Download Lecture 5 The Great Migration

Lecture 5
The Great Migration
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Starting around 1915, approximately two million African-Americans from
southern states moved north to cities like Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, and New
York
Many came to escape the racism and discrimination of the Jim Crow South
Many came because of the promise of jobs in the mills, foundries, stockyards, and
meatpacking plants
Jazz Musicians and Chicago
• Chicago became the focal point of the jazz world in the 1920s
• Jazz musicians from New Orleans actually started arriving in the city well before
that
• By 1925, almost all of the major players on the New Orleans scene had relocated
to the Windy City
Chicago Nightlife
• By the mid-1920s there were literally hundreds of dance halls, theatres,
speakeasies, and cabarets
• Speakeasy: a place where alcohol was illegally served during the
Prohibition Era in the United States
• Cabaret: a restaurant serving liquor and providing entertainment (as by
singers or dancers)
Chicago & the Mob
• During his administration from 1914-1931, Mayor Big Bill Thompson, befriended
club owners, bootleggers, pimps, gamblers, and gangsters by turning the other
cheek to their activities, allowing vice to thrive
• Crime syndicates took control of the city
• The leaders of the Chicago mob scene were Bugs Moran, who controlled the
north side, and Al Capone, who controlled the south side
The Mob, Prohibition & Jazz
• At the heart of the mob empire during Prohibition was the sale and distribution of
illegal alcohol
• Control of nightclubs and speakeasies was essential to business
• Jazz musicians playing in speakeasies often witnessed police raids and gunfights
as the turf wars for control of the illegal liquor business were fought
Demise of the Chicago Scene
• By the late 1920s, New York was becoming the center of everything
• New York provided plenty of jobs for musicians
• Nightclubs, theaters, and dance halls
• The radio and recording industries
• The sheet music publishing empires of Tin Pan Alley
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By the end of the 1920s, brutal gang warfare in Chicago solidified public support
for cracking-down on crime
As police raids intensified, mob violence increased, making clubs even more
unsafe for jazz musicians
The final blow to the Chicago jazz scene was the repeal of Prohibition, ending the
era of speakeasies and loose morals
Louis Armstrong (1901 – 1971)
• Born on August 4, 1901 in the section of New Orleans known as “The
Battlefield”
• First achieved fame as a cornet player, later switching to trumpet
• Later in his career he was best known as a vocalist
Louis and the Karnofskys
• At the age of 7, Louis went to work for the Karnofskys, a Russian-Jewish
immigrant family who delivered coal to the prostitutes of Storyville
• Louis rode in their wagon and blew a long tin horn to let the Karnofsky’s clients
know they were coming
• Mrs. Karnofsky insisted that Louis eat a good dinner every evening before going
home
• One day, Louis spotted a cornet in a pawn shop window and asked the
Karnofskys to advance him the $5 to buy it
• To express gratitude towards the Karnofskys for their kindness to him, Armstrong
wore a Star of David pendant for the rest of his life
Armstrong’s Early Troubles
• Dropped out of school for good at the age of 11, and formed a vocal quartet that
sang and danced on the street corners of Black Storyville
• In 1913, he was arrested for firing his stepfather’s pistol on New Year’s Eve
• Was sent several times to the New Orleans Home for Colored Waifs as a result of
his delinquency
The Waif’s Home Brass Band
• While at the Waif’s Home, Louis quickly became the best cornet player in its
marching band
• When Armstrong led the band through his old neighborhood for the first time, all
the prostitutes, gamblers, thieves, and beggars were waiting for the band because
they knew he would be in it
• The onlookers were so proud to see that little Louis—someone from their
neighborhood—had done so well, that they dropped enough coins in the boys’
hats to pay for brand-new instruments and uniforms for the whole band
Early Career
• In 1914, Louis was released from the Waif’s Home
• He began playing in parades, dance halls, and seedy bars
• He astonished older musicians with his tone, power and musical ideas
Armstrong & King Oliver
• Joseph “King” Oliver was Armstrong’s idol
• Oliver (called “Papa Joe”) acted as a mentor and almost as a father figure to
young Armstrong
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In 1918 when King Oliver left for Chicago, Armstrong took Oliver’s place as the
cornetist in Kid Ory’s band
• In 1922, Armstrong joined the exodus to Chicago, where he had been invited by
Oliver to join his Creole Jazz Band
What’s in a Name?
