[Dixielandjazz] Cutting Contests

[Stephen Barbone]

David Palmquist and Phil O'Rourke wrote about "cutting contests".

Yes, they were quite prevalent from the beginning of jazz till the
present. Some of the more talked about included:

Goldkette Band vs. Fletcher Henderson Band at Roseland NYC in the 1920s.
(2 occurrences).
Chick Webb Band Vs. Benny Goodman Band in the 1930s in NYC.
Lester Young vs. Coleman Hawkins in Kansas City in the 1930s.
Countless sessions at Minton's and Monroe's in Harlem in the 1940s.
Countless sessions among OKOM players and bands in clubs and lofts in
NYC from the 1940s till the 1960s. (at least)

They were an integral part of "paying one's dues" as a jazz musician in
New York City when I was there in the 1950s and 1960s. Whether you won
or lost was not the point. What you learned, and how much better you
played at the next one was important. I think I posted before what my
wife said, when we were courting, about Kenny Davern and me at one such
session.

She said: "He plays better than you." I knew that, but to have her know
that was special to me and we got married a few months later in 1962. We
are still married, Kenny still plays better and we 3 joke about it every
time we are together.

The best and most competitive cutting session player I ever knew or
heard was Roy Eldridge. Everybody always wanted him to go last because
no matter who was there, Gillespie, Shavers, Navarro, Bill Davidson, et
al., Eldridge would get going and blow all other trumpeters away. He had
some fire in his belly that would ignite the audience at any cutting
session as he played well beyond his normal self. After he played, no
one wanted to follow and that was the ultimate accolade.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone