[Dixielandjazz] What is "Trad Jazz"?

[Graham Martin]

RE: WHAT IS "TRAD JAZZ"?

 

I was very interested by Don Mopsick's article he wrote for the American Rag, although it made me feel a bit uneasy. So I took a few days to absorb it and think about the reason for my unease. I will not quote the essay in full because it was quite long and I am sure that listmates who were interested would probably still have quick reference to it. 

 

The first thing I have to say is that, to the best of my knowledge, the term "Trad Jazz" is of British origin - if not originating there it certainly gained its first popularity there. The term then spread to Europe and British-influenced countries such as Australia. And at a much later stage to America! So maybe my unease is due to the fact that subconsciously I might think it is a bit cheeky for an American to try and define, perhaps even redefine, what is Traditional Jazz - even if you Yanks did invent jazz itself. (VERY BIG WINK!) But on second thoughts it would be nice if we all understood and used the same terminology.

 

In the end I realised that it was the abbreviation of Traditional to 'Trad' that was causing most of my concern and I wondered if Don is aware of the fact that in doing so he opens up a subject about which some European musicians seem to be a little ashamed. For instance, in one of my favourite reference books called "Jazz - The Rough Guide" written by three British jazz musicians, critics and authors and published by Rough Guides Ltd, London and distributed by Penguin Books, it has the following definition:

 

"Trad

 

'Trad' is an abbreviation of 'traditional jazz' a curtailment of most of its essential virtues. This peculiarly European form of deviant Dixieland was mainly influenced by British bands, though it might be said to include the more commercial side of the Dutch Swing College Band and several French and German groups.

 

The negative side of trad came about after the success of skiffle, when there were a few hi-parade singles by such as Chris Barber, Kenny Ball and Acker Bilk. As a result the music industry signed up all the potentially money-making groups, and the gigs which they had been filling were immediately taken over by decidedly inferior musicians all hoping to reach the big time. Nothing like it had happened in the jazz world since the height of the swing era.

 

The positive side was that some of the leading musicians of the movement, by dint of constant work, eventually evolved from the tight-lipped Europeanized sound of early trad to something more like the relaxation of the real thing. And perhaps inevitably because of its all-pervading presence, several young players came up through trad who went on to quite other things, such as Ginger Baker, Jack Bruce, Klaus Doldinger, Dave Holland, Ron Mathewson and Roy Williams.(BP)."

 

I quoted that definition in its entirety because of that final mention of my all-time favourite trombone player, Roy Williams. But Mr Priestley, please tell me when it was that Roy ever had a tight-lipped Europeanized sound? Not even when he was with Eric Batty, Mike Peters or Terry Lightfoot - I'll tell you for certain! And the Alex Welsh band was the most American sounding band that Britain possessed, and all the Yanks said so!

 

Also, in view of a recent list discussion about the Stones, I would add the name of  Charlie Watts to that last paragraph. I know this for certain because I jammed a few times with Charlie and his mates at the Kingsbury Arms in the late 50s. Although to tell the truth they were a little 'mainstream'. Which brings me to another point.

 

If youse guys are going to steal our definition of 'Traditional Jazz', you will also have to steal the other main genres of jazz that go with it - 'Mainstream Jazz', 'Modern Jazz' and 'Big Band Jazz'. Because, if you don't, you are going to totally confuse hundreds of thousands, probably millions, of  Brit-heritage Baby-Boomers (and older) all round the world. I leave you to do your own research on these terms but do assure you that it will make things a lot clearer. And in any case you may need them for the next part of this discourse.

 

I was very surprised that Don was able to write a long and fairly-well informed essay entitled "WHAT IS TRAD JAZZ?" without once mentioning the term 'Dixieland', except in mentioning the full name of the ODJB, and I feel that this may be due to that American unease with that particular word that the rest of us do not understand. Let me also assure you that Traditional Jazz includes all of  the following sub genres:

A.   Early New Orleans

B.     Classic New Orleans

C.    Vintage White Dixieland 

D.    Chicago Style Dixieland

E.     New York Dixieland

F.     San Francisco Style

G.    New Orleans Revival

    H. British Revival ("Trad")

    J. International Dixieland/Mainstream/Legacy Bands

Which brings me to a second definition of Traditional jazz, this time from the book "The Observer's Book of Jazz" by Mark White and published by Frederick Warne (Publishers) Ltd, London. I like this one:

"Traditional, 'Trad'

A word which has been adopted to describe any Jazz played in either New Orleans, Chicago or New York styles, as opposed to 'Mainstream' or 'Modern' Jazz. The situation of styles in Jazz is already so confused that we will not confuse it further by attempting to expand or alter that definition, though we do not believe it to be accurate. Suffice it to say that Traditional Jazz really started with the New Orleans revival both in the US and the UK in the 1940s and 1950s. To confuse matters further, it is often still loosely and alternatively referred to as 'Dixieland'."

Okay, 'you pays your money and you takes your choice' with those definitions and I do hope they clarify rather than confuse. But I will tell you that those jazz aficionados of the 50s and 60s were a pretty well-informed mob.

Finally, since there was some criticism on this Dixielandjazz List regarding the lack of OKOM influence at the recent Annual Conference of the International Association for Jazz Education, I am extremely pleased that Don Mopsick and Jim Cullum were able to speak to at least some college students about real jazz history. Well done guys! We all have to do a lot more of this kind of thing if we are to ensure that, when the Baby-Boomers are gone, there will still be a few people playing and listening to Traditional Jazz - call it what you will. 

Best,

Grah

Graham Martin
Email: grahmartin at bigpond.com
Website: http://tromjazz.netfirms.com
REDLAND BAY
Queensland, AUSTRALIA