[Dixielandjazz] Did Bolden really play loud in his band?

[Brian Towers]

Steve Barbone wrote......(snippet)
>...............New Orleans trumpet players were following Bolden who
supposedly was "The Loudest". It would follow that to cut Bolden, one would
have to blow loud
>The other information we must consider about loudness is that there was
>precious little, if any, amplification in those days. One had to blow
>loudly in order to be heard....................................

Steve, I think you are be barking up the wrong tree.  Take a look at the
only photo of the Bolden band  -  acoustic guitar, bowed bass, two
clarinets, no drums etc. He often used violin in his line-ups too, instead
of the second clarinet.  Ask yourself if the rest of the band members would
be heard, if  Bolden did indeed blow as loud as you infer.  For the band to
sound balanced, with such a line-up, Bolden would have to play at a
compatible volume within the overall sound of the group.  I concur that he
probably had the capacity to blow loud, as the legend has it, but when
playing in his group he must have had regard for the others in his band.
>From all accounts, it was a very successful band and he, as the leader, was
obviously smart enough to blow at the right level and clearly he must have
had a sense of dynamics.
Possibly the loudness legend arose from his work in the outdoor marching
parade brass bands, when he would indeed needed to blow very loud, to get
over the other brass and drums.    However we are not talking about parade
bands here.  I believe the point you are trying to make Steve, is that
Bolden, Louis etc were extremely loud players within their bands. I find,
however, your line of reasoning to be shaky.   There is a big difference
between "loud" and strong" in my opinion, as Anton has already wisely
pointed out.

Another point as regards trying to make comparisons between Armstrong and
King Oliver and their relative strength or power.   At the time of the
famous 1923 recordings, Joe Oliver was a "very old" 38 years of age -  in
fact just 12 years later he had to give up playing due to losing his teeth
and pyorrhoea.  While his playing on those early 1923 recordings was bloody
marvellous, to put it mildly, I would have liked to have heard him a decade
earlier, when he was a side-man with the Ory band and dubbed as the "King ",
even though Freddy Keppard was also in his prime at that time.  By 1923 his
chops were already weakening and this is one of the reasons he may have
taken on a second cornet (Armstrong) to beef up the lead.
Regards,
Brian Towers
Toronto