[Dixielandjazz] MOLDY FIGS PLUS (or vs.) DIXIELAND

[john petters]

Charles said
> Another kind of put-down is the disparagement of many of the older
> Preservation Hall players for their nanny-goat vibratos, dated phrasing,
> etc. I heard most of the first-generation jazz players at the Hall,
> covering it from N.O. for DOWN BEAT throughout the 60s. Many showed a
> mixture of jazz and pre-jazz influences, the latter being aspects of style
> that were generally let go when players like Louis (above all), Brunis,
> Bigard, Noone, Hines, etc. helped to distinguish jazz as we know it more
> clearly from the ricky-tick, zippy music of the late 19th century and
> beyond.

Good point Charles. I hear that pre jazz - or perhaps more accurately pre
Armstrong phrasing in  Keppard, Carey, Dominque and yes, Nick LaRocca. It's
closely related to Ragtime. Wooden Joe had it too as did Bunk. Pity he did
not record in the 20s. Celestin was a different kettle of fish in that
decade compared to what he did later. All of them were hot players. I cite
some examples, The Mutt Caery New Yorkers,  and of course the Ory's (what
about his work on Buckets Got A Hole?) Keppard on Stockyeard Strut, Dominque
on Pencil Papa and La Rocca on the 36 recording of Tiger Rag. The out chorus
is one of the hottest in jazz.
When it comes to Kid Thomas or DeDe Pierce, I just do not hear that quality
in their playing. I'm not doubting their sincerity and they have influenced
many British players - young men in their prime, who have over the years
tried to sound like old men before their time. Jazz is a virile, young
music, hence the energy in the classic 20s recordings made when these
players were young men.

> Tom Bethell, e.g., once wrote that with Louis Armstrong,
> "the rot set in," leading to inherently egotistical virtuoso soloists.

I've worked with a couple of musicians who go further - If George Lewis or
Bunk didn't record it, it ain't jazz.

> Dixieland is a corruption, according to misrepresentations by Ralph
> Collins. In Dixieland ensemble courses, it's "every man for himself" and
> then there's "an assembly of individual soloists held together by loud
> mechanical-sounding drums....Creativity is not required...indeed it might
> prove deleterious...each man plays fortissimo, as loud as possible.
> Artistry is out of place here and originality a definite handicap." Of
> course we've all heard bands that sound like that, but over the years and
> through today, innumerable Dixieland bands have performed brilliantly.

The ODJB have come in for a lot of stick over the years, yet I have always
enjoyed them. For the last couple of weeks I have had a double CD of
recordings from 1917 - 1936 in the car.  Yes its primative. Yes its not King
Oliver - but it is still to my ears good jazz. Larry Shields, La Rocca and
Edwards were not locked into that staccato stiff syncopated phrasing that
many early bands (including the New Orleans Owls) suffered from. I can hear
in LaRocca similar pre Louis phrasing as I mentioned above. There are
dynamics, particulary on the English Columbia sides. I've always been
knocked out by Sbarbaro's drumming.

John Petters
Amateur Radio Station G3YPZ
www.traditional-jazz.com