Jazz in the Public Domain

Fletcher Henderson Orchestra: I Can't Get the One I Want, Where the Dreamy Wabash Flows, Say Say Sadie, Prince of Wails, My Papa Doesn't Two Time No Time (Don Redman Voc.), Mobile Blues, Chicago Blues, That's Georgia, Sudbustin' Blues, Copenhagen, Shanghai Shuffle. That’s cornetist Elmer Chambers soloing and in a section with Howard Scott. Redman scats on My Papa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Frank Trumbauer (cms): with Ray Miller's Orch.: Mama's Gone Goodbye, I Can’t Get the One I Want, Doodle Doo Doo, The Cotton Pickers: Jimtown Blues, Benson Orch.: I Never Miss the Sunshine, Mound City Blue Blowers: San, Red Hot, Lanin’s Arkansaw Travelers: Lost My Baby Blues, Ray Miller; Where is that Old Girl of Mine (Billy Jones Voc.), The Cotton Pickers: Prince of Wails, Ray Mlller: Red Hot Mama, Lotsa Mama, Come on Red, Sioux City Six: Flock of Blues, I'm Glad. Trumbauer solos and performs section work as a sideman from 1923-24. Joined by Andy Sannella and Miff Mole in the Ray Miller Orch. Bix and Miff with the Sioux City Six. Frank Signorelli with the Cotton Pickers. Tram was adept in duets and here particularly with Miff Mole and Andy Sannella. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Henderson: Hard Hearted Hannah, Houston Blues, A New Kind of Man (Redman on goofus), Driftwood, The Oriole Terrace Orchestra, Sobbin' Blues, Oh Mabel (Nick Lucas voc.), Copenhagen, Back Where the Daffodils Grow, Mandy Make Up Your Mind, Isham Jones: Land O' Lingo Blues, Gene Rodemich: Choo Choo, OTO: I Need Some Pettin', Abe Lyman: A New Kind of Man, OTO: That Lullaby Strain, Arnold Johnson: Sweet Lovin' Mama, Bennie Krueger: Wet Yo' Thumb, Abe Lyman: If You Do What You Do.Nick Lucas lays a strong foundation on banjo and guitar. Rodemich gives a fun rendering of the Ellington train song.The durable Brunswick product (Henderson recorded on Brunswick but those are not included here) are of a high level of production quality.Henderson is included here because hit dance band records like these Brunswicks as to song and style, are his genre. Henderson was not so invested in the hot jazz band category as were Clarence Williams or Moten. Paul Whiteman and hotel bands dominated the charts that Henderson competed in. Although Henderson and his band made top blues records, this apparently did not influence his dance band recording strategy although it made his bands sound fuller and freer than bands without that blues experience. Moten had that blues sound also.On “A New Kind of Man” Redman borrows from the Goofus 5 comic model, does a good job with the goofus and Charlie Green makes magic on the trombone. We hear the violin of Allie Ross on Driftwood. Hawkins steps up on these tunes.Perhaps, the arrival of Bailey, Green and Armstrong represented not so much an evolution of jazz than a way of competing against the popular dance bands like OTO. Hawkins in 1924 was more a team player and not a solo star but he does have a style in his solos here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

James P. Johnson solo piano: Bleeding Heart Blues, Carolina Shout, You Can't Do What My Last Man Did, Harlem Strut, Worried and Lonesome Blues, Weeping Blues, Toddlin', Scouting Around, Keep Off the Grass. C. Williams: Achin' Heart Blues, Texas Moaner Blues, Richard M. Jones: Jazzin' Babies Blues.For your next house rent party, Johnson’s sonic kaleidoscope is an amusement park of sound. The promise of novelty piano is not a far jump later to Monk and then Jaki Byard. Contemporaneous band tunes are added here in deference to the horns and old king banjo that gave a pianist like James O. Johnson an orchestra. Assembled therein by Clarence Williams is an All Star lineup of Armstrong and Bechet with Charlie Irvis on trombone for Texas Moaner Blues. Then composer Richard M. Jones delivers his own blues not far afield from Johnson. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ellington (Sonny Greer, Alberta Hunter voc): Social Parlor Deluxe, Armstrong with Bechet (Alberta Hunter voc.) Cakewalkin’ Babies, The Old Southern Jug Band: Hatchet Blues, Ma Rainey: Countin Blues, Sippie Wallace: Baby I Can’t Use You No More, Trouble Eveywhere I Roam, Off and On Blues, Alberta Hunter: Mandy Make Up Your Mind, Benny Kreuger: Pleasure Mad.Mucho Bechet and Armstrong together-thank you, Clarence Williams. