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Jazz in Jamaica, at Home and Abroad Le Jazz Jamaïcain, Sur L'île Et À L'étranger

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Jazz in Jamaica, at Home and Abroad Le Jazz Jamaïcain, Sur L'île Et À L'étranger Volume ! La revue des musiques populaires 13 : 2 | 2017 Inna Jamaican Stylee Jazz in Jamaica, at Home and Abroad Le jazz jamaïcain, sur l'île et à l'étranger Herbie Miller and Roberto Moore Electronic version URL: http://journals.openedition.org/volume/5313 DOI: 10.4000/volume.5313 ISSN: 1950-568X Publisher Association Mélanie Seteun Printed version Date of publication: 21 April 2017 ISBN: 978-2-913169-42-5 ISSN: 1634-5495 Electronic reference Herbie Miller and Roberto Moore, “Jazz in Jamaica, at Home and Abroad”, Volume ! [Online], 13 : 2 | 2017, Online since 21 April 2017, connection on 08 January 2021. URL: http:// journals.openedition.org/volume/5313 ; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/volume.5313 L'auteur & les Éd. Mélanie Seteun 147 Jazz Jamaica at Home and Abroad by Herbie Miller (Jamaica Music Museum, Institute of Jamaica) Roberto Moore (independent researcher) Abstract: Jazz is not the first genre to come to Résumé : Le jazz n’est pas le genre musical le plus mind when one thinks of Jamaican music. However, immédiatement associé à la Jamaïque. Pourtant, already quite lively in the 1920s, jazz gathered a lim- vivace dès les années 1920, il réunit un groupe ited but brilliant group of musicians, especially after – limité mais brillant – d’instrumentistes jamaï- the war. Tese Jamaican jazzmen, such as Ernest cains, notamment dans l’après-guerre. Ces jazzmen Ranglin, Monty Alexander or Douglas Ewart, will jamaïcains, tels Ernest Ranglin, Monty Alexander play their role in the first steps of their island’s ou Douglas Ewart, participeront aux premiers pas de music, and will bring their irreducible Jamaican la musique de l’île, et apporteront une touche irré- feeling to the sounds and evolutions of jazz, in the ductiblement jamaïcaine aux sonorités et aux évolu- United Kingdom or in the United States. Tis essay tions du jazz, que ce soit au Royaume-Uni ou aux recounts the story of jazz in Jamaica, as well as the États-Unis. Cet article se propose de retracer l’his- careers of its most famous figures. toire du jazz en Jamaïque, et les trajectoires de ses plus illustres représentants. Keywords: circulation – musicians – diaspora – jazz Volume – acculturation – Jamaica Mots-clefs : circulation – musiciens – diaspora – jazz – acculturation – Jamaïque ! n° 13-2 148 Herbie Miller & Roberto Moore Alpha Boys School: Jazz in the midst from either broken homes, parents who were peas- of colonial inculcation ants, poor, unemployed, and at best working class. and education Te story goes that Sister Iggy’s ears were acutely attuned to music and she was directly responsi- all its creative and cultural aesthetics, ble for the development of some of Jamaica’s most Of music is perhaps Jamaica’s most dynamic talented musicians, having introduced them to cultural contribution to the world. Tis has been instruments on which each individual was most so since the old plantation days of slavery and suitable.3 Sister Ignatius is credited with discov- colonialism when music played an important role ering many of Jamaica’s leading instrumentalists in reconstructing and maintaining an identity for from among the school’s most gifted boys and cul- 1 many Jamaicans of African descent. tivating in them skills and deportment that would Among the enduring institutions signifying Jamai- take them from that noble institution in Kingston ca’s colonial past is the Alpha Cottage School, to the world. which opened in 1880 when Justina Ripoll (Sister Acquiring the necessary skillfulness and demeanor Mary Claver) of the Roman Catholic Order of the began with performances at local state and national Sisters of Mercy established an industrial school events including private affairs at affluent homes. for orphaned, neglected, and errant boys. By 1893, According to Sparrow Martin (2007), bandmaster a drum and fife corps was established, which and former Alpha student, in addition to palatial became the foundation to the school’s empha- homes of the white and wealthy browns, Alpha sis on music. With instruments received in 1908 boys band also played official functions at King’s from the Roman Catholic Bishop of Jamaica, House, the residence of the Governor General. Alpha’s legendary music programme took root and flourished. In the ensuing years, the school earned We were thought all kinds of songs for different events. the distinction of being the single most important At occasions when foreign dignitaries and royalty vis- entity responsible for producing trained musi- ited the island we played songs for dancing, dining and even when dignitaries entered the room. At those times cians, especially horn players. It seems nine out of tunes such as “Happy Wonderer,” “The Morin,” and ten of Jamaica’s most outstanding musicians, espe- “Colonial Boogie” would be played. cially horn players, between the late XIXth century and the 1970s were trained at Alpha Boys School.2 Concurring, Rico Rodriguez, the celebrated Ras- tafarian trombonist, recalled (2005): During her sixty plus years at Alpha, one nun in particular, Sister Mary “Iggy” Ignatius (1921- Jamaican and Caribbean folk airs, European classical ! n° 13-2 music, popular American and traditional British show 2003), affectionately referred to as “the Mother tunes, were encouraged, but rag, blues and jazz were of Jamaican Music,” provided strict but, by all frowned on. But later on sister Ignatius would allow accounts, loving motherly guidance and encour- some of the better musicians like Donald (Drummond) Volume agement to her boys, the majority of whom came to go on gigs with bands like Eric Deans. 