• The nickname Satchmo or Satch is short for Satchelmouth, describing his
embouchure
• In 1932, then Melody Maker magazine editor Percy Brooks greeted him in
London with “Hello, Satchmo!” shortening Satchelmouth, and it stuck
• Early on he was also known as Dippermouth, a reference to the propensity he had
for refreshing himself with the dipper from a bucket of sugar water which was
always present on stage with Joe Oliver’s band in the early 1920s
• Friends and fellow musicians usually called him Pops, which is how Armstrong
usually addressed his friends and fellow musicians
Split from Oliver
• Armstrong was happy working with Oliver, but his second wife, pianist Lil
Hardin Armstrong, urged him to seek more prominent billing
• He and Oliver parted amicably in 1924
• Armstrong moved to New York City to play with the Fletcher Henderson
Orchestra, the top African-American band of the day
• Armstrong switched to the trumpet to blend in better with the other musicians in
his section
Hot Five & Hot Seven
• He returned to Chicago, in 1925, and began recording under his own name with
his famous Hot Five and Hot Seven
• His recordings with pianist Earl “Fatha” Hines and trumpet introduction to West
End Blues remain some of the most famous and influential improvisations in the
whole of jazz history
Armstrong’s Vocal Style
• Armstrong is considered to be the first important vocal interpreter of jazz and
popular songs
• Although not as expressive as his trumpet playing, the relaxed phrasing of his
singing was copied by many
• The uniquely gritty coloration of his voice became a musical archetype that was
much imitated and endlessly impersonated
• Armstrong was not the first to record scat singing, but he was masterful at it and
helped popularize it
1930s & 1940s
• In the late 1930s Armstrong began to experience problems with his fingers and
lips, which were aggravated by his unorthodox playing style
• As result he began to branch out and develop his vocal style, and make his first
theatrical appearances
• After spending many years on the road, he settled permanently in Queens, New
York in 1943 in contentment with his fourth wife, Lucille
Satch over the Beatles
• In 1964, he recorded his biggest-selling record, Hello, Dolly!
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The song went to #1 on the pop chart, making Armstrong the oldest person to ever
accomplish that feat at age 63
• In the process, Armstrong dislodged The Beatles from the #1 position they had
occupied for 14 consecutive weeks with 3 different songs
Later Years
• In his later years, Armstrong played more than three hundred gigs a year
• He also toured Africa, Europe, and Asia under sponsorship of the US State
Department with great success and become known as “Ambassador Satch”
• While failing health restricted his schedule in his last years, within those
limitations he continued playing until the day he died
• Louis Armstrong died of a heart attack on July 6, 1971, at age 69
Struttin’ with Some Barbecue
Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five, recorded December 9, 1927
Personnel: Louis Armstrong (cornet), Johnny Dodds (clarinet), Edward “Kid” Ory
(trombone), Johnny St. Cyr (banjo), Lil Hardin Armstrong (piano)
Hotter Than That
Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five, recorded December 13, 1927
Personnel: Louis Armstrong (cornet & vocals), Johnny Dodds (clarinet), Edward “Kid”
Ory (trombone), Johnny St. Cyr (banjo), Lonnie Johnson (guitar), Lil Hardin Armstrong
(piano)
West End Blues
Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five, recorded June 28, 1928
Personnel: Louis Armstrong (trumpet & vocals), Jimmy Strong (clarinet), Fred Robinson
(trombone), Mancy Cara (banjo), Earl “Fatha” Hines (piano), Zutty Singleton (drums)
Weather Bird
Louis Armstrong and Earl “Fatha” Hines, recorded December 5, 1928
Personnel: Louis Armstrong (trumpet), Earl “Fatha” Hines (piano)
Leon Bismark “Bix” Beiderbecke (1903 – 1931)
• Born March 10, 1903 in Davenport, Iowa
• A notable jazz cornetist as well as a talented classical and jazz pianist
• He made innovative and influential recordings with Frankie Trumbauer
• He wrote several compositions for the piano, and recorded one of them (In a Mist)
Early Life
• As a teenager he would sneak off to the banks of the Mississippi to listen to the
bands play on the riverboats that would come up from the south
