[Dixielandjazz] Re: Military bands and OKOM

[Bill Haesler]

"Big Band Jazz, according to one historian, had its start in New Orleans in
1898 at the end of the Spanish-American war. Military bands returned to the
port to decommission, flooding the city with used band instruments. And
African-Americans interested in music quickly bought up hundreds of these
instruments and quickly began to form bands. Starting from square one,
aspiring African-American musicians taught themselves to play."
Bob Thomas (1994). From "Music of London" web site.

Dear Luis and Dave,
An intriguing topic, touched on frequently by jazz historians but not yet,
to my knowledge, the subject of a dedicated book.
Dr Fred Spencer, Dan Hardie, Charlie Suhor - any information?
Jazz history books, from Frederic Ramsay, Jr and Charles Edward Smith's
"Jazzmen"  (1939), Rudi Blesh's "Shining Trumpets" (1946) through to Richard
Knowles' "Fallen Heroes (1996) and Daniel Hardie's "The Loudest Trumpet"
(2000), touch on the subject.
However, the historical connection between military bands, brass bands and
jazz (from its beginnings to the present) requires a book, rather than an
essay, based on extensive new and original research.
Probably best left to a non jazz-influenced researcher.
An ideal thesis for a PhD.
Kind regards,
Bill.