,” from 1925, recorded by Jimmy O’Bryant, an Arkansas bandleader. For his Paramount label instrumental, O’Bryant was part of a four-person ensemble, featuring a clarinet (played by O’Bryant), a piano, coronet and washboard. Five years later, the jazz piece “Tar Paper Stomp” by Joseph “Wingy” Manone, from 1930, beget “In the Mood’s” signature musical phrase.
    [Show full text]
  • Downbeat.Com March 2014 U.K. £3.50
    £3.50 £3.50 U.K. DOWNBEAT.COM MARCH 2014 D O W N B E AT DIANNE REEVES /// LOU DONALDSON /// GEORGE COLLIGAN /// CRAIG HANDY /// JAZZ CAMP GUIDE MARCH 2014 March 2014 VOLUME 81 / NUMBER 3 President Kevin Maher Publisher Frank Alkyer Editor Bobby Reed Associate Editor Davis Inman Contributing Editor Ed Enright Designer Ara Tirado Bookkeeper Margaret Stevens Circulation Manager Sue Mahal Circulation Assistant Evelyn Oakes Editorial Intern Kathleen Costanza Design Intern LoriAnne Nelson ADVERTISING SALES Record Companies & Schools Jennifer Ruban-Gentile 630-941-2030 [email protected] Musical Instruments & East Coast Schools Ritche Deraney 201-445-6260 [email protected] Advertising Sales Associate Pete Fenech 630-941-2030 [email protected] OFFICES 102 N. Haven Road, Elmhurst, IL 60126–2970 630-941-2030 / Fax: 630-941-3210 http://downbeat.com [email protected] CUSTOMER SERVICE 877-904-5299 / [email protected] CONTRIBUTORS Senior Contributors: Michael Bourne, Aaron Cohen, John McDonough Atlanta: Jon Ross; Austin: Kevin Whitehead; Boston: Fred Bouchard, Frank- John Hadley; Chicago: John Corbett, Alain Drouot, Michael Jackson, Peter Margasak, Bill Meyer, Mitch Myers, Paul Natkin, Howard Reich; Denver: Norman Provizer; Indiana: Mark Sheldon; Iowa: Will Smith; Los Angeles: Earl Gibson, Todd Jenkins, Kirk Silsbee, Chris Walker, Joe Woodard; Michigan: John Ephland; Minneapolis: Robin James; Nashville: Bob Doerschuk; New Orleans: Erika Goldring, David Kunian, Jennifer Odell; New York: Alan Bergman, Herb Boyd, Bill Douthart, Ira Gitler, Eugene
    [Show full text]
  • Dizzy Gillespie and His Orchestra with Charlie Parker, Clyde Hart, Slam Stewart, Cozy Cole, Sonny Stitt, Milt Jackson, Al Haig, Thelonious Monk, Sid Catlett, Etc
    lonoital Sem.iom 1W! and his Orchestra DIZZIE GILLESPIE CHARLIE PARKER CLYDE HART SLAM STEWART COZY COLE SONNY STITT AL HAIG MILT JACKSON THELONIOUS MONK DAVE BURNS SID CATLETT SAGA6920 L WORLD WIDE 6900 Sidney Bechet Album (Recorded New York SIDE ONE 1945/1947) with Mezz Mezzrow, Hot Lips Page, Will Bill HE BEEPED WHEN HE SHOULD Davidson, etc. HAVE BOPPED (a) GROOVIN' HIGH (b) 0, 6901 Louis Armstrong Volume 1 (Recorded New M York 1938/1947) DIZZY ATMOSPHERE (b) with Jack Teagarden, Bud Freeman, Fats Waller, 00 BOP SH'BAM (c) and his Orchestra Bobby Hackett, etc. OUR DELIGHT (d) 6902 Duke Ellington — His most important Second ✓-SALT PEANUTS (f) War Concert (1943) with Harold Baker, Taft Jordan, Ray Nance, Jimmy Hamilton, etc. SIDE TWO 6903 Count Basie at the Savoy Ballroom (1937) ONE BASS HIT part two (a) In the restless, insecure world of jazz, fashions change with embarr- Despite the scepticism of many of his colleagues, Gillespie and the with Buck Clayton, Ed Lewis, Earl Warren, Lester Young, etc. ALL THE THINGS YOU ARE (b) assing frequency, and reputations wax and wane with the seasons. band, were successful. The trumpeter only stayed for six months, ✓ HOT HOUSE (e) Comparatively few artists have succeeded in gaining universal, con- however, and was soon in the record studios, cutting three of the 6904 Louis Armstrong — Volume 2 (Recorded New THAT'S EARL, BROTHER (c) sistent respect for their musical achievements, and still fewer have tracks on this album, 'Groovin' High', 'Dizzy Atmosphere', and 'All York 1948/1950) with Jack Teagarden, Earl Hines, Barney Bigard, THINGS TO COME (a) been able to reap the benefits of this within their own lifetime.
    [Show full text]
  • Mi M®, 7273 the FUNCTION of ORAL TRADITION in MARY LOU's MASS by MARY LOU WILLIAMS THESIS Presented to the Graduate Counci
    37? mi M®, 7273 THE FUNCTION OF ORAL TRADITION IN MARY LOU'S MASS BY MARY LOU WILLIAMS THESIS Presented to the Graduate Council of the University of North Texas in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of MASTER OF MUSIC By France Fledderus, B.C.S. Denton, Texas August, 1996 37? mi M®, 7273 THE FUNCTION OF ORAL TRADITION IN MARY LOU'S MASS BY MARY LOU WILLIAMS THESIS Presented to the Graduate Council of the University of North Texas in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of MASTER OF MUSIC By France Fledderus, B.C.S. Denton, Texas August, 1996 Fledderus, France. The Function of Oral Tradition in Mary Lou's Mass by Mary Lou Williams. Master of Music (Musicology), August, 1996,141 pp., 44 titles. The musical and spiritual life of Mary Lou Williams (1910 - 1981) came together in her later years in the writing of Mary Lou's Mass. Being both Roman Catholic and a jazz pianist and composer, it was inevitable that Williams would be the first jazz composer to write a setting of the mass. The degree of success resulting from the combination of jazz and the traditional forms of Western art music has always been controversial. Because of Williams's personal faith and aesthetics of music, however, she had little choice but to attempt the union of jazz and liturgical worship. After a biography of Williams, discussed in the context of her musical aesthetics, this thesis investigates the elements of conventional mass settings and oral tradition found in Mary Lou's Mass.
    [Show full text]
  • Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival Announces Its 2017 Blues Programme
    Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival announces its 2017 Blues programme With over 20 blues concerts this year’s programme spans Southern blues, Delta blues, Mississippi blues, Chicago blues, electric blues to acoustic blues. The cast list includes American stars and the best homegrown talent. Born in Vance, Alabama in 1939, Alabama Slim “grew up listening to the old blues since I was a child. I spent summers with my grandparents who had a farm. Them old folks would get to moanin’ while they worked, and I just started moanin’ with them. That’s where I learned to sing”. Alabama Slim is typical of the musicians playing as part of The Music Makers Blue Revue, which has been described as akin to Cuba’s Buena Vista Social Club. As a loose amalgam of elderly Southern blues stars who are on the road together. They make their Scottish debut. They headline the influx of American blues talent which also includes: Texan, Hamilton Loomis who will have you jamming and grooving along with his guitar riffs reminiscent of Kravitz and Stevie Ray Vaughan. His unapologetic sound is classic rock inspired blues at it’s best. Mr Sipp “aka the Mississippi blues child” has a personality full of spirit and a genuine love for the blues. His shows are transformative – taking audiences on a trip back to the heyday of Mississippi blues and the infamous BB King. With roots in gospel, his sound is big, loud and soulful. Idaho born John Nemeth has an astonishing vocal range and top-notch harmonica skills. Winning accolades through the years for his contribution to the blues world, Nemeth delivers electric Blues straight from Memphis.
    [Show full text]
  • Leonard Ware
    1 The GUITAR of LEONARD WARE Solographer: Jan Evensmo Last update: April 30, 2015 2 Born: Richmond, Virginia, Dec. 28, 1909 Died: March 30, 1974 Introduction: Leonard Ware was one of the first jazz performers on the electric guitar, and that fact should be enough reason for a solography! And after I heard his recording debut session with Sidney Bechet, he was definitely a candidate for further studies! History: Originally an oboeist - studied at Tuskegee. Switched to guitar in the early 1930s and formed own highly successful trio which played many residencies in New York during the late 1930s and early 1940s. Recorded with other leaders including Sidney Bechet (1938), Herbie Fields (1944), Don Byas (1945), etc., etc. Left full-time music many years ago to work for the New York Postal authorities. (ref. John Chilton). 3 LEONARD WARE SOLOGRAPHY SIDNEY BECHET & HIS ORCHESTRA NYC. Nov. 16, 1938 Sidney Bechet (cl, sop), Ernie Caceres (bar), Dave Bowman (p), Leonard Ware (el-g), Henry Turner (b), Zutty Singleton (dm), The Two Fishmongers (vo-duet). Four titles were recorded for Vocalion: 924-1 What A Dream Solo 14+8 bars, (bar) on bridge. (FM) 924-2 What A Dream As above. (FM) 925-1 Hold Tight Solo 16 bars. (M) 925-2 Hold Tight As above. (M) 926-1 Jungle Dreams Solo 16+8 bars, (bar) on bridge. (FM) 927-1 Chant In The Night Solo 32 bars with (bar) acc. (M) This is a real swing session!! The great Sidney Bechet really jumps with this group, and Ernie Caceres shows that he is one of the finest baritonesax performers in swing era.
    [Show full text]
  • “Big Chief” Moore, in New York a Few Weeks Earlier on January 16
    WIND12413 ITF Douglas Yeo ITA.qxp_Layout 1 5/22/17 11:24 AM Page 1 July 2017/ Volume 45, Number 3 / $11.00 Denson Paul Pollard — Page 36 Douglas Yeo Depends on Yamaha “Yamaha trombones are the most flexible, finely engineered and well-made instruments INTERNATIONALINTERNATIONAL I have ever played. They allow my musical voice to be expressed beautifully every time I have a trombone in my hands.” Douglas Yeo Visit 4wrd.it/yeoITA2 for details World-renowned Bass Trombonist ASSOCIATION JOURNAL THETHE QUARTERLYQUARTERLY PUBLICATIONPUBLICATION OFOF THETHE ITAITA Take it, Big Chief! An Appreciation of Russell Moore Photo credit: Timothy Hutchens INTERNATIONAL TROMBONE ASSOCIATION JOURNAL The Quarterly Publication of the ITA Volume 45, Number 3 / July 2017 General News — Page 6 The International Trombone Association is Dedicated to the Artistic Advancement of Trombone Teaching, Performance, and Literature. Contents Features Take It, Big Chief: An Appreciation of Russell Moore ITA JOURNAL STAFF by Douglas Yeo .............................................................. 18 Managing Editor A Conversation with Denson Paul Pollard Diane Drexler by Douglas Yeo ................................................................ 36 3834 Margaret Street, Madison, WI 53714 USA / [email protected] Associate Editors Feature Stories – Bruce Gunia Departments [email protected] Announcements ...................................................................... 2 Jazz – Antonio Garcia President’s Column - Ben van Dijk ..........................................
    [Show full text]