• Partially because of frequent absences due to illness, Beiderbecke’s school grades
suffered
• His parents sent him to the exclusive Lake Forest Academy just north of Chicago
in order to improve his academic schooling
Early Days in Chicago
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Bix soon began going into Chicago as often as possible to catch the hot jazz bands
of the day at the clubs and speakeasies around Chicago
• Often he did not return to his dormitory before curfew or was even still found offcampus the next day
• He was soon asked to leave Lake Forest academy due to his academic failings and
extracurricular activities in Chicago
Bix & Frankie Trumbauer
• In 1925, Bix met saxophonist Frankie Trumbauer, who would become his musical
soulmate
• “Tram” like Bix played in a very lyrical style
• The pair recorded a number of sides together during the 1920s as the Frankie
Trumbauer Orchestra
• Bix and Tram moved to New York in 1926 to play in the society dance bands of
Jean Goldkette and Paul Whiteman
Bix’s Decline
• Beiderbecke had suffered health problems from an early age which contributed to
the general decline of his health in his adult years
• His relentless touring schedule and increasing alcoholism were also major factors
contributing to his ever-worsening condition
• Bix suffered from severe pain in his legs amongst other ill effects of his abuse of
very low quality, poor grade, and often somewhat poison Prohibition Era alcohol
Final Days
• In 1929, Beiderbecke had a nervous breakdown
• Bandleader Paul Whiteman sent him home to his parents’ home in Iowa to
recuperate
• He eventually returned to New York only to go on a final drinking binge in the
summer of 1931
• Beiderbecke died alone on August 6, 1931 of an alcohol-related seizure
• He was only 28 years old
Singin’ the Blues
Bix Beiderbecke with Frankie Trumbauer and His Orchestra, recorded February 4, 1927
Personnel: Frankie Trumbauer (C-Melody saxophone), Bix Beiderbecke (cornet), Jimmy
Dorsey (clarinet), Bill Rank (trombone), Eddie Lang (guitar), Paul Mertz (piano),
Chauncey Morehouse (drums)
Hot vs. Cool: Comparing Louis Armstrong & Bix Beiderbecke
Louis Armstrong
• Brilliant tone that cut through in any musical context
• Hit high notes unreachable by other musicians
• Employed techniques such as fast tonguing, bending notes, and rhythmically
floating above the beat
• Extra daring, an almost uncontrollable drive, and rhythmic tension
Bix Beiderbecke
• Sound was delicate and lyrical; ideas polished and sophisticated
• Made imaginative use of the cornet’s middle range
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Relied on his choice of notes and skillful sense of dynamics; ideas sounded coolly
calculated
Relaxed, laid-back, unhurried, exuding a sense of control
The Austin High Gang
• The relocated black and Creole New Orleans musicians began to inspire a new
crop of musicians in Chicago in the 1920s
• A number of these Caucasian teenage musicians lived in middle-class
neighborhoods and attended Austin High School
• This group of boys initially included Jimmy McPartland (cornet), Dick
McPartland (guitar), Frank Teschmacher (clarinet), Bud Freeman (tenor sax)
• The Gang was a loose collection of musicians who hung out together but never
recorded under that name
• When the boys were introduced to the sound of the New Orleans Rhythm Kings,
they decided to try to play like them
• Playing jazz was not something that was looked favorably on by polite society in
the suburbs and not something a parent or school band director would encourage
• Eventually joining their ranks were Dave Tough (drums), Joe Sullivan (piano),
Mezz Mezzrow (clarinet & sax), Eddie Condon (guitar & banjo), Benny
Goodman (clarinet), Pee Wee Russell (clarinet), Jimmy Dorsey (alto sax),
Tommy Dorsey (trombone), and Gene Krupa (drums)
The New York Scene
• A much different scene than either New Orleans or Chicago
• While the city had gone crazy over the O.D.J.B. in 1917, jazz in New York had a
much more European influence
• Ragtime, rather than jazz or blues, was the major influence
Tin Pan Alley
• Since the mid 1890s, midtown New York brimmed with publishing companies
where composers and lyricists came to work and cranked out America’s popular
songs
• The name Tin Pan Alley was originally used to describe the sound of many pianos
