[Dixielandjazz] Dixielandjazz Digest, Vol 45, Issue 33

[Steve Barbone]

dingle at baldwin-net.com wrote
 
> To paraphrase Louis : "It is swings, you know it. If you have to ask,
> you ain't never going to know it!"
> Now that's a philosophy to live with.

Hear hear, Don. IMO Louis was the real inventor of "swing" in jazz. He was
the primary swing influence on the musicians in Fletcher Henderson's band
during the mid 1920s.

During that period, he probably wasn't reading tied triplets and/or dotted
8ths or anything else. More like Artie Shaw's definition as Russ G., stated;
"playing in a relaxed manner". He was a swing player before the style became
codified and countless musicians followed his swinging rhythmic concept.

I think it is hard to state firm conclusions about what swinging is, other
than that. We can read the dots all we want, but if we don't play relaxed,
it probably won't swing. Proof? The many swing bands playing today, reading
the dots and understanding the concepts that simply don't swing.

And it is hard to make general statements like trad jazz doesn't swing.
Because Louis was playing trad jazz in his small band groups all of his life
and most, if not all, everything he played swung.

He also differentiated between the New Orleans four beat rhythm that Oliver
used vs. the two beat style that most Dixieland dance bands used in those
days. The two beat was great for the older dancers who knew what foot went
where on the beats. Four beat took a little getting used to but eventually
the young Lindy Hoppers made it look easy.

And his All Stars from 1947 on? Pure, Swinging, 4 beat, Dixieland Jazz. Now
whether that fits one's definition of trad jazz or not depends upon, I
guess, whether one defines Armstrong as a trad jazz player or not.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone