The Earliest Jazz ArtistsMUH 271 JAZZ HISTORY

Buddy Bolden

"Sometime around 1897, the Charles "Buddy" Bolden band began filling the dance halls and streets of New Orleans with a new kind of music. Instead of following the notes on sheet music like they were a railroad track, Buddy made his cornet an extension of his emotions. To this rough Negro barber, popular melodies were only points of embarkation for funky, hip-swinging improvisation. Some twenty years later this new music would be called jazz." (Buerkle and Barker, p. vii)

1st Jazz Artist

Probably first to embellish melodies in the jazz style

first "King of Jazz" in New Orleans

remembered by musicians of the time as “one of the finest horn players they had ever heard”

became known around 1895 playing in New Orleans parades and dances

his band eventually rose to become one of the most popular in the city

his health deteriorated by 1907 and he was committed to a mental institution

Jelly Roll Morton (Ferdinand Joseph La Menthe)

first jazz composer

an important transitional figure between ragtime and jazz piano

born into Creole society and studied classical piano

In 1912, briefly settled in Chicago's South Side; published "The Jelly Roll Blues.“

recorded for the Gennett label in 1923 and 1924

formed the Red Hot Peppers and recorded for Victor

Morton died just before the Dixieland revival

Joe “King” Oliver

Born in or near New Orleans in 1885. Began playing with brass bands in New

Orleans around 1908. First called “the King” by Kid Ory in 1917,

although possibly already “past his prime.” Moved to Chicago in 1919 to play with Bill Johnson’s Original

Creole Orchestra.

King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band

formed in 1922.

1923 recordings introduced Louis Armstrong to the world.

group fell apart in 1924.

Poor Business Decisions

Rejected offer to open Cotton Club as house band.

Eventual move to New York probably too late; by 1925 his style had been superseded by Armstrong’s.

(problems with teeth and gums interfered with ability to perform).

final "mistake" was an extended tour of the South beginning in 1931. By 1936 he had ended up in Savannah selling fruit and vegetables and sweeping out a pool parlor. He died there in April 1938.

Contributions

he "had a repertory of expressive deviations of rhythm and pitch, some verging on theatrical novelty effects and others derived from blues vocal style . . .”

“He frequently used timbre modifiers of various sorts and was especially renowned for his wa-wa effects, as in his famous three-chorus solo on ‘Dipper Mouth Blues’.“

“Oliver was a good band leader, and his cornet playing was well integrated into the ensemble. By 1925 his performance style had been superseded by Louis Armstrong, but he had a significant impact on Bubber Miley as well as on Armstrong himself.”

Louis Armstrong

“Louis Armstrong is the single most important figure in the development of jazz.”

1st virtuoso jazz soloist (arguably with Sidney Bechet).

Influential as both vocalist and instrumentalist.

Innovations

Blues – established the blues scale (pitches) and blues feeling as jazz’s harmonic foundation

Improvisation – established jazz as a soloist’s art form

Singing – introduced a true vocal jazz style (pitch, time, imagination); “scat singing”

Repertory – showed that Tin Pan Alley/pop music could be performed in a jazz style

Early Years

Although Armstrong apparently believed that he was born on July 4, 1900, a birth certificate shows the date as August 4, 1901.

sent to reform school at age 12, where he learned to play cornet.

took lessons from King Oliver and took Oliver’s place in Kid Ory’s band when Oliver moved to Chicago.

played with Fate Marable's band from 1919 to 1921 on riverboats.

Chicago and New York

Armstrong moved to Chicago in 1922 to play with Oliver's Creole Jazz Band.

made the first of his famous Gennet recordings with Oliver in April 1923.

moved to New York to play with Fletcher Henderson's Orchestra in September 1924; also recorded with several blues singers including Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith and with Sidney Bechet.

Return to Chicago

made first Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings.

“Weather Bird” released in 1930.

Briefly moved to Los Angeles in 1930 to form Louis Armstrong and his Sebastian New Cotton Club Orchestra, but he returned to Chicago in 1931.

By the 1940s Armstrong's style of jazz was losing popularity, and Armstrong had no interest in the newer styles. He traveled extensively with an All-Star band during the revival of interest in New Orleans and Dixieland.

recorded "Hello Dolly“ in 1963, "What A Wonderful World“ in 1968.

On July 6th 1971, Armstrong died in his sleep.

Original Dixieland Jazz Band

led by Nck LaRocca (cornet)

LaRocca claimed that he and the ODJB had played an important role In the formation of jazz (typically discounted)

1st jazz group to record (1917)

residency at Reisenweber's Restaurant from January 1917

Helped popularize the New Orleans style in the US and Europe