Jazz (697110), страница 3

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arranger Don Redman took over McKinney's Cotton Pickers in 1929 and

made it one of the bands of the `20s, his replacement was Benny Carter.

Carter could (and still can) write arrangements and play trumpet and

clarinet as well as alto sax. For many years, he was primarily active as a

composer for films and TV; but in the late 1970's, Carter resumed his

playing career with renewed vigor. (Editor's Note-Carter just turned

eighty and is still playing and recording.)

THE UNIQUE DUKE

Another artist whose career spanned more than fifty years is Duke

Ellington (1899-1974). By 1972, he was one of New York's most

successful bandleaders, resident at Harlem's Cotton Club--a nightspot

catering to whites only but featuring the best in black talent.

Ellington's unique gifts as composer-arranger-pianist were coupled with

equally outstanding leadership abilities. From 1927 to 1941, with very few

exceptions and occasional additions, his personnel remained unchanged--a

record no other bandleader (except Guy Lombardo, of all people) ever

matched.

Great musicians passed through the Ellington ranks between 1924 and

1974. Among the standouts: great baritone saxist Harry Carney

(1907-1974), who joined in 1927; Johnny Hodges (1906-1970), whose

alto sax sound was one of the glories of jazz; Joe (Tricky Sam) Nanton

(1904-1946), master of the "talking" trombone; Barney Bigard

(1906-1980); whose pure-toned clarinet brought a touch of New Orleans

to the band; Ben Webster (1909-1973), one of Coleman Hawkins' greatest

disciples; drummer Sonny Greer (1903-1982), and Rex Stewart

(1907-1967) and Cootie Williams (1910-1985), an incomparable trumpet

team. Among the later stars were trumpeter Clark Terry (b. 1920) and

tenor saxist Paul Gonsalves (1920-1974).

Ellington's music constitutes a world within the world of Jazz. One of the

century's outstanding composers, he wrote over 1,000 short pieces, plus

many suites, music for films, the theater and television, religious works and

more. He must be ranked one of the century's foremost musicians,

regardless of labels. His uninterrupted activity as a bandleader since 1924

has earned him a high place in each successive decade, and his

achievement is a history of Jazz in itself.

Three outstanding contributors to Ellingtonia must be mentioned. They are

trumpeter-composer Bubber Miley (1903-1932), the co-creator of the first

significant style for the band and, like his exact contemporary Bix

Beiderbecke, a victim of too much, too soon; bassist Jimmy Blanton

(1918-1942), who in his two years with Ellington shaped a whole new role

for his instrument in Jazz, both as a solo and ensemble voice; and Billy

Strayhorn (1915-1967), composer-arranger and Ellington alter ego who

contributed much to the band from 1939 until his death.

STRIDE & BOOGIE WOOGIE

Aside from the band, for which he wrote with such splendid skill,

Ellington's instrument was the piano. When he came to New York as a

young man, his idols were James P. Johnson (1894-1955), a brilliant

instrumentalist and gifted composer, and Johnson's closest rival, Willie

(The Lion) Smith (1898-1973). Both were masters of the "stride" school of

Jazz piano, marked by an exceptionally strong, pumping line in the left

hand. James P.'s prize student was Fats Waller. New York pianists often

met in friendly but fierce contests--the beginnings of what would later be

known as jam sessions.

In Chicago, a very different piano style came into the picture in the late

`20s, dubbed boogie-woogie after the most famous composition by its first

significant exponent, Pinetop Smith (1904-1929). This rolling,

eight-to-the-bar bass style was popular at house parties in the Windy City

and became a national craze in 1939, after three of its best practitioners,

Albert Ammons, Pete Johnson and Meade Lux Lewis, had been presented

in concert at Carnegie Hall.

KANSAS CITY SOUNDS

Johnson was from Kansas City, where boogie-woogie was also popular.

The midwestern center was a haven for Jazz musicians through-out the

rule of Boss Pendergast, when the city was wide open and music could be

heard around the clock.

The earliest and one of the best of the K.C. bands was led by Bennie

Moten (1894-1935). By 1930 it had in its ranks pianist Count Basie

(1905-1984) who'd learned from Fats Waller; trumpeter-singer Oran (Hot

Lips) Page (1908-1954), one of Louis Armstrong's greatest disciples; and

an outstanding singer, Jimmy Rushing (1903-1972). The city was to put its

imprint on Jazz during the `30s and early `40s.

DEPRESSION DAYS

The great Depression had its impact on Jazz as it did on virtually all other

facets of American life. The record business reached its lowest ebb in

1931. By that year, many musicians who had been able to make a living

playing Jazz had been forced to either take commercial music jobs or leave

the field entirely.

But the music survived. Again, Louis Armstrong set a pattern. At the helm

of a big band with his increasingly popular singing as a feature, he recast

the pop hits of the day in his unique Jazz mold, as such artists as Fats

Waller and Billie Holiday (1915-1959), perhaps the most gifted of female

Jazz singers would do a few years later.

Thus, while sentimental music and romantic "crooners" were the rage

(among them Bing Crosby who had worked with Paul Whiteman and

learned more than a little from Jazz), a new kind of "hot" dance music

began to take hold. It wasn't really new, but rather a streamlining of the

Henderson style, introduced by the Casa Loma Orchestra which featured

the arrangements of Georgia-born guitarist Gene Gifford (1908-1970).

Almost forgotten today, this band paved the way for the Swing Era.

THE COMING OF SWING

As we've seen, big bands were a feature of the Jazz landscape from the

first. Though the Swing Era didn't come into full flower until 1935, most

up-and-coming young jazzmen from 1930 found themselves working in big

bands.

Among these were two pacesetters of the decade, trumpeter Roy (Little

Jazz) Eldridge (1911-1989) and tenorist Leon (Chu) Berry (1908-1941).

Eldridge, the most influential trumpeter after Louis, has a fiery mercurial

style and great range and swing. Among the bands he sparked were

Fletcher Henderson's and Teddy Hill's. The latter group also included

Berry, the most gifted follower of Coleman Hawkins, and the brilliant

trombonist Dicky Wells (1909-1985).

Another trend setting band was that of tiny, hunchbacked drummer Chick

Webb (1909-1939), who by dint of almost superhuman energy overcame

his physical handicap and made himself into perhaps the greatest of all Jazz

drummers. His band really got under way when he heard and hired a

young girl singer in 1935. Her name was Ella Fitzgerald (b. 1917).

THE KING OF SWING

But it was Benny Goodman who became the standard-bearer of swing. In

1934, he gave up a lucrative career as a studio musician to form a big band

with a commitment to good music. His Jazz-oriented style met with little

enthusiasm at first. He was almost ready to give it up near the end of a

disastrous cross-country tour in the summer of `35 when suddenly his

fortunes shifted. His band was received with tremendous acclaim at the

Palomar Ballroom in Los Angeles.

It seems that the band's broadcasts had been especially well timed for

California listeners. Whatever the reason, the band, which included such

Jazz stars as the marvelous trumpeter Bunny Berigan (1908-1942) and

drummer Gene Krupa, not to mention Benny himself, now scored success

after success. Some of the band's best material was contributed by

arrangers Fletcher Henderson and his gifted younger brother Horace.

As the bands grew in popularity, a new breed of fan began to appear. This

fan wanted to listen as much as he wanted to dance. (In fact, some

disdained dancing altogether.) He knew each man in each band and read

the new swing magazines that were springing up--Metronome, Down Beat,

Orchestra World. He collected records and listened to the growing number

of band broadcasts on radio. Band leaders were becoming national figures

on a scale with Hollywood stars.

OTHER GREAT BIG BANDS

Benny's arch rival in the popularity sweepstakes was fellow clarinetist

Artie Shaw (b.1910), who was an on-again-off-again leader. Other very

successful bands included those of Jimmy Dorsey and Tommy Dorsey,

whose co-led Dorsey Brothers Band split up after one of their celebrated

fights.

First among black bandleaders were Duke Ellington and Jimmie Lunceford

(1902-1947). The latter led a highly disciplined and showmanship-oriented

band which nevertheless spotlighted brilliant jazz soloists, among them

saxophonists Willie Smith and Joe Thomas and trombonist Trummy Young

(1912-1984). The man who set the band's style, trumpeter-arranger Sy

Oliver (1910-1988), later went with Tommy Dorsey.

A newcomer on the national scene was Count Basie's crew from Kansas

City, with key soloists Lester Young and Herschel Evans (1909-1939) on

tenors, Buck Clayton (1912-1992) and Harry Edison (b.1915) on

trumpets, and Jimmy Rushing and Billie Holiday (later Helen Humes) on

vocals.

But important as these were (Lester in particular created a whole new style

for his instrument), it was the rhythm section of Basie that gave the band

its unique, smooth and rock-steady drive--the incarnation of swing,

Freddie Green (1911-1987) on guitar, Walter Page (1900-1957) on bass,

and Jo Jones (1911-1985) on drums and the Count on piano made the

rhythm section what it was. Basie, of course, continued to lead excellent

bands, but the greatest years were 1936-42.

EXIT THE BIG BANDS

The war years took a heavy toll of big bands. Restrictions made travel

more difficult and the best talent was being siphoned off by the draft. But

more importantly, public tastes were changing.

Ironically, the bands were in the end devoured by a monster they had

given birth to: the singers. Typified by Tommy Dorsey's Frank Sinatra,

the vocalist, made popular by a band affiliation, went out on his own; and

the public seemed to want romantic ballads more than swinging dance

music.

The big bands that survived the war soon found another form of

competition cutting into their following--television. The tube kept people

home more and more, and inevitably many ballrooms shut their doors for

good in the years between 1947 and 1955. By then it had also become too

expensive a proposition to keep 16 men traveling on the road in the big

bands' itinerant tradition. The leaders who didn't give up (Ellington, Basie,

Woody Herman, Harry James) had something special in the way of talent

and dedication that gave them durability in spite of changing tastes and

lifestyles.

The only new bands to come along in the post-war decades and make it

were those of pianist-composer Stan Kenton (1912-1979), who started his

band in 1940 but didn't hit until `45; drummer Buddy Rich (1917-1987), a

veteran of many famous swing era bands and one of jazzdom's most

phenomenal musicians, and co-leaders Thad Jones (1923-1990), and Mel

Lewis (1929-1990), a drummer once with Kenton. Another Kenton

alumnus, high-note trumpeter Maynard Ferguson (b. 1928), has led

successful big bands on and off.

THE BEBOP REVOLUTION

In any case, a new style, not necessarily inimical to the big bands yet very

different in spirit form earlier Jazz modes, had sprung up during the war.

Bebop, as it came to be called, was initially a musician's music, born in the

experimentation of informal jam sessions.

Characterized by harmonic sophistication, rhythmic complexity, and few

concessions to public taste, bop was spearheaded by Charlie Parker

(1920-1955), an alto saxophonist born and reared in Kansas City.

After apprenticeship with big bands (including Earl Hines'), Parker settled

in New York. From 1944 on, he began to attract attention on Manhattan's

Характеристики

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