plinking out melodies along 28th Street between Broadway and 6th Avenues in
the early years of the 20th century that sounded like dishpans being stuck
• Eventually it came to be a catchall phrase to describe the entire publishing
industry based in New York
• Tin Pan Alley composers and lyricists developed a structure known as the
standard song form
• The standard song form is a 32-bar form comprised of four 8-bar sections, either
in AABA or ABAC phrase configuration
• Some of the best known songwriters of Tin Pan Alley include Irving Berlin,
Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, George Gershwin (music), Ira Gershwin (lyrics),
Richard Rodgers (music), and Lorenz Hart (lyrics)
Music & the Birth of Radio
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Between 1920 and 1924, 600 stations began broadcasting
Radio executives realized the value of music programs which were extremely
popular and inexpensive to produce
In 1927, three small networks were launched, headquartered in New York: NBC
Red, NBC Blue, CBS
As networks grew and others formed it became clear that radio executives were
deciding which orchestras were featured on music programs
Musicians soon realized that to earn a national reputation (which led to tours,
steady engagements, and increased record sales), they would have to be based in
New York
Birth of the Jazz Big Band
• Throughout the late 1920s and into the 1930s, jazz bandleaders were
experimenting with increasing the size of their bands
• Because dance halls kept getting bigger, the amount of volume a band needed to
fill them kept growing
• The only way to do this was with more players (these were the days before
amplified sound reinforcement)
The Importance of Arranging
• The Depression aided in the creation of the big band since musical labor as cheap
and available
• A result of the increase in size of the jazz band was an increased emphasis on
written arrangements
• After a certain size, it is no longer feasible for a band to improvise its way
through a song as musical chaos can take over
• An arranger charts out a song giving each player a specific role to play in the
piece
The Rise of the Saxophone
• The 1920s and 1930s saw the increase in the use of the saxophone
• During the early years of jazz, saxes were more of a novelty, and the clarinet was
the reed instrument of choice
• The saxophone provides a deeper and fuller sound than the clarinet
• By using a combination of alto, tenor, and baritone saxes in a band, a wide range
of the musical spectrum can be covered
• By the late 1930s, the clarinet was used primarily as a secondary or “doubling”
instrument by reed players
Paul Whiteman (1890 – 1967)
• Paul Whiteman was born on March 28, 1890 in Denver, Colorado
• After a start as a classical violinist and violist, Whiteman led a jazz-influenced
dance band
• Whiteman’s band gained national prominence after moving to New York and
recording for Victor Records
• Whiteman became the most popular bandleader of the 1920s
“Symphonic Jazz”
• Although Whiteman’s intentions were good, his music was not really jazz
• His arrangements were so complex and intricate that they did not swing, and left
very little room for improvisation
• Because Whiteman could pay top dollar, he was able to hire some of the finest
musicians of the day including Bix Beiderbecke, Frankie Trumbauer, and both
Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey
Whiteman’s Importance
• Whiteman commissioned George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, which was
premiered by Whiteman’s Orchestra with Gershwin at the piano in 1924
• While it contained no improvisation, it was filled with jazz-inspired harmony and
melodies that included blue notes and other jazz affectations
• In the audience were music critics and authorities from the world of classical
music, including Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff
• The piece which was a sensation and gave jazz an important place on the concert
stage of the classical music world
Fletcher Henderson (1897 – 1952)
• Fletcher Henderson was born on December 18, 1897 in Cuthbert, Georgia
• He was a pianist, bandleader, arranger and composer
• Henderson was important in the development of big band jazz and swing music
The New Kid in Town
• Henderson had just graduated from Atlanta University when he moved to New
York in 1920 to work on his Master’s Degree in chemistry at Columbia
University
• When he found his job prospects in chemistry to be very restricted due to his race,
he took a job as a song plugger for the Pace-Handy Music Company
• Soon he was producing recording sessions for Black Swan Records
• He also served as the musical director for singer Ethel Waters
• His success made him forget about a career in chemistry
The Fletcher Henderson Orchestra
• Henderson formed his first band in 1922
• They quickly secured gigs at Club Alabam and soon after at the Roseland, the top
ballroom in Harlem at the time
• Henderson’s band boasted the arranging talents of saxophonists Don Redman and
Benny Carter, as well as himself
• Many great African-American jazz musicians of the era passed through his band
including Louis Armstrong, Coleman Hawkins, Roy Eldridge, and Benny Carter
The Band Breaks Up
• Henderson was never one to attend to business affairs or to possess good
managerial skills
• His band was undisciplined, often showing up late or underdressed
• With the onset of the Depression, missed paydays became common, and
ultimately his band deserted him en masse in 1934
• Henderson was never one to attend to business affairs or to possess good
managerial skills
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His band was undisciplined, often showing up late or underdressed
With the onset of the Depression, missed paydays became common, and
ultimately his band deserted him en masse in 1934
Henderson’s Comeback
• Down on his luck, he started selling his arrangements to and writing new ones for
Benny Goodman in 1935
• Through these hot arrangements, Goodman was able to capture the mod of
dancers throughout the country and become the first star of the Swing Era
• Though never as commercially successful as Paul Whiteman or Benny Goodman,
his contribution to jazz as a bandleader, arranger, and talent scout is immeasurable
Hot ‘n’ Anxious
The Fletcher Henderson Orchestra, recorded March 19, 1931
Personnel: Rex Stewart (cornet) Russell Smith (trumpet), Bobby Stark (trumpet), Claude
Jones (trombone), Benny Morton (trombone), John Kirby (tuba), Russell Procope
(clarinet & alto sax), Harvey Boone (alto sax), Coleman Hawkins (tenor sax & clarinet),
Horace Henderson (piano), Clarence Holiday (guitar), Walter Johnson
Sources
• History and Tradition of Jazz by Thomas E. Larson
• Jazz for Dummies by Dirk Sutro
• Jazz a film by Ken Burns
• http://en.wikipedia.org
Discography
1. “Potato Head Blues” by Louis Armstrong & His Hot Seven
from the album The Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz, Volume 1
CBS RD 033-1
2. “Struttin’ with Some Barbecue” by Louis Armstrong & His Hot Five
from the album The Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz, Volume 1
CBS RD 033-1
3. “Hotter Than That” by Louis Armstrong & His Hot Five
from the album The Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz, Volume 1
CBS RD 033-1
4. “West End Blues” by Louis Armstrong & His Hot Five
from the album The Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz, Volume 1
CBS RD 033-1
5. “Weather Bird” by Louis Armstrong & Earl “Fatha” Hines
from the album The Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz, Volume 1
CBS RD 033-1
6. “In a Mist” by Bix Beiderbecke
from the album Bix Beiderbecke Volume 1: Singin’ the Blues ©1927
Sony Music Entertainment
7. “At the Jazz Band Ball” by Bix Beiderbecke
from the album Bix Beiderbecke Volume 2: At the Jazz Band Ball © 1927
Sony Music Entertainment
8. “Singin’ the Blues” by Bix Beiderbecke
from the album Bix Beiderbecke Volume 1: Singin’ the Blues ©1927
Sony Music Entertainment
9. “Royal Garden Blues” by Louis Armstrong
from the album Louis Armstrong: The Ultimate Collection © 2000
UMG Recordings
10. “Royal Garden Blues” by Bix Beiderbecke
from the album Bix Beiderbecke Volume 2: At the Jazz Band Ball © 1927
Sony Music Entertainment
11. “San” by The Paul Whiteman Orchestra
from the album The Indispensable Bix Beiderbecke
BMG Music
12. “Happy Feet” by The Paul Whiteman Orchestra
from the album The Sound of the Movies: Bing Crosby ©2002
TIM Cz
13. “Hot and Anxious” by The Fletcher Henderson Orchestra
from the album Ken Burns’ Jazz: Fletcher Henderson ©2000
Sony BMG Music Entertainment
14. “Shanghai Shuffle” by The Fletcher Henderson Orchestra
from the album Ken Burns’ Jazz: Fletcher Henderson ©2000
Sony BMG Music Entertainment