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ma Rainey with the Pruett Twins: Lost Wandering Blues, Butterbeans and Susie with Oliver: Construction Gang, Piron: Bright Star Blues, Steamboat 4 (Morton): Mr. Jelly Lord, Ma Rainey: Dream Blues, Moten: Tulsa Blues, Jimmy Joy: Wolverine Blues, Moten: Baby Dear, Henderson: Shanghai Shuffle, Bix: Jazz Me Blues, Oriole Orch.:Shimmee Sha Wabble, The Wolverines (Bix):Royal Garden Blues, Armstrong and Bechet with Eva Taylor: Little Blackbird, Coon-Sanders: Nighthawk Blues, Oliver: Jazzin’ Babies Blues, Goofus 5: Everybody Loves My Baby. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lottie Kimbrough Beaman: Mama Can’t Lose, Honey Blues, Regular Man Blues, Lowdown Painful Blues, Sugar Daddy Blues, Moten: Vine St. Blues, Tulsa Blues, Oliver with Butterbeans and Susie: Kiss me Sweet, Piron: West Indies Blues, Southern Woman Blues (Lela Boldon voc.) Squabblin Blues (reed section), Bright Star Blues, Seawall Special Blues (Lela Boldon voc.), Sylvester Weaver: Guitar Blues. Beaman was an early KC blues singer with the Pruett twins on banjo and guitar. Sam Tall was the banjo player with Moten. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bennie Moten with Ada Brown: Ill Natured Blues, Evil Mama Blues, Moten: Elephant's Wobble, Crawdad Blues, Selma 'Bama Blues (Mary Bradford, voc.), Break O' Day Blues (Ada Brown, voc.), Waco Texas Blues (Mary Bradford, voc.), South, Vine Street Blues, Tulsa Blues, Goofy Dust, Baby Dear. Plus the Kansas City Five: Get Yourself a Monkey Man, Original Memphis Five: Jelly Roll Blues. Moten defers to the vocalists but his piano is a feature of this blues band. That’s Sam Tall on banjo. Lamar Wright on cornet. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

AJ Piron: West Indies Blues, Sud Bustin' Blues, New Orleans Wiggle, Mama's Gone Goodbye, NORK: That Da Da Strain, Piron: Sittin' on the Curbside, Doo Doodle Oom, Kiss Me Sweet, Louisiana Swing, Bouncing Around, Wolverines: Lazy Daddy, Richard M. Jones: Jazzin' Babies Blues, 12th St. Rag, Morton: Tia Juana, Mamanita. Peter Bocage on trumpet, AJ Piron on violin, Lorenzo Tio, Jr. on clarinet. A glimpse at the unexpected diversity of New Orleans music. Piron played for dancing seemingly rather than for listening. There is none of the section work of Redman but rather the polyphony of 5 or 6 voices expanding the basic New Orleans model to a larger band expression. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jimmy Joy: Milenberg Joys, Clarinet Marmalade, Mama Will Be Gone. Dick Long: Hoop Em Up Blues, Bring Back Those Rock- A -Bye-Baby Days (Max Covert on trumpet). Goofus 5: Oh Mabel (voc, Billy Jones), Henderson: Jealous, Do That Thing (voc. Rosa Henderson), Mobile Blues, Chicago Blues, I Never Care About Tomorrow, Somebody Stole My Gal, He's the Hottest Man in Town, Lots O’ Mama, Red Nichols: Back Where the Daffodils Grow.This is all 1924 pre-Armstrong for the Henderson Orchestra. Do That Thing was a top selling hit. Jimmy Joy had a creative Austin,Texas band and Dick Long led a talented Minneapolis band. Five weeks at #1 as a hit for Ted Weems, Somebody Stole My Gal leads the way here in comic personality. Also in Mobile Blues we seem to hear a shoe shine towel. Red Nichols makes his debut with a Ramblers tune. He would eventually become a Rambler. Hawkins delivers a strong solo in Hottest. Lotsa Mama was a tune introduced by Schoebel who also provided Henderson with Prince of Wails. The 1924 Armstrong sides are featured on an earlier episode titled Pops. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

NORK '22: Eccentric, Farewell Blues, Discontented Blues. Schoebel ‘23: There Ain’t No Gal Like My Gal, Blue Grass Blues, I Never Knew What a Gal Could Do, Lots O’ Mama, House of David Blues, Black Sheep Blues, Wonderful Dream. Oliver '23: London Cafe Blues, Golden Gate Orch. ‘24: Back Where the Daffodils Grow. Elmer Schoebel with NORK in 1922 was ahead of the 1923 recording boom when he left to direct the Midway Dance Orchestra, the Original Memphis Melody Boys, etc. He wrote but did not record in 1924 You’re Nobody’s Sweetheart Now and Prince of Wails. Schoebel created hit tunes with arrangements showing off his musicians in larger numbers like eight. Schoebel invented a show style coming from Chicago ball rooms. Here included are peers in the art of arranging from his era, King Oliver with a Morton tune and a Rambler arrangement. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On cornet or trumpet with Goofus Five, etc. Hard Hearted Hannah, Tessie Stop Teasin Me, Ramblin Blues, I'm Satisfied, Deep Blue Sea Blues, Hey Hey and Hee Hee, Go Emmaline (2), Choo Choo, Lucille, Southern Rose, Me and the Boyfriend.The California Ramblers flooded the record market under numerous names and labels and waived royalties. Their business model focused on product, the Grateful Dead abundance model. Fronting the eccentric small groups, in the Groucho role, Bill Moore on cornet (trumpet?) played alongside a comb, a kazoo and a goofus. Moore kept the comb and drums of Stan King, and the bass sax, kazoo and goofus of Rollini moving in their orbits with free spirit Bobby Davis - he of the perfect alto tone - on reeds, the amazing Irving Brodsky piano and staunch leader Ray Kitchingman on banjo, no trombone.Moore had a metallic tone fitting nicely with King’s comb and Rollini’s kazoo. Bobby Davis joined in this breezy style. Moore’s range starts with the animal calls and proceeds to a fussy baby and chatty voices. Very comparable is Bubber Miley who had a similar sound at that time. But here Moore was comedic and was recording way more than anyone who was not also a member of the California Ramblers.This is not gin mill adults-only music. This goes into homes that have family Victrolas. These tunes include some fun arrangements including on Duke’s Choo Choo. Duke relies on stars Hardwick and Miley for virtuoso weaving whereas the Ramblers develop an ensemble dynamic through a range of solos. The arrangements attributed to Brodsky and Rollini were made for cleverness and personality. Moore’s cornet led the goofus crew as well as the Ramblers. Subsequent Ramblers such as Nichols and the Dorseys would go on to dominate the culture.Moore was said to be Hawaiian, but the family history suggests that as with Morton he was not stopped by the ordinary barriers. And like maestro Morton what could be mistaken for dime-store quality, was not. The Ramblers gave top performances for budget labels, even if the material was not theIr best, like Moore’s solo on Looka’ What I Got Now for Paramount (episode 2.26). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Oliver: Snake Rag, Froggie Moore, Zulu's Ball, Weatherbird Rag, Where Did You Stay Last Night, Just Gone, Mandy Lee Blues, Morton/NORK: Sobbin’ Blues, Oliver: High Society, Henderson: Cotton Pickers Ball, Oliver: Canal Street Blues, Golden Gate Orch: Back Where the Daffodils Grow.(Irving Brodsky on piano and arrangements. Phil S. wanted an Irving Brodsky Day on April 3), Henderson: Go ‘Long Mule.It’s not just that Oliver’s versions are supreme. Few, if any, have made the attempt to imitate his 1923 band. Morton appropriated “Dr. Jazz”, but Morton’s tunes were done better by the 1923 Oliver band such as Froggie Moore and London Cafe Blues. The 1923 band had the top talent and a rocking rhythm led by Hardin. What Oliver recorded in 1923 lasts in all particulars as a demonstration of what jazz can be throughout jazz history which encompasses rhythm and blues and rock ‘n roll. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Southern Stomps, Chimes Blues, Room Rent Blues, I Ain't Gonna Tell Nobody, Mabel's Dream, Sweet Baby Doll, Tears, Buddy's Habit,Working Man Blues, Riverside Blues, Chhattanooga Stomp, Camp Meeting Blues, Alligator Hop, Krooked Blues, London Cafe Blues, Jazzin' Babies Blues, Dippermouth Blues. The October, ‘23 sessions are the essence here from Room Rent to Riverside. Alligator Hop is an Oliver tune co-written with Piron. Oliver also wrote Chattanooga Stomp which shows off the great rhythm section led by Lil Hardin. Oliver’s unique style supported playing full out blues with the rhythmic heavy beat. The music jumps out. There isn’t any comparison in 1923 with Ory or Morton who used more nuanced -not wall of sound -dynamics. And there have been apparently no successful close imitators in a century that went in the direction of Dixieland. Not even Armstrong went with the wall of sound. Ellington Rockin’ in Rhythm shows how far it goes symphonically but without the pounding grounded dance rhythm of Hardin. Mezz Mezzrow appreciated Hardin’s pounding piano. Ironically this best of all bands in 1923, Oliver’s, was no model for others to try to surpass. Oliver himself changed his style to stay current with trends. