[Dixielandjazz] What happened to Jazz?

[Steve Barbone]

I don't agree with the popular notion that Bop started the decline of trad
jazz, In fact far from it.

Trad jazz, e.g. small band Dixieland, Louis Armstrong type stuff etc.,
started to decline much earlier than when bop became popular as a jazz form.

Remember, the "West Coast Trad jazz Revival" began in the late 1930's which
would indicate that trad had been in decline before that time. And during
the 1930's, Louis was playing with and/or fronting larger dance bands, not
playing the good old Hot5/7 stuff. He didn't come back to small band
Dixieland until 1947, during the so-called bop years. He and the All Stars,
became immensely popular all over again.

And the "New Orleans Jazz Revival" in NYC started in the mid 1940's when Bop
was also getting popular. That Revival co-existed nicely with bop into the
early 1960s.

Bop itself had a very short life span as "popular" jazz. From about 1945 to
about 1960 by which time it was no longer revolutionary. Miles and Ornette
then took Bop to other places. Fusion, Free Jazz etc.

If you want to pin a primary causal factor on the demise of Trad Jazz, IMO,
it would be "Swing". But even then, we fall into the trap of thinking that
as one style becomes popular, the other one dies. That is not the case IMO.
They all coexist together. None really dies, some just become less popular.

What I remember from the 1950s in NYC was first that bop was already in
decline. And Swing was also in decline with the breakup of most big swing
bands. The ex-swing band musicians then became Dixieland players because in
NYC, at least, Dixieland was booming. More so than bop. Swing players like
DeParis, Eldridge, Jonah Jones, Vic Dickenson, even Hawkins, and countless
others all came to play Dixieland.

But, since neither Swing, nor Dixieland was played for dancers any more, the
kids had to go elsewhere. And that elsewhere was Elvis, Beatles, and
countless other Rock bands who were simply playing The Blues for kids who
liked to dance.

Much is made over supposed hip bop musicians disrespecting mouldy fig
Dixieland players and vice versa and a lot of that is politically correct
bullshit created by the media types. Many of those quotes are taken out of
context and do not reflect what was really happening on the scene.

Like when Clifford Brown became known, it was Pee Wee Erwin who told me I
should listen to him. And Davern was aware of, and saw the positives in Free
Jazz. He even played it with Archie Shepp, Roswell Rudd Charlie Haden and
others. Many of the "real" jazz players in the 50s were not only cognizant
of, but could appreciate what the "other" guys were doing. Even if they
didn't completely agree with what the others were doing. Contrary to popular
belief, Dizzy and Louis were GREAT FRIENDS as well as neighbors in Corona.

What killed trad jazz? The fact that it was no longer being played for kids
who were interested in Booze, Dancing, Carousing and Hooking Up. It is that
simple, and any of you old farts out there who went to the Central Plaza or
the Stuyvesant Casino in NYC in the 40s and 50s will surely remember that
truly wonderful scene. Too bad it ended.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone