Vincent Lopez Table of Contents
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1 Vincent Lopez Table of contents Vincent Lopez 1 Lopez on Jazz 5 Lopez “Jazz On” 8 Jazz or Modern Popular Music 9 Lopez in Jazz Concert 10 Lopez comments on His Unique Experiment 11 Jazz Music Banned in France 13 Fast & furious Fun 15 Ed Libitum 16 Jazz Breaks into Society 17 King Jazz & the Jazz Kings 21 Nola 27 Darius Michaud & Jazz 28 Billy Arnold 41 Jean Wiener 44 Leo Arnaud/Machaunt 48 Billy Mitchell 49 Frank Guarente 50 Ravel & Arnaud 51 Ravel and the Bolero 52 Arnaud and Hollywood 68 More on the Bolero 69 First a small biography on Lopez. Vincent was born in Brooklyn, (New York City) on December 30, 1898 and died on September 20, 1975. Lopez, when he was young, had ambitions to go into a religious life in the church. His father, a bandsman in the US Navy urged his son into a musical career and is said to have forced Vincent to practice incessantly. Vincent became a very, very excellent pianist. His first professional engagement was when he was 17 years old and formed his first band around 1916 and appeared at the prestigious Pekin Restaurant in New York City. By 1921 Lopez was leading a band at the Statler Hotel where his band was among the early dance bands to receive national fame through remote radio link-ups. Lopez soon became a national figure with his opening remark “Hello everybody, Lopez speaking.” He was a major figure in nightclubs, radio (and later TV) in vaudeville, on records and in Broadway shows. During the period of the 1920s his band appeared in Broadway musicals: “Love Birds, Greenwich Village follies of 1924, and Earl Carroll’s Vanities of 1928. His band also appeared in the movie “The Big Broadcast of 1932.” The band was the first dance band to broadcast live on the ‘wireless’ at the pioneer radio station WJZ on November 27, 1921. Lopez became a national figure 2 with his opening statement on his radio shows – “Hello everybody, Lopez speaking.” In 1941 his band began a long engagement at the Taft Hotel in New York City which lasted approx. 25 years. Working with the Lopez Band was considered a prime ‘gig’ by local musicians, because the orchestra finished its gig by 9 p.m. each night which meant they could play other gigs that started later at night. His early career and his untiring efforts to foster his music and opinions is mentioned in the June 1992 issue of the Metronome Magazine in an article entitled “Continued Success of Vincent Lopez.” “Talented young pianist who is blazing a new trail in musical circles and who has recently signed a contract, according to which he and his associates will record exclusively for the Okeh Phonograph Company. When speaking of the foremost musicians of the present day one cannot afford to overlook Vincent Lopez, acknowledged to be a dominant factor in the realm of classical and popular music. A concert pianist of exceptional merit Mr. Lopez, through tireless efforts and unceasing energy has succeeded in attaining the uppermost rung in musical efficiency and today is regarded as being second to none in his respective field. Considering his age (Mr. Lopez bashfully admits to being 26) the rapid rise of this brilliant young artist has been nothing short of phenomenal. Of Spanish extraction and imbued with the Don Juan spirit of adventure and achievement, Mr. Lopez within the short space of three years has achieved country wide fame which is hardly characteristic of his tender years. Among the first to recognize his ability was the popular musical comedy star, Pat Rooney which resulted in Mr. Lopez and his associates then known as the “Kings of Harmony” being featured in Mr. Rooney’s elaborate vaudeville offering “Rings of Smoke.” Following eighteen months in vaudeville Mr. Lopez and his orchestra were selected to appear in “The Love Birds,” which was written for Mr. Rooney and which enjoyed a long run at the Apollo Theatre, New York. Terminating an engagement of 35 weeks with the above production, Mr. Lopez found his services in great demand, which resulted in his accepting an attractive contract to appear at the Ross-Fenton Farm in Asbury Park. This fashionable resort catering to the elite of society became the rendezvous for music lovers and during an all-summer engagement Mr. Lopez established a reputation which will stand as a fitting monument to his ability and popularity for many years to come. During his engagement at the New Jersey resort Mr. Lopez was tendered on offer to appear in the Grill at the Hotel Pennsylvania and after a triumphant engagement of eight months during which he became a prime favorite with the hotel patrons, he deserted the Grill for the more refreshing atmosphere of the Pennsylvania Roof, which he is now entertaining nightly. Surrounded by an array of exceptional talent with each member a thorough musician, Mr. Lopez has attained the dazzling heights of musical perfection. He claims the distinction of being the first to use a piano solo with orchestra foundation for dance music to say nothing of his many dance records. His one ambition is to put dance music on a par with the legitimate and at the present time he is modernizing 3 classics to dance arrangements. He delights in calling his orchestrations conceptions owing to the fact that each arrangement is a story in itself. Mr. Lopez is noted for his novel arrangement, all of which are from the hand of that celebrated master of orchestration, Mr. E. Bodewalte Lampe, whose reputation as an arranger is known the world over. In procuring the services of this eminent connoisseur of music Mr. Lopez has set a precedent which would be to the advantage of others to follow. His orchestra has advanced with such rapid strides that it cannot be considered a mere body of musicians, but a practical organization with an executive staff to direct its destinies. With a librarian, technical director, assistant director and a publicity representative, Mr. Lopez is blazing a new trail in music circles which promises to surpass anything previously done in the history of dance music. As a fitting climax to his various achievements Mr. Lopez recently signed a contract whereby he and his associates will record exclusively for the Okeh Phonograph Company, which should be good news to all those who boast of owning a talking machine.” With the popularity of Lopez and Whiteman there began to be controversy as to the idea of arranging classical music into the jazz/dance band medium. Deems Taylor, composer and music critic made some favorable comments on the rendition of popular numbers at Aeolian Hall in New York. We read: “Much has been written, from time to time in condemnation of popular music, particularly that type known as “Jazz music.” To be sure, not a little of that turned out by the prolific song writers has little or no musical value, but there is no question but that some of the better class-those used in certain musical comedies for example-are from being devoid of musical qualities. Furthermore-and this is the most important argument in favor-there is a decided public demand for such music. Millions of copies of popular music and millions of records and rolls featuring popular music-are sold each year, and there is no let-up in the demand. In view of these facts, the music world has to give some recognition to popular music. Concerning this subject it is worthy of note that the tendency of the day is to get away from the one hundred per cent “jazz” effect. With the exception of the “blues” numbers which are still very popular. The great demand of today is for popular music of a better type, played in a more harmonious way than a few years back. In this respect it is interesting to note the change that has come over the popular orchestra during the past few years in getting away from the “jazz” tendency. Only a few years ago noise was the big essential in the dance orchestra. Not so today. The most popular combination of the present day, such as Vincent Lopez’s, Paul Whiteman’s, etc. are anything but “jazz bands.” The musicians engaged are highly skilled, since the excellent wages being paid today by the better class of dance orchestras attract musicians of the finest type. This has naturally had its effect on the development of the public’s taste in popular music.” 4 From its beginnings the music critics did not accept jazz and even the musicians union did not like ragtime. There became a controversy over the legitimate character of jazz music. It seems to have had a hard time being accepted by legitimate classical musicians. With the popularity of Whiteman and Lopez jazz became more accepted, but, the elements of early jazz such as free improvising were exchanged for arranged dance music that still contained syncopation but little improvising. Even when the sweet bands such as Lopez’s were popular such bands that played more hard driving jazz arrangements such as Ellington, Dorsey, etc. were gaining popularity. A smaller musical ensemble that brought in the bee bop era eventually replaced the arranged jazz. But there still was much life in bands such as Lopez and the music that it brought to the public. Lopez eventually changed his style somewhat to a more ‘swinging’ style but there was still much controversy with early jazz to be discussed. Many people took part in this discussion and one such name was the distinguished Italian composer Alfredo Casella.