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Little Ramblers: Those Panama Mamas, Prince of Wails, Varsity Eight: Copenhagen, Hard Hearted Hannah, Those Panama Mamas, Goofus Five: Choo Choo, Go 'Long Mule (Ernest Hare voc), California Ramblers: One Week Ago, Eliza, Look'a What I Got Now, Tessie Stop Teasin Me (Arthur Hall voc.), Doo Wacka Doo (Arthur Hall voc.) Southern Rose, Where the Lazy Daisies Grow, Somebody Loves Me.Congratulations, you have arrived where hit tunes are converted into jazz. The Ramblers in their various forms were a way of life, extensively recorded. Irving Brodsky and Rollini are credited with the arrangements. The ODJB taught horn players to include animal sounds in their repertoire, no worry with this crew. Prominent trickster Bill Moore presides and drummer Stan King adds vocal imitations of a cornet. Bobby Davis on saxophone, with Rollini making it an elite reed section. Henderson learned much from this crew.Male vocalists coming over from ragtime and vaudeville are Ernest Hare, Arthur Hall, also Billy Jones at times. Of course there was Cliff Edwards in 1924. The recording of notable male jazz singers is a later development probably starts with Armstrong and Cab Calloway. Fats Waller, Jimmy Rushing, Harry Mills, Donald Mills fill in the niche. The Mills Bros started around 1924. In this year era we have Edwards and the kazoo singing of King or McKenzie, that led directly to the Mills Brothers barbershop breakthrough. Nothing insufficient about Hall, Hare, Jones et al. Just that the advanced artistry takes off with Armstrong, Calloway and the Mills Bros. Calloway more a linguist and show icon than pure singer. Waller was perhaps the most phenomenally successful during his abbreviated run but was prominently a comedian (although primarily talented in classical piano- compare Victor Borge), Rushing probably is the dominant male jazz singer as the essential voice to the KC blues sound. Later on come the hit makers like Nat Cole, Eckstein, Torme.The women blues singers very early sang jazz, like Ethel Waters and Alberta Hunter, Eva Taylor, but male singers in that era like Clarence Williams were not heard of. Jolson and Cantor were not jazz or blues singers with the authenticity of Marion Harris. Even during the run of such legends as Armstrong and Calloway or the Mills Brothers we tend to think more about the women as advancing the art: Holiday, Fitzgerald and the Boswell Sisters. Eckstein, Hibbler seem like jazz specialists given the main stage is for male pop stars like Sinatra, Crosby and Bennett. Some of the damage of class divisions, segregation and Jim Crow besides the obvious impacts is the absence of blues style among the hotel bands. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Five Birmingham Babies: Copenhagen, Mamie, Hard Hearted Hannah, Deep Sea Blues, The Little Ramblers: I’m Satisfied Beside That Sweetie of Mine, Arkansas Blues, Goofus Five: Go Emmaline, Them Ramblin’ Blues, Golden Gate Orch.: Back Where the Daffodils Grow, California Ramblers: That Big Blonde Mama. Mixed into that list are Ellington: Choo Choo, Wolverines: Big Boy, The Georgians: I’m Sitting Pretty in a Pretty Little City, Henderson: Shanghai Shuffle.Rambler subgroups populate this offering, mixed in with some contemporaries. This continues our exposure to the goofus and kazoo. Much has already been shared previously from the Ramblers and here some favorites are “I’m Satisfied” and “Daffodils”. This episode contains a hidden benefit, some of the era’s leading trumpet/cornet players are lined up: Bill Moore (5BB, G5, LR, CR, GGO), Bubber Miley, Bix, Frank Guarente (the Georgians), Armstrong. And fans of Rollini (bass sax, goofus, second kazoo) will appreciate his work with 5BB who debut in this episode. Adrian R, later an important vibes player, was also an accomplished singing kazoo player. Ellington’s composition Choo Choo was recorded by The Goofus Five. Otto Hardwick here is on saxophone with trumpeter Bubber Miley.Rollini played a piano recital at the Waldorf Astoria at the age of four. As much as Ellington was on a trajectory to play Carnegie Hall, Rollini was not. Certainly not Carnegie Hall as his bass sax which defined the 20s went extinct in the swing era. So much of jazz was ephemeral. Every year in the 20’s seems like a year of reinvention of which Rollini was one of the masters, here in 1924 embracing comedy in jazz with the rise of the kazoo, the Mound City Blue Blowers and Cliff Edwards principally. While Redman on clarinet was funny and played the goofus mostly comedy was not a strong suit fir the rest of the Henderson band. With Rollini you have sidekicks who will embarrass you like Stan King, and Rollini provides stellar kazoo back up. Bill Moore does his own chatty tricks and rock star Bobby Davis tends to his romantic lead role.(In the Paul Desmond alto slot.) The whole band going comedy is not something Henderson or Redman did except as an exception. Compare the Steamboat 4 tearing up Mr. Jelly Lord iwith the maestro joining in. (Season 2 episode 35). The more popular Jazz records of 1924- every year is different- Ramblers, Wolverines and however small a sample the Duke and another small sample from Moten, Piron, Bechet with Clarence Williams and a lot of Henderson only some of which is jazzy. This was not predictable from 1923 with the dominance of Oliver and NORK.Armstrong when added to the Henderson band fulfilled a long sought wish of Henderson’s. Others bands may have had better talent. Henderson couldn’t hire Rollini and Davis. Bill Moore was possibly preferable to Chambers as a personality. Irving Brodsky was possibly more interesting on piano for his surprising comedic piano takes. Stan King was equal to Kaiser Marshall. Ellington had star talent in Miley, Greer and Hardwick and he on piano at the helm. Ellington later had Carney as a Rollini deep sound. (Check out the Mills Bros as perfecting in a barbershop context the kazoo chops and basso of the Goofud 5.) Piron had Bocage on cornet and Tio, Jr. clarinet with Steve Lewis on piano. Not a working group but the top recording ensemble of 1924 was Armstrong-Hardin-Bechet under the aegis of C. Williams. And the emphasis is on Hardin who set the bar for hot rhythm high enough so the two champions had the rare opportunity to show everything, which like her work with Oliver remain world records. She was the college trained intellect who gave piano pounding its rightful place as an essential ingredient of jazz, if rarely found. Other essentials are like the bass sax, the brass bass, the violin lead and the rhythm banjo. If preservation is sought Mezz Mezzrow with Bechet is a good indicator. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cliff Edwards: Fascinatin’ Rhythm, Wolverines: When My Sugar Walks Down the Street, Goofus Five: Everybody Loves My Baby, King Oliver: Canal St. Blues, California Ramblers: Tessie Stop Teasing Me, Cliff Edwards: Somebody Loves Me, Wolverines: Susie, Henderson: Shanghai Shuffle, Morton: Shreveport Stomp, King Oliver: The Southern Stomps, I Ain’t Gonna Tell Nobody, NORK: Weary Blues, Tiger Rag, Oliver: Chattanooga Stomp, Morton: The Pearls, The Little Ramblers (Moore, Davis, Rollini, Brodsky, Fellini, King): Deep Blue Sea Blues, I’m Satisfied Beside That Sweetie of Mine, Those Panama Mamas.The sophistication of Ira Gershwin sung by Cliff Edwards who introduced Fascinatin’ Rhythm on Broadway. Compare to Jobim’s version a la bossa nova. Then the young Wolverines with Jimmy McP. The Goofus Five with Bill Moore-Bobby Davis-Adrian Rollini in a novelty groove. Then Henderson/Redman gravitas with an Armstrong solo. Oliver stomps from the year before with Armstrong. Morton and NORK provide interludes and then Rollini’s ramblers go novelty. The way it was in 1923 and 1924. What a difference a year makes.Syncopation primed earlier generations, George Walker and Bert Williams create a jazz singing tradition. Amidst Souza marches, Joplin ragtime, Creamer and Layton hit tunes, vaudeville, banjo ragtime, etc. all circulating as a national music on the theater and tent circuits. Thereupon emerging everywhere as in Carter Family and Opry, bluegrass, honky tonk, Western, r’n b, rockabilly. But New York hosted the Blues record craze with Bessie Smith recording star for Columbia among 40 or more such recording divas.Ira Gershwin catches the infectious rhythm from his brother. Compare to Hart’s later I’ll Take Manhattan and Staten Island Too as an antidote to the rampant