149 Jazz Jamaica at Home and Abroad The formative Years: Jazz Joints Harris, a veteran pianist who on occasions visited and Musicians the jazz hotbed of New York to keep abreast of current trends, led the latter. In addition to intro- Tough never attracting a major following, jazz in ducing the latest jazz to the public, Harris also Jamaica had a loyal audience. In the mid 1920s, tutored on the various aspects of playing authen- Jamaica’s chief newspaper, Te Gleaner, began tic modern jazz. In addition to playing at central splashing the word jazz across its pages, in adver- Kingston’s Murcott Lodge, the Conversorium tisements for dances, concerts, and, for the latest and Lucas sports club in Rollington Town were jazz records. Tese public announcements capi- regular venues for the Hot Strutters. Leader of talized on the growing interest in this emerging the Syncopators was Adrian Duncan, a classically American music. However, as in the land of its trained pianist, and one of the earliest purveyors origin, jazz had local detractors too—especially of jazz, having formed his first group in 1922. A among the elite, but not solely, who only acknowl- racially mixed band of “Negro” and “mulatto” edged classical music. players, the Syncopators frequently played at the high society Constant Spring Hotel in upper St Hot jazz, as it was often called, fused elements Andrew, also the Conversorium, among other of ragtime, West African rhythms, brass band society venues.5 marches, spiritual music, work songs, the blues and French quadrilles. Some aspects of this emerging Te growing appeal of jazz encouraged the for- art-form were already familiar to most Jamaicans. mation of more dance orchestras in the 1930s. Spiritual songs were widespread, and ragtime had One of the decade’s towering figures of the local been a feature for dance pianists since the 1900s, jazz movement was saxophonist Albert “Bertie” while for most musicians, experiences in brass King, who formed his famous Rhythm Aces band came chiefly from the Salvation Army band, and in 1931, and ruled Kingston’s dance and jazz scene the brass sections of the West India Regiment or for the next five years. Other well-known orches- Alpha Cottage bands. tras that emerged in this decade include: Redver Cooke’s Red Devil’s, John Weston and his Blue Two prominent dance orchestras of the period to Rhythm orchestra; Steve Dick’s, Milton McPher- incorporate jazz in their repertoire were the Ram- son’s, and Dan Williams’ Rhythm Raiders, among Volume blers orchestra and the Pep Entertainment Play- others. ers. Made up of white members, both these sextets By the late 1930s, local dance orchestras were were popular among the city’s affluent, with the playing swing, a new and more danceable form ! n° 13-2 exclusive Bournemouth Club in East Kingston of American jazz, which became the staple music being central to their fame.4 at local dances throughout the 1940s. Local Two other orchestras from this period were the swing aggregations were influenced entirely by Deluxe Syncopators and the Hot Strutters. Cyril their famed American counterparts, playing the 150 Herbie Miller & Roberto Moore same written arrangements as they did. American in the finals of a knock-out competition at the orchestras that exerted considerable influence on Palace Teatre in 1939. With that victory, Dick’s local swing were those led by Tommy Dorsey, orchestra was often referred to as “Jamaica’s Kings Glen Miller, Count Basie, and Duke Ellington, of Jazz,” or he as the “Swing King.” Tese encoun- among others. ters continued in the 1940s, with Redver Cooke and Eric Deans being victors on a few occasions. Leading the local charge in swing in the Jam sessions were important too, as they helped to early 1940s were the orchestras of Milton keep musicians sharp, as well as to hear what other McPherson and Redver Cooke, both formed in musicians were playing. the early 1930s. McPherson directed what many believed to be the best swing dance band the As swing raged on through the 1940s, a new breed island, boasting the cream of local musicians. of bandleaders came to the fore. Now adding to His prowess in the new trend saw him often Kingston’s vibrant dance scene were Eric Deans referred to as the “King of Swing,” and he played and his Liberators, Delroy Stephens and his Com- in all the major entertainment venues, including mandos, Rupert Miller’s Lennox Syncopators, the Bournemouth, Slipper Silver, and Springfield George Moxey, and Roy White, to name but a clubs, as well as in the Carib Teatre.
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