rhythmic invasion that was invading NY. For the local poet Hart, NY is a romantic haven. If you’re going to NYC, from anywhere in the world and you stay you may become a naturalized New Yorker, if not American.NYC used to be Dutch, not a source of Americana, but keeper of professional traditions as in James P. Johnson and T. Waller, Carnegie Hall aspirants. Marion Harris the superstar participated in jazz integration, moving to Columbia Records to sing WC Handy.If you make it in NY not necessarily true you make it anywhere. Take Al Smith. If you make it in America you don’t necessarily make it in NY. Oliver and Morton did some of their best work there but were not greeted with the adoration later generations would confer.NYC did not adopt jazz in its New Orleans form as had Chicago. It has a virtuoso boutique status detached from its Southern and American functions like dances, compare this to polka which is purely a dance music. Or marching bands. From America came C&W, blues, rock, soul, spirituals, gospel, etc. all defined for audiences as distinct from jazz. But for example Fats Domino an inventor of rhythm and blues would be welcome at any jazz festival. NY sounds have also diffused into America, Puente, hip hop, stride, Monk, bebop, Tin Pan Alley, doo wop, salsa. Jazz survives better than ragtime did and It may be that its living popularity in New Orleans will have another impact in the future on America. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Goofus Five: Choo -Choo, Sioux City 6: Flock of Blues (Bix), I’m Glad, De Droit: Eccentric, Doc Cook: The One I Love Loves Somebody Else, Original Crescent City Jazzers: Sensation Rag, Morton: Tiger Rag, Cotton Pickers: Rampart Street Blues, Original Memphis 5: Memphis Glide, Cal Ramblers: Big Blonde Mama, Original Memphis 5: Tin Roof Blues, King Oliver: Snake Rag, Morton: London Blues, Wolverine Orch.: Jazz Me Blues, De Droit: The Swing, Doc Cook: So This Is Venice.Adrian Rollini’s goofus graces this great Ellington hit. Maybe Ellington had heard Prince of Wails and Copenhagen and wrote a tune to complete the trilogy, Choo Choo. These three top instrumental tunes of 1924 were almost identical. Here is the alto saxophone and clarinet voice of rock star Bobby Davis with Adrian Rollini as reed duet and Bill Moore on trumpet playing off both. Also here is Doc Cook with Keppard. Tram with Bix, Rube Bloom and Miff Mole, etc. Morton’s arrangement of Tiger Rag is noteworthy although poorly preserved on this recording. And Snake Rag rocks in rhythm in the Oliver blues band style. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bucktown Blues, New Orleans Joys, Big Foot Ham, Kansas City Stomp, Tom Cat Blues, Frog-I-Moore Rag, London Blues, Original Jelly Roll Blues, Mamanita, Milenberg Joys (with NORK),Perfect Rag/Sporting House Rag, Shreveport Stomp, Stratford Hunch, 35th St Blues, London Blues (with band), The Pearls, Tia Juana, Wolverine Blues, Grandpa's Spells, King Porter Stomp, Mr. Jelly Lord (with NORK).The soft touch here, the high keys plink and sustain. Morton’s approach seemingly not jazz highlights the beauty of the touch and sound. Morton’s father was a bricklayer and he understood meticulous crafts. His tunes are indestructible regardless of the skill level they sound good if the players play the notes. Here the piano gives the composer’s world and is complete by itself.These are definitive performances by the composer, not piano rolls. Morton put a lot of music into every tune. As with Heraclitus or Mississippi, never the same river twice.The tunes meander through different strains so that they do not lend themselves to memory as does theme and variations form. In the woods of notes there opens from time to time the clearing of an iconic strain, King Porter Stomp being an example. Lots of space in a tune and you fell it when it is taken away as in Grandpa’s Spells, background music to a silent slapstick, or Perfect Rag or Shreveport Stomp. America post-Emancipation was the environment for this kind of free expression and the national musical expression made possible under Lady Liberty. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bucktown Five with Muggsy Spanier, Oliver, Armstrong, Bix. Morton. De Droit, Bayersdorffer, Alberta Hunter, others. Uncharted. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.